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8月的夜間觀測目標包括開陽雙星、輦道增七、天琴座ε雙星，以及上弦月，邀請大小朋友一同探索浩瀚宇宙。（臺北天文館提供）記者劉昕翊／臺北報導

國際天文學聯合會2006年重新制定「行星」定義，使得冥王星改列為「矮行星」。今年適逢冥王星被剔除行星之列20週年，臺北市立天文科學教育館8月假日主題導覽，將由專業解說員介紹歷史、定義等豐富內容，帶領民眾回顧這段改寫天文史的重要事件。

導覽將由專業解說員帶領，介紹冥王星的發現歷史、行星定義的演變與矮行星的分類，也將分享新視野號探測任務的重要成果，帶領民眾重新認識這顆曾經的第9大行星，了解冥王星在太陽系研究中的重要地位，並體會科學探索與求真的精神。活動於暑假期間，每日上午10、11時及下午2、3、4時各辦理一場，無須預約即可參加。

此外，8月盛夏的夜空依舊精采，天文館頂樓觀測室每日上午10至12時及下午2至4時開放日間觀測，民眾可透過專業設備安全觀察太陽黑子；每週六晚間7至9時舉辦望遠鏡觀星活動，8月的夜間觀測目標包括開陽雙星、輦道增七、天琴座ε雙星，以及上弦月，透過望遠鏡不僅能欣賞雙星彼此相伴卻各具特色的景象，也能細細觀察月球表面明暗交錯的地形，在夏夜星空中感受宇宙的奧妙與魅力。

journalist: 本網站由〔uGear 優吉兒網頁設計〕設計與製作

taiwan-subdivisions: 臺北市 臺北

title: 天文館主題導覽 探索冥王星身分之謎


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記者劉昕翊／臺北報導

「2026臺灣文博會」規劃「文化策展」與「品牌商展」，其中，「文化策展」今起至31日，在空總國家文化基地古蹟大樓、戰情廣場登場，規劃展覽、地方選品等豐富內容，邀請民眾感受「第零位元」創作初心。

展期最長、規模最大 臺灣文化邁向國際

文化部表示，2026文博會參與品牌及使用攤位都成長25%以上，預期將創下超越65萬人次參與的新紀錄。昨日在空總國家文化基地舉行開幕式，由行政院副院長鄭麗君、文化部長李遠共同宣告展期最長、規模最大的2026臺灣文博會即將展開。

文化部指出，位於空總國家文化基地古蹟大樓的文化策展區，規劃「不要急，你做得很好」、「未來旅行社」、「人性封存 讀取 然後解壓縮」、「Wake Up！感知覺醒」到「回到明日前」5大展區。除精采的展覽內容外，文化策展自開幕首週起連續5個週日推出「從0到∞的文化IP生成術」活動，包含2場名人帶逛及3場主題講座，透過不同領域的交流對話，帶領民眾看見文化內容跨越媒材、世代與產業的多元可能，感受臺灣文化IP持續生成、邁向國際的創新能量。

journalist: 本網站由〔uGear 優吉兒網頁設計〕設計與製作

title: 「臺灣文博會」今登場 創新能量爆發


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陸委會日前公布「國人赴陸失聯情況」最新統計，自2024年1月至2026年7月22日止，政府接獲國人赴陸失聯、遭留置盤查及限制人身自由的通報案件，累計達402人。對比2024年全年通報人數為55人，2025年大幅攀升至221人，今年僅1至7月就已有126人，增長趨勢令人心驚。

進一步分析通報案件類型，有216人因詐騙、刑事、宗教及「國安」等案件遭中共關押，有32人遭留置盤查，失聯者則高達154人。而這些僅是政府單位接獲報案的案件，未通報的「黑數」恐怕更多，統計數字可能只是冰山一角。這些數字也凸顯，近年伴隨兩岸關係變化及中共對臺政策緊縮，我國民眾赴中國大陸旅遊、經商或交流所面臨的人身安全風險，正以前所未有的速度升高。

中共多年來持續強化其所謂「總體國家安全觀」，並將觸角延伸至涉臺領域。更透過頻繁增修及制定多部「國安」相關法令，如「反分裂國家法」、「反間諜法」、「民族團結進步促進法」等，編織綿密複雜的法律羅網，企圖藉擴張涉臺法令「以法促統」，將臺灣民眾納入其治理與安全體系，進行「長臂管轄」。

令人擔憂的是，以中共2023年7月實施的新版「反間諜法」為例，其大幅擴張「間諜行為」的定義，使一般商業交流、學術研究，甚至日常拍照，都可能被羅織入罪。其「懲獨22條」不僅明定「分裂國家罪」最高刑罰為死刑，更允許「缺席審判」與「終身追責」，「民族團結進步促進法」則將「破壞民族團結、製造民族分裂」的概念模糊化，企圖將北京當局的政治管轄、思想控制及恐懼治理，向臺灣民眾延伸。

正如中共海警船在臺海周邊頻繁活動，聲稱「執法巡查」是為「堅決維護國家領土主權和海洋權益」，這種「灰色地帶」戰術，不僅是對我國主權的挑釁，更隱含對我國民眾的實質威脅。

在北京當局亟欲展現其對臺擁有「主權」與「治權」的政治圖謀下，中共極可能以各種莫須有的理由，針對臺灣民眾製造「假執法、真擴權」的陷阱。無論是在海上攔查臺灣漁船或商船，還是在大陸境內以「國安」為由隨意盤查臺灣旅客，目的都在透過對臺灣民眾行使「管轄權」，滿足其對「主權」邏輯的宣示。民眾一旦步入中共統治所及範圍，等同走入充滿不確定性的雷區。

許多民眾可能認為，只要不談政治、不涉足敏感領域，或過去多次前往大陸都平安無事，就不會有風險。但中共的盤查行動並非隨機，而是有針對性、目的性的，且對象已擴及各行各業。有民眾在下榻旅館遭中共公安、情治人員深夜進入房間訊問，並檢查隨身行李、翻看手機內容及金錢支付紀錄，這些案例涵蓋學者專家、專業交流人士，更以現職或退離職公務人員居多。

近期某法官赴陸旅遊時，遭中共公安進入飯店盤查，詢問內容包含職業、兩岸司法制度差異及對大陸觀感等；軍職人員家屬赴陸自由行，甚至遭旅宿業者要求核實身分證字號。這些案例說明，國人到大陸安全與否，完全取決於中共「國安」單位是否有調查「興趣」，以及要不要「動手」、何時要「動手」，只要中共認為有需要，任何人都可以成為其展現權力或進行情報蒐集的目標。

監察院2020年調查指出，銓敘部曾發生大量公務員人事資料外洩事件，連同一般民眾個資，很可能已被中共整合進其大數據監控系統中，交叉比對並建立特定對象的身分、家庭、工作及人際網絡等背景資訊。當不知情的民眾赴大陸，中共就會透過盤查進行「資料驗證」，這也意味北京當局正系統性利用竊取或蒐集的資訊，全面建置臺灣民眾身分背景資料庫。質言之，每一次臺胞證刷卡、微信支付、住房登記，都在為中共監控系統提供最新數據。

民眾在世界各地旅遊、活動，固然存在不同程度風險，然而中國大陸與其他地區最根本的不同在於，其統治政權存在強烈且毫不掩飾的併吞意圖，無所不用其極地對臺灣採取各種謀略與施壓手段。拘捕、盤查臺灣民眾，不僅是為情報蒐集，更是北京展現其對臺灣擁有實質權力的政治表態，遑論當民眾在大陸遭遇人身自由受限時，中共往往拒絕依照《兩岸司法互助協議》向我政府通報，甚至無視家屬的協助請求。

綜言之，國人赴陸失聯、遭盤查或關押的風險持續升高，面對中共步步進逼的「法律戰」與「執法」陷阱，國人應深刻體認，中共法律一向是為政治服務，執法標準隨時可以改變，在威權體制下，不會有絕對安全，唯有建立高度風險意識，方能確保自身免於專制政權的迫害。

journalist: 本網站由〔uGear 優吉兒網頁設計〕設計與製作

countries: 臺灣 中國

things: 死刑 大數據

title: 【社論】提高赴陸風險意識 確保人身安全


countries: 荷蘭 美國

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業界領先的品質、原廠預裝及模組化設計，有助快速整合系統與液冷元件，縮短上線時間（TTO）提供 44OU、48U、48OU 及 52U 四種規格共十款機架型號，支援即日數據中心整合，適用於多種部署場景 經認證靜態承載量高達 5,500 磅／2,500 公斤，最大化每架機的運算力，實現更高運算密度及最優空間利用率

加州聖荷西2026年7月31日 /美通社/ — Super Micro Computer, Inc.（納斯達克股票代碼：SMCI），一家專注於 AI、企業、儲存及 5G／邊緣運算的全方位 IT 方案供應商，其Data Center Building Block Solutions® （DCBBS）今日宣佈推出全面的機架產品組合，專為關鍵任務、高密度 AI 數據中心部署而設計。ORv3 標準讓 Supermicro 能為客戶提供一系列機架，簡化高運算密度系統的液冷方案整合，從而降低總體擁有成本（TCO）。Supermicro DCBBS 機架均經出廠前測試，並以通過震動及衝擊測試的板條箱發運，納入 Supermicro DCBBS 產品組合。上述針對不同工作負載優化的機架及集群規模解決方案，均已完成驗證，可於交付當日即時通電投入運行。

Supermicro 總裁兼行政總裁 Charles Liang 表示：「AI 基礎設施的成功，有賴於正確的基礎支撐。我們專為 AI 打造的機架產品組合，旨在加速部署的每個環節。作為 DCBBS 技術的核心組成部分，這批高密度、液冷優化機架讓客戶得以更快部署 AI 集群，最大化運算密度、增強可靠性並降低總體擁有成本。憑藉龐大的製造規模，我們每月可從全球各地的生產設施合共交付多達 3,000 個先進機架，其中包括 2,000 個液冷機架，可即時部署至現有或全新數據中心。所有機架均已具備即插即用能力，可在客戶的數據中心立即安裝投用。」

如欲進一步了解 Supermicro 的機架產品組合，請瀏覽相關頁面及影片簡介。

透過採用標準化全模組化架構、原廠預裝及優化物流配送，Supermicro 有效消除繁複的整合及部署瓶頸。配合機架整合服務及模組化 DCBBS 產品組合，Supermicro 具備大規模交付完整機架規模數據中心基礎設施方案的實力，大幅簡化部署流程，為客戶縮短上線時間（TTO）。所有機架均由 Supermicro 全程自主研發設計，採用強化機箱結構，經認證靜態承載量高達 5,500 磅／2,500 公斤，大幅超越業界普遍標準。穩固的機架架構足以承載機架規模集群的龐大重量，涵蓋全配置 GPU 加速系統、供電系統及液冷元件，確保在關鍵任務環境中維持毋庸置疑的結構可靠性。Supermicro 採用優質材料配合高精度製造工藝，並建立嚴謹的品質保證體系，當中以 GR-63-CORE Zone 4 地震及震動資格認證為重點測試項目，務求在最嚴苛的運行壓力下仍能確保系統穩定性。

在液冷優化設計方面，各款機架均支援順暢整合機架內及機列式冷卻分配單元（CDU）、側掛式設備、後門熱交換器（RDHx）及液冷歧管。冷卻液供應及回流管路設有清晰獨立的專用走線通道，優化路由佈局以提升效率及可維護性，並將電源與網絡線纜完全分隔，有效杜絕訊號干擾。

產品組合概覽：

NVIDIA Vera Rubin／GB300 平台（MGX）：提供 750mm 及 600mm 兩種寬度的 48U 及 52U 機架，均內建匯流排

OCP ORv3 平台：內建匯流排的 44OU 及 48OU 21 吋機架

EIA 標準平台：48U 及 52U 19 吋機架

DCBBS 以經驗證的元件及子系統為基礎，提供完整的模組化 AI 基礎設施，支援從單台伺服器、網絡設備，到完整機架規模及數據中心級解決方案的彈性部署，並涵蓋軟件與服務支援。

Supermicro 憑藉全面的 AI 基礎設施解決方案持續引領業界，協助全球各地的企業構建可擴展、高效節能且符合環保理念的 AI 數據中心。Supermicro 全系列機架現已正式公開發售。若要進一步了解機架規模解決方案及機架整合服務，歡迎聯絡 Supermicro 代表或瀏覽 https://www.supermicro.com/en/solutions/dcbbs。

Supermicro 旗下多元化機架產品，現已透過位於矽谷、荷蘭及亞洲的生產設施向全球市場供應。

關於 Super Micro Computer, Inc.

Supermicro（納斯達克股票代碼：SMCI）是全球應用程式最佳化整體 IT 解決方案的領導者。Supermicro 在美國加州聖荷西成立和營運，致力為企業、雲端、人工智能及 5G Telco/Edge IT 基礎架構提供率先上市的創新。我們是全方位 IT 解決方案供應商，提供伺服器、人工智能、儲存、物聯網、交換系統、軟體和支援服務。Supermicro 的主機板、電源和機箱設計專業知識進一步增強我們的發展和生產，並為我們的全球客戶提供從雲端到邊緣的新一代創新。我們的產品均為內部設計及製造（在美國、亞洲及荷蘭），利用全球營運實現規模與效率，並經過優化以降低總體擁有成本 (TCO) 及減少對環境的影響（綠色運算）。屢獲殊榮的 Server Building Block Solutions® 產品組合，允許客戶從由我們靈活兼可重複使用的構建塊構建的廣泛系統系列中進行選擇，而為客戶的確切工作負載和應用進行最佳化。這些構建塊支援廣泛外形尺寸、處理器、記憶體、GPU、儲存、網絡、電源和冷卻解決方案（空調、自然風冷或液體冷卻）。

Supermicro、Server Building Block Solutions 和 We Keep IT Green，均為 Super Micro Computer, Inc. 的商標及/或註冊商標。

全部其他品牌、名稱和商標均為其各自擁有者的財產。

title: Supermicro 擴展 DCBBS，推出精密工程 AI 機架系列，加速部署並縮短上線時間


people: 賴清德 顧立雄

content_text:
TIES THAT BIND:  The president thanked US delegation leader Young Kim for her longstanding leadership in introducing Taiwan-friendly legislation in the US Congress

Visiting US Representative Young Kim yesterday urged the Legislative Yuan to swiftly pass a bill funding the procurement of domestically produced drones needed to help defend the country against security threats posed by China.

The Cabinet has submitted a draft act authorizing up to NT$210 billion (US$6.5 billion) to fund the procurement of domestically developed reconnaissance and attack drones, as well as uncrewed surface vessels. The bill is under review by the opposition-controlled legislature alongside 13 competing proposals.

Speaking to journalists after meeting President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Kim, who is leading a bipartisan US congressional delegation to Taipei, said her visit came shortly after China and Russia had concluded joint naval patrols in the Pacific Ocean, which she said were intended to “intimidate the free people of the Indo-Pacific.”

From left, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu takes a selfie with members of a bipartisan US congressional delegation — US representatives Michael Cloud, Young Kim, Suhas Subramanyam and Randy Feenstra — and American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday.

Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters

While acknowledging the “major steps” Taiwan has taken to bolster its defenses in the face of threats from the Chinese Communist Party, as well as the “robust and very bipartisan” support for Taiwan in the US Congress, Kim said both Taiwan and the US “must do more and do it quickly.”

“In the 21st century, drones are central to warfare,” Kim said. “We hope that the Legislative Yuan can send a strong demand signal to build and buy as many drones as possible, and do it quickly.”

The California Republican also highlighted an investment plan announced earlier this month by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) in Arizona, saying it, together with flourishing people-to-people ties, signals a deepening Taiwan-US partnership.

Earlier yesterday, Lai told the delegation that as countries around the world seek to purchase drones from secure and reliable sources, Taiwan, drawing on its strengths in semiconductors, precision machinery and information and communications technology, is at a pivotal stage in developing its drone industry.

Taiwan has developed capabilities spanning drone research and development, testing and large-scale production to meet its defense requirements, he said.

The government-funded weapons developer National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has passed rigorous US cybersecurity assessments for drone production, demonstrating its ability to comply with international standards while protecting key technologies, he said.

“We look forward to working with the United States to build secure and reliable non-red supply chains,” Lai said, referring to drone supply chains that do not rely on Chinese components.

Lai also thanked Kim, who chairs the East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, for her long-standing leadership in introducing Taiwan-friendly legislation in the US Congress, which he said has helped deepen bilateral ties and expand cooperation.

The US delegation consists of Kim, Democratic Representative Suhas Subramanyam and Republican representatives Michael Cloud and Randy Feenstra, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Earlier yesterday, the delegation also met with Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) at the defense ministry.

The two sides exchanged views on Taiwan-US cooperation and security issues in the Indo-Pacific region, the defense ministry said in a statement.

title: US lawmaker urges drone bill passage


content_text:
PROMISING PROSPECTS: Full-year economic growth could surpass 10 percent if the current momentum persists, buoyed by exports and domestic demand, the DGBAS said

Taiwan’s economy expanded at the fastest pace in nearly four decades in the second quarter, propelled by a surge in artificial intelligence (AI)-related demand that lifted exports, business investment and domestic activity, underscoring the nation’s growing role in the global technology supply chain.

GDP rose 12.92 percent in the April-to-June period from a year earlier, the strongest quarterly expansion since 1988, data released by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics yesterday showed.

The economy has now recorded double-digit percentage growth for three consecutive quarters.

Growth reached 13.72 percent in the first half, the best performance in five decades. If the momentum persists, full-year economic growth could exceed 10 percent, the statistics agency said.

The acceleration was initially driven by robust external demand, but the expansion is increasingly spreading beyond exports into corporate investment, production and consumer spending.

“Exports, a key driver of economic growth, surged in the second quarter, as accelerating demand for AI applications boosted shipments,” DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei.

The rapid adoption of AI, high-performance computing and cloud services has fueled demand for Taiwan’s semiconductor and information-technology products, lifting shipments across the broader technology supply chain.

Exports of goods and services jumped more than 40 percent from a year earlier during the quarter, led by electronic components and information and communication technology products.

After adjusting for price changes, real exports also outperformed the agency’s previous forecast, reflecting stronger-than-expected demand for AI-related technology products.

Imports accelerated alongside exports as companies expanded production capacity and increased purchases of raw materials, semiconductor equipment and other capital goods to meet AI-driven demand. Higher global commodity prices also contributed to the increase, Chiang said.

Net exports added 5.93 percentage points to second-quarter growth, highlighting the continued strength of overseas demand for Taiwan’s AI-related semiconductor and technology products.

However, domestic demand was the largest contributor to growth in the quarter, signaling that the benefits of the AI boom are beginning to extend beyond exporters and technology manufacturers.

Domestic demand expanded 8.47 percent in the second quarter, contributing 7 percentage points to economic growth and surpassing the contribution from net exports. The shift reflected stronger business investment as companies accelerated capacity expansion to capture AI-related opportunities.

Capital formation increased more than previously expected, driven by higher spending on machinery, technology and infrastructure.

Private consumption also improved as gains in the stock market boosted household sentiment and concerns over auto import tariffs eased. Retailers stepped up promotional campaigns to stimulate spending, the agency said.

The broadening of growth momentum suggests Taiwan’s AI-driven expansion is moving beyond a technology export cycle into a wider economic upswing, supported by investment and domestic demand.

title: GDP posts fastest rise in nearly 40 years to 12.92%


content_text:
The EU yesterday scrambled to contain one of the largest migrant crises faced by the block in recent years, after tens of thousands of people poured into Spain’s exclave in north Africa in just days.

About 60,000 migrants have crossed into the territory from Morocco, Ceuta Mayor-President Juan Jesus Vivas told reporters.

Many swam around a small border barrier that juts out into the Mediterranean Sea, with 34 people dying in the attempt.

People walk near the Moroccan northern town of Fnideq as they attempt to cross to the Spanish exclave of Ceuta yesterday.  Photo: AP

Madrid has sent troops, more police, including divers, drones and boats, to boost security in Ceuta. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Minister of the Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska rushed to the exclave.

About 25,000 people who had crossed had voluntarily returned to Morocco, Grande-Marlaska said.

Reporters saw hundreds of people — men, women and children — entering Ceuta, discarding flotation rings and clothes used in the risky passage.

Members of Moroccan security forces disperse people attempting to cross from the Moroccan northern town of Fnideq to the Spanish exclave of Ceuta yesterday. Photo: AP

Yesterday, hundreds of migrants, mostly young men, were hanging around on the Morocco side of the border while others were seen turning back, saying: “There are too many people here.”

“It’s catastrophic,” said Mohammed, a local taxi driver and Ceuta resident. “Sure, we sympathize with them — they’re having a terrible time in their own country, and all that — but this isn’t the way to enter a place, nor is it a way to live.”

It was not immediately clear what prompted the surge of migrants from Morocco. Some previous surges have occurred during tensions between Spain and Morocco.

Sanchez visited Algiers on Monday last week — the first such visit by a Spanish head of government in four years — marking a thaw in relations with Morocco’s rival, but it was not clear if this visit was related to the influx.

Sanchez, in Ceuta, blamed the sudden inflow on people-traffickers spreading rumors about a Spanish Supreme Court ruling this month that irregular migrants arriving by sea cannot be immediately returned.

“What has emerged from our talks with Moroccan authorities is that trafficking mafias took a self-serving interpretation of a Supreme Court ruling,” he said.

That interpretation “spread like wildfire in recent hours,” he said.

Scenes of the crowds of people surging into a member of the EU sparked a diplomatic fallout.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on social media, called the scenes at Ceuta “unacceptable.”

“We cannot allow anyone to come to our Union without abiding by our rules,” she said.

Italy on Thursday called for Spain to be suspended from Europe’s open-borders Schengen zone, prompting Spain to summon Italy’s ambassador and accuse Rome of using the crisis for political gain.

Finland and Denmark yesterday backed Italy’s call, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz demanded that Morocco “take back illegal migrants immediately.”

France and Britain said they stood ready to help Spain with the sudden surge — but France also said it was tightening its border checks with Spain.

title: EU races to contain crisis as thousands cross into Ceuta


content_text:
SHELL OF A BRANCH:  Without new members, the Control Yuan would be unable to investigate, impeach or issue corrective measures, a Control Yuan official said   By Lo Kuo-chia, Fang Wei-li, Lin Hsin-han and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters, with staff writer

The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) caucus yesterday vowed to abolish the Control Yuan, as the branch’s members have reached their term limits, but no successors have been approved.

The legislature has to date refused to hear the Cabinet’s candidates for the Control Yuan. By law, new appointees should have been inaugurated today, after the current members’ terms ended yesterday.

The TPP caucus leaders slammed the branch, alleging that it had failed to check government power, protected elites’ malfeasance and lacked ethics.

Taiwan People’s Party legislators and candidates make a “no” gesture during a news conference outside the Control Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times

The party’s stance has long been to abrogate the Control Yuan and Examination Yuan in favor of a three-branch system, TPP Legislator Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) said.

Under the Constitution, the Control Yuan is the independent watchdog of the nation’s five branches, on equal standing as the Executive Yuan, Legislative Yuan, Justice Yuan and Examination Yuan.

The Examination Yuan should be downgraded to a Cabinet ministry and the legislature should take over the Control Yuan’s duties, Hsu said.

The TPP would continue to boycott all appointees for the Control Yuan and its budget until the branch can be abolished via a constitutional amendment, he said.

The current session of the Control Yuan investigated 1,300 of the 82,000 complaints it received over six years, showing poor efficiency and performance, Hsu said.

TPP Taipei City Council candidate Osmar Hsu (許甫) accused the Control Yuan of shielding former minister of agriculture Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) from the consequences of a corruption case involving egg imports during the avian flu outbreak in 2023.

By law, the Control Yuan must wait two months before opening an investigation into alleged official misconduct, meaning the news cycle would have moved on by the time a probe produced results, they said.

Separately yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) announced that the legislature would vote on the government’s Control Yuan appointments on Sept. 29, following a round of negotiations with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

The opposition and ruling parties have agreed to schedule the hearing for the appointments on Thursday next week, begin deliberations three days after that, and hold the vote late in the following month, he said.

The vote would be conducted with open ballots, he added.

The KMT caucus had said it would suspend the Control Yuan’s budgets for personnel remuneration, administrative overhead, meetings, travel funds for investigations and the National Human Rights Commission.

A Control Yuan official said on condition of anonymity that the branch would lose its ability to investigate, impeach or issue corrective measures should the legislature refuse to approve new members.

The Control Yuan would have no authority other than tracking political donations, property disclosures of officials, and miscellaneous tasks related to training, they said.

The branch could still collect information regarding cases of alleged official misconduct without any members in office — a situation that has happened multiple times in the past, they said.

However, as a result, new Control Yuan officials often find themselves immediately embroiled in four to five cases that had accrued when the branch had no serving members, they added.

A military tribunal’s wrongful conviction and execution of airman Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶) in 1997 — using a confession obtained by torture — is an example of a case handled across the third, fourth and fifth sessions of the Control Yuan, they said.

The then-Council of Grand Justices in 2007 had ruled that the KMT lawmakers’ boycott of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) Control Yuan appointees was unconstitutional.

The legislature must enter the nomination of the Control Yuan members into its agenda, it had said.

“The purpose of the Constitution in installing various national agencies is to uphold their respective and necessary functions within the constitutional governance, which is not to be interrupted for even a day due to change of personnel,” it added.

people: 陳水扁 韓國瑜

title: TPP vows to abolish the Control Yuan


taiwan-subdivisions: 貢寮 三星

people: 賴清德 簡余晏 陳世凱

content_text:
By Huang Yi-ching and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Officials yesterday launched the Taiwan Culinary Exhibition at the Taipei World Trade Center to burnish the nation’s profile as a tourist destination.

The event is runs through Monday next week.

President William Lai (賴清德) at the festival’s grand opening said that gastronomy is a central feature of Taiwanese culture, as evidenced by the standard Hoklo greeting: “Have you eaten yet?”

President William Lai, center, and other officials attend the opening of the Taiwan Culinary Exhibition at the Taipei World Trade Center yesterday. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

The exhibition allows visitors to taste Taiwan’s signature regional flavors and brings attention to culinary establishments that deserve broader recognition, he said.

Taiwanese cuisine, cultural heritage, natural scenery and hospitality are parts of the government’s policy to develop the nation’s tourism industry and soft power, Lai said.

The nation last year welcomed 8.6 million foreign tourists, and the Cabinet has proposed a plan to integrate tourism attractions across Taiwan proper, he said.

The administration’s policies aim to grow the number of foreign tourists visiting Taiwan to 10 million a year and the value of the tourism sector to NT$1 trillion (US$30.96 billion) by 2030, he said.

Paraguayan President Santiago Pena Palacios, who recently visited Taiwan, praised Taiwanese cuisine, showing that food can create friendships, Lai said.

Taiwan Visitors Association chairwoman Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) said the event showcases Sanhsin scallions (三星蔥) and sugarcane-smoked duck from Yilan; abalone from New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮); and black rice and yam from the black earth of the Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪).

These dishes are unique, created from the soil and wind conditions in a specific locality, she said.

During the first quarter, the hospitality industry served 18 million guests, including 13 million domestic tourists, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) said.

The number of foreign tourists visiting Taiwan is increasing by the hundreds of thousands per year since the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chen said.

Among international visitors, 20 percent were from the West, and 30 percent were from Japan and South Korea, he said.

The number of US tourists increased by 9 percent, those from the Philippines rose by 20 percent, and the number of Italians and French visitors grew by double-digit percentage points, Chen said.

title: Culinary exhibition featuring specialty products now open


people: 蔡英文 卓榮泰 賴清德

taiwan-subdivisions: 中山 金山 中正

content_text:
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday praised late Causeway Bay Books founder Lam Wing-kei (林榮基) for standing up to authoritarianism in his lifelong pursuit of freedom and democracy.

Speaking during a memorial service at Che-lam Presbyterian Church in Taipei, Cho described Lam, who relocated to Taiwan in 2019 amid intensifying unrest in Hong Kong and a widening government crackdown, as a democracy advocate admired by many.

“Mr. Lam’s passing is a tremendous loss and a source of deep grief for all those in Taiwan and Hong Kong who cherish democracy and freedom,” Cho said. “Today, we gather to pay our highest tribute to the extraordinary courage he displayed throughout his lifelong struggle against authoritarian tyranny.”

A mourner lays flowers during the funeral of Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kei in Taipei yesterday. The late Hong Kong bookseller, who fled to Taiwan in 2019 after being detained in China, was hailed for his “resistance and defiance” at a memorial service. Photo by Cheng Yu-chen, AFP

In 2015, Lam was abducted and later detained in mainland China, along with four others linked to Causeway Bay Books, which was known for selling political books banned by the Chinese Communist Party.

He was released on bail in 2016 and instructed to return to the bookstore to retrieve customer data.

Instead, he fled and held a news conference, where he detailed the incident that later became known as the Causeway Bay Books “disappearances.”

Cho said Lam’s remarks continue to resonate today: “Although I have seen readers kneel, I have never seen a desk kneel.”

As people mourn Lam’s passing, the Hong Kong government continues to raid independent bookstores and arrest booksellers, Cho said.

Hong Kong authorities on July 15 searched Greenfield Book Store and Have a Nice Stay, both in Mong Kok, and arrested five people on suspicion of importing seditious literature.

Local media reported that one of the imported titles was the Chinese-language edition of Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping’s China, published by a Taiwanese publisher.

“This latest crackdown once again demonstrates, in the starkest terms, how the authoritarian system is steadily destroying Hong Kong and pushing it toward an era in which books themselves are banned,” Cho said. “Such actions are not only destroying Hong Kong; they are also undermining the universal values of democracy and freedom.”

At the event, Cho presented a citation on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德), which was accepted by Lam’s son, in recognition of the bookstore owner’s contributions to publishing, human rights advocacy and cultural exchanges between Taiwan and Hong Kong.

In 2020, Lam reopened Causeway Bay Books in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山). It moved to Zhongzheng District (中正) in 2024.

Then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and then-vice president Lai visited the bookstore in 2020.

Lam’s funeral was yesterday afternoon.

He was to be laid to rest at Peace Garden Cemetery in New Taipei City’s Jinshan District (金山), the church said.

title: Cho honors late freedom advocate Lam Wing-kei


content_text:
Taiwan is moving from a largely invisible supplier to a more influential global player as economic power increasingly shapes international trade, an economist said on Thursday.

The shift presents opportunities for the nation, whose technological, manufacturing and economic capabilities are gaining greater weight as the rules-based trading order weakens, Center for International Trade Policy senior deputy executive director Roy Lee (李淳) said.

Lee made the comments during the Taipei-US City Products and Services Showcase.

Center for International Trade Policy senior deputy executive director Roy Lee speaks during a forum hosted by the Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce of North America in Taipei on April 7. Photo: CNA

Under the previous system, Taiwan was largely excluded from international rulemaking and had to follow standards negotiated by others, he said.

“Taiwan is an economy with real capabilities,” Lee said. “We are being pushed from backstage to the front and are still learning how to act as an economy with a voice and influence.”

That transition comes as strategic competition between the US and China reshapes critical supply chains and technologies, including semiconductors, artificial intelligence, uncrewed systems, new energy, advanced materials and biotechnology.

The two economies had passed a “divergence point” in some areas, which makes it increasingly difficult and costly to reintegrate their technologies and supply chains, he said.

However, Lee cautioned against viewing the emerging order as two opposing blocs.

The US, the EU, Japan and Southeast Asian countries are pursuing varying degrees of derisking based on their security concerns, industrial structures and dependence on China, he said.

While military and some critical technology supply chains are likely to decouple more extensively, ordinary trade would remain largely unchanged, Lee said.

“Economic security is not about abandoning efficiency, but about rebalancing security and efficiency,” he said, adding that how countries strike that balance would depend on their circumstances.

Taiwan should therefore tailor its approach to individual partners, rather than applying Washington’s terminology and priorities universally, Lee said.

“You should not go to ASEAN and talk about decoupling. ASEAN does not want to hear it,” he said.

For Taiwan, navigating the fragmented landscape would require more than simply choosing sides, Lee said.

He described competitiveness and “indispensability” as the foundation of Taiwan’s economic security, with reduced dependence and resilience against coercion or disruption playing supporting roles.

Greater competitiveness would also bolster Taiwan’s economic autonomy and resilience, he added.

Cooperation with the US could help Taiwan remain close to leading technologies and customers, while successful bilateral projects could enhance its credentials as it seeks closer ties with Japan and the EU, Lee said.

Taiwan should seek to retain its position as a global “kingmaker,” he added.

“We are not trying to take the throne,” he said. “However, without Taiwan, it will be difficult for others to compete for it.”

title: Economist touts Taiwan as ‘influential’ in global trade


title: Cabinet approves Tainan coast conservation plan

taiwan-subdivisions: 北門 安平 將軍 七股

content_text:
ISSUE: Structures such as ports and breakwaters are blocking sand drifts, resulting in sand accumulating in one area, while others see increasingly severe erosion

The Executive Yuan has approved a Category One coastal retention project in response to coastal erosion, the Tainan Water Resources Bureau said during a city council meeting yesterday.

A stretch of coastline from Bajhang Creek (八掌溪) to Erjen Creek (二仁) is experiencing severe erosion, the bureau said.

Under natural conditions, coastlines, through littoral or longshore drift, ocean currents, monsoons and typhoons, reaches a state of dynamic equilibrium, it said.

However, artificial structures — as a result of developing the economy and growing the fishery industry — such as fishing ports, trade ports and breakwaters, were blocking the littoral and longshore sand drift that would compensate for erosion, the bureau said.

The municipality’s coastline is experiencing varying levels of erosion, with the breakwaters near Beimen Fishing Port (北門漁港), Jiangjun Fishing Port (將軍漁港), and the southwestern waterway blocking sand drift, resulting in insufficient sand in the Shuangchun (雙春) and Beimen area, the bureau said.

The sandbars in Cigu’s (七股) lagoon has also diminished due to tidal erosion, the bureau added.

The expansion of the fishing and commercial ports in Anping (安平) has also blocked sand drift to the south’s Golden Coast, resulting in increasingly severe erosion, it said.

The Water Resources Agency is moving 25,000m3 of sand to Beimen while continuing to replant windbreaks damaged by coastal erosion, the bureau said, adding that the agency has completed a 1,025m jetty in the Cigu salt fields for better protection.

The Tainan City Government’s short-term plan to address the erosion of the Cigu lagoon sandbar is to adopt environmentally friendly methods, such as geotubes and dredging sand from elsewhere, to reclaim the ridge of sand, the bureau said.

Medium to long-term plans would include spending NT$1.09 billion (US$33.75 million) to build submerged breakwaters, it said.

The bureau has moved 150,000m3 of sand to the Gold Coast area to help reclaim the beach, while the central government is providing NT$320 million to construct offshore breakwaters, the bureau said.

The bureau said it is also employing workers to manually move sand from northern parts to the south.

Work to conserve and retain Tainan’s beaches would take a long time, and the only way the project would succeed is if the central and local governments work together, it added.


content_text:
Taiwan removes Finland from ASF-free list, bans imports of Finnish pork products

Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) on Friday removed Finland from its list of African swine fever (ASF)-free areas and warned that anyone caught importing pork products from Finland could face penalties, after the country confirmed domestic ASF cases.

In a notice, the Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) for ASF said the Finnish Food Authority had announced on Thursday that ASF had been detected in the country.

According to the Finnish agency, preliminary tests on the carcasses of three wild boar piglets found in Virolahti, Finland’s southeasternmost municipality, returned positive results for ASF.

Quarantine awareness posters and a quarantine dog plushie warn travelers about pork products potentially infected with African swine fever at Taipei Songshan airport. Staff writer, with CNA

Following the detection, the Finnish government established a containment zone around the affected area to restrict the movement of domestic pigs, according to the authority’s website.

In response, the MOA’s Animal and Plant Health Agency added Finland to its list of ASF high-risk countries and to its list of countries that have reported domestic ASF cases within the past three years.

The MOA also announced that, effective Friday, imports of live pigs and pork products from Finland are prohibited.

Importers found to have violated the new rules will have the products returned to Finland or destroyed, the ministry said.

According to MOA statistics, Taiwan imported 985 metric tons of pork products from Finland between January and June this year.

The CEOC for ASF issued a similar warning, urging travelers not to bring pork products from Finland into Taiwan.

The center said although there are no direct flights between Taiwan and Finland, there remains a risk that pork products could be sent to Taiwan from Finland by mail.

The center also urged the public to help Taiwan maintain its self-declared ASF-free status with the World Organisation for Animal Health.


title: KMT chairwoman donates NT$1m to quake-hit Japan

content_text:
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday donated NT$1 million (US$30,967) from her personal account to Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture, in support of relief and reconstruction efforts following Tuesday’s devastating earthquake.

Cheng wrote on Facebook that she visited the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association’s Taipei office to express the KMT’s condolences and made the donation.

Taiwan, which is also prone to earthquakes, understands the fear and suffering caused by major temblors and has benefited from international assistance during past disasters, Cheng said.

Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Representative Kazuyuki Katayama, left, and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun, center, pose with a certificate of appreciation at the association’s Taipei office yesterday. Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times

She said she hoped Taiwan and Japan would further deepen cooperation in disaster prevention and emergency response efforts to enhance resilience against natural disasters.

The association said its Taipei representative, Kazuyuki Katayama, accepted Cheng’s letter of condolences and support and, in return, presented her with a letter expressing their appreciation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would donate NT$5 million to Japan for support relief and reconstruction, and to help affected residents resume their lives as soon as possible.

It has also launched a fundraising campaign through the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund, which is to administer a dedicated disaster relief account.

The Mega Bank account, numbered 021-09-01-7741, is to accept donations until Aug. 31. Mega Bank’s bank code is 017.


title: Calls for inclusive disaster rebuilding

content_text:
UNREASONABLE:  Local landowners affected by the flood could not access information about rebuilding due to language and technology barriers, an indigenous resident said

Local residents and civic groups yesterday formed an action alliance calling on the government to ensure the rights and welfare of indigenous communities in its post-disaster reconstruction work for the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) basin in Hualien County.

The government has initiated reconstruction work after a barrier lake overflowed last year.

Local indigenous people and academics yesterday at a news conference in Taipei called for a more comprehensive reconstruction plan and proper communication with residents.

A tower for a replacement bridge being constructed over the Mataian River in Hualien County by the Highway Bureau is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan

Fata’an (the indigenous name of Mataian) resident Kamih Mayaw, a landowner affected by the flood, said the government has yet to provide sufficient communication with local landowners and indigenous communities after the disaster.

Many landowners were asked to sign documents without being provided with understandable information, he said.

Most landowners or farmers are older people who are not familiar with the Internet, but were told to search for information online by themselves, Kamih Mayaw said.

“How is it reasonable to ask us to sign agreements without sufficient communication?” he said.

Mataian Inter-Indigenous Community Youth Union representative O’ping said post-disaster governance seemed to be reduced to land expropriation and negotiated purchase, leaving local residents almost no choice.

Post-disaster reconstruction should not be reduced to engineering projects, land expropriation or administrative power expansion, O’ping said, adding that the government should prioritize indigenous people’s needs and participation in its reconstruction plan.

Union representative Tipus said the government has set up an information station near Guangfu Railway Station.

However, there is inequality in access to information, as most landowners are Amis, but the information station does not provide indigenous-language services, he said.

Tipus also urged the government to put forward a resettlement and relocation plan for the Kalotongan Village (Jialidong, 加里洞) downstream.

Atomo Village Self-Help Association founder Tsai Yi-chen (蔡宜蓁) said they are not against disaster prevention construction, but local indigenous people’s livelihoods should be protected as well.

Large-scale construction work caused large amounts of fugitive dust, severely affecting local people’s lives, she said, adding that affected farmland remained uncultivatable.

Tsai urged the government to establish a platform for two-way communication between the government and the action alliance to ensure residents’ rights and welfare.

Huang Shu-mei (黃舒楣), associate professor of the National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of Building and Planning, said the government should roll out an overall reconstruction scheme.

Residents of the disaster-affected areas had to attend reconstruction project briefings one after another without seeing the bigger picture of medium and long-term residential and industrial planning, she said.

The action alliance aims to make the government face the issue, Huang said, adding that post-disaster planning should not be reduced to construction project management.


title: Report details transport, warehousing sector pay

content_text:
While ocean and air transport workers pocketed the highest salaries in Taiwan’s transportation sector last year, public bus drivers faced the worst working conditions, enduring nearly 200 total hours of work per month, official data showed.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications released data collected last year in a report on the overview of production and employment in the transportation and warehousing sector, which was published in June.

Employees in Taiwan’s transportation and warehousing sector earned an average monthly salary of NT$67,793 last year, up NT$2,609, or 4 percent, from the previous year and marking a record high, ministry data showed.

A Taoyuan city bus is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of the Taoyuan Department of Transportation

The figure was about 1.1 times the average monthly salary of NT$63,383 earned by employees across all industrial and service sectors.

Among transportation-related industries, maritime transport workers received the highest average monthly pay at NT$138,446, retaining the top spot for the sixth consecutive year. Airline transport ranked second at NT$123,804.

Compared with the previous year, average pay in the maritime transport sector fell by NT$1,054, or 0.8 percent, due to a decline in non-regular compensation.

Salaries in all other transportation sectors increased, with airline transport posting the largest gain of NT$6,753, or 5.8 percent.

During the past decade, average monthly earnings in the transportation and warehousing sector have risen by nearly 30 percent, the ministry said.

With the exception of a slight decline in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the average salary has increased every year and has exceeded NT$60,000 annually since 2022, it said.

The ministry attributed the growth primarily to steady increases in regular wages, which have risen by more than NT$1,000 per year, as well as non-regular compensation remaining above NT$12,000 since 2021.

Among individual industries, maritime transport recorded the largest increase over the past decade, with average pay rising 77.1 percent, the ministry said.

Warehousing, bus transportation and airline transportation also posted increases of more than 30 percent, it said.

The ministry’s statistics also showed that employees in the industrial and service sectors worked an average of 168.9 hours per month last year, while those in the transportation and warehousing sector worked 169.3 hours, about 0.4 hours longer.

Bus transportation employees recorded the longest working hours among all transportation industries, averaging 199.7 hours per month — nearly 30 hours more than the overall average.

They also logged 35.7 hours of overtime per month, the highest in the transportation and warehousing sector, and an increase of 2.8 hours from a year earlier, the largest increase among all industries.

The delivery services sector ranked second, with employees working an average of 188 hours per month and 20.9 hours of overtime.

Workers in the railway and metro sector averaged 15.5 hours of overtime per month, up 0.6 hours from the previous year, also placing them among the industries with relatively long working hours.

Over the past decade, last year was the only year in which average monthly working hours fell below 170 hours, the ministry said. Overtime averaged about nine hours per month in most years, except from 2020 to 2022, when it remained below 8.5 hours due to the impact of the pandemic.


title: Come out swinging

content_text: A visitor adjusts his baseball swing angle with an artificial intelligence (AI) sports system at the World AI Vision Exhibition in Taipei yesterday. The major AI applications trade show ends today.


content_text:
TURNOVER WATCH: While the benchmark jumped 3,186.45 points, a turnover fall indicated that investors are still wary of volatility in geopolitics in the Middle East

Taiwan stocks rebounded yesterday, with the benchmark TAIEX surging nearly 8 percent in its largest-ever points gain as a global technology rally and renewed confidence in artificial intelligence (AI) demand lifted heavyweight electronics shares.

The TAIEX jumped 3,186.45 points, or 7.98 percent, to close at 43,119.75, marking the biggest single-day points increase and its second-largest percentage gain.

However, turnover fell to NT$833.713 billion (US$25.82 billion) from the previous session, suggesting that some investors remained cautious.

The rally followed a broad rebound in global equities after gains in technology shares and better-than-expected corporate earnings in the US revived risk appetite.

“Concerns over market fundamentals have started to subside, as earnings reports from US cloud service providers continued to point to resilient demand, while a sharp decline in margin financing helped reduce vulnerable positions and created conditions for a rebound,” Allianz Global Investors Taiwan (安聯投信) said.

Recent market volatility was partly driven by concerns over whether the US Federal Reserve might adopt a tight monetary stance, said Hsiao Hui-chung (蕭惠中), a fund manager at Allianz Taiwan.

With the Fed keeping interest rates unchanged, investors have begun shifting their focus back toward corporate earnings and whether AI-related investment can sustain its growth momentum, Hsiao said.

Technology heavyweights led the advance. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) jumped by the daily limit of 10 percent, while chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) and semiconductor packaging and testing firm ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) also surged by the maximum allowed amount.

The correction has helped ease concerns over excessive leverage and stretched valuations, Hsiao said, adding that investors were reassessing technology shares after the pullback.

Foreign investors returned as major buyers, purchasing a net NT$67.55 billion of shares, while mutual funds bought NT$33.38 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.

Proprietary traders remained net sellers, trimming their holdings by NT$16.26 billion, the data showed.

Still, the decline in turnover indicated that conviction remained limited, with investors wary of renewed volatility from geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

UOB Asset Management Taiwan Co (大華銀投信) said the long-term outlook for Taiwanese equities remains constructive, supported by continued AI investment, strong profitability among financial companies and steady demand from traditional industries.

“The recent pullback has brought valuations of many semiconductor and electronics companies back to more reasonable levels,” said Kuo Hsiu-cheng (郭修誠), a fund manager at UOB Asset Management Taiwan.

Recent increases in AI-related capital expenditure by major US technology companies suggest that the industry is moving beyond a concept-driven phase and entering a more tangible infrastructure expansion stage, Kuo said.

A global rally in technology stocks gathered momentum as South Korean equities posted a record jump, with investors returning to the AI trade after this week’s rout.

The KOSPI surged as much as 18 percent, rebounding from a three-day selloff.

Heavyweight chipmaker SK Hynix Inc climbed by the 30 percent daily limit, while Samsung Electronics Co rose as much as 27 percent — making the two companies the biggest contributors to the MSCI Asia Pacific equities gauge.

The Asian gains followed the biggest rally in Wall Street chip stocks in more than a year. NASDAQ 100 futures pointed to further advances after the tech-heavy gauge snapped a six-day losing streak.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg

title: TAIEX jumps nearly 8 percent in largest-ever points gain


title: MediaTek eyes bigger share of AI market

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INCREASING SCALE: The company’s CEO said it expects to generate more than US$2bn from chips used in data centers this year, and for 2027 revenue to jump

MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it aims to capture up to 20 percent of the serviceable available market of the customized artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator market next year, accelerating its push into AI data centers.

The goal is up from the company’s previous target three months ago of 10 to 15 percent of the market — which is worth US$80 billion — amid demand from AI data center operators for customized AI chips in pursuit of optimized total cost of ownership and performance.

MediaTek expects the serviceable available market and its market share to expand further in 2028 after its second customized AI accelerator, or AI application-specific IC (ASIC), enters volume production.

That would follow volume production in the fourth quarter this year of the first AI ASIC it has designed for a US cloud service provider, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told an online investors’ conference.

MediaTek did not disclose the customer’s name, but reports said the company is designing a tensor process unit — an AI ASIC — for Google.

MediaTek expects to generate more than US$2 billion from chips used in data centers this year and for revenue to expand substantially next year, primarily driven by accelerating customer demand, Tsai said.

To increase its scale in the global AI ASIC market, MediaTek continues to deepen its engagement with several customers, he said.

On the advanced packaging technology front, MediaTek helps customers develop high-performance ASICs across a broad range of very large chip sizes using the chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) and EMIB-T technologies, leveraging its experience in advanced node design, such as 2-nanometer processes, as well as cutting edge engineering and architecture capabilities, the company said.

CoWoS is an advanced packaging technology developed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and widely used in AI chips production, while EMIB-T, a rival technology developed by Intel Corp, is expected to commence volume production in 2028.

MediaTek said its board of directors yesterday approved a US$5 billion budget to secure supply chain capacity and fuel the company’s strategic expansion from AI ASIC to full-scale systems and platforms.

MediaTek yesterday forecast that revenue this quarter would be flat or expand 15 percent sequentially to between NT$152.2 billion and NT$159.8 billion (US$4.71 billion and US$4.95 billion).

The company expects growth in connectivity and vehicle chips this quarter to offset a mid-single-digit percentage decline in smartphone chip revenue due to increased material costs.

MediaTek said it plans to launch a new flagship smartphone chip made on TSMC’s 2-nanometer technology this quarter to cater to demand for agentic AI features on premium phones.

For the full year, the company said it aims to increase revenue by a high-single-digit percentage in US dollar terms, achieving the high-end of its full year revenue growth target range.

Gross margin this year would be within the current quarter’s guidance range at about 46 percent, it said.

The company yesterday said net profit edged up 0.7 percent to NT$24.34 billion last quarter from NT$24.15 billion in the first quarter.

On an annual basis, net profit last quarter contracted 12.6 percent compared with NT$27.85 billion a year earlier.

Earnings per share last quarter were NT$15.28 versus NT$15.17 in the first quarter and NT$17.5 a year earlier.

Gross margin dropped to 46.2 percent from 46.3 percent in the first quarter and 49.1 percent in the second quarter last year.

companies: 台積電 Google


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Hon Hai subsidiary begins commercial operations of 5MW AI cluster

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. said Friday that its subsidiary Visionbay.ai has begun commercial operations of a 5-megawatt AI cluster built using Nvidia’s HGX B300 systems, with more than 90 percent of its capacity already in use.

In a news release, Hon Hai, better known as Foxconn, said the AI cluster is the largest of its kind in Taiwan.

The cluster has received Nvidia’s Exemplar Cloud validation, a certification for AI training infrastructure, making Visionbay.ai one of the first 10 organizations worldwide -- and the second in Asia -- to earn the recognition, Hon Hai said.

Visionbay.ai, which focuses on supercomputing centers and cloud-computing platforms, said demand for AI infrastructure is shifting from simply owning graphics processing units (GPUs) to having systems capable of reliably supporting commercial applications.

The shift has been driven by the rapid development of generative AI, agentic AI and other multimodal foundation models, the company said.

Unlike traditional GPU cloud services, Visionbay.ai’s platform provides integrated tools for AI model training, fine-tuning, inference and AI agent deployment, Hon Hai said.

Looking ahead, Visionbay.ai said it plans to expand its AI infrastructure across the Asia-Pacific region using Nvidia’s Blackwell and Vera Rubin platforms, drawing on Hon Hai’s capabilities in AI hardware, infrastructure and software.


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The Delivery Workers Rights Protection and Delivery Platform Management Act (外送員權益保障及外送平台管理法) — Taiwan’s first law governing delivery platforms — took effect on Tuesday last week.

Passed on Jan. 6, the law mandates that delivery workers receive no less than NT$45 per order and at least 1.25 times the statutory minimum hourly wage — NT$196 — calculated according to the time spent completing each delivery. It also requires platforms to provide group accident and liability insurance, recognizing the risks faced by workers whose jobs depend on spending hours on the road.

The law also aims to improve transparency by requiring platforms to explain how orders are assigned and how pay is calculated, while establishing clearer standards governing account suspensions and contract terminations — measures that would help reduce the uncertainty surrounding how platforms make these decisions.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications has also proposed additional regulations under the act that would improve consumer protections by requiring platforms to clearly disclose fees, refund and cancelation policies, obtain users’ consent before automatically renewing subscriptions and provide compensation when deliveries are excessively delayed.

For years, delivery workers have complained that algorithmic order allocation, unclear pay calculations and inconsistent account suspensions left them with little ability to understand — much less challenge — decisions by platforms that directly affect their livelihoods. Establishing minimum standards and requiring greater transparency would help create a fairer relationship between delivery workers and platforms.

While this is a positive development for delivery workers, protecting one group does not resolve the structural tensions within the food delivery market. Shortly before the law took effect, the National Delivery Industry Union said that Uber Eats began citing the new regulations as justification for increasing commission fees charged to partner restaurants. This could leave many smaller restaurants with little choice but to absorb the additional costs themselves or pass them on to consumers through higher prices.

Whether those increases are ultimately justified is for regulators to decide. Nevertheless, the dispute exposes a larger issue: When operating costs rise, platforms, restaurants, workers and consumers each seek to avoid bearing the additional financial burden.

The Fair Trade Commission’s decision this week to extend its review of Grab’s proposed acquisition of Foodpanda reflects another concern. Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominate Taiwan’s food delivery market, and labor groups have argued that Grab’s close relationship with Uber — Grab’s largest individual shareholder — means the acquisition could effectively create a monopoly.

While regulators are yet to determine whether those concerns are justified, the controversy surrounding the proposal highlights the relationship between market competition, worker protections, the survival of small businesses and consumer choice.

Since their introduction more than a decade ago, food delivery platforms have gradually become part of everyday life, with many Taiwanese relying on them to order lunch during a busy workday, dinner after working late or groceries during bad weather. As their role in daily life has expanded, so too has the need to ensure that the market operates fairly and transparently for the many groups that depend on it.

Delivery platforms seek to expand their businesses and maximize profits. Delivery workers want fair wages, safe working conditions and legal protections comparable to those enjoyed by other workers. Restaurants rely on delivery services to reach many of their customers, yet struggle each time commission fees are raised. Meanwhile, consumers hope they can use these platforms to access convenient and affordable meals at a time when many are already facing mounting living costs.

In reality, there is no single solution that would leave all parties completely satisfied. Nevertheless, policymakers can — and should — ensure that the rules governing the market remain transparent and equitable, particularly for workers, small businesses and consumers, who generally have far less bargaining power than delivery platforms themselves.

Although controversial, the new law has laid an important foundation for improving protections for delivery workers, and the ministry’s proposals seek to do the same for consumers. However, even with these reforms the tension between platforms, workers, restaurants and consumers is unlikely to disappear. The task at hand is to ensure that the market remains competitive, business practices remain transparent and regulations are applied fairly to everyone involved.

title: EDITORIAL: Regulating the delivery market


title: Unions are not to blame for rising delivery fees

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The controversy surrounding food delivery platforms has continued to intensify, with delivery workers complaining about declining incomes, restaurants worrying that rising commission fees would make it harder to stay in business and consumers feeling the impact of increasingly expensive meals, delivery fees and other miscellaneous charges. Amid this growing wave of dissatisfaction, labor unions have become the target of much of the blame, with many arguing that it was the unions’ push for legislation and stronger worker protections that led to the current situation. However, we ask society to pause and consider one question: Who is really making these decisions?

Delivery workers’ pay, restaurant commissions, the price of meals, delivery fees and other charges paid by consumers are all determined by delivery platforms. Unions have no authority to alter algorithms, dictate how platforms set their prices or adjust the prices of commission rates or menu items.

What we can do is expose the problems in the system, help delivery workers understand their rights, help restaurants and consumers see how costs are being passed on and enable the government and the public to see whether the system is fundamentally flawed. If those who exposed those problems take the blame simply for bringing them to light, then the real culprits would be easily overlooked.

We have devoted years to gathering data, analyzing orders, studying regulations, participating in negotiations and bringing issues to the attention of the authorities. Our goal has never been to create conflict, but rather to establish a more transparent and equitable system.

Some ask whether everything would be better if there were no dedicated law governing food delivery platforms. The answer is most likely no. Without minimum wage guarantees, occupational injury insurance or appeals mechanisms for account suspensions and disclosure obligations, platforms could still adjust pay, change the rules and raise commission rates — the only difference is that they could do so with less legal oversight and fewer opportunities for public scrutiny.

Problems do not simply disappear because no one speaks out about them.

Even more worrisome is that when delivery workers, restaurants and consumers all blame one another — and even direct their anger at labor unions — the platforms, which actually hold the power to set the rules, are instead allowed to remain in the background, avoiding the same level of criticism.

Those who suffer as a result are frontline workers, businesses and consumers — not the parties with decisionmaking power. We are willing to accept reasonable criticism and oversight, but we hope that before each outburst of anger, society would first ask one question: Who truly determines compensation, commission rates, prices and platform rules?

Delivery workers, restaurants and consumers have never been enemies of one another — rather, they are all parties affected by the same platform system.

Labor unions do not manufacture these problems; they bring them to light. Only by focusing on the system itself, demanding transparency in platform decisionmaking, clarifying responsibilities and allowing the delivery platform system to undergo public scrutiny can the food delivery industry move toward a fairer and more transparent future.

Arery Chen is chairman of the National Delivery Industrial Union.

Translated by Kyra Gustavsen


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Spain is having a good summer. The economy is forecast to grow 2.6 percent this year, far higher than the eurozone in general, and is expected to keep expanding by more than 2 percent in each of the next few years. The country has doubled its wind and power capacity since 2019, and is riding out Iran-related energy price turbulence far better than its European peers. And its football team just won the World Cup with a display of teamwork that stifled the world’s best attacking team, France, and then the belligerent Argentinians.Spain, and its long-serving center-left premier, Pedro Sanchez,

By Mihir Sharma

title: EDITORIAL CARTOON


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In Japan, Odysseus is scared of tiny, cute Chiikawa

It is the movie event of the summer: A spectacle in which our protagonist journeys to mysterious islands, encountering monsters and sirens, and depends on companions to help navigate a hostile world.

No, it is not The Odyssey. This is Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of Mermaid Island, the most anticipated film this year in Japan, the world’s third-largest box office. It grossed ￥2.24 billion (US$13.99 million) in its opening weekend, one of the strongest Japanese openings of recent years. And with Chiikawa taking over most movie screens during the school summer vacation period, filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s epic does not even open there until mid-September.

That is a common event in a market that marches to the beat of its own drum. Foreigners in Japan are frequently frustrated when Hollywood hits open later than in other countries, but the reality is that the number of screens is finite, domestic movies dominate and Hollywood must work to their schedules, not the other way around. The five highest-grossing hits last year were all Japan-made, a situation that is no longer unusual.

While still largely unfamiliar in the West, Chiikawa is a veritable phenomenon. It has taken over the country that invented the kawaii (cute) character and become near-ubiquitous: It is almost impossible to walk down a street without encountering it, on anything from 7-Eleven sandwiches and bottles of Pepsi to insect-bite ointment.

Partnering with the brand is an instant way to juice revenue. Kura Sushi Inc’s sales jumped 23 percent after a collaboration, while a promo with McDonald’s was so popular that it had to be suspended after stores were overwhelmed with demand from resellers. On X, Chiikawa’s account is one of the most popular in the Japanese language, with nearly 5 million followers — almost twice as many as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

What is Chiikawa, exactly? A contraction of nanka chiisakute kawaii yatsu — “some kind of small, cute thing” — it emerged from a Web series on Twitter, now X, in 2020. The eponymous main character is genderless, looks something like a hamster, and is largely monosyllabic. Each manga is little more than a series of panels, or about one minute when rendered into animation. While it initially presents as the kind of wholesome, cozy slice-of-life genre favored by Gen Z as Chiikawa and friends Hachiware and Usagi share ramen and sweets, it hides a darker side.

Whereas Hello Kitty, perhaps the most famous kawaii character to emerge from Japan, was raised in a suburb of London with a trading company worker for a father, the characters of Chiikawa have to scrape, save and grind to survive. The world they inhabit is very much like a video game, taking quests and fighting monsters to make ends meet, constantly facing the threat not just of poverty, but of being killed and eaten. It is as if Peanuts had been inspired by role playing games and born on Twitter.

One argument posits that Chiikawa’s popularity is down to how the characters’ struggles mirror the uncertainty faced by today’s gig-economy youth. While I am less than convinced, it likely does reflect where it comes from. Unlike Kitty (or Pikachu or Labubu), Chiikawa does not originate from a large company such as Kitty’s creator Sanrio Co. Instead, it was born in the online doodlings of illustrator Nagano who, like many manga creators, works pseudonymously.

She got her start selling downloadable stickers on Line, Japan’s top messaging app. Like in the world of Chiikawa, online artists face survival of the fittest: Thousands of creators experiment online and audiences gravitate to the best. Going forward, the skill for character-licensing firms might not be in creating ideas in-house, but quickly identifying which ones are booming.

The pace of Chiikawa’s growth has been stunning, from the first post six years ago on a little-followed account to the country’s top movie. The push was not all organic; Nagano teamed up with licensing firm Spiralcute, which works with artists who share what it calls a “sophisti-cute” aesthetic (other brands include the cats-in-costumes illustrations of mofusand, recently seen in a viral tie-up with Starbucks in Singapore).

In 2022, a short animated segment on one of Japan’s most-watched morning TV shows helped supercharge sales. In the Japan Character Awards, a sort of industry Oscars organized by the Character Brand Licensing Association, Chiikawa has won the grand prize for three years running.

It is already wildly popular in some East Asian markets, a success that appears to predate an official marketing push, as tourists to Japan return home with Chiikawa merchandise. Recent tie-ups with the likes of KFC and Miniso have seen huge queues in China, where the series has been dubbed “digital ibuprofen” for stressed-out youth. Taiwan has an official store, and the character has been used to promote tourism to Hong Kong.

The question for Chiikawa is whether a character that emerged organically, with Japanese users encountering it online and tourists finding it during visits, can recreate those conditions outside Asia.

In writer Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, Odysseus (as Ulysses) reveals that after the end of Homer’s epic, he sailed west in search of new worlds. With Spiralcute having just announced partners for a push into the US and elsewhere, Chiikawa’s next journey lies west, too.

Gearoid Reidy is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Japan and the Koreas. He previously led the breaking news team in North Asia and was the Tokyo deputy bureau chief. 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.


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AI RACE:  Chinese military researchers distill US models to create smaller and more secure versions, but an expert said these models have limited capabilities

Chinese military researchers have used outputs from leading US artificial intelligence (AI) models developed by OpenAI and Anthropic to train domestic AI systems to advance China’s defense capabilities, according to a Reuters review of more than 80 Chinese academic papers and patents.

The previously unreported findings offer a rare glimpse into how military and security-linked institutions in China are leveraging cutting-edge US AI models as a shortcut to developing specialized systems of their own, despite Washington’s efforts to restrict Beijing’s access to advanced chips and other strategic technologies.

The documents show widespread use of a technique known as “model distillation,” in which outputs from a powerful AI system are used to train smaller, specialized models that can be deployed locally without the enormous computing requirements needed to build frontier AI systems from scratch. Reuters’ review, which included research compiled by the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation and shared exclusively with the news agency, showed distillation is widely used by researchers linked to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and other military institutions.

Miniature figurines and the Claude logo are pictured in an illustration taken on Monday last week. Photo: Reuters

The papers suggest Chinese defense institutions see leading US AI models as both a source of technical insight and a way to close the gap with American rivals.

The dispute centers on unauthorized extraction, not distillation itself, a widely used industry practice.

The issue has emerged as a major flashpoint ahead of US-China talks on AI governance and safety. US officials have accused some Chinese entities of using distillation to extract capabilities from American AI models, potentially undermining export controls and infringing intellectual property rights.

China has rejected the accusations, saying Washington is pursuing AI “hegemonism” while arguing that US firms have engaged in similar practices.

Chinese developers have also disputed claims that their AI advances rely on foreign models. AI start-up Moonshot last week denied allegations by US President Donald Trump’s administration that its Kimi K3 model was built using distillation, saying it was driven by proprietary innovations.

Sunny Cheung (張?陽), a Jamestown fellow who analyzed more than 60 of the papers, said Chinese military scientists are systematically capturing the reasoning steps of Western models to adapt them for surveillance, cyberwarfare and tactical decisionmaking.

“Teaching a model the right answer is one thing, but teaching it the reasoning behind the answer is much harder,” Cheung said.

“These papers show Chinese military-linked researchers are trying to transfer that expensive, proprietary reasoning from Western models into smaller systems they can control and deploy locally,” he said.

Reuters verified the academic literature and identified an additional two dozen military-linked case studies.

One paper published last year by researchers in PLA Unit 96941, a military intelligence and cyberwarfare unit in Beijing, described using OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 to process sensitive military source code.

The researchers said third-party models were unsuitable for handling classified information. To overcome that limitation, they used GPT-3.5 to summarize software code and trained a domestic model on those summaries to run entirely within Chinese military networks.

The White House, Pentagon, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the PLA and OpenAI did not respond to requests for comment.

Chinese researchers have used distillation for purposes ranging from content monitoring to military deployment, Reuters’ and Jamestown’s review of the papers showed.

At the North University of China, which has close links to the country’s weapons industry, researchers used Anthropic’s Claude 3 Haiku to generate synthetic training data for a text classification model for social media monitoring and content moderation.

Anthropic said it does not provide commercial access to Claude in China or to Beijing-controlled firms and uses monitoring systems to detect policy violations.

The company added that distilled models may lose the original systems’ safety safeguards, potentially allowing sensitive capabilities to be transferred to models beyond its control.

A 2024 paper from the PLA’s National University of Defense Technology described using distillation to shrink an image-processing model for deployment on uncrewed aerial vehicles, allowing drones to analyze live video and support navigation, and targeting decisions in real time even when communications are cut.

Similarly, researchers at China’s Academy of Military Sciences used distillation to run a target-recognition model on tactical hardware during simulated maritime operations involving drones, ships and uncrewed submarines, a study published earlier this year showed.

China has embraced distillation as it seeks to compete with the US in frontier AI while facing constraints on advanced computing resources due to Washington’s export controls on high-end chips. Central and local governments have promoted “model lightweighting” and edge computing, directing subsidies and research funding toward technologies that enable AI models to run on drones, satellites and other devices with limited processing power.

However, experts caution that distillation has significant limitations. As Chinese AI models close the gap with their US counterparts, military researchers are also examining distillation as a potential security risk.

In January, researchers at the Army Engineering University published a paper on the threat of “data-free distillation,” a method of reverse-engineering a model’s capabilities without direct access to its core parameters.

To counter that vulnerability, they proposed defense mechanisms designed to mask the hidden logical information exposed in a model’s public outputs.

Distilled models also inherit only selected capabilities and cannot fully replicate the broad intelligence of frontier systems.

Trevor Koverko, cofounder of AI data company Sapien, said distilled models remain less capable than their teacher models.

“It is best understood as transferring selected capabilities into a cheaper, locally controlled system, not achieving independence from frontier AI,” he said.

title: China taps US AI models to train defense systems


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DEATH SENTENCE? The Malaysian pilot tested positive for meth, MDMA and cocaine, and customs officials found 14 bags of ecstasy in his suitcase

A Malaysian pilot who tested positive for drugs after flying a passenger plane to Indonesia risks the death penalty for allegedly smuggling more than 70,000 ecstasy tablets in his suitcase, officials said yesterday.

The 39-year-old pilot, identified only by his initials, MSO, was arrested on Wednesday at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta international airport shortly after arriving from Kuala Lumpur.

The airport customs office did not say which carrier the pilot worked for, but the flight number indicated it was a Malaysia Airlines plane.

Indonesian customs officials display drugs allegedly smuggled by a Malaysian pilot as evidence during a press conference at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, near Jakarta, yesterday. Photo: AFP

“The results of his urine test came back positive for meth, MDMA and cocaine. So, at the time of the flight, he was under the influence,” Hengky Tomuan Parlindungan Aritonang, an official at the airport customs office, told reporters in the Indonesian capital.

“What concerns all of us is that this person’s profession is a pilot, and at the time he arrived, he had just flown that plane from Kuala Lumpur to Indonesia,” he said.

Customs officials found 14 bags of ecstasy — more than 70,000 pills — in the pilot’s suitcase, and four grams of meth, thought to be for personal use, in his hand luggage.

Indonesian Customs officials display the uniform of a Malaysian pilot and drugs he allegedly smuggled as evidence during a press conference at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, near Jakarta, yesterday. Photo: AFP

Hengky said the pilot likely did not expect to be checked in the special customs lane for pilots and crew, “but the monitoring we carry out is the same” for everyone.

In a statement to investigators, the man said this was the third time he had attempted to smuggle drugs, the second to Indonesia and once in Malaysia.

Awaludin said the police suspected “MSO” to be part of an international syndicate, and he has been charged with smuggling.

Under Indonesian law, he risks the death penalty or life imprisonment.

Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws, including the death penalty for traffickers, but has maintained a moratorium on executions for several years.

The pilot told investigators he had been promised about 50,000 Malaysian ringgit (just over US$12,000) to deliver the narcotics in Jakarta.

Malaysia Airlines said in a statement yesterday that it took the allegations seriously and had launched an internal review.

“Malaysia Airlines will extend its full cooperation to the relevant authorities in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations,” it said.

The carrier declined further comment pending the Indonesian investigation. There are dozens of foreign traffickers on death row in Indonesia, hundreds altogether.

The Muslim-majority Southeast Asian country last carried out the death sentence for drug offenses in 2016, when one Indonesian and three Nigerians were executed by firing squad.

Two British men were sentenced in March to nine and 11 years in prison respectively, after they were found guilty of smuggling cocaine into Bali.

In June, the Bali police arrested two Russian nationals for attempting to smuggle nearly 8kg of hashish.

title: Jakarta arrests pilot over drug smuggling


content_text:
The US Department of State presented a map of Africa that mislabeled every nation on the continent that it attempted to highlight at the International AIDS Conference in Brazil this week.

Nigeria, a vast country sitting on the Gulf of Guinea, was shown as a landlocked nation in the Sahara desert. Mozambique, whose Indian Ocean coastline stretches for more than 2,400km, was mislabeled as landlocked, too.

Those were just two examples on a map that incorrectly identified every country of the six the department intended to highlight as “funding opportunities” for its health grants.

A screen shows a US government map of Africa with mislabeled countries during a US Department of State presentation at a global conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Photographs and screenshots of the map quickly spread on social media.

“The US government’s failure to catch this error before displaying the slide at the top international AIDS conference in the world, in a session that featured the director general of Nigeria as an invited guest, is not only disrespectful to African collaborators, it’s also a significant tell,” said Emily Bass, an AIDS expert who reported the error, wrote in a Substack post.

Reuters and the Guardian also reported on it.

A State Department spokesperson described the episode as a mistake by a member of its team who had changed the slide deck right before the event in Rio de Janeiro.

The department added that it took full responsibility for the misrepresentation.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has yet to visit Africa since taking office, aside from a brief trip to Egypt with US President Donald Trump for the Gaza peace summit last fall. The Trump administration slashed aid to African nations when it shut down the US Agency for International Development.

Africans have long complained that their countries were a low priority for the US. Former US president Joe Biden sought to deepen the US commitment and counter growing Chinese and Russian influence on the continent.

Biden held an African Leaders’ Summit in Washington in 2022 and visited Angola shortly before leaving office.

title: State Department mislabels African nations at summit


people: 鄭麗文 盧秀燕 郝龍斌 章孝嚴 蔣萬安

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: Is the Taipei mayor eyeing a third Chiang dynasty presidency?By organizing rallies, driving the KMT’s agenda and topping early 2028 polls, Chiang Wan-an is behaving less like a local leader than a candidate preparing for national office

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) in recent weeks has taken the lead in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in more ways than one. He spearheaded efforts to organize last Saturday’s “I am human, I oppose a toxic Taiwan” rally, has stolen the march on the party’s agenda by proposing the legislature vote to topple the cabinet and a recent poll shows him as the “most suitable” candidate to represent the KMT in the 2028 presidential race.

He is clearly taking up the mantle of a party leader, including actions more typical of the party chair. Speculation is running rampant he is gearing up for a presidential run.

It is still not clear that that’s his intention. Making a decision now would be rash, but following this year’s local elections, there will be only 13 months before the election in January 2028. Typically, potential candidates hint that they are in the race in the December to March period, even if they only formally declare in April or May.

There are already events in motion that will encourage supporters to pressure him to run, with plenty of signs that he is in a strong position to win the nomination. Those are normal for any high-flying politician, and especially so for a mayor of Taipei.

Unlike typical politicians, he has a set of unusual and potentially psychologically important pressures and expectations. These are worth examining because they provide interesting context.

IS HE REALLY?

When Chiang was 16, his father sat him and his siblings down for an important talk. His father, John Chang (章孝嚴), was a high-ranking KMT official and would go on to become foreign minister and vice premier. A refugee of the Chinese Civil War, he was a member of the party elite.

Chang told his children that he was the illegitimate son of former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), and therefore also the great-grandchild of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).

The Penn Law Journal quotes Chiang Wan-an as saying, “I was certainly surprised, but I don’t think it changed my life a lot. I tried not to take advantage of my family background,” he says. “My dad told me, ‘You still have to be yourself.’ He insisted that I keep a very low profile, go to public school and live like an ordinary person.”

Perhaps, but having your great-grandfather’s face on the money and a giant mausoleum in the center of the capital must have had some impact. Together with his father, in 2005 they formally changed their surname from Chang to Chiang.

There is some dispute over whether he is actually descended from the Chiang family, and the topic has flared up once again in recent days.

Years ago I researched the topic, examining the various cases made that he was or was not a true Chiang. The historical record has too many gaps to be conclusive one way or the other. However, during that era it was typical for powerful men to have mistresses, so it is very possible.

Ultimately, I concluded that it is best to work from the assumption that it is true. Nobody in the top echelons of the KMT from the era came forth to dispute it, and acted on the assumption that it is true. John Chang was absolutely convinced it was true, and he would likely know.

Chiang Wan-an has repeatedly faced calls to prove it through a DNA test. Quite reasonably, he has rejected such a ghoulish invasion of privacy.

STEALING THE MARCH

Keep that context in mind in considering recent events.

He reversed the standard order of things in the KMT by first visiting the party’s legislative caucus and getting their support — plus those of some key local leaders — before presenting the plan to hold the “I am human, I oppose a toxic Taiwan” rally to party Chair Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文). What she thought of the plan personally we do not know, but Chiang left her little choice in having to support the plan.

The rally was a success. Though estimates put forth by the KMT of 150,000 to 200,000 attendees is — as usual in Taiwan — wildly exaggerated, the turnout was more than respectable, especially considering it was organized on relatively short notice. He deservedly got much of the credit, but leading the party like this is typically the party chair’s job.

He also stole the limelight and dominated the headlines with his proposal for the legislature to vote to topple the cabinet. This is not the first time he has proposed this, but in the current atmosphere it has gained far more attention.

The legislature has the legal right to vote out the cabinet (Executive Yuan), including the premier. The president then has the right to disband the legislature in response, forcing a re-election within 60 days.

Chiang’s case is that ousting the cabinet is reasonable to make them pay for the recent food safety scandal.

He also makes another interesting case, which is that by forcing a legislative election this year, it would decouple the legislative elections from the presidential one. This would reschedule the legislative election timetable to roughly the mid-point of a president’s term, allowing the public to use their legislative vote to render a verdict on the president much like US mid-terms do.

As Chiang noted, this would only be possible if the KMT legislative caucus can reach a consensus to do so, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) caucus in on board. Having lost around a third of their support in polling, naturally the TPP is cagey.

To assuage the TPP’s fears, a proposal has been floated that the KMT would offer five safe party list seats to the TPP to ensure their continued representation. Theoretically, that could even increase the TPP’s number of seats if they can hold onto seven or eight percent of the popular vote.

Chiang says many members of the KMT caucus have told him they support the plan. However, KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) claims that there is not much discussion about it among their members.

At this point, it is in the possible-but-unlikely category. The important point here is that Chiang is driving the agenda and debate, not Fu and especially not Cheng, the party chair.

IN HIS SHOES

The Taiwan Inspiration Association on July 27 released a poll showing that 30 percent viewed Chiang as the “most suitable” candidate to represent the KMT in the next presidential election, topping the list. Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) got 22.7 percent, and Cheng only 4.9 percent.

For the last few weeks, Chiang has also topped the Daily View social media tracker’s politicians list by a wide margin, which is usually dominated by the president. His most used keyword is “Prince Chiang.”

Imagine you are the mayor of Taipei, which has served as the launch pad for three of the five democratically elected presidents. Of all the mayors serving since 1994, only Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) did not run for president.

You have stolen the march on the party chair, are driving the party’s agenda and political debate, you have pulled together a massive rally, and are leading in the polls and dominating on social media.

Oh, and do not forget that your grandfather and great-grandfather were both presidents.

Add up the cumulative psychological impact of all of this.

We cannot know how much these factors play in Chiang’s decision-making process, but they must have some emotional impact.

Ostensibly, he is running for re-election as mayor. Everything he has been doing recently would also lay a solid groundwork to run for president.

Perhaps he has already made up his mind.

Donovan’s Deep Dives is a regular column by Courtney Donovan Smith (石東文) who writes in-depth analysis on everything about Taiwan’s political scene and geopolitics. Donovan is also the central Taiwan correspondent at ICRT FM100 Radio News, co-publisher of Compass Magazine, co-founder Taiwan Report (report.tw) and former chair of the Taichung American Chamber of Commerce. Follow him on X: @donovan_smith.


title: 小孩突肚痛嘔吐！醫一壓「紅疹不退色」急喊：快到急診

content_text:
▲「紫斑性血管炎」不僅會出現壓不退色的紫斑，還會引發腹痛、嘔吐。（圖／郭和昌醫師授權提供，未經同意請勿任意翻攝）

記者李佳蓉／綜合報導

孩子突發劇烈腹痛、狂吐不止，許多家長第一時間都會以為是腸胃炎，甚至當雙腳隨後長出一顆顆紅疹時，還容易誤以為是食物過敏或蕁麻疹。高雄長庚醫院兒童急診近期就遇到類似個案，醫師在看診時透過「輕輕一壓」紅疹沒有消退的簡單動作，揪出真正的病因並非腸胃炎或過敏，而是兒童最常見的全身性血管炎「紫斑性血管炎」。

高雄長庚兒童過敏氣喘風濕科主治醫師、川崎症中心主任郭和昌在臉書撰文分享，紫斑性血管炎（IgA vasculitis）好發於3～10歲的兒童，且經常在感冒後發生。這類疾病最棘手的地方在於，許多孩子初期只有肚子痛的症狀，皮膚紅疹幾天後才會浮現，因此容易被誤認為是腸胃炎、闌尾炎或是食物過敏，讓家長心急如焚卻又找不到真正病因。

郭和昌指出，罹患紫斑性血管炎除了皮膚會出現紫斑外，還可能伴隨以下幾種症狀：第一，下肢或臀部會出現「摸得到、壓不退色」的紫斑；第二是腸胃道不適，包含劇烈腹痛、噁心、嘔吐，嚴重時甚至會引發腸套疊；第三是關節部位疼痛，常見腳踝或膝蓋出現腫痛。此外，有少部分病童的腎臟會受到影響，出現血尿或蛋白尿，後續需要持續回診追蹤。

▲家長一旦發現孩子身上冒紅疹，用手輕壓若完全不退色，須提高警覺。

至於家長該如何初步分辨是普通蕁麻疹還是血管炎？郭和昌傳授一招簡單的辨識方法。當看到孩子身上冒出紅疹時，可用手或拿透明玻璃杯輕輕按壓。如果紅疹變白、會退色，就比較偏向一般的充血性紅疹或蕁麻疹；但如果按壓後「完全不退色」，就必須提高警覺。

郭和昌解釋，按壓不會退色（non-blanching purpura）正是紫斑性血管炎最大的特徵，與一般過敏紅疹完全不同。若家長發現異狀，務必盡快帶孩子前往兒童急診或兒科就醫，他也提醒家長：「一個小小的按壓動作，有時就是正確診斷的開始。」


content_text:
〔中央社〕科技股由持續拋售中強勁反彈，但油價上漲和部分獲利回吐導致漲勢逐漸消退，歐洲股市今天漲跌互見，倫敦股市FTSE 100指數成分股未涵蓋科技公司，盤中再度創下歷史新高，首度逼近1萬1000點大關，然而指數隨後拉回，終場收低。

倫敦FTSE 100指數下跌29.22點或0.27%，收在10868.05點。

法蘭克福DAX指數上漲17.21點或0.07%，收在25629.24點。

巴黎CAC 40指數上漲24.00點或0.28%，收在8509.64點。（編譯：徐睿承）1150801

一手掌握經濟脈動 點我訂閱自由財經Youtube頻道

things: 經濟 油價

title: 科技股強彈後漲勢收斂　歐股漲跌互見


title: 圖輯》沈伯洋合體高嘉瑜 內湖737巷掃街爆吃美食

content_text: 民進黨台北市長參選沈伯洋今晚（31日）與港湖市議員參選人高嘉瑜走訪內湖737巷掃街吃美食，這對台大法律系學姐學弟還上演「地瓜球相互餵食秀」。民眾熱情打招呼，紛紛上前合影。


title: 第6屆監委卸任》鍾佳濱曝下屆被提名人審查標準：需認同未來廢除監院

content_text:
第6屆監察委員任期屆滿，於今（31日）正式卸任，立法院將在8月召開1場公聽會、5天全院委員會審查第7屆監察院人事同意權案，預計於下會期表決。對此，民進黨立委鍾佳濱談及審查標準時表示，被提名人需認同廢監院的主張。不過，他也說，若藍白不先降低修憲門檻，只主張廢監察院，就是在打假球。

今天是監委任職的最後一天，鍾佳濱接受本報訪問指出，過去兩年立法院封殺監察院業務費，把監察院的運作經費都砍掉，缺乏公平的基礎，所以他無法評價這屆監委的表現。

針對立法院下月將開始審查第7屆監察院人事同意權，鍾佳濱提出，對於下屆監委被提名人的審查標準，他有兩個條件。第一，被提名人必須認同未來要廢除監察院的主張；第二，被提名人在修憲廢除監察院前，他必須有能力承擔現在憲政結構下，部分國會權的行使能力。

至於藍白多次主張廢除監察院，鍾佳濱表示，三權分立向來是民進黨對憲政體制的主張，過去在野期間就曾透過修憲程序提案，卻未能獲得當時多數黨國民黨的支持。2006年後修憲門檻拉高到要透過公民投票才能定案，但門檻實在太高，像上次18歲公民權，儘管朝野都支持，最後在公民投票仍未通過。

鍾佳濱認為，知其不可為而為之就是現在藍白的寫照，他們知道廢除監察院的修憲無法通過，所以才做出政治假球的主張。如果在野黨真的希望廢除監察院，就應該先從降低修憲門檻開始，朝野可以坐下來談，否則任何修憲提案都不會通過。如果不討論修憲門檻，就直接主張廢監察院，就是在欺騙社會。


title: 台北賽》麟榤配8強止步無緣衛冕！陳政寬／劉廣珩成台灣男雙唯一希望

content_text:
陳政寬（右）、劉廣珩。（記者王藝菘攝）

〔記者粘藐云／台北報導〕台灣男雙王齊麟／邱相榤今天在超級300系列台北羽球公開賽8強賽，以18：21、24：22、17：21不敵日本岡村洋輝／山下恭平，無緣4強；台灣男雙僅剩「寬廣組合」陳政寬／劉廣珩進到4強。

王齊麟／邱相榤這週在台北賽先是擊敗新加坡組合窪純佑／黄家豪，終止連6站一輪遊，前役打敗日本中靜悠斗／綠川大輝，晉級8強。

不過，今天面對日本世界排名64的岡村洋輝／山下恭平卻陷入苦戰，丟掉首局後，麟榤配在第2局驚險扳回一城，決勝局還一度打出6：0攻勢，無奈沒辦法守成，最後無緣逆轉，8強止步。

目前台灣男雙僅剩下世界排名35的陳政寬／劉廣珩。他們自今年5月才開始合作，但兩人表現穩定成長，他們先在6月的超級500系列澳洲羽球公開賽闖進4強，7月初的加拿大公開賽也晉級8強，後勢看漲。

這週在台北賽，陳政寬／劉廣珩連過兩關晉級8強，今天面對南韓真龍／李鍾民，寬廣組合以21：10、13：21、21：16獲勝，首度挺進台北賽4強。兩人明天要面對馬來西亞勁敵謝定峰／戴偉欽，雙方過去沒有交手紀錄。

王齊麟、邱相榤（前）。（記者王藝菘攝）

王齊麟、邱相榤（前）。（記者王藝菘攝）

countries: 台灣 馬來西亞 新加坡 澳洲 加拿大 日本


title: 台北賽》楊博軒／胡綾芳闖4強！維持心態的秘訣：遠離社群

countries: 日本 台灣

content_text:
楊博軒（左起）、胡綾芳。（記者王藝菘攝）

〔記者粘藐云／台北報導〕台灣混雙楊博軒／胡綾芳今在台北羽球公開賽8強，以兩個21：12擊敗日本川邊悠陽／石川心菜，收下4強門票，自2024年後再度挺進4強。

世界排名12的楊博軒／胡綾芳這次名列第2種子，他們曾於2024年台北公開賽闖進冠軍賽，可惜最終以亞軍作收，未能終結台灣混雙在台北賽的冠軍荒。

今天面對從未碰上的日本組合，楊博軒／胡綾芳直落二取勝，兩人展現出多變的手法與流暢分球，讓對手無力招架，楊博軒表示，最近手感比較放鬆，加上心態放開，才能在場上盡情發揮。

談到近期密集的國際賽程，胡綾芳表示，連兩週出戰高等級賽事確實難免疲勞，因此本次參賽主打調整狀態，希望能邊比賽邊恢復。

面對主場作戰的關注與外界戰績壓力，胡綾芳打趣分享自己的抗壓秘訣就是「遠離社群媒體」，她笑說：「就不要看啊！贏球再看大家的鼓勵就好。」楊博軒也附和道，自己平時就極少關注社群，比賽期間大多以打電動來放鬆心情。

先前兩人接連遭遇傷病困擾，如今重返賽場，雙方在溝通與配合上都有明顯提升。胡綾芳坦言，經歷傷痛後心態調整許多，「現在就是好好享受比賽，找回當初喜歡打球的初心，不要變成負擔。」


content_text:
喬楚瑜。（資料照，PLG提供）

〔記者吳孟儒／台北報導〕桃園璞園領航猿今宣布，球員喬楚瑜因長期受傷勢所困，決定退休，正式結束職業籃球生涯，而根據他個人社群顯示，目前已轉換跑道改當保險業務員。

身高198公分的喬楚瑜，出身光復高中，高中時期即以霸氣的禁區宰制力聞名，曾締造單場抓下33顆籃板、打破 HBL 紀錄的驚人表現，「喬神」的名號不脛而走。2023年，他在PLG新人選秀會中以首輪第二順位被領航猿選中，同年8月披上7號戰袍，正式展開職業生涯，然而反覆的傷勢，最終讓喬楚瑜在2024-25賽季僅出賽10場便宣告整季報銷，總計只出賽26場，場均拿1.1分，而他在歷經漫長復健與審慎評估後，他選擇好好照顧自己的身體，為職業生涯畫下句點，展開人生的新階段。

璞園領航猿球團表示：「楚瑜是一位非常努力、也令人心疼的球員，他為了回到球場，付出了外界看不到的努力；我們完全尊重、也心疼他因傷做出的引退決定。無論未來走到哪裡，喬楚瑜永遠是璞園領航猿的一家人。」

喬楚瑜則表示，「謝謝領航猿的每一位球迷，這三年來一路以來的支持與照顧。很抱歉，沒能如大家期待的一樣，在傷後回到球場，再次穿上球衣為大家奮戰。我知道還有很多人一直在等待我的回歸，這份期待與支持，我都放在心裡，也真的非常感謝。因為有你們的加油與陪伴，讓我在球場上的每一刻都充滿力量，也留下了許多珍貴的回憶。如今即將展開人生的新篇章，但這三年的點點滴滴，我會永遠放在心裡。謝謝領航猿，謝謝每一位支持我的你，期待未來我們都能在各自的舞台上繼續發光。後會有期。」

taiwan-subdivisions: 桃園 光復

title: PLG》選秀榜眼「喬神」喬楚瑜場均僅拿1.1分 25歲宣布退休


content_text:
美軍中央司令部表示，伊朗政府再次聲稱已關閉霍爾木茲海峽，是不實消息，強調霍爾木茲海峽仍對商船保持開放，伊朗並不控制有關海峽。

較早時，伊朗波斯灣海峽管理局發聲明，說由於美軍在相關海域持續採取侵略行動，霍爾木茲海峽已無法正常通行。

另外，國際航運信息平台「海上交通網站」數據顯示，霍爾木茲海峽當地星期四的船舶通行數量由前一天的22艘降至5艘，降幅達77%。

編輯︰張萬燕

title: 伊朗稱已關閉霍爾木茲海峽　美軍否認


content_text:
（中央社倫敦31日綜合外電報導）科技股由持續拋售中強勁反彈，但油價上漲和部分獲利回吐導致漲勢逐漸消退，歐洲股市今天漲跌互見，倫敦股市FTSE 100指數成分股未涵蓋科技公司，盤中再度創下歷史新高，首度逼近1萬1000點大關，然而指數隨後拉回，終場收低。

倫敦FTSE 100指數下跌29.22點或0.27%，收在10868.05點。

title: 科技股強彈後漲勢收斂 歐股漲跌互見 | 證券


content_text: 大圍有私家車起火。昨日(7月31日)晚上6時50分，一輛私家車沿美輝街往翠景花園方向行駛，當駛至美輝街行人天橋底近美田路休憩處時，車頭突然冒煙，姓林33歲男司機見狀隨即打著車身死火燈逃生，末幾私家車車頭位置已陷入火海，司機於是報警求助。

title: 大圍私家車疑短路肇禍陷入火海 司機及時逃生幸無傷


content_text:
民眾黨團日前舉行記者會，批僑委會委員長徐佳青考察26天遍及7國，返台報告卻僅5頁且內容空泛，質疑是花巨資假考察、真觀光，且看電影大濛、吃甜點都被列為機密。徐佳青今日在立法院協商總預算的場外受訪表示，出訪照顧僑民，無愧於心；她提到，因三段夜間長程航班，「當然坐商務艙」。

徐佳青表示，台灣在國際社會處境困難，樂見國會外交幫台灣增加能見度，僑委會做各種協助都是應該的；她在法國遇到被聘為法國總統府的總統甜點師、主廚的台灣僑胞行倫邑，中華民國台灣就只有這一位；行倫邑是台灣之光，曾靠甜點，協助法國總統馬克宏讓遠道而來的大國元首精神大振，後續協商一切順利。

至於看電影，徐佳青說，法國台灣協會募資租場地，放映大濛，她在放映期間抵達法國，開場致詞讓法國朋友知道台灣民主化歷經轉型的過程，致詞完後，很想留下來座談，但無奈後面還有行程，所以只能看不到10分鐘就離場。

徐佳青表示，如果這樣子，委員也不理解，「那我覺得我們的報告寫得再怎麼詳細，恐怕都無濟於事。」她說，後續願繼續提供資料讓立委了解狀況。

徐佳青表示，這26天的行程，無愧於心。她4月採購機票時恰逢美伊戰爭期間，機票價格高昂；她先飛美國，再飛歐洲，然後飛到台北，三段都是夜間長途的飛機，因沒有住宿，當然要坐商務艙。以訪團的每位成員來說，台北、巴黎、英國倫敦到台北，旅宿加機票也要35萬元，還不包括當地的交通跟食宿，他們只有8天，她則是26天。

journalist: 聯合報／ 記者屈彥辰／台北即時報導

countries: 美國 法國 台灣 中華民國 英國

title: 報告僅5頁…被批花巨資「假考察真觀光」 徐佳青回應搭商務艙原因


content_text:
43歲演員王凱7月26日在住處猝逝，消息震驚演藝圈。他的遺體今（31日）下午進行解剖，明天將舉行頭七法會，僅有至親好友參加，最新消息則是告別式確定將在台北舉行。

王凱生前友人今天透露，有通靈體質的朋友感應到，王凱似乎仍不知道自己已經離世，一直堅持要回棚內拍戲，還不停喊著「好冷、好冷」，疑似是因遺體暫放冰櫃所致。此外，也傳出棚內有演員因體質敏感，同樣感應到王凱仍在現場，相關民俗說法未獲家屬證實。

王凱前兩年才送走父親，如今家中僅剩70多歲母親以及2位姊姊，不料如今卻由白髮人送黑髮人，令人鼻酸。由於王凱是高雄人，家屬原本有意將遺體移靈高雄，但因解剖報告尚未完成，遺體目前仍無法發還家屬，因此計畫有所調整。「寬姐」邱瓈寬協助下，家屬最新決定將告別式留在台北舉行，後續細節仍待確認。

王凱生前演出的三立台8「百味人生」，戲份已於昨晚（30日）全數播畢，劇情安排他出國離開。播出畫面中，他雙頰明顯凹陷、身形消瘦，引發不少觀眾擔憂健康狀況。對此，經紀人先前澄清，現在拍戲環境早已不像過去那般高強度，王凱當時只是因拍攝前一週罹患腸胃炎，才會瘦了一圈，並非長期健康出狀況。

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title: 王凱告別式確定留台北！友人曝通靈感應「還想進棚拍戲」


content_text:
AI摘要 文章摘要整理： 狗狗Never每天翻陽台去隔壁玩耍，因鄰居家有滿滿寵物用品而樂不思蜀，卻仍會在主人回家時準時返家，展現超暖心互動。

有些狗狗交朋友的眼光，似乎特別精準。國外一隻名叫Never的狗狗，幾乎天天翻過兩戶相連的陽台，到隔壁鄰居家報到。巧的是，對方剛好從事寵物用品相關工作，家裡擺滿各式玩具和零食，Never彷彿知道自己找到了一座「夢幻遊樂園」，每天都迫不及待上門拜訪，療癒互動也在網路上掀起熱議。

住在國外的Mauro日前發現隔壁搬來新住戶，還沒來得及認識，就驚見Never直接翻過陽台，站在落地窗外盯著自己。Mauro笑說，幸好牠找對地方了，因為自己家裡正好有許多寵物玩具，於是立刻邀請Never進屋，還拿出裝有肉泥的益智玩具招待牠。Never吃得津津有味，玩累後甚至直接躺在地板呼呼大睡。

從此之後，Never幾乎天天準時報到。每天只要Mauro起床，就能看見牠已經站在陽台外搖著尾巴等待，除了體驗各種新玩具，還享受蒸氣梳毛、潔牙玩具等「VIP服務」，舒服到瞇起眼睛、一臉陶醉。

不過，Never雖然愛往隔壁跑，心裡最愛的仍是自己的主人。每當傍晚聽見主人回家的聲音，牠就會立刻跳回自家陽台迎接家人。Mauro也表示，從Never的反應就知道牠一直生活在充滿愛的家庭，只是白天多了一位陪玩的好朋友。

後來Never一家曾外出旅行兩天，讓Mauro笑稱自己陷入「兩天憂鬱症」。直到熟悉的小身影再次翻過陽台出現，他才終於放下心。許多網友也笑說：「牠一定知道隔壁是賣寵物用品的！」「自己找到一位玩具叔叔」「這才是真正的夢幻鄰居。」

title: 狗狗發現「隔壁新鄰居職業」天天翻陽台報到！超爽模樣網笑翻：進到遊樂園 | udn寵物部落


content_text:
電源供應器商光寶科技（2301）轉型高價值解決方案供應商，逐步顯現成績，半年報亮眼，總經理邱森彬指出，「光寶確實已經不大一樣！」除宣告2大新增CSP（雲端客戶）將在2028年營收貢獻各上看10億美元（相當於320億新台幣），加上現在已有2大客戶，長期有信心培養7~8家訂單規模貢獻在10億美元等級的大型關鍵客戶（KA）。

傳統電源供應器價格競爭激烈，光寶2021年開始轉型與北美CSP業者合作，開發結合電源供應器及BBU的產品，從初期投入到真正通過客戶驗證，並開始放量時間漫長，光是客戶驗證產品就花了快3年時間。

跟客戶合作研發BBU苦熬等實現收益，邱森彬坦言，時間長得「眼淚差點都快掉下來」，但通過漫長等待，現在已經進入具體量產階段，去年BBU產能約60萬台，今年配合客戶產能拉高至90萬台，法人估今年年成長性不亞於7成，雲端事業群的主力產品。

有了經驗，光寶也開始再投入次世代新品研發，他表示若順利導入客戶進入量產，兩家新CSP將分別在2年內有機會達10億美元，換算相當320億新台幣的營收門檻，邱森彬表示，從單一零組件供應商轉型系統級供應商，跨入機櫃整合業務是關鍵，比方幫大客戶開發的1.65MW大功率Power Rack重達3.5噸，單價超高，一旦量產就將成為營收動能。

邱森彬表示，對光寶而言，10億美元是關鍵客戶Key Account客戶門檻，目前已有一家CSP客戶超過此規模，另外在IT及消費電子事業群營收也有一家客戶規模接近10億美元水準，預估未來關鍵客戶可以達7~8家。

除長期跟客戶合作研發，培育下一個10億美元客戶，光寶另一個轉型策略，就是投入高成長潛力技術。

目前光寶正投入DC/DC轉換器技術、固態變壓器SST及光通訊模組，邱森彬表示，目前研發支出佔營收比例5~5.5%，未來研發比例仍會持續拉高，此次調高資本支出180億元中7成也都用在研發與測試設備。

光寶6月以8億人民幣收購中國直流電轉換新創南京能利芯科技，就是布局高階DC/DC轉換器技術，目前也已有專案啟動，2027年上半可以看到營收展現，而該南京團隊也與美國CSP關係密切，未來雙方將共同開發新產品給新拓展的兩家CSP客戶中的一家。

另外SST也預計2027年初送樣，但預估因伺服器認證期要3～5年時間，邱森彬預估量產時間會落在2028～2030年之間。

特別的是，光寶也宣布投資新加坡InP（磷化銦）光通訊元件IDM廠DenseLight Photonics，預計投資3,430萬美元取得21%股權，這也成光寶在光通訊布局的三大拼圖：光源、封測組裝、以及光對位技術的一步，光寶是光藕合器大廠，加上自身有Micro LED光源與封測組裝能力，目前會積極尋求策略夥伴，不排除結盟或投資方式加速，網通與交換器的光通訊模組業務預估2027年下半可望開始看見效益。

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journalist: 經濟日報／ 記者王郁倫／台北即時報導

companies: LINE Google Apple 蘋果

countries: 美國 中國 新加坡

title: 光寶已大不同！邱森彬兩招拚轉型 長線培養多家三百億級客戶


content_text:
國民黨新媒體部前主任韋淳祐，使用ＡＩ合成賴清德總統聲音製作「油不得你」影片，被刑事局調查，台北市長蔣萬安聲援指出，影片是他委託團隊製作，「有事衝著我來」。台南市長黃偉哲昨北上立法院參加記者會，不僅斥蔣萬安的行為是犯罪，還播放深偽蔣萬安聲音的音檔，問蔣萬安，「有人這樣深偽你的聲音，你能接受嗎？」

黃偉哲說，未經他人同意，用ＡＩ深偽聲音，製作他人未講過的話，這是犯罪行為；對於明顯違法事情，蔣萬安身為法律人卻力挺遂行政治目的的ＡＩ深偽，還把這樣的行徑當成言論自由，若這不是欠缺法律專業，就是故意說假話，請不要再力挺下去。

黃偉哲呼籲蔣萬安別成為力挺深偽科技的「佛地魔」。

在記者會現場，黃偉哲播放四段有蔣萬安聲音的音檔，其中第一段是真的聲音，是蔣萬安怒轟賴清德總統、行政院長卓榮泰，要求為了毒油處理不彰負責，道歉、下台，呼籲人民七二五站出來對賴政府怒吼。

台南市長黃偉哲（右）昨天呼籲台北市長蔣萬安，別成為力挺深偽科技的佛地魔。記者曾吉松／攝影

第二段音檔談到故總統蔣介石在台實施二二八及白色恐怖，是為了維繫蔣家在台灣的永久執政的手段；第三段談到，蔣介石不僅在國共內戰中殺害中國人無數，更是二二八事件殺害台灣人的元凶，蔣家是台灣民主的障礙；第四段則是說，台灣人受夠蔣介石二二八及白色恐怖的獨裁暴行，呼籲台灣人站出來追求真相、正義，讓蔣家受到歷史的嚴懲。

黃偉哲說，「以其人之道還治其人之身」，後面三段音檔皆ＡＩ深偽合成。他要問蔣萬安，「有人這樣深偽你的聲音，你能接受嗎？」

民進黨立委王定宇質疑，若首都市長支持深偽是言論自由的話，會讓台灣成為詐騙集團的犯罪天堂。

對此，研考會主委殷瑋表示，黃偉哲公然承認不但深偽，而且是用蔣萬安的聲音；檢警調本來要查的是韋淳祐，府院黨追加蔣萬安，在這場記者會之後，也必須要去查黃偉哲了。

北市副發言人魏汶萱表示，民進黨台北市長參選人沈伯洋稱「利用ＡＩ偽造政府首長聲音散布不實內容，會破壞人民與政府之間的信任，也應予以譴責。」但同天，黃偉哲公然發布以ＡＩ合成蔣萬安聲音、捏造從未說過內容的錄音，民進黨一邊高喊反對聲音偽造，黃偉哲卻一邊示範、公開散布，若不是精神錯亂、就是雙標。

journalist: 聯合報／ 記者蔡晉宇、楊正海／台北報導

countries: 中國 台灣

people: 蔣萬安 黃偉哲 卓榮泰 王定宇 賴清德

title: AI深偽…黃偉哲播蔣萬安假音檔 北市府：民進黨雙標