President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday.
US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US.
The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized.
Photo: Bloomberg
The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote.
Instead, it seems to think it could continue to espouse pro-Taiwanese independence ideals to the international community and divide the country by “selling” the TSMC to the US as a “protection fee,” he said.
Lai must act as the president of the Republic of China, observe and abide by the Constitution and protect the strategically important TSMC, he said.
The public must be of one mind if Taiwan is to react to international changes, Ma said, adding that if Lai cannot realize those goals, he has betrayed the trust of Taiwanese and severely damaged Taiwan’s interests.
Separately yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) said that Lai’s support for recall petitions targeting KMT legislators was divisive.
Lai’s focus on domestic politics and neglect over the US’ attempts to turn TSMC into “American Semiconductor Manufacturing Company” are misplaced, Fu said.
“Where would Taiwan’s safety be when it no long has its ‘sacred mountain protecting the nation’ (護國神山)?” Fu asked, referring to TSMC’s portrayal as a buttress against devastation.
The Trump administration yesterday halted US military aid to Ukraine, while international media are comparing Ukraine to Taiwan, Fu said.
Lai’s “despotic” ways have backed Taiwan into a corner, Fu said, adding that he doubts whether Taiwanese would be able to abide an increase in annual military spending as demanded by Trump.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS