President Lai Ching-te recognized the reality of the new state of U.S.-China relations, expressing hope that Taiwan not become a bargaining chip in forthcoming negotiations. |
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National Day Address: Taiwan Should Not Be Variable in U.S.-China Relations
by Chou Yu-cheng
Following two meetings between President Donald Trump of the United States and Chinese President Xi Jinping this year, a pattern of "mutual management" between the United States and China, the world's two major powers, has become increasingly clear, while Taiwan's position and room to articulate its views have been constrained. In his National Day address, President Lai Ching-te emphasized that Taiwan welcomes dialogue between the United States and China to manage their competition, but would never tolerate distortions of World War II history. On the one hand, President Lai forcefully challenged mainland China's erroneous narrative of World War II. On the other, given international realities, he sought to prevent Taiwan from becoming a variable in U.S.-China relations, particularly as Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi may meet again before the end of the year, thereby avoiding Taiwan becoming a bargaining chip at the negotiating table.
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Some 400,000 comments reveal political traffic war, showcasing how algorithms can manipulate public opinion while marginalizing public policy. |
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Chiang's Re-Election Bid: Algorithms Distort Taiwan's Democracy
On the evening of October 3, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an published a Facebook post criticizing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) mayoral candidate Shen Po-yang's previous remarks on drug harm reduction policies. What appeared to be an ordinary exchange of attacks in an election campaign triggered a tidal wave of comments in an extraordinarily short period. The number surpassed the historical threshold of 377,000 comments recorded by Guinness World Records for the most comments on a single Facebook post within 24 hours.
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Elon Musk’s plan to build a wafer fab signals new chip dynamics in which Taiwan’s semiconductor advantage faces a serious test. |
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Musk's Plan to Build Wafer Fab Reshapes Global Chip Landscape
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently confirmed that his Terafab semiconductor manufacturing project is in discussions with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) over potential cooperation. In the past, the semiconductor industry's fortunes were often assessed based on market conditions for smartphones, personal computers, and automobiles. Today, the rules of the game have changed. Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers have emerged as a new source of demand, driving rapid growth in demand for GPUs and high-bandwidth memory (HBM), while increasing the need for advanced manufacturing and packaging capacity.
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The incumbent KMT mayor’s lead over his DPP challenger in Taipei has narrowed to just 8 percentage points. |
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October 2:
Premier Cho Jung-tai, before the general interpellation session, displayed his mobile phone standby screen in the Legislative Yuan chamber showing support for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate. Opposition parties accused Premier Cho of violating administrative neutrality. |
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October 3:
Independent technology journalist Tim Culpan reported that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is evaluating cooperation with Tesla founder Elon Musk’s mega wafer fab project, Terafab, to assist in operating a fab in Texas. Musk later confirmed on X that discussions are underway. |
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October 4:
China Times reported that the United States has suggested Taiwan’s Armed Forces established a third set of intelligence seats in command posts. This would ensure command and communications remain uninterrupted if both primary and auxiliary posts were attacked. The proposal has been adopted by Taiwan’s General Staff Headquarters and is under planning. |
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October 5:
With artificial intelligence (AI) growth driving up electricity consumption, the Taiwan Power Company plans to introduce “differential electricity pricing,” requiring semiconductor and AI data centers to bear accelerated depreciation costs. Media also reported Taipower has a backup plan to demand super-users like TSMC fund new power plants.
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October 6:
Minister Hsu Chia-ching of the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) faced repeated accusations of abusing privileges, including allegedly allowing her 14-year-old son to pose as a photographer and accompany her on official trips. Based on allegations of corruption and illegal gains, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office referred the case to the Agency Against Corruption, Ministry of Justice. Hsu’s resignation was accepted. |
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October 7:
Micron’s Taoyuan union announced voting results: nearly 90 percent of members supported a strike, marking the first time a high-tech industry union in Taiwan has obtained strike rights. A joint surprise strike with Micron’s Taichung union is not ruled out. Industry observers worry this could trigger a new wave of memory chip shortages. |
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October 8:
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an unveiled his policy to relocate Songshan Airport, proposing to release 300 hectares of land to build a “Taipei AI Park.” The project is estimated to generate NT$12 trillion (about US$375.6 billion) in output value and create 65,000 jobs. |
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October 8:
The Taipei mayoral election has entered a heated stage. TVBS released poll: incumbent Mayor Chiang Wan-an has 49 percent support, while DPP candidate Shen Po-yang has 41 percent. The gap has narrowed from 28 percentage points in late May to just 8 points.
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