June 5: NVIDIA announced that the company will increase its investment in Taiwan. CEO Jensen Huang mentioned that the AI supercomputer center might be located in Kaohsiung, while the research center could be near Taipei. The headquarters location is still undecided. Minister Wu Cheng-wen of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) confirmed that the NSTC has been in contact with NVIDIA, and there is a possibility of donating some computing power to the academic community.
June 5: Recently, ruling and opposition party legislators have proposed abolishing the Examination Yuan and Control Yuan. In response to these calls, President Chen Chu of the Control Yuan expressed her support. Chen emphasized that her commitment to the separation of powers among three branches of government remains unchanged, and she fully supports and respects the Legislative Yuan if it proceeds with constitutional amendments to abolish the Control Yuan.
June 5: During an interpellation at the Legislative Yuan, Minister of Economic Affairs Kuo Chih-hui stated that he does not rule out nuclear power as an option. If legislation for extending the operating licenses is passed, and safety inspections are completed, both the second and third nuclear power plants could operate for an additional 20 to 30 years. This marks the first time that Minister Kuo mentioned the possibility of extending the operations of the second nuclear plant. Regarding calls from companies located in the Hsinchu Science Park to allow the construction of small modular reactors (SMRs), Kuo clarified that the consideration would depend on safe disposal methods for nuclear waste.
However, the Executive Yuan later reaffirmed its commitment to a "nuclear-free homeland," and Kuo adjusted his stance accordingly.
June 5: The Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) has been operating at a loss, and the government has provided subsidies and capital injections over the years to prevent its collapse. Minister of Economic Affairs Kuo Chih-hui stated that he does not support such subsidy methods. Taipower should accurately reflect the cost of electricity. Kuo also indicated that he is considering feedback from large electricity consumers when deciding whether to implement a second price hike within the year.
June 6: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it has received official notification from the United States regarding the sale of approximately $300 million worth of F-16 aircraft spare parts to Taiwan. This marks the 14th time that the Biden administration has announced arms sales to Taiwan since taking office.
June 6: The Executive Yuan formally requested reconsideration of parliamentary reform amendments passed in the third reading by the Legislative Yuan, sparking intense reactions from both the ruling and opposition parties. The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) criticized the Executive Yuan for declaring "war" on the Legislative Yuan and questioned whether Premier Cho Jung-tai would take political responsibility and step down if the reconsideration fails. Premier Cho responded that "resignation is not an option" and asked whether the opposition parties would give up their motion of no confidence. Concerns have arisen that the process of reconsideration may become routine over the next four years.
June 7: The global battle for the fourth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) market has begun among the three major memory manufacturers: SK Hynix, Micron, and Samsung Electronics. South Korea's SK Group issued a press release that Chairman Chey Tae-won met with TSMC Chairman C. C. Wei June 6, confirming that the two companies will collaborate in the AI chip field.
June 8: Mainland China's General Administration of Customs released data showing a significant increase in cross-strait trade in May. The mainland imported $17.7 billion from Taiwan, a year-on-year growth of 17.5 percent, and exported $6.55 billion to Taiwan, with a growth rate of 25.5 percent compared to last year.
The total trade volume between the two sides from January to May reached $109.2 billion, an increase of 8.2 percent, with Taiwan enjoying a trade surplus of $50.6 billion.
