DIPLOMACY
Envoy’s comment slammed
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it is not ruling out further action in response to a comment by Brazil’s top envoy to Taiwan that the Brazilian government considers Taiwan as part of China. Commercial Office of Brazil to Taipei Director Luis Claudio Villafane Gomes Santos made the comment in a Chinese-language interview published on Sunday by Up Media. Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Director-General Jose Han (韓志正) told a news conference that they were not excluding any options and all feasible measures would be reviewed. However, any response must be carefully assessed to ensure effectiveness, he added. The ministry had communicated its solemn concern and protest against Santos’ statement in a telephone call, expressing “strong dissatisfaction” with his “untrue and inappropriate” remarks, Han said. The ministry reminded Santos that under international law, diplomatic representatives have an obligation not to interfere in the internal affairs of their host country, he said. Santos is on leave and did not make further comments during the phone call, Han added.
SOCIETY
KMT tracker claims probed
New Taipei City police yesterday said they have formed a special task force to investigate claims that a tracking device was planted in Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Lee Chien-lung’s (李乾龍) vehicle, despite Lee’s refusal to formally file a police report. New Taipei City Police Department Commissioner Fang Yang-ning (方仰寧) said police officers approached Lee twice, but he declined assistance and downplayed the incident. Lee provided police with a black-and-white photocopy of a device he said his mechanic found near his car’s exhaust pipe in January, which was discarded shortly after. Police said the item in the photograph appears to be an inexpensive anti-loss device, rather than a GPS tracker. Although these devices rely on crowdsourced Bluetooth networks and are relatively low-tech, police said they have increasingly become a tool for stalking. Authorities are attempting to trace the device through fingerprints and serial numbers, and would pursue the case as an offense against privacy, police added.
BUSINESS
C.C Wei makes ‘Time’ 100
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) chairman and CEO C.C. Wei (魏哲家) has been listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. The list, published on Wednesday, featured Wei in its “Pioneers” category. The other categories are Artists, Icons, Leaders, Titans and Innovators. His entry features a profile written by Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), who lauded Wei’s leadership in “one of the world’s most consequential companies.” Huang described Wei as a humble, yet disciplined leader who has steered TSMC to become more than just a chipmaker. Wei recognized early on that the global computing landscape was shifting from mobile-first to artificial intelligence (AI)-first, he said. Wei’s vision guided TSMC’s transition from “only fabricating chips to also creating integrated systems of chips — assembled in complex 3D packages and soon connected with silicon photonics,” he added. The advances have enabled Nvidia’s AI supercomputers and helped drive the AI revolution, Huang said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
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