Taiwan 台灣

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[...] Thousands of businesses, executives and entrepreneurs [...] rely on the island to turn their AI visions into reality. From Nvidia Corp. and Microsoft Corp. to OpenAI, the world’s AI frontrunners are increasingly turning to Taiwanese companies to fabricate their chips, build their servers and cool their devices. That in turn has made the island’s stock market the hottest major bourse in Asia over the past year, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.

[...]

There are risks for Taiwan. For the first time in decades, an entire technology production ecosystem will be centered not in China but its tiny neighbour. Growing tensions between the US and China may have dissuaded some AI companies from producing hardware in the mainland. Yet the rising importance of Taiwan makes it all the more alluring for Beijing, which has long described the island as a breakaway province it will eventually reclaim.

[...]

The island is now chock-full of lesser-known firms that are just as essential for global AI development. These linchpins include server maker Quanta Computer Inc., power leader Delta Electronics Inc. and Asia Vital Components Co., a pioneer in creating computer cooling systems. Collectively, Taiwanese firms are poised to play an outsized role in an AI market that’s projected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2032.

[...]

As its economy grew, [Taiwanese] companies became more sophisticated manufacturers and began to open factories in mainland China. But they always kept their most advanced techniques at home.

In recent years, the increasingly aggressive US trade sanctions on China have forced companies to scout out alternative production locations, knocking the country out of many supply chains.

In less than two years, for example, those curbs have effectively sidelined China’s AI hardware industry. Taiwan’s exports of servers and graphics cards — the building blocks of data centers for training AI models — in the first nine months of 2024 were more than double China’s output, according to data collected by Bloomberg. That’s a sharp reversal from previous years.

[...]

Hi guys! I’m planning a 3-4 days weekend trip to Taiwan in early December. I haven’t booked a flight yet, so I can land in any other airport that isn’t Taipei, if the location is better. I’d like some more natural/countryside routes to do on a scooter if possible…not sure if away from the crowds is a possibility. My initial idea earlier this year was Taroko mountain/gorge…but yeah, I guess it won’t be in very good condition just yet. I saw that many parts aren’t planned to reopen anytime soon. What would be any good alternatives?

Thanks a lot!

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4250058

[Recently] more than 80 scholars and officials attended a grand ceremony in China to drive home the simple point that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. The event centered on a new book by Taiwanese author Fan Wenyi whose title read like a brawling challenge — Who Says Taiwan is Not Part of China? (谁说台湾不是中国的). According to state media coverage, Fan’s book, which makes the case for reunification, will have “a positive significance in enhancing mutual understanding and trust between compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.”

But a deeper dive behind the headlines pushing this supposedly inspirational book turns up more questions than answers.

The Beijing event, splashed across a number of official media outlets, including the central government’s China Daily and the website of its Taiwan Affairs Office, is in fact a typical case study in how China rolls out propaganda campaigns through a combination of party-state linked activities and state-backed media publicity. Organizations and individuals, like “Taiwanese author Fan Wenyi,” are trotted out as personal and intellectual actors, emerging with their own voices from Chinese civil society. A closer look and these staged events unravel, revealing the party-state actors and agendas just behind.

While [China state-] media coverage presents “Professor Fan Wenyi” as a known scholar born in the city of Hualien in eastern Taiwan, virtually no information is available about the man [...]

Aside from a smattering of official media mentions prior to this book launch [...] Fan Wenyi seems to be a nobody. Last week’s coverage explains that Fan’s mother was an active member of literary societies during the Japanese colonial era in Taiwan, and that she instilled in him a sense of his fundamental Chineseness.

But the scholarship of this “research scholar” is nowhere to be found. Nor is it clear where he was ever a professor. And yet, audiences are meant to be moved by his authoritative declaration: “I am Taiwanese, and I am also Chinese.”

On the question of audience, the even odder fact is that Fan’s book, launched with so much fanfare within a week of Taiwan’s national day holiday (which a stage version taller than a human being), is apparently available nowhere. For starters, bookstores and suppliers in Taiwan, including the well-known Eslite, do not carry the book at all. Even on Douban (豆瓣), China’s popular domestic online book supplier, there is no whiff of Fan’s work. The only online source — oddly for a book meant to “enhance mutual understanding” on both sides of the Taiwan Straits — appears to be Amazon Singapore, where the book is “currently unavailable.”

[...]

The European Commission -for the first time- officially backs Taiwan in its interpretation of UN Resolution 2758. While the EU still supports the “One China” principle, the bloc opposes "any unilateral actions that change the status quo by force or coercion", said Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights.

Resolution 2758 was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1971, It recognized the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It also expelled the then- representatives of Chiang Kai-shek, the former authoritarian regime, whose central government had retreated to Taiwan.

Beijing, however, increasingly claims that Resolution 2758 supports its stance that “Taiwan is part of the PR,” legitimizing its claim over Taiwan, even though the resolution provides no such legal basis, experts and lawmakers have said.

As a result of Beijing’s interpretation of Resolution 2758, however, Taiwan has not seat at the U.N. nor in other international organizations. Lawmakers around the globe have long been criticizing China’s stance and as well as its recent military manoeuvres in the Taiwan Strait and expressing their solidarity with Taiwan as a regular victim of disinformation campaigns and interference by Beijing.

It is for the first time that a member of the Commission officially expressed this opinion, and explicitly mentioning U.N. Resolution 2758. In his speech, Schmit reiterated the regional bloc's long-held "One China" principle, but also emphasized that the EU and Taiwan are "like-minded" and the European Commission opposes "any unilateral actions that change the status quo by force or coercion."

Referring to China’s recent military activities, Schmit said that “tensions in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait have a direct impact on European security and prosperity,” adding that, therefore, the EU has a direct interest in the preservation of the status-quo in the Strait.

“We should take all opportunities to promote a more positive dynamic in cross-Strait relations, which contributes to peace, not only in the region, but also globally,” Schmit said.

Recent developments of U.N. Resolution 2758

Schmit’s speech is the first time that an EU Commissioner officially rejected China’s interpretation of U.N. Resolution 2758, joining Taiwan and the U.S.

In a resolution adopted in December 2023, European lawmakers also confirmed that the EU’s ‘One China policy’ has not changed, but that any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, is not acceptable.

Back in September this year, the Dutch Parliament also rejected China's interpretation of the resolution in its claims over Taiwan and called for an EU-wide effort to support Taiwan's representation.

In August 2024, the Australian parliament also condemned China's use of UN Resolution 2758 by stating that the resolution"does not establish the People’s Republic of China's sovereignty over Taiwan and does not determine the future status of Taiwan in the UN".

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3885525

Taiwan is expected to have access to low earth orbit satellite internet service by the end of the month, a step the government says is crucial in case a Chinese attack cripples the island’s communications.

The forthcoming service is via a contract between Taiwan’s main telecoms company, Chunghwa, and a UK-European company, Eutelsat OneWeb, signed last year, and marks a new milestone in Taiwan’s efforts to address technological vulnerabilities, particularly its internet access, after attempts to get access to Elon Musk’s Starlink service collapsed.

Chunghwa co-president Alex Chien said 24-hour coverage was expected by the end of the month, with commercial access as soon as sufficient bandwidth was reached.

Taiwan is under the threat of attack or invasion by China, which claims historical sovereignty over Taiwan and has vowed to annex it, by military force if necessary. In the meantime it is under a near constant barrage of cyber-attacks, and has had some of its 15 undersea cables connecting it and its outer islands to the world cut multiple times, usually by accidental anchor snags from passing ships.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3659714

Chinese police have detained four workers of the Taiwanese iPhone maker, Foxconn, in circumstances Taipei has described as "strange".

The employees were arrested in Zhengzhou in Henan province on "breach of trust" charges, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement.

[...]

Taiwanese authorities suggested the detentions may be a case of "abuse of power" by Chinese police officers.

And said the case undermines the confidence of businesses operating in China.

In October last year, China's tax and land authorities launched an investigation into the company.

At that time, Foxconn's founder Terry Gou was running as an independent candidate in Taiwan's presidential election.

Taiwan has urged its citizens to "avoid non-essential travel" to the mainland as well as Hong Kong and Macau after China unveiled guidelines in June detailing criminal punishments for what Beijing described as diehard "Taiwan independence" separatists.

[...]

President William Lai has pledged to uphold Taiwan's self-governing status in his most high-profile public address since taking office earlier this year.

In a thinly-veiled reference to China's claim over the island, Lai said he would "uphold the commitment to resist annexation or encroachment upon our sovereignty."

At the same time, Lai promised to maintain "the status quo of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait" and pledged to cooperate with Beijing on issues such as climate change, combating infectious diseases and maintaining regional security.

Responding to Lai's speech, a spokeswoman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it "exposed his intransigent position" on Taiwan independence.

Lai was speaking to a crowd in Taipei to commemorate Taiwan's National Day, only nine days after Communist China celebrated its 75th anniversary.

"The Republic of China and the People's Republic of China are not subordinates to each other," he said, in a reference to the governments of Taipei and Beijing respectively.

"On this land, democracy and freedom are thriving. The People's Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan," he added.

[...]

China is trying to capitalize on the trend of young people dreaming of becoming influencers and training them to be pro-China.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has started offering free influencer training classes in Fujian Province’s Pingtan, which would teach young Taiwanese how to livestream on video platforms such as Douyin (抖音) — turning them into “seeds” for “united front” campaigns, a Taiwanese government official said, who declined to be named.

This is on top of trying to entice Taiwanese to participate in “united front” operations through half-priced cross-strait tour groups, the official said.

The CCP is increasingly focusing its efforts on younger Taiwanese, especially Internet celebrities, they said, citing China’s inviting of several Taiwanese influencers to produce content in Xinjiang and the promotion of youth exchanges in China’s Zhejiang Province as examples.

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The Taiwanese government warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty.

A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon.

A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said.

The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area.

[...]

The Chinese nationals were aware they were contravening the rules when they applied for temporary entry permits based on visiting family members living in Taiwan, it said.

In a separate statement issued yesterday, the Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) denounced the couple, accusing them of “abusing” the immigration system.

[...]

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Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taiwan held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China"

Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day.

A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration.

“Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles.

[...]

“Today is to commemorate Hong Kong’s martyrs. We do not celebrate China’s National Day,” it quoted a demonstrator as saying. “We are in Taiwan, and people are free to express their opinion.”

Taiwanese independence advocate Lee Wen-pin (李文賓) and the man reportedly pushed and slapped each other.

“You cannot touch other people’s belongings... We are asking you to leave now,” Lee said, before he called the police.

The man refused to leave and kept saying that “China has sovereignty over Taiwan,” and that “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.”

“Taiwan belongs to Taiwanese, and Hong Kong belongs to Hong Kongers,” the demonstrators said in response.

Later, police officers arrived at the scene and persuaded the couple to leave.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3385576

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The pager and walkie-talkie explosions that occurred in Lebanon on September 17 and 18 resulted in serious casualties and shocked the world. False information quickly circulated over social media among Chinese language users. [...] For Chinese nationalists, the explosions provided an opportunity to justify the concerns about Western products and demonstrate that only Chinese-made electronic equipment can provide consumer safety.

Several themes emerged from the Chinese disinformation pieces:

1. The scenes that falsely depicted the explosions

2. The incorrect allegation that Taiwan, Israel, Japan, and the United States were part of a conspiracy network

3. Concerns that iPhones could also explode

4. The claim that wealthy Middle Eastern countries have quickly abandoned Western-made electronic devices in favor of Chinese products, particularly those made by Huawei

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It is long past time for Taiwan again to be included in the United Nations. Reasons include the need to address growing military tensions in the Taiwan Strait and to acknowledge Taiwan’s thriving democracy and economic importance.

That economic importance includes Taiwan’s enormous role in global supply chains. It produces more than 90 percent of the world’s high-end semiconductors and a significant portion of the advanced chips that drive the artificial intelligence revolution. Moreover, half of the world’s seaborne trade passes through the Taiwan Strait. Peace and stability around Taiwan has promoted global prosperity.

Meanwhile, China continues to intensify its aggression against Taiwan. Its attempts to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and expand its authoritarian ideology throughout the Indo-Pacific region are a profound threat to peace and security all around the world.

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Since August 28, disinformation has been circulating on social media platforms, Chinese content farms, and Taiwanese news media, claiming that Lai was stranded for one day (some disinformation said two days) in Kinmen because of the People's Liberation Army's exercise encircling Kinmen. Many of the disinformation posts identically referred to Lai as "rampant and arrogant [囂張]" and used the Chinese idiom "catching a turtle in a jar [甕中捉鱉]" to describe how the Liberation Army successfully confined Lai in Kinmen. The pieces further asserted that if the Liberation Army continued the exercise, Lai would only be imprisoned in Kinmen.

These claims were apparently untrue. According to the Taiwan President's office and the Kinmen County government, Lai was back in Taipei around 12:30 pm on the same day and later on met with athletes who were going to compete in the Paris Paralympics. Lai's meeting with the athletes was also broadcast by several news media.

What makes this disinformation particularly intriguing is how Taiwanese political commentators propagated this disinformation claim. These Taiwanese political commentators, who often appear on pro-China TV talk shows or make comments on cross-strait politics on their own online platform channels, were among the first to spread the false claim around the same time in late August.

[...]

**The [...] disinformation claims resonated with the main theme of Chinese propaganda: on the one hand, it denounced the idea of Taiwan's independence and demonized those who defied China; on the other hand, the propaganda was eager to show China's generosity and its congenial relationship with those who are willing to "return to the Motherland." **

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/2894418

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Apparently, AMD has placed a long black sticker on the lower left corner, seemingly to remove mentions of Taiwan. That appears to be convenient timing as the new 7600X3D chips are slated for release in China on September 20, and the country has a history of forbidding mentions of Taiwan on product packaging.

The hidden text shows the origin of the Ryzen processor: “AMD processors are diffused and/or made in one or more of the following countries and/or regions: USA, Germany, Singapore, China, Malaysia, or Taiwan.”

[...]

We can surmise that the company is doing this to soothe Beijing’s ruffled feathers, which claims Taiwan is part of China and has previously slapped import restrictions on products mentioning Taiwan as the place of manufacture.

It isn’t the first time that AMD has seemingly acquiesced to the demands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In January, it removed the ‘Diffused in Taiwan’ silkscreen from the Ryzen 7000 chips. Although the company says it did this to standardize production with the products from its Xilinx acquisition, it does have the convenient side effect of keeping Beijing happy.

[...]

This recent change — adding a sticker that covers ‘Taiwan’ on the box — doesn’t seem to have any other reason except to address the CCP’s likely complaints.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/2806863

The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region.

The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait.

Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the one issued on Wednesday and another in April 2022.

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/2746947

The Chinese government should immediately quash the conviction of and release a Taiwanese political activist who was sentenced to nine years in prison for “separatism,” Human Rights Watch said today. On August 26, 2024, a court in China’s Zhejiang province convicted Yang Chih-yuan (楊智淵), 34, for political activities carried out in Taiwan, a neighboring democracy over which the People’s Republic of China claims sovereignty.

The case is the first known in which the Chinese authorities have charged a Taiwanese national with “separatism” for allegedly seeking to split the country in violation of article 103 of China’s Criminal Law. The law is typically used in politically motivated prosecutions of Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other ethnic groups who are Chinese nationals.

“The Chinese government’s prosecution of Yang Chih-yuan for exercising his basic rights in Taiwan has effectively criminalized being Taiwanese,” said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. “The use of a national security law coupled with an outrageous prison sentence appears to be Beijing’s latest attempt to intimidate the Taiwanese people and reinforce its claims of sovereignty over Taiwan.”

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In response to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's inauguration, the Chinese People's Liberation Army conducted a joint military drill and simulation of an invasion of Taiwan, demonstrating Beijing's firepower and displeasure at perceived threats to the One China principle.

China also expanded its influence operations and AI-generated disinformation campaigns during Taiwan's 2024 election. The overwhelming torrent of disinformation has overwhelmed traditional fact-checking methods in Taiwan, causing distrust in Taiwan's electoral systems and amplifying narratives underscoring the binary choice of peace or war in the Taiwan Strait.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/2611386

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TIDRONE, a threat actor linked to Chinese-speaking groups, targets military-related industry chains in Taiwan

• TIDRONE, an unidentified threat actor linked to Chinese-speaking groups, has demonstrated significant interest in military-related industry chains, especially in the manufacturers of drones’ sector in Taiwan

• The threat cluster uses enterprise resource planning (ERP) software or remote desktops to deploy advanced malware toolsets such as the CXCLNT and CLNTEND.

• CXCLNT has basic upload and download file capabilities, along with features for clearing traces, collecting victim information such as file listings and computer names, and downloading additional portable executable (PE) files for execution

• CLNTEND is a newly discovered remote access tool (RAT) that was used this April and supports a wider range of network protocols for communication

• During the post-exploitation phase, telemetry logs revealed user account control (UAC) bypass techniques, credential dumping, and hacktool usage to disable antivirus products.

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While the disinformation pieces attempted to stoke people's dissatisfaction with the military drills, some used the opportunity to raise skepticism in the United States.

Videos on Facebook and LINE claimed that "the United States sold expired weapons to Taiwan" and referenced the example of the recent Pingtung military drill in August, in which some firearms provided to Taiwan by Americans failed to strike targets. The TFC determined that the videos were accurate, but the claim was misleading. According to the military, the purpose of this drill was to clear the almost outdated ammunition while training soldiers with less experience. Military specialists also confirmed that the US did not sell unusable weapons to Taiwan.

However, this assertion echoed another piece spread in July, which claimed that "according to US laws, the US can only sell obsolete weapons to Taiwan" because Americans do not want China to get US weapons if Taiwan loses the war. The disinformation that the US provided useless weaponry to Taiwan has once again repeated the theme of skepticism toward the US that has hung over Taiwan in recent years.

Everything is about how great the Chinese military is

The US skepticism narrative also appeared in the disinformation pieces centering on the conflicts between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. Although in the past months, the US was not directly involved in the confrontations, rumors claimed that China and the US started "an electronic war" over the South China Sea. According to the false claim, the conflict caused a significant disruption to GPS signals in the Northern Philippines. Eventually, China defeated the US in this war, making the US aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt malfunction and escape.

The claim described an event that never happened. However, it has spread rapidly on Chinese social media and websites, as well as among Taiwanese social media users via LINE and Facebook, and has reverberated through Taiwanese news media and talk shows, with the underlying message being that the Chinese military is strong enough to beat the US.

Different stories reiterated the same lessons

Overall, military disinformation was very active this summer. While some disinformation pieces capitalized on the most recent developments in military drills or conflicts, others were seen before. Nevertheless, they all repeated similar lessons, which extolled the power of the Chinese military while undermining the Taiwanese’s trust in their own and the US. We urge researchers and policymakers to be aware of and examine the phenomenon of repeating themes constantly reinforced with old and new claims. Furthermore, more attention should be devoted to the consequences of disinformation pieces that continuously impart the same lessons to audiences over time.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday hinted that Taiwan might join forces with the Philippines to protect navigational freedoms, days after Beijing blocked Philippine supply ships in the South China Sea.

The ministry made the comment when asked whether Taipei would be willing to join forces with the Philippines to protect the latter from increasingly aggressive activities by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy and China Coast Guard.

Taiwan “is willing to cooperate with any other nation with shared values in areas of common concern, including maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacfic region,” it wrote in a statement.

[Edit typo.]

The Solomon Islands, acting under explicit instructions from Beijing, is aiming to prevent Taiwan from attending the next forum to be held in Honiara.

Australia has voiced support for Taiwan despite the Solomon Islands’ plan to undermine Taiwan’s status as an observer at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

The forum is one of the most important international organizations in the Pacific region, made up of 18 member states, including Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan’s Pacific allies, associate members and observers, along with “dialogue partners” such as the US, Japan, Canada and the EU.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/2260155

The US encourages “all countries to expand engagement with Taiwan,” a US Department of State official said on Saturday, after Palau’s president said that the Micronesian nation has faced economic coercion from China over its ties to Taiwan.

“Taiwan is a reliable, like-minded and democratic partner, and its partnerships — official and unofficial — around the world provide significant and sustainable benefits to the citizens of those countries,” a State Department spokesperson said. “We encourage all countries to expand engagement with Taiwan.”

Earlier this month, Washington condemned Beijing’s “predatory economic activities.”

Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr on Aug. 14 said that “China has openly told us [Palau’s relationship with Taiwan] is illegal and we should not recognize Taiwan.”

U.N. Resolution 2758 has been the subject of a fierce back and forth between China, the U.S. and Taiwan. What is it, and why is it suddenly on everyone’s lips?