One day after he withdrew from the Yunlin County commissioner primary, former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Hsu Shu-po (許舒博) reportedly became a frontrunner for the next chairperson of Taipei Financial Center Corp (台北金融大樓公司), operator of Taipei 101.
Vice Premier Paul Chiu (邱正雄) confirmed a report in yesterday’s Chinese-language United Daily News, saying that the Executive Yuan had “finalized” Hsu’s nomination.
Chiu said that the Ministry of Finance, which is in charge of the government’s shares of the skyscraper complex in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), had already made the suggestion to the executive board of the company.
The Ministry of Finance controls 44 percent of the shares in the Taipei Financial Center.
A few hours later, however, Executive Yuan Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said that Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) had not approved Hsu’s nomination.
“The Ministry of Finance did make the suggestion, but the premier hasn’t approved the appointment. The proposal is still sitting in the Executive Yuan,” Su said.
Hsu’s nomination sparked criticism from legislators after it was widely reported by cable TV stations and the Central News Agency.
Some legislators said the government offered the chairmanship to Hsu as a reward for his support of independent Legislator Chang Li-shan’s (張麗善) bid to run in the Yunlin Country commissionership election at the end of the year.
Chang Li-shan’s brother Chang Jung-wei (張榮味), a major figure in Yunlin County’s political scene, is believed to be an influential figure in the election.
Earlier in the day, Hsu said the premier had asked Executive Yuan Secretary-General Hsueh Hsiang-chuan (薛香川) to set up an appointment with him, as Liu wished to talk to Hsu after he withdrew from the primary.
After Chiu’s announcement, Hsu said he would spare no effort to become Taipei Financial Center chairman.
Approached for comment, KMT Legislator Shyu Jong-shyoung (徐中雄) said he was “surprised and shocked” to learn of Hsu’s nomination.
Shyu said he had to remind Hsu that it might not be a positive development if he were appointed Taipei Financial Center chairman.
Shyu did not elaborate.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) is expected to miss the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump on Monday, bucking a trend among high-profile US technology leaders. Huang is visiting East Asia this week, as he typically does around the time of the Lunar New Year, a person familiar with the situation said. He has never previously attended a US presidential inauguration, said the person, who asked not to be identified, because the plans have not been announced. That makes Nvidia an exception among the most valuable technology companies, most of which are sending cofounders or CEOs to the event. That includes
TARIFF TRADE-OFF: Machinery exports to China dropped after Beijing ended its tariff reductions in June, while potential new tariffs fueled ‘front-loaded’ orders to the US The nation’s machinery exports to the US amounted to US$7.19 billion last year, surpassing the US$6.86 billion to China to become the largest export destination for the local machinery industry, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機械公會) said in a report on Jan. 10. It came as some manufacturers brought forward or “front-loaded” US-bound shipments as required by customers ahead of potential tariffs imposed by the new US administration, the association said. During his campaign, US president-elect Donald Trump threatened tariffs of as high as 60 percent on Chinese goods and 10 percent to 20 percent on imports from other countries.
Taiwanese manufacturers have a chance to play a key role in the humanoid robot supply chain, Tongtai Machine and Tool Co (東台精機) chairman Yen Jui-hsiung (嚴瑞雄) said yesterday. That is because Taiwanese companies are capable of making key parts needed for humanoid robots to move, such as harmonic drives and planetary gearboxes, Yen said. This ability to produce these key elements could help Taiwanese manufacturers “become part of the US supply chain,” he added. Yen made the remarks a day after Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) are jointly
MARKET SHIFTS: Exports to the US soared more than 120 percent to almost one quarter, while ASEAN has steadily increased to 18.5 percent on rising tech sales The proportion of Taiwan’s exports directed to China, including Hong Kong, declined by more than 12 percentage points last year compared with its peak in 2020, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday last week. The decrease reflects the ongoing restructuring of global supply chains, driven by escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Data compiled by the ministry showed China and Hong Kong accounted for 31.7 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales last year, a drop of 12.2 percentage points from a high of 43.9 percent in 2020. In addition to increasing trade conflicts between China and the US, the ministry said
RSS