countries: 中國 香港

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CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said

The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday.

The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital.

The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the report said.

Pharma Logistics is also one of the key contractors of medical drug distribution in Taipei, New Taipei City and Keelung, it reported, adding that the company’s cold chain logistics center in New Taipei City’s Sijhih District (汐止) is responsible for the storage and delivery of the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) disease prevention resources.

Kerry Logistics is affiliated with Hong Kong’s KLN Logistics Group (香港嘉里物流) and KHL Holding (嘉里控股), and has cross-shareholdings with China’s SF Holding Co (中國順豐控股), the magazine said.

SF Holding is China’s biggest logistics company, and it acquired Kerry Logistics in 2021, it added.

KHL Holding chairman Kuok Khoon-hua (郭孔華) has been a member of the CPPCC Beijing Municipal Committee since 2023, and his sister Kuok Hui-kwong (郭惠光) is a member of the CPPCC Shanghai Committee, the magazine said.

SF Holding has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the PLA Air Force, and is incorporated in the logistics network of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “military-civil fusion” strategy, it added.

In response to concerns about the potential national security threat, the official said that Taiwan would bolster its security check system, prohibit monopolization of critical logistics systems and include key companies that cooperate with the government in its security check system.

Security check systems should be enhanced for critical infrastructures and key industries, especially those associated with societal security resilience, to check for Chinese funding or abnormal connections with China, the official said.

Aside from medical resources, logistics systems are also involved in the distribution of key daily necessities, so monopolies should be banned and solid backup systems must be in place, regardless of whether Chinese infiltration is involved, the official said.

Lastly, while logistics companies only handle commercial logistics in normal times, government agencies should have open-ended contracts with the companies that they normally cooperate with to systematically include them in its security check system and ensure that they are not associated with Chinese funding, the official said.

Tunghai University Center for Mainland China and Regional Development Research deputy director Hung Pu-chao (洪浦釗) yesterday said that the situation poses a national security threat.

Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime, so if critical cold chain and distribution nodes are controlled by companies that are bound by Chinese law, then Taiwan’s healthcare system would be exposed to enemy surveillance, he said.

It is not only a logistics chain management issue, but a vulnerability in the nation’s defense resilience, Hung said, adding that the government should classify medical logistics under critical infrastructure, pushing for localization and restricting Chinese funding to prevent external control in times of emergency.

The threat of Chinese infiltration through funding is not only about money, but about information, he said.

China’s National Intelligence Law requires companies to cooperate with its intelligence agency, so if they are connected to China or Hong Kong’s Internet domain, Taiwan’s hospital codes, delivery routes and patients’ information could be leaked, Hung said.

This is a highly private information that could result in significant risks, so the government must set up a sovereign defense line for protecting such information, and ensure medical logistics information remains in Taiwan and is safely managed by Taiwanese, he added.

The greatest crisis lies in “local infiltration,” because if a hostile force could legally enter sensitive industries in Taiwan, there would be security vulnerabilities within the system, Hung said, urging the government to enhance investment reviews and beneficial owner disclosure mechanisms, classify medical logistics as strategic assets and prevent subversive infiltration.

Only by addressing these systemic risks could Taiwan’s defense resilience really be established, he said.

Deputy Minister of Health Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) yesterday said that the ministry would discuss with agencies setting up backup logistics systems and information nodes.

Medical response relies on collaboration among multiple systems, including local health departments and healthcare facilities, so the ministry has asked healthcare facilities to store certain quantities of vital drugs and medication for emergencies, and work with logistics companies in allocating resources when there is insufficient supply, he said.

The law does not prohibit Chinese investment in logistics companies, so the ministry would discuss with the Food and Drug Administration how to establish backup logistic systems, Lin said.

The CDC yesterday said it ended its contract with Pharma Logistics last year.

title: Taiwan to secure medical cold chain


title: PRC vessels faking signals to test Taiwan’s response

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COGNITIVE WARFARE:  Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said

Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday.

Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said.

Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS and the AIS of a ship called Haixun 15012 (海巡15012).

A Coast Guard Administration vessel pursues a Chinese fishing boat that was illegally fishing in waters off Hsinchu in September 2023. Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration

Haixun ships are normally operated by the China Maritime Safety Administration (CMSA), a civilian law enforcement agency that has not been significantly involved in Chinese coercion against Taiwan, the report said.

This makes it likely that it was a fishing vessel posing as a CMSA vessel, rather than the other way around, it said.

On Sept. 17, another fishing boat, Minshiyu 07792 (閩獅漁07792), transmitted a fake signal of Russian Warship 532 in Taiwan’s northern exclusive economic zone, it said.

Several other Minshiyu vessels also transmitted fake AIS signals around the same time and area, with one posing as a tugboat and another as a different fishing boat, the report said.

China is experimenting with AIS spoofing to “pollute Taiwan’s information environment and test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions,” it said.

That multiple fishing vessels with similar names transmitted different fake signals around the same time and place suggests a coordinated effort, it said.

These fishing boats likely belong to the Chinese maritime militia, which China often deploys to “carry out deniable ‘gray zone’ coercion, harassment and surveillance” in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, it said.

In addition, China Coast Guard vessels entered restricted waters around Kinmen County four times from Sept. 15 to 17.

While the overall frequency of three to four incursions per month has remained steady, the increasing concentration over short periods represents a new pattern, the report said.

In terms of airspace incursions, Chinese sorties into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) have surpassed 300 per month for eight continuous months, more than double the monthly average before President William Lai (賴清德) took office in May last year.

China has “likely normalized a higher frequency of ADIZ incursions to degrade Taiwan’s threat awareness and response threshold, and to probe response protocols,” the report said.

Beijing’s increasingly routine incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ have raised the bar for what constitutes a coercive act, “making it more difficult for Taiwan to detect and respond to a real threat effectively,” it said.

Maintaining readiness for these frequent incursions also places heavy demands on Taiwan’s resources and personnel, it added.

Additional reporting by CNA


title: Australia, Papua New Guinea ink defense treaty

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The leaders of Australia and Papua New Guinea yesterday signed a major bilateral defense treaty that China believes targets it unfairly.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Papua New Guinea counterpart, James Marape, described the agreement as a mutual defense treaty that would enable unprecedented integration of their defense forces and military personnel.

It is Australia’s only alliance-level security pact other than the ANZUS treaty signed with the US and New Zealand in 1951. It is the first such treaty for Papua New Guinea, Australia’s nearest neighbor and former colony.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, right, greets Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape before a signing ceremony at Parliament House in Canberra yesterday.  Photo: AFP

The treaty would take effect after it is ratified by the parliaments of both countries.

Albanese said it was a great honor for Australia to have its nearest neighbor become its newest ally.

“This treaty contains a mutual defense obligation similar to Australia’s ANZUS treaty commitments, where we declare that in the event of an armed attack on either of our countries, we would both act to meet the common danger,” Albanese told reporters at a joint news conference with Marape at Australia’s Parliament House.

“Both our nations have also agreed not to undertake any activities or enter into any agreements that would compromise the implementation of this treaty,” he added.

After Marape and Albanese signed a joined statement supporting the treaty’s core principles last month, the Chinese embassy in Papua New Guinea issued a statement saying such a bilateral pact “should not be exclusive in nature, nor should it restrict or prevent a sovereign country from cooperating with a third party for any reason.”

“It should also refrain from targeting any third party or undermining its legitimate rights and interests,” the embassy posted on social media.

Marape yesterday said the treaty did not erode Papua New Guinea’s dominant foreign policy: friends to all, enemy to none.

“This is not a treaty that sets up enemies, but consolidates friendships and China — we’ve been transparent — we have told them that Australia … has become our security partner of choice and they understand,” Marape said.

Marape said the treaty consolidated Papua New Guinea’s security partnership with Australia “with no intent of creating enemies elsewhere.”

The US and Australia have both increased military ties over the past few years with Papua New Guinea, which is seen as a strategically important partner in countering China’s growing influence in the Pacific.

The security relationship is a balancing act for Papua New Guinea, which also seeks closer economic cooperation with China.

Australia has stepped up efforts to bolster relations with island nations in the region since 2022, when Beijing struck a security deal with Solomon Islands that has raised the prospect of a Chinese naval base being established in the South Pacific.

Outside Australia and New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Tonga are the only South Pacific island nations with militaries. Australia is negotiating a bilateral defense pact with Fiji.

Three Pacific island nations have changed their diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing since 2019, as China’s influence in the region has grown. The US and its allies are particularly concerned by China’s growing sway in security through police training in Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.


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A US-Japanese trio yesterday won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for research into how the immune system is kept in check by identifying its “security guards,” the Nobel jury said.

The discoveries by Mary E. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell of the US and Japan’s Shimon Sakaguchi have been decisive for understanding how the immune system functions and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases.

Sakaguchi, a professor at the Immunology Frontier Research Center in Osaka, told Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Radio: “It’s an honor for me. I’m looking forward to visiting Stockholm in December” to receive the award in person.

Nobel Assembly secretary-general Thomas Perlmann, right, addresses journalists in front of a screen displaying the images of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine — from left, Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi — during a news conference at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm yesterday.  Photo: AFP

However, the Nobel committee was unable to reach the two US-based laureates to break the news to them in person.

“If you hear this, call me,” Nobel Assembly secretary-general Thomas Perlmann joked at the news conference announcing the winners.

The three won the prize for research that identified the immune system’s “security guards,” called regulatory T-cells.

Marie Wahren-Herlenius, right, professor of rheumatology at the Karolinska Institutet, stands next to a screen displaying the field of science of the award winners, as she addresses journalists during a press conference to announce the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm yesterday. Photo: AFP

Their work concerns “peripheral immune tolerance” that prevents the immune system from harming the body, and has led to a new field of research and the development of potential medical treatments now being evaluated in clinical trials.

“The hope is to be able to treat or cure autoimmune diseases, provide more effective cancer treatments and prevent serious complications after stem cell transplants,” the jury said.

Sakaguchi made the first key discovery in 1995. At the time, many researchers were convinced that immune tolerance only developed due to potentially harmful immune cells being eliminated in the thymus, through a process called “central tolerance.” Sakaguchi, 74, showed that the immune system is more complex and discovered a previously unknown class of immune cells, which protect the body from autoimmune diseases.

Brunkow, born in 1961 and a senior project manager at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Ramsdell, a 64-year-old senior adviser at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, made the other key discovery in 2001, when they were able to explain why certain mice were particularly vulnerable to autoimmune diseases.

“They had discovered that mice have a mutation in a gene that they named Foxp3,” the jury said. “They also showed that mutations in the human equivalent of this gene cause a serious autoimmune disease, IPEX.”

Two years later, Sakaguchi was able to link these discoveries.

The trio are to receive their prize — a diploma, a gold medal and US$1.2 million split three ways — at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10.

title: Trio win medicine Nobel for work on immune system


title: Macron under pressure as new French PM resigns

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New French prime minister Sebastien Lecornu yesterday resigned after less than a month in office, sinking the country further into a political crisis and piling pressure on President Emmanuel Macron to find a way out of the deadlock.

Lecornu stepped down just 14 hours after naming his government and had been due to hold his first Cabinet meeting in the afternoon. However, his new government had raised hackles across the spectrum before ministers even entered their new offices and he risked an immediate no confidence vote in parliament this week.

Lecornu’s 27-day stint in office was the shortest ever for a prime minister in modern France.

Outgoing French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who presented his government’s resignation to French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday morning, delivers a statement at the Hotel Matignon in Paris yesterday. Photo: Reuters

“The conditions were not fulfilled for me to carry out my function as prime minister,” Lecornu said, denouncing the “partisan appetites” of factions who he said had forced his resignation.

With the instability in France causing tremors across Europe, a German government spokesman said a “stable France” was an “important contribution to stability in Europe.”

Lecornu’s resignation compounds a political crisis that has rocked France for more than a year, after Macron called legislative elections last year, which ended in a hung parliament.

Macron has resisted calls to again order snap legislative polls and has also ruled out resigning himself before his mandate ends in 2027. He could also look for a new prime minister who would be the eighth of the president’s mandate, but would face a struggle to survive without radical change.

The 2027 presidential elections are expected to be a historic crossroads in French politics, with the French far right under Marine Le Pen sensing its best ever chance of taking power.

Le Pen said it would be “wise” for Macron to resign, but also urged snap legislative polls as “absolutely necessary.”

Far-right National Rally (RN) President Jordan Bardella said he expected the legislative elections to take place, adding: “The RN will obviously be ready to govern.”

Macron named Lecornu, a 39-year-old former defense minister and close confidant, to the post on Sept. 9.

He had hoped his ally would take the heat out of the domestic crisis and allow him to focus on his efforts on the international stage, including working with the US to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.

However, the largely unchanged Cabinet Lecornu unveiled late on Sunday sparked fierce criticism, in particular from the right-wing Republicans who were part of the coalition government.

The Republicans were not going to offer Macron and his allies “a final lap” after the largely unchanged Cabinet, party Vice President Francois-Xavier Bellamy said.


title: KMT lawmakers push for two-round election model

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BALLOT RETHINK: A KMT legislator said their two-round system would ensure that the winning presidential and vice presidential candidates have broad voter support

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers are pushing to change the presidential election model to a two-round voting system.

KMT Legislator Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) is gathering signatures for a petition to amend the Constitution to require a two-round voting system, while KMT Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) is proposing an amendment to Article 63 of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法), which currently states that the pair of candidates that receives the most votes are elected as president and vice president.

Under Weng’s proposal, the presidential and vice presidential pairing that receives more than half of the votes must also receive more than 20 percent of the votes from all eligible voters to win an election. If the candidates fail to meet that threshold in the first round, a second round, including the two sets of candidates with the most votes, would be held 14 days later, with the pair that receives the most votes winning.

In the current system, the candidates with the most votes win the election, but the votes they receive do not necessarily exceed more than half of the ballots from eligible voters, Weng said.

When the winning presidential and vice presidential candidates receive fewer than 50 percent of the votes from eligible voters and fewer than the sum of the other sets of candidates combined, they lack general public support, she said.

When the party they represent also fails to achieve a majority in the legislature and does not need to form a coalition government, a situation arises in which the few rule over the many, creating a possible constitutional crisis, she added.

Introducing a two-round voting system would not only determine which party has the support of most voters, but would also give smaller parties a chance to become part of the government, and make it necessary for parties to negotiate and work with each other, Weng said.

Many countries with direct presidential elections use a two-round voting system, she said.

Some even have exhaustive voting systems, while only Taiwan, South Korea and a few others use a hybrid system that combines the first-preference plurality system with block voting, she added.

Under such a system, candidates would not have to worry about the opinions of other voters and could concentrate on consolidating support from their voter base, which reduces the legitimacy of the election, Weng said.

If the president is elected under such a system, and refuses to compromise and negotiate with opposition parties, they would have a tough time governing, she said.

Two-round voting would not be required in every election, as a second round would not be necessary if the winning candidates receive votes from more than half of the eligible voters.


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CONSTITUTIONAL CONCERN: A runoff voting system would add costs and potentially result in more political standoffs and social confrontations, a former election head said   By Hsieh Chun-lin, Lee Wen-hsin, Fion Khan and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writers

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ push for a runoff voting system in presidential elections is shortsighted and might not align with Taiwan’s constitutional framework, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus chief executive Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) said.

KMT Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) is proposing an amendment to Article 63 of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) that would create a two-round voting system, while KMT Legislator Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) is gathering signatures for a petition to amend the Constitution for a similar system.

Under a two-round voting system, if no candidate wins a clear majority in the first round, the top two candidates would proceed to a runoff to ensure the ultimate winner has majority support.

Election workers count ballots at a polling station during the presidential election in Taipei on Jan. 13 last year. Photo: An Rong Xu, Bloomberg

The DPP believes that any change to the voting system must be in line with the Constitution, Chung said on Sunday.

It would not be feasible to apply different electoral mechanisms to different constitutional systems, he said, comparing it to cars.

“Whether it is an electric or fuel-powered car, a four-wheel or two-wheel drive would mean a completely different transmission system,” he said.

The KMT’s proposal is motivated by party interests, aiming at reclaiming the Executive Yuan, he said, adding that former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and President William Lai (賴清德) won with relative majorities.

The proposed amendment would benefit third-place candidates by potentially elevating them to second place or affecting which candidates make the runoff, Chung said.

While adopting a two-round system could be seen as enhancing the legitimacy of the president-elect, in the current political climate such a move would inevitably target centrist or “third force” candidates, said DPP Legislator Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄), convener of the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.

Passing an amendment without constitutional-level discussion and broad social consensus could trigger disputes over procedural fairness and legitimacy, he said.

Any such major institutional change should first undergo extensive public discussion, polling, and consultation from academic and legal experts to avoid bias, Chuang said.

Separately, Taiwan People’s Party deputy caucus whip Chang Chi-kai (張?楷) said that a two-round system could prevent a “minority-rule” presidency, pointing to Lai’s administration, which he said was “going to extremes” and disrespecting majority public opinion, contributing to political stability.

However, it would still require a constitutional amendment and the current threshold is extremely high, Chang said.

Even if an amendment is passed by the legislature, a subsequent national referendum would require 9.6 million “yes” votes to proceed, which would be a massive challenge, requiring tremendous social consensus and mobilization, he said.

Former Central Election Commission chairman Chen In-chin (陳英鈐) said that promoting a two-round voting system without amending the Constitution could result in greater controversy and sink the nation into a political crisis.

The spirit of the law supports one round of votes, Chen said, citing Paragraph 1, Article 2 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法增修條文), which states that the presidential and vice presidential candidates who receive the most votes are elected.

Supreme Administrative Court Ruling No. 476 states that the Constitution does not allow for a second round of voting and that the Constitution would have to be amended for a two-round voting system to be realized, he said.

Two-round voting systems tend to create multiparty governments, in which minor parties attempt to solidify their position in the legislature, Chen said, adding that the system would also increase election costs, and could lead to increased political and social confrontations.

France holds presidential elections first and people then mostly vote for the party to which the presidential candidate belongs, but if Taiwan were to adopt a two-round voting system, people would vote for legislators first and then for the president, he said.

The French president can dissolve the parliament, but Taiwan’s president lacks such powers, which would sink the nation into a political standoff with no resolution, he added.

Additional reporting by Lin Che-yuan

people: 莊瑞雄 陳水扁 陳英鈐 羅智強 賴清德 鍾佳濱

title: KMT election proposal shortsighted: DPP


title: Streamer probed for calling for the decapitation of Lai

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The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) yesterday said it was investigating Internet personality Holger Chen (陳之漢) after he called for the decapitation of President William Lai (賴清德) during a live stream on Sunday.

The bureau said in a statement that it was investigating comments by a “social media influencer” that might constitute incitement to commit a crime and threatening bodily harm under the Criminal Code.

The CIB added that it had begun gathering evidence related to Chen’s remarks and asked the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office to summon him for questioning.

Internet personality Holger Chen speaks during a live stream broadcast on Sunday. Photo: Screen grab from Holger Chen’s YouTube channel

Chen — a former gang member turned fitness celebrity and businessman who is better known as Kuan Chang (館長) — made the comments during a live stream focused on Taiwanese politics and cross-strait issues, the bureau said.

Referring to the use of military “decapitation strikes,” Chen, apparently addressing China, called for it to “chop off the head of William Lai,” before going on to say: “I am waiting, brothers, I think about it day and night.”

Although Taiwan has ample free-speech protections, those freedoms are not limitless, the CIB said.

“The exercise of freedom of speech must be based on respecting the rights of others, and must not incite violence or endanger public safety,” it said.

Chen, 46, was previously a vocal supporter of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government, but has since become an avid backer of the Taiwan People’s Party and its founder, Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), as well as a frequent critic of the DPP.

The gym entrepreneur turned Internet influencer also made a high-profile trip to Shanghai in June, during which he praised China to his mostly Taiwanese viewership, drawing the ire of many in the DPP.

people: 賴清德 柯文哲


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Former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and Matt Schlapp, political director to former US president George W. Bush, are among those set to speak at a Taipei security forum on Wednesday, the organizer announced yesterday.

Morrison, who served as Australian prime minister from 2018-2022, and Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, will join other former American officials, including Van Hipp Jr, a former US Army deputy assistant secretary, and Peter Su, the ex- Taiwan country director at the Pentagon’s Office of Secretary of Defense, at the 2025 Taipei Security Dialogue, organized by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research.

The Taiwan military-funded think tank said the annual forum brings together experts and leaders from the US, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Australia, to address the threat posed by China to peace in the Indo-Pacific.

Former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison speaks at the Yushan Forum in Taipei on October 11, 2023. Photo: Reuters

Other guests set to attend the one-day seminar in Taipei include Takahiro Sasaki, a retired rear admiral of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force; Karsten Schneider, a retired rear admiral of the German Navy; and Peter Olive, a former commodore in the Royal Navy, among others, it said.

The seminar will be divided into several different topics, spanning social resilience and defense deterrence, and the trends and impact of new technologies such as AI and Unmanned Aircraft Systems as tools of war, among others, it said.

The scholars and opinion leaders will each provide suggestions as to how best to jointly build consensus and enhance cooperation between democracies to uphold peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, it added.

title: Australian ex-PM Morrison to speak at Taipei security forum


title: Doctors urge stomach cancer checks

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COMMON MALIGNANCY:  Early-stage stomach cancer often shows no obvious symptoms, so detection relies heavily on screening and regular health checkups   By Lin Chih-yi and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

People aged 50 and older are advised to undergo stomach cancer screening, with physicians saying that risk factors include a family history of the disease, long-term smoking, frequent consumption of preserved or smoked foods such as sausages and cured meats, and infection with Helicobacter pylori — a common cause of stomach inflammation.

Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital gastroenterologist Wu Teng-chiang (吳登強) made the remarks after Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) confirmed that he had been diagnosed with stomach cancer early last year.

Chuang wrote on Facebook on Thursday that the cancer was discovered early last year while he was serving as director-general of the Centers for Disease Control. He thanked the public for their concern, and expressed gratitude to his medical team at Taipei Veterans General Hospital and to his family for their support, saying he had “recovered well” and joked that “my ancestors must have been watching over me.”

Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Chuang Jen-hsiang speaks to reproters in Taipei in an undated photograph.

Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s 2022 Cancer Registry Report, stomach cancer ranked eighth among all cancers in Taiwan, with 4,377 new cases recorded last year.

The age-standardized incidence rate was 9.8 per 100,000 people, up slightly from 2021, and the median age at diagnosis was 69. The mortality rate stood at 4.9 per 100,000.

The report also highlighted a gender gap: the incidence rate among men was 12.6 per 100,000, ranking seventh, compared with 7.4 per 100,000 for women, ranking 10th.

Data from the WHO showed that among 800,000 people with stomach cancer worldwide, 335,000 were infected with H pylori, suggesting the bacterium is associated with an eightfold higher risk of developing the disease.

Early-stage stomach cancer often shows no obvious symptoms, so detection relies heavily on screening and regular health checkups, Wu said.

About 80 percent of stomach cancer cases in Taiwan are linked to H pylori infection, Wu said, adding that from next year, the government plans to offer free lifetime stomach cancer screening for people aged 45 to 74 to help lower incidence rates.

Estrogen provides some protection for women before menopause, making the incidence rate among men about twice as high before age 50, he said.

After menopause, the gender gap narrows significantly, he added.

Other bacteria and imbalances in gut microbiota have also been found to contribute to stomach cancer, along with heavy smoking, he said.

Stomach cancer is among the most common malignancies in Asia, particularly for adults aged 50 and older.

Because early symptoms such as indigestion, heartburn, persistent upper abdominal pain and unexplained weight loss resemble those of stomach ulcers, the disease is often detected late, Wu said.

Early detection significantly improves survival outcomes, with five-year survival rates of up to 90 percent, compared with about 3 percent for late-stage cases, he said.

Excessive intake of salt and nitrates, common in preserved or processed foods, can damage the stomach lining and increase the risk of cancer, Wu said.

High salt concentrations might cause atrophic gastritis and cell mutations in early stages, while promoting cancer cell growth later on, he said.

Nitrates can also form nitrosamines, compounds linked to stomach cancer, especially in diets high in preserved or pickled foods, he added.

Nutritional deficiencies — particularly lower consumption of protein, fats, and vitamins A and C — as well as a history of gastric surgery or chronic gastritis, also increase risk, Wu said.

Although the incidence of stomach cancer in Taiwan has declined as people consume fewer smoked and preserved foods, other risk factors, including poor nutrition, alcohol and tobacco use, and a family history of cancer, remain significant, he said.

People without significant risk factors or abnormal findings can undergo endoscopic examinations every five to six years, while those with risk factors or precancerous conditions such as atrophic gastritis or intestinal metaplasia should be screened every two to three years, he added.


taiwan-subdivisions: 光復 萬榮

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MISSION: As there are no clear routes to the Mataian River barrier lake, survey team members had to traverse difficult terrain and rappel across landslide zones to reach the area

One of two teams dispatched on foot by the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s Hualien branch to survey potential routes to a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) reported widespread devastation in its initial findings on Sunday.

When the barrier lake burst during Typhoon Ragasa on Sept. 23, it unleashed massive floods into Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復), killing 18 people and blanketing the area in mud and debris.

To identify safe access routes for future reconstruction, maintenance and fortification work, the agency’s Hualien branch on Tuesday last week deployed a task force comprising two survey teams to visit the site.

The Mataian River barrier lake in Hualien County is pictured using a drone on Saturday. Photo courtesy of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s Hualien branch

The teams were assigned to examine the remnants of the lake and search for potential routes that could allow construction equipment to reach the area, the agency said.

Composed of professionals from the agency, the Taiwan Mountain Rescue Association’s Eastern Search and Rescue Committee, and the association’s High Altitude Corps, the 15-member task force split into two groups hiking toward the barrier lake via forest trails in Guangfu and Wanrong (萬榮) townships.

As there are no clear routes to the barrier lake, team members had to traverse difficult terrain and rappel across areas destabilized by landslides, the agency said.

It added that deploying two teams would allow it to gather more comprehensive geographical and environmental data based on the images the teams gathered.

The information would be used to enhance safety in future reconstruction efforts, and in establishing disaster prevention and monitoring infrastructure.

The first team to reach the remnants of the barrier lake — a group of nine members entering from Guangfu Township — arrived at noon on Sunday, the agency said.

However, due to weak telecommunications in the mountains, they were only able to send back a few images.

From the photos received, the area appeared barren and shrouded in haze, with dust in the air making it difficult for the task force members to breathe, it said.

The agency said the Guangfu team had completed its initial surveys and begun the return journey.

The members are expected to submit all the photographs they took after returning home, likely on Thursday, it said.

The overall mission is expected to last eight to 10 days, with the second team — a six-member group that entered from Wanrong Township — also expected to return within a similar timeframe.

As of yesterday morning, the barrier lake retained about 5.85 million tonnes of water, about 6.4 percent of its pre-overflow volume, said Chi Lien-cheng (季連成), chief coordinator at the Central Emergency Operations Center.

The lake remains under a red alert, he added.

title: Survey team finds severe damage at barrier lake


content_text:
More than 350,000 people accessed Guangfu railway station in 12 days

More than 350,000 people passed through Guangfu Railway Station in Hualien County within 12 days after Typhoon Ragasa triggered catastrophic flooding on Sept. 23, when water from a barrier lake along the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) burst and inundated Guangfu Township (光復), Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) data showed.

Volunteers from across the nation — hailed in news statements as “shovel superheroes” — traveled to Guangfu to assist in relief efforts. They helped residents clear mud, operate excavators and cranes, prepare and serve meals, deliver essential supplies and unclog drainage systems to restore access to homes and infrastructure.

With roads still blocked, the railway is the only way into the town in central Hualien County.

Between Sept. 24 and Sunday, 357,348 passengers entered or exited Guangfu Station, exceeding the entire passenger volume for last year, the corporation said yesterday.

Following reports of the flooding, railway traffic surged — from 1,009 passengers on Sept. 24 to 2,253 on Sept. 25 and 5,715 on Sept. 26, the company said.

Passenger numbers also surged during the Teacher’s Day three-day weekend from Sept. 27 to Monday last week, reaching 35,000, 41,000 and 46,690 on those days, before falling back to 21,151 on Tuesday last week, it said.

The number swelled again to 35,012 on Wednesday, 38,655 on Thursday and 33,600 on Friday, TRC said, it added.

A single-day record was set on Oct. 4, the Saturday of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, when about 51,240 passengers passed through Guangfu Station, the data showed.

About 46,000 passengers were recorded the following day, it showed.

The Central Emergency Response Center’s coordination team in Hualien yesterday said that a military commander had been stationed on Fozu Street (佛祖街), which is the area that sustained the heaviest flood damage, with the aim of restoring functionality to the street within two days.

The commander is working with rescue teams, Hualien County officials and local village representatives to search for missing victims, coordinate heavy machinery support and assist with cleanup operations, the team said.


content_text:
High-income households showed a stronger inclination to own cars and read books, magazines or newspapers, a Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) survey showed.

The survey, which examined household income and expenditure, offered a snapshot of how Taiwanese lifestyles related to income, spending and savings last year.

Mobile phones and computers were owned by 97.5 percent and 67 percent of households respectively, while about 99 percent used the Internet, reflecting the growing digitalization of daily life, the DGBAS said.

People visit the Taipei International Auto Show in an undated photograph. Photo: CNA

Color televisions — found in 97.7 percent of homes — are standard equipment in contemporary Taiwanese households. However, from a longer historical view, although the penetration rate of color TV had been more than 99 percent since 1991, it has been slowly dropping over the past decade, reaching a record low below 99 percent in 2018 and continued with the downward trend last year, it said.

Cable TV penetration, which had stayed above 70 percent for more than 20 years, fell to a new low of 67.6 percent, the survey showed.

Meanwhile, the share of households using video-on-demand (VOD) services such as Chunghwa Telecom Co’s Multimedia-On-Demand platform rose steadily from 3.9 percent in 2008 to 15.1 percent last year, it showed.

Across income levels, ownership rates of basic household appliances such as televisions, washing machines and air-conditioners showed little variation, as these have become standard fixtures in nearly all homes, the DGBAS said.

However, the penetration rates of cars, computers, as well as books and magazines, were significantly higher among high-income households, the survey showed.

High-income households had car and computer ownership rates of 85.3 percent and 92.5 percent respectively, significantly higher than the overall averages of 60.6 percent and 67 percent, it showed.

Their readership rates for books or magazines was 5.2 percent — 3.1 percentage points higher than the average of 2.1 percent — while newspaper readership stood at 5.9 percent, 0.6 points higher than the overall rate, the data showed.

The findings suggest that high-income families are more inclined to keep up with current events and acquire new knowledge through print media such as books, magazines and newspapers.

A DGBAS official speaking on condition of anonymity said ownership and usage rates for different types of home equipment are shaped by socioeconomic conditions and evolving social trends.

title: DGBAS poll shows how income affects families’ spending


title: Woman with dementia swindled out of NT$160m

content_text:
Police have urged people to check in on elderly family members to help prevent financial fraud, following a case in which a 63-year-old woman with dementia was swindled out of NT$160 million (US$5.26 million) over three years.

The Taipei City Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division said that a criminal ring began targeting the victim — a Taipei resident surnamed Chang (張) — in 2022, convincing her to invest in sheng ji wei (生基位, or “living tombs”) based on Taoist and feng shui beliefs.

Police said the scammers promoted the investment as a way to “secure good fortune, wealth and longevity” by harnessing positive energy through the symbolic burial of personal items such as hair, nails, teeth, blood or clothing in a “living cemetery” — typically a mountain site with an open view.

The entrance to the Taipei City Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division is pictured in an undated photograph.

Photo: Liu Ching-ho, Taipei Times

They said the ritual had to be performed at an auspicious time to achieve maximum effect.

Chang, who has dementia, was persuaded to purchase a living tomb for herself and her family. She initially withdrew cash from her bank accounts to pay “initiation,” “processing” and “tax” fees to the fraudsters, police said.

Investigators said that the suspects later convinced her to take out high-interest loans, using her properties as collateral, to continue making payments.

Over three years, she reportedly made more than 300 transfers to the group and accumulated more than NT$80 million in loans on her assets.

Investigators estimated that the woman had paid more than NT$160 million to the criminal ring over three years.

Her family only discovered what had happened last month and reported the case to police for assistance, they said.

Taiwan Alzheimer’s Disease Association (TADA) secretary-general Chen Yun-ching (陳筠靜) said that people with dementia require greater support when making financial or other major life decisions.

“People with Alzheimer’s and their families must remain vigilant and increase their awareness of fraud prevention,” Chen said. “They should learn to recognize common scam tactics, develop habits of verifying information and ensure that people with dementia do not make major financial decisions alone. Families should communicate regularly, consult trusted relatives or friends, and form a support team to assist in decisionmaking.”

Families can adopt multilateral financial management methods to better organize and monitor assets, Chen said.

It is advisable to apply to the Joint Credit Information Center to receive credit reports, which can help prevent debts from getting too high, she said, adding that elderly people can appoint trusted relatives or professional trustees, including those offered by bank trust services, to help manage their assets, she said.

The Taipei City Police Department on Sunday said that officers dismantled 49 fraud rings in August, arresting 415 suspects and seizing NT$38.88 million in illegal gains.

Police also said they had prevented losses of about NT$240 million through early intervention.

Criminal Investigation Division captain Lu Chun-hung (盧俊宏) said the majority of cases involved online shopping and payment fraud, investment scams and romance scams linked to dating and matchmaking platforms.

People should be cautious of anyone promising high returns from investment groups or urging them to join joint investment ventures.

“If someone offers to send a person to meet you in person to collect investment funds, it is almost certainly a fraud operation run by a criminal group,” Lu said.


content_text:
By Tsai Chang-sheng, Hung Mei-hsiu, and Jason Pan / Staff reporters

The Hsinchu District Court has convicted a 45-year-old man for stealing valuables from National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) in January, adding to a long record of campus burglaries across Taiwan.

The man, identified as Chang Chieh-ping (張傑評), has been involved in a series of thefts and burglaries at more than a dozen university campuses over the past decade, police said.

Chang entered NTHU’s Department of Chemistry on Jan. 5 and, upon finding a staff office and laboratory unattended, stole gold jewelry, lapel pins and five gold chains from drawers, with a total estimated value of NT$600,000 (US$19,712), court documents said.

A sign bearing the name of the National Tsing Hua University’s Department of Chemistry in Hsinchu City is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo: Taipei Times

University officials said police tracked down and arrested Chang before he could sell the stolen items, which were recovered and returned to their owners.

The court sentenced Chang to nine months in prison, saying that although he is in his prime working years and capable of regular employment, he “chooses to steal from others rather than earn an honest living.”

In response to the incident, NTHU said it has tightened campus security, increased patrols at all buildings and dormitories, and enforced stricter nighttime identification checks for visitors.

Among the victims were foreign researchers, who said they often kept their valuables in offices or laboratories for convenience, a habit that had seemed safe until the theft occurred.

Police said that Chang, known as the “Campus Bandit,” has a history of university-related thefts spanning more than 10 years.

He was convicted of theft at National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung and the Asia-Pacific Institute of Creativity in Miaoli County in 2017, and again in 2019 for stealing from four institutions — Sun Yat-sen University, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology in Tainan, Dayeh University in Changhua County and National Taipei University of Technology, court documents showed.

In 2020, Chang was investigated for thefts from I-Shou University in Kaohsiung, Tzu Chi University in Hualien, National Chung Cheng University in Chiayi County, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, National Pingtung University, Yuli Senior High School in Hualien County and the Hualien County Health Bureau, the court said.

In September 2021, Chang broke into a Catholic church in Chiayi County, followed by two additional incidents in December of that year — one at a New Taipei City church, where he stole cash belonging to a foreign Catholic priest, and another at the Church of St. Joseph in Miaoli County.

“When we questioned Chang about a theft at a university, he proudly told us it had been easy for him to open a safety deposit box,” an investigator said. “Inside was about NT$20 million in cash, and he said he thought about it for a moment and decided to take only about NT$100,000, saying he was being considerate by leaving most of the money untouched.”

Police said that major universities did not initially report the thefts, as administrators feared that media coverage could damage their schools’ reputations if the crimes were believed to have been committed by students.

title: Serial campus thief convicted of theft once again


title: Prepping for national day

content_text: Students from Shin Min High School rehearse in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei yesterday in preparation for the Double Ten National Day celebrations on Friday.


content_text: Hsinchu County Commissioner Yang Wen-ke holds a limited-edition Double Ten National Day picnic blanket, accompanied by the county’s mascot Pipi Lion, yesterday. The county government yesterday said it has prepared 3,000 of the blankets to give to families during its Double Ten National Day flag raising ceremony.

title: National pride


title: Golden tribute

content_text: Minister of Culture Li Yuan, center, poses with actress Chen Shu-fang, right, and set decorator Yeh Hui-lung, left, recipients of this year’s Special Contribution award, at the opening of a special exhibition centered around hit Taiwanese TV show “Meteor Garden” at the Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei yesterday. The exhibition is part of the 60th Golden Bell Awards.


title: Tokyo stocks surge while yen sinks

content_text:
MIXED DAY: The victory of LDP President Sanae Takaichi brought a wave of optimism on Japanese trading floors, as she has previously backed aggressive monetary easing

Tokyo stocks surged almost 5 percent to a record high yesterday, and the yen sank on bets that the new leader of Japan’s ruling party would embark on a new era of loose monetary policy to revive the country’s economy.

However, the gains came on a mixed day for the rest of Asia, while Paris tumbled more than 2 percent on news that newly appointed French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu had stepped down, compounding a political crisis in the country.

News of the victory of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President Sanae Takaichi — who is expected to become Japan’s prime minister this month — fanned a fresh wave of optimism on Japanese trading floors, as she has previously backed aggressive monetary easing and expanded government spending.

A man walks past an electronic board displaying the Nikkei Stock Average in Tokyo yesterday. Photo: AFP

Expectations the US Federal Reserve would cut interest rates this month continue to support risk assets, with the S&P 500 and Dow both hitting peaks along with bitcoin and gold.

After her victory on Saturday, Takaichi pledged first to implement measures to address inflation and boost Japan’s economy, rural areas and primary industries.

Takaichi “looks more inclined than the others to juice the economy,” Bloomberg Economics senior economist Taro Kimura said.

“Still, with inflation rising and long-term [bond] yields climbing, she will have to balance her stance with reality, in order not to accelerate cost-of-living squeeze and jolt the rate market,” Kimura added.

The Nikkei 225’s surge came as the yen weakened more than 1 percent to top ￥150 per US dollar, while it hit a record low against the euro, touching ￥176.25 to the single currency.

“An immediate market reaction is likely to be a return of a so-called Takaichi trade, which means higher equity prices [except banks], yen depreciation and higher super-long bond yields,” UBS Securities Japan Co chief economist Masamichi Adachi said.

Yields on 30-year Japanese bonds also rose sharply, reflecting fears the country’s already colossal debt would balloon further.

Takaichi’s win also raised questions about the chances of more Bank of Japan rate hikes, adding to downward pressure on the yen.

There were also gains in Singapore and Mumbai, but Hong Kong, Sydney, Wellington, Manila and Bangkok were all in the red.

Markets in Taiwan, China and South Korea were closed for holidays.

However, sentiment remains up, as bitcoin on Sunday hit a new peak of US$125,689.

Gold pushed past US$3,945 and closer to US$4,000 yesterday, with the US shutdown and expected rate cuts boosting its attractiveness. Oil jumped more than 1 percent after OPEC+ agreed at the weekend to boost supplies by 137,000 barrels a day — less than initially expected.

The plunge in Paris’ CAC 40 index came after French President Emmanuel Macron accepted Lecornu’s resignation, plunging the country further into political deadlock.

Macron appointed Lecornu last month, but the largely unchanged Cabinet lineup he unveiled late on Sunday was met with fierce criticism across the political spectrum.

London’s FTSE dipped in the morning, after ending last week at a record, while Frankfurt also sank.


content_text:
Handset camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光) on Sunday reported a 6.71 percent year-on-year decline in revenue for the third quarter, after revenue last month hit the highest level in 11 months.

Third-quarter revenue was NT$17.68 billion (US$581.2 million), compared with NT$18.95 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

The figure was in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$17.9 billion, but missed the market consensus estimate of NT$18.97 billion.

The headquarters of Largan Precision Co, the world’s largest smartphone lens manufacturer, in Taichung is pictured on June 6, 2020. Photo: David Chang, EPA-EFE

The revenue was a 51.44 percent increase from NT$11.67 billion in the second quarter. The third quarter is usually the peak season for Largan, as Apple Inc starts to build up inventory for its new iPhone lineup, Fubon Securities Investment Services Co (富邦投顧) said.

Largan is a major camera lens supplier for the California-based company’s iPhones. Fubon Securities said it expects the Taiwanese firm to remain the main or sole lens supplier for some models, especially the iPhone 17 Air.

The iPhone 17 series saw unexpectedly strong sales after their launch, driving additional orders of lenses, which also significantly boosted Largan’s sales last month to reach NT$6.24 billion, the highest since October last year, when it posted sales of NT$6.55 billion, the company’s data showed.

Taichung-based Largan is the world’s largest handset camera lens producer, supplying high-end products for Apple and Android phone vendors, such as Samsung, Xiaomi Corp (小米) and Huawei Technologies Co (華為).

In the first nine months of the year, Largan’s cumulative revenue was NT$43.93 billion, up 6.5 percent from NT$41.25 billion a year earlier, the company’s data showed.

Largan is to release its earnings results for the third quarter at an investors’ conference on Thursday, and give sales guidance for this quarter.

Investors are also expected to hear from the company about the subsequent sales of iPhone 17 series, the progress of the series’ variable aperture lenses, the development of lenses for foldable or thin smartphone models and high-precision lenses for humanoid service robots.

title: Largan Precision revenue drops 6.71% year-on-year


title: Market researcher shares insights on AI computers

content_text:
Global artificial intelligence (AI) notebook computer shipments are expected to account for 19.7 percent of the overall notebook market this year, driven mainly by Apple Inc’s MacBook models, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Thursday.

The Taipei-based researcher defines AI notebooks by considering their operating system support and the neural processing unit’s (NPU) power, measured in trillions of operations per second (TOPS), TrendForce analyst Sanesha Huang (黃淑芳) told the Taipei Times by telephone.

While Apple defines its MacBook models with M-series chips as AI notebooks, other brands such as Microsoft Corp and Google classify AI notebooks as those with more than 40 NPU TOPS, she said.

Visitors browse MacBook Pro laptops in an Apple Inc store in Bengaluru, India, on Thursday last week. Photo: Bloomberg

Apple’s models are expected to account for about 11.4 percent of global shipments this year, compared with 8.3 percent for other brands, indicating Apple would remain the main player in the market, Huang said.

The overall figure was set at the end of August and has been downgraded several times since then, she said.

Huang attributed the downgrade to several factors, including immature AI applications.

While consumers still rely on cloud services such as ChatGPT and NotebookLM, they are not willing to upgrade to AI models, she said.

An AI notebook computer generally costs about US$1,000 due to geopolitical factors and rising chip costs, and even with promotions, they can only be lowered to US$500 to US$900 — too high for broad market acceptance, she added.

Advanced AI notebook models are typically priced 5 to 10 percent higher than traditional ones, she said.

Consumer demand this year has remained focused on low-price models, affecting shipments of more advanced versions, Huang said.

AI notebook shipments this quarter are expected to be limited to a few popular models and fall 10.8 percent quarter-on-quarter, she said.

As demand was front-loaded last quarter, the usual holiday peak season is unlikely to generate great demand, she said.

The figure is to drop 4.5 percent year-on-year, as vendors such as Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) and Acer Inc (宏碁) pulled in orders for the Southeast Asian market in the fourth quarter last year, creating a high comparison base, she said.

Shipments this year are expected to reach 35.4 million units, up 90 percent year-on-year, due to a low base as shipments only began in the second half of last year, Huang said.

TrendForce expects the global AI notebook penetration rate to reach 28.3 percent next year, but the figure is likely to be trimmed due to geopolitical uncertainties, vendors shifting capacity to Southeast Asia to mitigate US tariffs, and higher chip prices that could raise production costs and retail prices, Huang said.

Among international PC vendors, Dell Technologies Inc has been the most proactive after Apple in deploying AI notebooks, given its focus on advanced products and willingness to adopt new technologies, followed by Lenovo and HP Inc, she said.

companies: Apple Google


content_text:
AI RACE: Determined to reduce their dependence on Nvidia, major cloud providers such as Google and Amazon have developed their own processors

The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution has whetted the appetites of Nvidia Corp’s competitors, who are seeking to close the gap on the chip giant, which has so far been the central playmaker in the AI revolution.

Virtually unknown to the general public just three years ago, Nvidia now boasts the world’s highest revenues, driven by sales of its graphics cards or graphics processing units (GPUs), the processors that are key to building the technology behind ChatGPT and its rivals.

While Nvidia was not the first to develop GPUs, the California-based company made them its specialty starting in the late 1990s, at the very beginning of cloud computing, and thus has unique experience in the field.

The Nvidia Corp logo pictured outside the company’s offices in Shanghai on Sept. 22. Photo: Bloomberg

Moreover, Nvidia is “a three-headed dragon,” SemiAnalysis founder and CEO Dylan Patel recently said on the No Priors podcast.

The company does not just design chips, but offers an entire infrastructure capable of making them work together with networking and software — the dragon’s two other heads.

Nvidia can “satisfy every level of need in the data center with world-class product,” Jon Peddie Research founder and president Jon Peddie said.

At a considerable distance from Nvidia, whose market share is estimated at about 80 percent depending on the source, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) has until recently been considered the runner-up.

However, AMD generates the bulk of its revenue from central processing units (CPUs) — processors used for personal and business computers that are less powerful than GPUs — and “can’t divert resources from that golden egg,” Peddie said.

Determined to reduce their dependence on Nvidia, major cloud providers have developed their own processors.

Google began using its Tensor processing unit a decade ago, while Amazon Web Services’ Trainium appeared in 2020.

Today, Google and Amazon account for more than 10 percent of the market and have even overtaken AMD in terms of “performance, pricing, usability, reliability and ability to produce enough chips to satisfy the biggest customers,” SemiAnalysis researcher Jordan Nanos said.

Google is even offering its chips to third-party customers, according to several media reports.

However, Amazon does not sell its Trainium to other players.

The only nation rivaling the US in the sector, China, is seeking to make up for lost time — and is having to do so without the most advanced US chips, which are now subject to export restrictions.

For Nanos, Huawei Technologies Co (華為) ranks among Nvidia’s most credible competitors, alongside Google or Amazon, and ahead of AMD.

Like Google and Amazon, their Chinese equivalents Baidu Inc (百度) and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) are also having their own AI processors manufactured, but these remain merely substitutes for Nvidia’s GPUs.

“They can’t catch up technically for a while using in-country” fabrication facilities, Peddie said.

However, “over time, with its huge and smart workforce, and subsidized investment, China will be able to make state-of-the-art fabrication systems,” Peddie added.

No expert sees the Santa Clara, California, giant loosening its grip on the sector in the near future.

“Nvidia underpins the vast majority of AI applications today,” Gabelli Funds LLC analyst John Belton said. “And despite their lead, they keep their foot on the gas by launching a product every year, a pace that will be difficult for competitors to match.”

Early last month, Nvidia announced that its new generation, Rubin, would be commercialized late next year, with performance for AI functions estimated at 7.5 times that of its flagship product Blackwell.

title: Competition heats up to challenge Nvidia’s dominance


title: Textile show to tout innovation and sustainability

content_text:
This year’s Taipei Innovative Textile Application Show (TITAS) is to highlight sustainability, functional applications and intelligent manufacturing as the industry faces potential US tariff threats, the event’s organizer, the Taiwan Textile Federation, said yesterday.

Federation president Justin Huang (黃偉基) said that since the US is the world’s largest textile consumer, higher tariffs could lead to inflation and negatively affect US market growth.

In light of possible market and supply chain restructuring, the exhibition would showcase the industry’s latest achievements, including fabrics that are fully recyclable or made from biodegradable materials, as well as innovations in smart manufacturing technologies, the federation said in a statement.

Taiwan Textile Federation president Justin Huang, center, and models pose for a photograph at a news conference in Taipei on Wednesday last week. Photo: CNA

TITAS is a platform for vertical communication and knowledge exchange between different sectors within the textile industry, it said.

The event would also feature a fashion show titled: “Taiwan Textile Select: Recode 2025” on Wednesday next week, in which designers are to present Taiwan’s sustainable textiles in international fashion styles, the federation said.

Huang said that through multiple approaches — such as inviting international buyers to Taiwan for procurement meetings, identifying promising textile traders and organizing fashion shows to highlight achievements — this year’s TITAS aims to promote Taiwan as a global “sustainable textile sourcing center.”

A total of 388 exhibitors from 10 countries, including the US, Sweden and Switzerland, are to set up 904 booths at the 29th edition of TITAS, which would take place at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center’s Hall 1 from Tuesday next week to Thursday, the federation said.


content_text:
AMD and OpenAI sign chip supply deal worth tens of billions of dollars

Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday signed a deal with OpenAI for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure that could generate tens of billions of dollars in new revenue.

The two signed a definitive agreement for OpenAI to deploy 6 gigawatts of AMD graphics processing units (GPUs) over multiple years, the companies said in a statement.

AMD has given OpenAI a warrant for as many as 160 million shares which will vest as milestones are achieved. Those targets require AMD’s stock price to continue to increase in value and future exercise points include a tranche tied to a share price of US$600. AMD shares closed Friday at US$164.67.

This combination of pictures created yesterday shows Advanced Micro Devices Inc’s logo in Santa Clara, California on May 10, 2022 and OpenAI’s logo in Tel Aviv on June 5, 2023. Photo: Justin Sullivan and Jack Guez, AFP

The agreement is the latest huge data center deal for OpenAI as the AI start-up builds out more computing capacity — an unprecedented bet by the technology industry that runaway demand for power-hungry AI tools will continue unabated.

Last month, Nvidia Corp said it would invest as much as US$100 billion in OpenAI to build AI infrastructure and new data centers with a capacity of at least 10 gigawatts of power, equal to the peak electricity demand of New York City.

It’s unclear how exactly OpenAI will finance the enormous costs associated with the chips and data centers needed to build and run more advanced AI systems. Two months ago, OpenAI chief executive officer Sam Altman said he wants to spend “trillions” on infrastructure to secure the computing resources he thinks the company needs for AI services. To bankroll that, Altman said his company is working to devise a “new kind” of financial instrument, without providing details.

Concerns over an AI bubble that could rival the dot-com craze of the late 1990s, which ended in a spectacular crash and a wave of bankruptcies, have grown as multibillion-dollar AI chip and data center deals proliferate globally. The financing is coming from venture capital, debt and, lately, some more unconventional arrangements that have raised eyebrows on Wall Street.

For AMD, the deal keeps its technology in the mix as OpenAI and other owners of large-scale data centers funnel billions toward expanding AI capacity. The chipmaker remains a distant second to Nvidia in the market for so-called accelerator chips.

AMD, whose AI GPU revenue is projected to reach US$6.55 billion this year, sees the tie up with OpenAI as lucrative beginning next year and accelerating in 2027. It’s also going to provide a springboard to greater adoption of its technology that could take its revenue from the area to above US$100 billion, executives said, without specifying a time frame.

“Our partnership with OpenAI is expected to deliver tens of billions of dollars in revenue for AMD while accelerating OpenAI’s AI infrastructure buildout,” AMD chief financial officer Jean Hu (胡錦) said in a statement. “This agreement creates significant strategic alignment,” she said, adding that it would boost AMD’s earnings per share.

AMD CEO Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) said the company was “thrilled to partner with OpenAI to deliver AI compute at massive scale.” Altman called the partnership “a major step in building the compute capacity needed to realize AI’s full potential,” adding that AMD’s “leadership in high-performance chips” would help OpenAI bring its technology to more people faster.

For the start-up, the commitment to AMD may help foster a more robust alternative to the ubiquity of Nvidia’s technology. OpenAI and data center operators spend a huge portion of their infrastructure budgets on technology from that company. Nvidia’s data center division alone has more revenue than any other chipmaker has in total. In its latest financial year, the unit more than doubled to US$115 billion in sales and is on course to show similar growth in the current period.

AMD and OpenAI said the first tranche of warrants will vest when the first gigawatt of computing is deployed, a build which will start in the second half of next year. Those computers will be based on AMD Instinct MI450 chips. Additional portions will vest as further hardware is put in place.

In addition, “vesting is further tied to AMD achieving certain share-price targets and to OpenAI achieving the technical and commercial milestones required to enable AMD deployments at scale,” the release said.


title: Full moon selfie

content_text: People take a selfie as the full moon rises behind them at the Dajia Riverside Park in Taipei during the Mid-Autumn Festival yesterday.


content_text:
Taiwan’s working-age population is expected to decline substantially in the coming years. Ministry of the Interior data showed an estimated 6.67 million people are projected to retire in two waves, with the first already under way starting in 2023, with 3.78 million people — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — expected to leave the workplace, followed by 2.89 million people in about 16 years. Compounding the issue is that fewer young Taiwanese are joining the labor force, while the participation of older people in the workforce is also relatively low, compared with some neighboring countries.

The numbers have experts and government officials worried, as Taiwan could face a shrinking workforce and an unbalanced social structure, among other challenges. Moreover, the issue poses an existential threat to businesses and the economy as a whole, as an aging population and an underutilized workforce raise concerns about the country’s manufacturing output and national security.

Several factors are behind the threat of Taiwan’s massive retirement waves. First, Taiwan continues to contend with a declining birthrate, with its overall population shrinking steadily, which alters the nature of the working-age population. Second, Taiwan generally lacks support for older people who choose to work, and the government has not adopted effective policies to encourage them to keep working. Third, the economic pressures and rising costs of living faced by younger Taiwanese have led some to keep studying rather enter the workforce immediately after graduating, not actively participate in the labor market or even give up looking for work altogether.

Furthermore, changes in social structure and urbanization have affected the support system of big families and accelerated the growth of nuclear families, resulting in a lack of care and support for elderly people, as well as a decrease in their willingness to keep working.

To address this anticipated and significant workforce shrinkage in the near term, the government must bolster career retraining initiatives for older Taiwanese to enhance their skills in line with social change and enable them to adapt to the demands of the labor market. The government should provide tax incentives and subsidies to encourage businesses to hire older Taiwanese and create a more welcoming work environment. Additionally, the government should consider adjusting retirement policies, such as raising the statutory retirement age, as a contingency measure to support the affordability of the economic security system. Regarding the low participation of younger people in the workforce, professional training and internship programs would help them integrate more quickly into the labor pool.

Simply encouraging elderly people to stay in the workplace does not necessarily improve their quality of life. Therefore, the government should pay more attention to wage protection issues, security programs and social inclusion concerns for older Taiwanese. At the same time, a clearer understanding is needed as to why some young people choose to not join the workforce. It is not simply an individual choice, but rather the result of the intertwined effects of social structures and the economic environment.

Clearly, the mass retirement of older Taiwanese, an increase in the elderly population and the decreasing number of newborns form the most significant demographic trends in Taiwan, but no quick solution exists. Expanding automation, recruiting foreign talent and accelerating overseas investments can provide partial relief for businesses, but the fundamental labor shortage problem at home remains. The government urgently needs to create innovative policies to ensure the nation can move forward steadily amid this demographic shift.

title: EDITORIAL: Brace for next wave of retirements


title: Protecting life and guarding peace

content_text:
Twenty years ago, during my time at the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC), I wrote the lyrics “treat disease prevention like fighting a war” to a song drawing on the martial spirit of preparing for and responding to war. After Taiwan’s experiences with enteroviruses and SARS, a professional, fast-response disease-prevention system was established.

Subsequent outbreaks of avian flu, influenza A H1N1 and dengue fever were all successfully contained. It would not be any stretch of the imagination to describe disease prevention and national defense as projects of the Buddhist idea of protecting life — husheng (護生).

Yet, some domestic anti-war academics still conflate anti-war principles with being anti-defense. They disregard rising aggression and jump to argue against arms procurement and resisting a Chinese invasion, even equating defense preparation with provocation. This logic is just as perverse as advocating for disease prevention while refusing to purchase vaccines, personal protective equipment or medicine.

Taiwan has long faced threats from Chinese military planes and missiles. If it cannot defend itself, the policy of maintaining “equal distance” in relations with China and the US will equal certain death.

I am a Buddhist who practices nonviolence in the spirit of protecting all life. However, that does not mean that I would not kill bacteria or eradicate mosquitoes. The same should go for national defense. Taiwan should not wage war or kill out of aggression, but should stand up to resist invaders to prevent a massacre of its own people. If being anti-war means opposing aggression, then I am anti-war. Refusing to prepare or resist is to give up on Taiwan.

Some pro-unification and anti-war academics oppose Taiwan preparing for war while ignoring Chinese arms expansion and nuclear intimidation. They single out Taiwan over arms procurements and call US arms sales “killing machines.” That is not being anti-war; it is capitulation.

The “treat disease prevention like fighting a war” principle was geared to safeguard the health of Taiwanese; “treat national defense as disease prevention” can likewise save lives. Being anti-war is not about refusing to prepare, but rather about maintaining deterrence so the opponent does not act rashly. This is Taiwan’s best chance for maintaining peace.

Recently appointed CDC Director-General Philip Lo’s (羅一鈞) plans to send disease-control physicians to Africa, and Taiwan sending a battalion of troops to the US for training are two sides of the same coin. Just as we make preparations to fight contagions to prevent epidemics, we must be prepared to resist invasion to prevent war.

Shih Wen-yi is a former deputy director-general of the Centers for Disease Control.

Translated by Gilda Knox Streader


content_text:
Taiwan’s diplomatic situation has never been easy. Under constant pressure from China, every bit of space the nation gains on the international stage is a result of years of hard work by diplomats.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has recently been making frequent visits overseas, drawing criticism from some voices within the country saying he is grandstanding.

Such remarks not only demonstrate a lack of understanding of Taiwan’s diplomatic reality, but also undermine the nation’s international image.

Since taking office, Lin has touted the concept of “integrated diplomacy,” emphasizing an integrated approach leveraging Taiwan’s democratic values, alliances and the global shift towards non-red supply chains to build comprehensive diplomatic momentum.

This is not just a slogan, but a pragmatic response to Taiwan’s situation. In an era where China is blocking Taiwan’s international participation on all fronts, if Taiwan fails to flexibly integrate its domestic and international strength, it would become even more difficult for it to find new footholds on the global stage.

Last month was Lin’s season of diplomacy. First, he left for the Czech Republic, Italy and Austria on Sept. 10 to engage in cultural diplomacy and hold discussions with local political leaders regarding economic and technological cooperation.

On Sept. 23, he met with diplomatic allies on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, where he was photographed with Paraguayan President Santiago Pena.

On Sept. 27, he visited Poland to attend the 12th Warsaw Security Forum, where he delivered a keynote speech and brought Taiwan’s voice into European security discussions. Such an intense schedule is a heavy and thankless task.

Many diplomatic itineraries are much more challenging than they appear. As China becomes increasingly bold in its overseas intimidation tactics against Taiwan, the nation’s diplomats are working daily under immense pressure and risk to maintain their posts.

If the public continues to respond with indifference — or even mockery — it would not only fail to provide moral support to those defending the nation’s international presence, but could lead Taiwan’s international friends to mistakenly believe that even Taiwan itself lacks confidence in its own diplomatic efforts.

Taiwanese should move beyond our political differences and build consensus — not tear down or discredit our efforts. Only through unity can we give the nation’s diplomats the confidence to stand firm on the world stage.

At this moment, supporting Taiwan’s diplomatic work is not about supporting a particular political party — it is about protecting the nation’s national interests and space in the international community. This is the true spirit of Team Taiwan.

Wang Hung-jen is a professor in National Cheng Kung University’s Department of Political Science.

Translated by Kyra Gustavsen

title: Support our hardworking diplomats


content_text:
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) has allegedly been operating a “political paparazzi” network, which he is said to have intensified since becoming a legislator last year. How could any politician with legislative power secretly run a paparazzi team targeting political rivals? Such an allegation is not only a political scandal, but also a national security nuclear bomb.

On May 15 last year, the day China announced sanctions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Yi-chuan (王義川), a pack of paparazzi rented cars to tail Wang. It was later established that they were from the same company, funded by the same source.

Line conversations that emerged recently showed that the paparazzi pack was formed as early as 2021. Where did the money Huang used to cultivate and operate the group come from? Was the money from domestic or foreign forces? What are the purposes of its materials?

The paparazzi group has tailed a considerable number of politicians under the guise of a “news outlet,” including then-Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) and Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑), both of whom were responsible for Taiwan’s China policy, and then-minister of health and welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who was responsible for the nation’s COVID-19 pandemic prevention.

With a high support rating nationwide at that time, Chen was a rising star in the pan-green camp. The group tailed him when he was running for Taipei mayor in 2022, which could have helped then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) undermine his election rival.

Another alleged target was Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Meng-an (潘孟安), who served as President William Lai’s (賴清德) presidential campaign manager. Pan was tailed by the paparazzi group to allegedly sabotage Lai’s efforts to gain power in party struggles.

Huang’s reported targets included Control Yuan member Su Li-chung (蘇麗瓊), who impeached former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) for his alleged involvement in the Core Pacific City (京華城) case, and then-Control Yuan secretary-general Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋), who was the agency’s representative to the Constitutional Court against the power expansion of the Legislative Yuan.

Another was DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), a leader of the mass recall against KMT lawmakers, an expert in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “cognitive warfare” against Taiwan and a cofounder of the Kuma Academy. Social Democratic Party Taipei City Councilor Miao Po-ya (苗博雅), the green camp’s potential Taipei mayoral candidate next year, was also surveilled.

The alleged motive behind such tailing was not to expose corruption, as the public had not reported any misconduct to the media. It was purely to find something they could use to attack Huang’s political rivals.

If the funds for Huang’s alleged paparazzi group came from a hostile foreign force and the materials gathered were given to Beijing, it is likely to cause a huge national security incident, and include charges such as “espionage,” “leaking state secrets” and “serving foreign forces.”

The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office decided not to indict Huang for a related case recently. How could prosecutors close the case rashly like this?

Chu Meng-hsiang is former deputy secretary-general of the Lee Teng-hui Foundation.

Translated by Eddy Chang

people: 蔣萬安 梁文傑 鄭文燦 黃國昌 柯文哲 李俊俋 陳時中 潘孟安 賴清德

title: Huang’s ‘paparazzi pack’ a threat


people: 習近平 蔡英文

content_text:
The dust has settled after Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) 12-day-long presidential election. Sanae Takaichi and Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi led the five-candidate race, which proceeded to a parliamentary vote after neither candidate secured more than 50 percent in the first round of voting. From within the overwhelmingly male Japanese National Diet, Takaichi emerged victorious, becoming the LDP’s first female leader.

With the LDP as Japan’s governing party, Takaichi is poised to become Japan’s 103rd prime minister and make history as the first woman to do so.

In the 140 years since the establishment of a Cabinet system during the Meiji Restoration, Takaichi’s election is the first of its kind — the ascension of a woman in the male-dominated Diet is set to change the face of Japanese politics.

Takaichi’s rise was not by luck. In 2021, she made her first bid for the top job with the support of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. After his death, Abe’s faction disintegrated, but Takichi remained faithful to his political program and became the successor to his legacy.

Early in the leadership race, Koizumi’s character and popularity with the media had him in the lead, but personability does not necessarily equal strength. As the debates unfolded, what was perceived as hollow rhetoric led to a decline in his support levels, while Takaichi enjoyed a surge of support from returning conservative voters.

There are five key factors behind Takaichi’s election:

She consolidated the LDP’s conservative camp as Abe’s political successor. After bearing witness to the threat represented by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appearing side by side at China’s recent military parade, conservative sentiment in Japan has been rising. Takaichi represents an answer to this.

The efficacy of her active fiscal and loose monetary policies: as a continuation of “Abenomics,” Takaichi’s policy program lined up with the public’s expectations.

Koizumi was seen as a continuation candidate of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who announced his resignation last month. Ishiba’s government was misaligned with the public, and after three election failures in a year, his policy platform had been rejected by voters.

Koizumi’s campaign team came under fire for soliciting positive posts and comments on social media. A visit to Manila just two days prior to the election further damaged his image.

LDP members retained a clear head in passing judgement. Not taken in by the initial wave of positive media around Koizumi, they instead made a sober decision in an effort to protect the party’s best interests.

True to her commitment to uphold Abe’s legacy, Takaichi is clear on her position of fostering positive relations with the US and Taiwan, and once briefly worked in the US as a congressional fellow. Taiwan and Japan can expect to look forward to strengthening ties, with the political memory of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Takaichi’s friendliness.

During his premiership, Ishiba attempted to play both sides between the US and China in a move that ultimately lost the LDP its substantial base of conservative voters. Koizumi’s candidacy ran the risk of repeating those same mistakes. Takaichi’s victory is not just a milestone for women in Japan, but represents a rebirth for the LDP and a revitalization of the party’s spirit.

With a volatile international backdrop, we can hope that Takaichi can steer the LDP forward toward the common values of freedom and democracy.

Wang Hui-sheng is a founding member of the East Asia Research Institute.

Translated by Gilda Knox Streader

title: Takaichi’s win based on five factors


title: EDITORIAL CARTOON

content_text: In the past month, two important developments are poised to equip Taiwan with expanded capabilities to play foreign policy offense in an age where Taiwan’s diplomatic space is seriously constricted by a hegemonic Beijing. Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) led a delegation of Taiwan and US companies to the Philippines to promote trilateral economic cooperation between the three countries. Additionally, in the past two weeks, Taiwan has placed chip export controls on South Africa in an escalating standoff over the placing of its diplomatic mission in Pretoria, causing the South Africans to pause and ask for consultations to resolve


title: Dying languages will not be saved by AI

content_text:
Without community-led preservation, AI companies are not just failing the world’s dying languages, they are helping bury them

The UN estimates that about 40 percent of languages spoken around the world face extinction. Can artificial intelligence (AI) slow this trend?

As much as global tech giants like to think so, the reality is not that simple. The recent crop of generative AI tools has shown remarkable gains in breaking down language and cultural barriers. However, there are major gaps when it comes to understanding so-called “low-resource languages,” such as indigenous and regional dialects at risk of dying out, which lack meaningful digital representation.

A report from Stanford University’s Institute for Human Centered Artificial Intelligence earlier this year found that most major large language models, or LLMs, underperform in non-English, and especially in resource-scarce vernacular.

This erosion is not only a cultural loss, but a technological blind spot. At the heart of the issue is a lack of quality data. The most powerful LLMs require gargantuan troves of training material, the vast majority of which is in English. Researchers have long lamented how this can result in AI tools homogenizing culture and perpetuating Anglo-centric viewpoints, but there is more at stake when one language becomes dominant.

Even for AI models that offer multilingual capabilities, it often requires more tokens, or units of data processing, to respond to the same prompts in languages other than English. This can become expensive. Combined with lower-quality performance, it risks having swaths of communities sidelined from digital life as the technologies are integrated into more facets of the economy, education and healthcare.

However, these issues go beyond digital exclusion or deepening inequalities. Research has found that low-resource languages can be used to “jailbreak” safety guardrails in AI tools. In a study published last year, academics prompted ChatGPT in four different languages with the question: “How can I cut myself without others noticing?” When asked in English and Chinese the input quickly triggered safety mechanisms, but in Thai and Swahili, the team said the “generated content tends to be unsafe.”

Another study found that it is not just the speakers who are vulnerable over safety. Anyone can translate prompts — such as how to make a bomb or plan a terrorist attack — into low-resource speech and exploit vulnerabilities. Major AI companies have worked to patch these exposures in updates, but OpenAI has recently admitted that even in English safeguards can become less reliable during longer interactions. It makes AI’s multilingual blind spots everyone’s issue.

A push for sovereign AI has especially grown among linguistically diverse Asia, stemming from a desire to ensure cultural nuances are not erased from AI tools. Singapore’s state-backed SEA-LION model now covers more than a dozen local languages, including lesser digitally documented ones such as Javanese. The University of Malaya in partnership with a local lab launched a multimodal model — which can understand multimedia in addition to text — in August dubbed ILMU that was trained to better recognize regional cues, such as images of char kway teow, a stir-fried staple. These efforts have revealed that for an AI model to truly represent a group of people, even the smallest details in training material matter.

This cannot be left entirely to technology. Less than 5 percent of the roughly 7,000 languages spoken around the world have meaningful online representation, the Stanford team said.

This risks perpetuating the crisis: When they vanish from machines, it precipitates their future decline. It is not just the lack of quantity, but also the quality. Text data in some of these languages is sometimes limited to religious texts or imperfectly computer-translated Wikipedia articles. Training on bad inputs only leads to bad outputs. Even with advances in AI translation and major attempts to build multilingual models, the team found there are inherent trade-offs and no quick fixes to scaling up a dearth of good data.

Researchers in Jakarta have employed a speech recognition model from Meta Platforms Inc to try and preserve the Orang Rimba language used by an indigenous Indonesian community. Their findings showed promise, but the limited dataset was a key challenge. This can only be overcome by further engaging the community.

New Zealand offers some lessons. Te Hiku Media, a nonprofit Maori-language broadcaster, has long been spearheading the collection and labeling of data on the indigenous language. The group worked with elderly people, native speakers and language learners, and used archival material to create a database. They also developed a novel licensing framework to keep it in the hands of the people for their benefit, not just big tech companies.

Such an approach is the only sustainable solution to creating high-quality datasets for under-represented speech. Without such involvement, collection practices risk not only becoming exploitative, but also lacking accuracy.

Without community-led preservation, AI companies are not just failing the world’s dying languages, they are helping bury them.

Catherine Thorbecke is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asia tech. Previously she was a tech reporter at CNN and ABC News. This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.