Officials probe alleged vote-buying as prosecutor calls for whistle-blowersBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterJudicial authorities have over the past few days carried out searches and questioned suspects over alleged election irregularities in Keelung and Hsinchu City, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung and Yunlin counties. In Keelung, prosecutors were investigating a complaint that a borough warden candidate surnamed Lin (林) had been allegedly handing out NT$1,000 to people in exchange for their votes. Separately, the nation’s top judicial officials have ordered district prosecutors’ offices nationwide to set up contact centers to monitor election irregularities. The contact centers would be open around the clock for people to report vote-buying and other suspected illegal activities. The government is to hand out financial rewards of up to NT$10 million to whistle-blowers, depending on the scope of vote-buying, Lin said.

Hon Hai, Vedanta plant could be running in 2025Staff writer with CNA, NEW DELHIA joint venture by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and India’s Vedanta Ltd to build a semiconductor plant in Gujarat state, India, could start producing 12-inch wafers using the 28-nanometer process in 2025, a Vedanta executive said on Sunday. Akarsh Hebbar, Vedanta’s global managing director of display and semiconductor business, on Sunday offered new details on what the project would entail. Chen Lu-tao, an official at Hon Hai Precision Industry Co’s operations in Chennai, India, left, and Akarsh Hebbar, Vedanta Ltd’s global managing director of display and semiconductor business, pose for a photograph in New Delhi on Sunday. Photo: CNAThe companies are looking at Dholera, where they are close to finalizing a 162-hectare plot for the plant, Hebbar said. Media reports last month said that Hon Hai, known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), would act as a technical partner, while funding would come mainly from Vedanta, a mining conglomerate that has recently sought to diversify into chip manufacturing.

The ‘avenger of evil’ in TaiwanThe yearly Durga Puja held by the Indian community in Taiwan demonstrates the deepening cultural ties between the two nationsBy Rup Narayan Das / Contributing WriterThe celebration of Durga Puja in the New Taipei City Library in Sijhih District (汐止) early this month shows once again the deepening cultural and educational ties between Taiwan and India. Illustrating the deepening ties, Sujeet Kumar, an Indian member of parliament and Taiwan enthusiast, also attended the festival, which had extra significance due to it being recognized for its cultural value by the UN. Photo courtesy of Nandana BiswassDurga is an important Hindu goddess and is worshiped as the symbol of the triumph of good over evil. The relationship between civil society and coverage in the media both in India and Taiwan also raised awareness among the people and empathy for each other has grown phenomenally. Rup Narayan Das is a Taiwan Fellow at National Chung-Hsing University and author of the book ‘Hong Kong Conundrum: Pangs of Transition.’

Hounded at home, China’s video game companies welcomed across EuropeAFP, PARISChina is investing billions in Europe’s video game industry, but analysts have warned that there could be trouble along the road unless regulators start to take stricter notice. Europe is embroiled in long-running disputes with Beijing over trade, environment, education, raw materials and intellectual property — but so far video games are not part of the fight. As Beijing tightens up on the video game industry at home, China’s tech giants are looking to make investments overseas — prompting concerns ranging from data security to limits on creative freedom. The Chinese government has identified video games as a potential threat not only to state power, but also to the well-being of citizens. As those foreign companies were unlikely to find any other way into China, they welcomed the investment and new revenue streams.

Foreign brokerages mixed on TSMCWEAK DEMAND: European and US brokerages warned of uncertainties for the firm, while a Japanese brokerage said that TSMC would continue to outperform its peersStaff writer, with CNAForeign brokerages gave mixed reactions after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) cut its capital expenditure budget for this year by about 10 to 18 percent, due to short-term market uncertainty. TSMC during an investors’ conference on Thursday reduced its capital expenditure forecast to US$36 billion from an earlier estimate of US$40 billion to US$44 billion. Separately, the US International Trade Commission on Friday said that it would investigate TSMC over accusations that it infringed on patents held by New York-based Daedalus Prime LLC. Intel Corp developed the patents in question, which Daedalus Prime then obtained, the reports said. The agency is also investigating patent infringement claims made by Daedalus Prime against Mercedes-Benz USA LLC, NXP USA Inc and Avnet Inc.

Xi’s warning on Taiwan intended for US: experts‘UNSTABLE RELATIONS’: Beijing perceives challenges surrounding Taiwan as being inseparably related to its strategic competition with the US, a local professor saidBy Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNAChinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) remarks about Taiwan at the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 20th National Congress yesterday were intended as a warning to the US, Taiwanese academics said. Xi’s comments were meant to draw a red line around Taiwan for the US’ awareness and to serve as a warning to Washington, he said. Beijing sees the issue of Taiwan as being inseparably related to its strategic competition with the US, Wang said. “This shows that Taiwan is no longer seeing the issue of Taiwan as being only about the cross-strait relationship. For Beijing, the Taiwan issue is now embedded in the US-China relationship,” he said.

Malaysian student likely strangled to death, police sayStaff Writer, with CNAA 24-year-old Malaysian student who was found dead on Thursday in her rented apartment on Dadong Road in Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) was likely strangled to death, police said yesterday as they awaited the results of an autopsy. The student’s boyfriend at about 6pm on Thursday called the police, saying that he had found her dead in her apartment, police said. Chinese-language media reported that the boyfriend, a 30-year-old Taiwanese surnamed Chen (陳), before he lost consciousness allegedly confessed to police that he had killed Chai. Police said an initial investigation found that Chai had been working part-time as a model and as a livestreamer on a social entertainment platform. Chen has regained consciousness and was in a stable condition in hospital, police said, adding that they are planning to question him about Chai’s death in the coming days.

China might target border reopeningDOUBLE STANDARD: Beijing expects Taipei to allow its citizens to enter the nation without quarantine while it still subjects Taiwanese to the ordeal, an official said Beijing is likely to cite Taiwan’s different border policies for people from China, Hong Kong and Macau as a “double standard” as part of its cognitive warfare efforts, a source said yesterday. The government is on Thursday to end mandatory quarantine for incoming travelers, expect those from Hong Kong, Macau and China, due to national security concerns. Beijing is likely to cite the discrepancy as a double standard and say that the Democratic Progressive Party administration “irrationally opposes” anything China-related and “as a matter of course,” the source said. The government last month announced that starting on Sept. 29, people from ChinaBy Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington

Strait transits key: US commanderTAKING A STAND: Washington has a responsibility to Taiwan, said the commander of the US Seventh Fleet, calling China’s response to Pelosi’s visit ‘irresponsible’By Yang Cheng-yu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerUS Seventh Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Karl Thomas on Friday reiterated the importance of conducting freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait, as he recognized Australia and Canada for their transits. “It’s very important that we don’t accept [China’s claims] and that’s why do we do freedom of navigation operations,” he said. Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer the USS Kidd transits the Taiwan Strait on Aug. 27 last year. Arleigh Burke-class destroyer the USS Higgins and Canadian Halifax-class frigate the HMCS Vancouver traveled through the Taiwan Strait on Sept. 20, while Australian Majestic-class carrier the HMAS Melbourne sailed through the Taiwan Strait in September 2018. Freedom-of-navigation operations are not all aimed at China, but are carried out to deter excessive claims by any nation, Thomas said.

Asian stocks gain after Wall St swingsAP, BEIJINGAsian stock markets on Friday surged after Wall Street on Thursday rebounded from a slump caused by worse-than-forecast inflation numbers. Markets in Taipei, Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai all rose a day after Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index tumbled following reports that the US consumer price index for last month rose 8.2 percent. The market benchmark quickly rebounded to end up 2.6 percent for its biggest daily gain in two-and-a-half years. Also on Friday, China reported consumer inflation rose to a 29-month high of 2.8 percent last month from the previous month’s 2.5 percent. Prices last month rose 0.6 percent from the previous month.

India sells sugar in ‘golden opportunity’ amid tight demandBloombergSugar makers in India are signing deals with traders and exporters on optimism that the government would soon announce overseas sales quotas for the season that starts this month. “There is a shortage of white sugar and the market is tight globally.”Workers load sugarcane onto a trailer in a field in Gove village in India’s western state of Maharashtra on Nov. 10, 2018. The refined variety is fetching 38.5 rupees from overseas buyers compared with a local market rate of 36 rupees, he said. Among destinations for raw sugar are Indonesia and Bangladesh, while low quality white sugar can be sold to the Horn of Africa region, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan for direct consumption, with good demand now, Shaikh said. Domestic sugar production is forecast at 35.5 million tonnes this year, while consumption is seen at 27.5 million, the Indian Sugar Mills Association said.

The new policy requires inbound travelers to undergo seven days of “self-disease prevention” after arrival. The Explorer Dream cruise ship is pictured at the Port of Keelung in an undated photograph. Seventy-nine cruise ships, carrying about 340,000 people between them, plan to dock at the port next year, she said, adding that the government would help cruise ship operators to prosper once more. To attract more tourists on cruises, Taiwan International Ports Corp updated its software and hardware during the pandemic, and would welcome visitors with high-quality services, she said. Symptoms of all infections with Omicron subvariants are usually similar — coughing, fever, a runny nose and sore throat, he said.

TPP’s Tsai Pi-ru resigns despite denying plagiarismDEGREE REVOKED: The outgoing lawmaker said she was unable to adhere to academic standards when she cited Facebook posts in her master’s thesisBy Wang Chien-hao and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) yesterday resigned after her alma mater found that her master’s thesis contained plagiarized sections. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Tsai Pi-ru yesterday defends herself against allegations of plagiarism at a news conference in Taipei. Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei TimesEarlier yesterday, Tsai denied the accusations, telling a news conference that the thesis was her own work. “Otherwise, it will be impossible for anyone to have any substantive discussion on whether Tsai Pi-ru was at fault. Tsai Pi-ru said she believes the parts of the thesis on daycare and the aging population was deemed problematic.

New exhibition explores a century of SurrealismArt show exploring the complex evolution of the iconic movement opened yesterday in LondonAFP, LONDONFrom Salvador Dali’s lip-shaped sofa to the dreamlike video clips of Icelandic artist Bjork, Surrealism has influenced design for almost a century. The complex evolution is now being explored in a new exhibition — “Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924 to Today” — which opened yesterday at London’s Design Museum. FURNITURE, FILM, FASHIONBorn in literature before spreading to visual art, Surrealism declined as an artistic movement in the early 1950s but it survived in design. In fact, some of its creations “seem to have really found their moment in this century,” Johnson said. TURBULENT TIMESThe exhibition argues that Surrealism, a reaction to the horrors of World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic, has undergone a resurgence in turbulent times.

The remarks referred to Legislator Anne Kao (高虹安), the TPP’s Hsinchu mayoral candidate, who has been accused of plagiarism. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Deputy Secretary-General Sidney Lin speaks to a reporter at DPP headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday. Lin said that KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) should speak up in support of the party’s Hsinchu mayoral candidate, Lin Keng-jen (林耕仁). The mayoral race might also influence the presidential election in two years, Sidney Lin said. Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) is rallying support in the “tight” race, Sidney Lin said, adding that the race would be open until election day.