Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers yesterday made public what they said was new evidence to help prosecutors investigate the world's No. 2 custom chipmaker, United Mocroelectronics Corp (UMC,
Producing copies of what were described as internal confidential memos from He Jian, TSU caucus whip Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) said that high-level Taiwanese officials at He Jian were told by their superiors that they could allow their Taiwanese employees to get access to UMC's database during business hours via a particular IP address.
"That's why 199 of UMC's patented items are used by He Jian, and we're afraid that the improper behavior has jeopardized the rights of UMC shareholders and has contributed to the fall of its shares," Lo said.
The probes of UMC's investments in China weighed heavily on UMC's share price Wednesday. The company's shares fell nearly 1 percent to NT$20.8 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and plunged to NT$19.9 yesterday.
Acting on tip-offs, over 100 Hsinchu and Taipei prosecutors Tuesday raided nine offices and residences relating to the case, including UMC's offices, and the residences of UMC vice chairman John Hsuan (
Lo also lambasted the government's economic strategy of "active opening and effective management" for investments in China.
"The policy has become the biggest lie ever," Lo said. "We're asking prosecutors to thoroughly investigate whether He Jian executive Hsu Chien-hwa (徐建華), a former UMC employee, was attempting to empty out Taiwan's technological resources and channel them to China."
Another TSU lawmaker, Huang Shih-cho (
"We thought the government has been doing a poor job in executing the `effective management' policy," he said.
In addition to calling on the government, national security authorities and prosecutors to thoroughly investigate the case as well as the entire high-tech industry, Huang requested that the government mete out punishment to civil servants failing to fulfill their duties in carrying out the "effective management" strategy.
Lo also requested the government map out foreign investment guidelines for the high-tech industry to follow, and pledged to enact a law to protect high-tech knowhow.
The Executive Yuan sent a draft national technology protection law (國家科技保護法) to the legislature for review in February 2003, but the bill has been bogged down in legislative procedures. Opposition lawmakers, who control the legislature, called the bill "technological martial law."
Branding prosecutors' large-scale raid as "inappropriate," Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Ker Chien-ming (
"I'd like to believe that UMC and He Jian are simply two friendly companies striving to cooperate with each other in a highly competitive industry and to take the lead in the Chinese market," he said.
Earlier yesterday morning, Ker used a stronger and more controversial tone to describe the raid as "confiscating the property and exterminating the family."
Ker also called on the public to trust the judicial system and stop politicizing the matter. Some commentators have said that the raid on UMC occurred because of Hsuan's criticism of the DPP government.
People First Party (PFP) caucus whip Liu Wen-hsiung (
"Such a selective justice is not genuine justice," he said.
The navy has installed 13 Phalanx Block 1B close-in weapons systems on its warships, increasing their defensive firepower, a defense official said on Saturday. The systems cost the navy NT$10.16 billion (US$314.67 million), while eight additional Block 1A systems are being upgraded in the US and are expected to be delivered next year, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Phalanx system used by Taiwan to defend its warships and key radar installations is a radar-cued gun system capable of firing 4,500 rounds a minute at targets as far away as 1.5km, the official said. With their superior range of
RACE FOR CHIPS: The Dresden site would help Europe reduce its reliance on Asia for semiconductors, while Germany aims to produce one-fifth of the world’s chips by 2030 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday broke ground in Dresden, Germany, on its first European plant as the continent seeks to safeguard its chip supplies amid growing US-China tensions. TSMC chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) attended the event, together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and the heads of Infineon Technologies AG, NXP Semiconductors NV and Robert Bosch GmbH, which each hold a 10 percent stake in the venture. TSMC owns a 70 percent stake in the plant. “Together with our partners, Bosch, Infineon and NXP, we are building our Dresden facility to meet the
‘CLOSE TIES’: Former Japanese PM Yoshihiko Noda also attended the annual Ketagalan Forum on Indo-Pacific security and spoke of Taiwan’s importance globally China’s authoritarian expansionism would not stop with Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, calling for solidarity among the world’s democracies to check Beijing’s territorial ambitions. Taiwan is determined to become a decisive force for democracy, peace and prosperity, standing side-by-side with its democratic partners to confront authoritarian expansionism and protect shared values, he told the annual Ketagalan Forum on Indo-Pacific security in Taipei. Authoritarianism is now a global challenge, Lai said, using as examples Chinese military expansionism, economic coercion and the use of hybrid warfare tactics such as cyberattacks and cognitive warfare. “We are all fully aware that China’s growing authoritarianism will
RECOVERY: Overall, average income across all age groups increased, climbing to a record NT$709,000 last year, on the back of an improved economy, the DGBAS said Taiwanese workers under the age of 30 last year, on average, earned an annual income of NT$545,931 (US$17,044), a new high, as the economy continued to improve, data released by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. That equated to monthly earnings of NT$45,494 per person, and marked an increase from NT$535,667 in 2022, the data showed. In addition to an improved economy, average incomes rose as the unemployment rate declined and the minimum wage rose, the statistics agency said. Overall, average income in Taiwan also hit a new record of NT$709,000 last year, up from NT$704,000 in 2022, the data