Enacting fraud law cannot waitBy Lo Cheng-chung 羅承宗The 11th Legislative Yuan on Wednesday ended its first session, passing new laws against fraud, including amendments to provisions of the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法). The new laws were passed quickly after three readings and without much debate. The Executive Yuan had passed the draft laws in May and sent them to the Legislative Yuan for review. However, this also highlights how dissatisfied Taiwanese are with widespread fraud activities. How can fraud activities be effectively managed and eliminated in this era of transnational social platforms?

EU member states must stand with TaiwanBy Matteo AngioliOn June 27 and 28 the heads of government of the EU held the first meeting of the European Council after the EU elections. The EU must stand with Taiwan by increasing trade and facilitating Taipei’s meaningful participation in international organizations to nurture a global community of peace built on the power of deterrence and democratic universal values. A resolution adopted by the European Parliament in December called on member states to “facilitate and encourage cultural and educational exchanges in order to promote scientific and academic collaborations in the context of the broader trade and investment relationship.”This is the path that EU member states should confirm for this new legislature. The European Council conclusions of June 30 last year read: “The European Union is concerned about growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait. The European Council opposes any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion.

Chiu made the comment at a conference in Taipei on China’s Third Plenum. The Chinese official meeting, typically held once every five years, is today scheduled to conclude, with Chinese officials expected to publish records of the proceedings in the following days. Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng speaks at a forum on the Chinese Communist Party’s Third Plenum in Taipei yesterday. Citing China’s official directive to deepen reforms and modernization, he said China’s important economic indicators are not likely to improve in the short term. China’s problems would likely prove intractable for at least two decades, as they were symptoms of political interference in the economy, Ming said, adding that Beijing is at risk of creating a caged economy.

TSMC projects more than 25% growthEXPECTATIONS: The firm, which is on track to outpace global foundry industry revenue growth, said it expects constrained advanced process capacity amid stronger AI demandBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday increased its projected revenue growth for this year to above 25 percent, as stronger-than-expected demand for premium smartphones and artificial intelligence (AI) devices are to drive greater utilization of cutting-edge 3-nanometer and 5-nanometer chips. In April TSMC estimated 21 to 24 percent annual growth. The firm’s revenue growth is on track to greatly outpace the global foundry industry, which is expected to rise about 10 percent this year. Advanced packing capacity would continue to be constrained through next year, even though TSMC plans to more than double its chip-on-wafer-on-substrate capacity next year, he said. For this quarter, TSMC expects revenue to reach an all-time high, expanding by 7.59 percent to 11.43 percent sequentially to between US$22.4 billion and US$23.2 billion compared with US$20.82 billion last quarter.

Committee unveils investment plansDEVELOPMENT PATH: The committee approved a proposal to teach 200,000 people artificial intelligence skills and attract 120,000 foreign experts, the premier saidBy Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNAThe Economic Development Committee yesterday detailed its plans and drafted a proposal aiming to attract domestic and international investment into vital industries, which are valued at NT$3 trillion to NT$4 trillion (US$92 billion to US$123 billion). If approved, the proposal would require drafting new laws to ensure that the Grand Taiwan Investment policy is launched successfully, Cho said. Photo: CNAThe committee also passed a proposal to establish an Asian asset management center with Taiwanese characteristics, Cho said. The program would continue a 2020 program to improve children’s medical care, which would end this year. Personnel training on the handling of newborns, and children’s cancer, severe and genetic-related cases would be prioritized, the ministry said.

However, Taiwanese “fellow travelers” of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) who oppose Taiwanese independence and promote unification are keen to speak on the Chinese government’s behalf. The song and dance made by “fellow travelers” on both sides of the Taiwan Strait stems from their shared nationalistic tendencies. On June 21, China issued “22 guidelines” about punishing Taiwanese independence activists, with severe penalties, including the death sentence. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said that the Chinese authorities would track down “die-hard Taiwan independence separatists” wherever they might be. Times have changed, and Beijing has long since denied the existence of the median line of the Taiwan Strait or any tacit agreement that such a line exists.

“We are at a moment where clean energy growth is larger than demand growth,” said Bernice Lee, research director at international affairs think tank Chatham House. If China’s rapid deployment of solar and wind continues, the country’s carbon emissions are “likely to continue falling, making 2023 the peak year,” Asia Society Policy Institute senior fellow Lauri Myllyvirta said in a report last week. Yet the trajectory for China’s emissions would depend on the government’s response to a slowing pace of growth, and whether it continues to pursue Xi’s long-term objective of prioritizing higher-tech industries. Authorities would also have to reconfigure China’s electricity system to address grid limitations that mean a small, but rising volume of wind and solar power is going to waste. About 3.3 percent of solar generation was curtailed this year through May, compared with 2 percent in the same period last year.

Trump’s pick for VP says China is US’ ‘biggest threat’BloombergFormer US president Donald Trump’s choice of US Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate makes his break with the foreign policy old guard of his party complete. Vance even went so far as to brand China the biggest threat to the US in one of his first interviews since being named Trump’s running mate, underscoring the likely hawkish stance of their administration toward Beijing if elected. Vance, right, greets attendees on the first day of the Republican National Convention at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Monday. Vance’s views would be a boon to Taiwan and other Asian nations, which have warned about growing Chinese encroachment.

Conflicts would involve Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Japan, Mongolia and Russia. Given the chronological order of the six wars, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) must win the Taiwan conflict to achieve its full set of goals. Rather than a full-scale military engagement with India, China plans to launch a lightning-fast attack on Arunachal Pradesh. In the sixth and final war, China takes on Russia, the world’s No. If China loses the war for Taiwan, the other wars would be postponed, if for no other reason than because the war with Japan depends on China already holding Taiwan.

China’s border dispute with IndiaBy Khedroob ThondupThe Sino-Indian border dispute remains one of the most complex and enduring border issues in the world. This op-ed explores the historical and geopolitical nuances that contribute to this unresolved border dispute. The crux of the Sino-Indian border dispute lies in the differing interpretations of historical boundaries. The lack of a mutually recognized legal framework, such as the McMahon Line for India, and China’s insistence on historical claims complicate the dispute. The Sino-Indian border dispute over Arunachal Pradesh stands out as an unresolved issue in China’s border history due to its unique historical, cultural and geopolitical complexities.

Revisiting the ‘five principles’ of XiBy Gerrit van der WeesOn Friday last week at an event to mark the 70th anniversary of the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence,” Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General-Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平) gave a speech highlighting the importance of the five principles for China’s relations with other countries. The five principles are: mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty; mutual non-aggression; mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs; equality and cooperation for mutual benefit; and peaceful coexistence. However, there is a problem: Xi does not apply the principles, even in relations with the countries with which they were originally agreed to. It would be good if Xi not only talked about the five principles, but also implemented them faithfully. It would even be better if the rulers in Beijing applied the five principles to relations with Taiwan.

The probe, the first using the controversial powers, would investigate allegations that the government influenced the NCC to approve Mirror Media’s application to establish Mirror TV. The task force was authorized to start its investigation yesterday and continue until Dec. 31, a deadline that can be extended if task force members consent, the motion says. Established in March, the Transportation Committee’s investigative task force said its mandate has ended, effective immediately, adding that it would turn over all its findings. The committee’s task force said that the NCC was uncooperative throughout the investigation and had used technicalities to delay the process. The government’s establishing three separate committees to investigate one media company was unprecedented and harms journalistic liberties, the channel said, referring to the committee formed in March, a task force that TPP Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said he would establish and the current special cross-committee task force.

CDC reports 932 COVID hospitalizations, 64 deathsFLU CONTINUES: Hospitals reported 101,091 visits for flu-like illnesses last week, while 68 severe cases and 16 flu-related deaths were also reported, the CDC saidBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported 932 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and 64 related deaths for last week, adding that the number of people who had contracted new SARS-CoV-2 subvariants KP.2 and LB.1 has increased. The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 increased from 815 in the previous week to 932 last week, while 90 percent of the 64 deceased were aged 65 or older, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. JN.1 was still the dominant variant among local and imported cases in the past four weeks, while KP.2 was the second-most common, Lin said. One of the COVID-19 related deaths last week was a teenage boy with epilepsy, who did not receive the updated vaccine, Lin said. Flu-induced pneumonia is more common, but complications of encephalitis and myocarditis at the same time are relatively rare, he said.

Ko Wen-je’s bad or daft historical referencesBy Hong Tsun-ming 康駿銘Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), whose online influence has waned, has made another startling remark. Most historical events had their distal causes, proximal causes and triggers, rather than being isolated events that happened all of a sudden. This sequence of events was the key to Hitler’s monopoly of power and the death of the Weimar Republic. In each case, China’s rulers use one-sided, decontextualized and unsubstantiated statements to fan up populist support for whatever they do. The silliest label the two parties use is “green communist.” If the KMT and the TPP think communism is so evil, why do they keep sucking up to the Chinese Communist Party?

Traveler with name similar to TSP lawmaker questioned in HKBy Lin Nan-ku and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerA Taiwanese traveler whose name sounds similar to former Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP) legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) was reportedly held and questioned when entering Hong Kong. Police officers walk past the China and Hong Kong flags as the territory marks the 27th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule in Hong Kong today. Photo: APDemocratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) on Saturday reiterated the story to reporters, saying it does not matter whether traveling through China, Hong Kong or Macau, they all pose a danger. The comments come after Beijing announced new legal guidelines aimed at punishing “Taiwanese independence diehards” with penalties as severe as execution. Taipei on Thursday last week raised its travel advisory for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange,” suggesting against nonessential travel.