This Week in Taiwan 1022-1028
October 20: After concluding his visit to China, Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, posted on his personal blog on the European External Action Service website. In the blog post, he stated that China should not use intimidation or force to disrupt the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, and Taiwan should not declare independence unilaterally. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded that the Republic of China (Taiwan) is already an independent country and does not need to declare its independence.
October 23: Communist China has taken measures such as tax inspections against the Foxconn subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Company. According to related reports, several companies were inspected, but only Foxconn was exposed due to political considerations. Insiders believe that this is a warning to Foxconn because it has continued to move some production lines, including those for Apple iPhones, out of China.
Although Hon Hai immediately issued a notice emphasizing that compliance with laws and regulations is a basic principle of the group worldwide and that it will actively cooperate with relevant agencies with their operations, the company's stock price plummeted after the news broke, and its market capitalization evaporated by more than NT$180 billion in one day (about US$5.5 billion).
October 24: In March, the police uncovered an underground arms factory from which a large quantity of military supplies had flowed out. The prosecution traced the source and found that many members of the Marine Corps 66th Brigade were suspected of selling military supplies, including even the most advanced weapon systems such as missile launchers, to gang-run arms depots. The prosecution interrogated five officers implicated in the case. One was released after questioning; two were released on bail; and two were detained.
October 24: Talks to advance the proposed alliance between the Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) have reached an impasse. KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih stated for the first time that he does not insist on running as a presidential candidate and is willing to be a running mate with TPP presidential candidate Ko Wen-je. According to Hou, the ticket may be "Hou-Ko" or "Ko-Hou," but the two must be on the same ballot to form a KMT-TPP alliance. Hou demanded that Ko respond as soon as possible; Ko criticized Hou's approach as similar to coercing marriage.
October 24: The Office of Trade Negotiations, Executive Yuan, announced that negotiations on the Taiwan-Canada Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Arrangement (FIPA) have been completed. Minister without Portfolio and Trade Representative John Deng stated that he hopes to complete the signing before the end of the year. According to Deng, the agreement demonstrates that Taiwan can accept high trade standards and will help Taiwan join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
October 26: Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chao Tian-lin was exposed to have had an extra-marital affair years ago with a mainland Chinese woman. Since Chao serves as convener of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan, attention has been paid to whether sensitive classified information has been leaked. Deputy Director-General Hsu Hsi-hsiang of the National Security Bureau stated that more details remain to be learned. The Taiwan High Prosecutors Office confirmed that the case will be investigated separately and did not rule out Chao being subpoenaed to explain the matter.
October 26: The second-phase urban expansion plan for the Central Taiwan Science Park, related to the advanced production of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), failed to pass preliminary review at the central government level. The Ministry of the Interior put forward six major improvement suggestions, calling for a re-valuation of the public benefit and necessity of land expropriation. TSMC did not respond.
According to media reports, the Central Taiwan Science Park plant will be used for 2nm expansion. However, if the company is unable to obtain additional land for the 1.4nm process, this plant may also be used for 1.4nm.
October 27: The National Development Council (NDC) released a comprehensive judgment score of 17 points for the business climate in September, an increase of two points over the previous month. The light signal changed from blue to yellow and blue, ending a streak of 10 blue lights since November last year. The NDC stated that the trend of economic recovery has been set, but there are still geo-political risks such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and further changes remain to be observed.