【New York Times】Former Taiwan President Is Given a Life Sentence

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/12/world/asia/12taiwan.html

Life Sentence for Taiwan Ex-President

Sam Yeh/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Protesters gathered in front of Taipei District Court on Friday to rally against the conviction of Chen Shui-bian, the former president of Taiwan.

September 12, 2009

Life Sentence for Taiwan Ex-President

By EDWARD WONG

BEIJING — Chen Shui-bian, the former president of Taiwan who had been on trial since March on corruption charges, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison on Friday by a three-judge panel. The sentencing was expected, but nonetheless came as a serious blow to the political forces that Mr. Chen had led for decades in opposing the traditional ruling party of Taiwan, the Kuomintang.

Mr. Chen’s wife, Wu Shu-chen, was also convicted of corruption and sentenced to life in prison. They were accused, among other things, of stealing and misusing public money from 2000 to 2008, the time that Mr. Chen was in office. They were both fined a total of $15 million.

Under Taiwanese law, it is mandatory for the trial court to file an appeal in cases involving a life or death sentence, even if the convict chooses not to appeal.

Mr. Chen was the first politician outside the Kuomintang to become president of Taiwan, after he helped create, in the mid-1980s, a pro-democracy movement that opposed martial law and other civil restrictions. Martial law was lifted in 1987, and the island’s first multiparty presidential elections were held in 1996.

Mr. Chen had also strongly campaigned against the corruption that many Taiwanese saw as widespread within the Kuomintang, which retreated to Taiwan after losing the Chinese civil war to the Communists in 1949.

Mr. Chen was a divisive figure, reflecting the wide gap between supporters of the Kuomintang and those of Mr. Chen’s party, the Democratic Progressive Party, or D.P.P., which generally advocates greater distance from mainland China. When he first entered office, Mr. Chen took a conciliatory attitude toward Beijing, but was rebuffed by Chinese leaders who saw him as a threat to eventual reunification. He then began putting in place policies that moved the island toward greater independence.

Mr. Chen’s recent tribulations have been closely followed in Taiwan, starting with the night last November when Mr. Chen was led from his home in handcuffs. He was indicted in December. One of the harshest charges concerned the embezzlement of $3.15 million from a special presidential fund. Mr. Chen was also accused of taking bribes worth at least $9 million in relation to a government land deal and laundering some of the money through Swiss bank accounts.

On Friday, hundreds of demonstrators milled about outside the courthouse, many dressed in green shirts, the color of the D.P.P. Some held up signs that said “Stop political persecution” and “Free A-bian,” using an affectionate nickname for Mr. Chen.

Mr. Chen’s most ardent supporters said that the trial was a political witch hunt engineered by the president, Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang, who has denied all such accusations.

“It’s quite unfair!” said Huang Liu-chu, 57, who has lived in Taipei for 40 years.

Others praised the handling of the case, saying it showed that even the most powerful figures in Taiwan had to answer to the law.

“This is the hallmark of a democracy,” said Lin Hou-Wang, the director of the Department of Philosophy at National Taiwan University and a supporter of the Kuomintang. “No matter whether the person concerned is a prince or a commoner, all are equal before the law.”

The Democratic Progressive Party has been in disarray since Mr. Ma won the presidential elections in the spring of 2008 by a wide margin over Frank Hsieh, the D.P.P. candidate. But Mr. Ma’s popularity ratings have dropped sharply in recent months, as the economy continues to show lackluster performance and as many Taiwanese accuse Mr. Ma and the government of acting too slowly during a powerful typhoon in August, when at least 700 people were killed or went missing during several days of torrential rain and mudslides.

On Monday, the Taiwanese prime minister, Liu Chao-shiuan, resigned and announced that the entire cabinet would be replaced, saying someone had to take responsibility for the catastrophic results of the typhoon.

Yu-Tzu Chiu contributed reporting from Taipei. Li Bibo contributed research from Beijing.

UMC Launches Into LEDs and Solar

Foundry firm will match the investment of larger rival TSMC

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/optoelectronics/umc-launches-into-leds-and-solar

Photo: NexPower

BY Yu-Tzu Chiu // August 2009

31 August 2009—Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), the world's second-largest silicon foundry, says it will allocate NT $1.5 billion (about US $46 million) to launch a subsidiary to invest in solar, LED, and some other high-growth industries. The move follows a similar-size investment by its larger rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC).

The UMC subsidiary, called UMC New Business Investment Corp., will be led by UMC senior vice president Wen-Yang Chen and aims to acquire majority shares of its investment targets and to aggressively participate in the operation of the acquired firms. The company said in a 24 August press release that its technologies "are highly applicable to the fundamentals of these two industries [solar and LEDs]." UMC says it plans to complete the development of related technologies and establish preliminary operations in the coming days.

UMC already has several investments in solar and LEDs. The company founded NexPower Technology Corp., which produces thin-film solar cells. In the LED sector, UMC has acquired shares of several Taiwan-based enterprises, including LED chipmaker Epistar Corp., packaging houses Harvatek and High Power Lighting Corp., and sapphire-substrate provider Crystalwise Technology.

UMC has also recently made some other commitments. In the wake of a cross-Strait conference on the LED industry held in Taipei in June, UMC signed an agreement with the city of Jinan, China, to establish an LED supply chain by the end of this year, including LED chipmaking, packaging, and lighting products.

In June, UMC's business rival, TSMC, which dominates the semiconductor contract manufacturing industry, announced an ambitious business strategy to go into green technology—specifically solar power and LEDs. On 11 August, TSMC's board of directors decided to allocate $50 million to invest in solar-energy-related areas. TSMC spokesperson Jin-hao Tseng told IEEE Spectrum that this is just starter money and that it will be followed by more investment. In the solar energy sector, Tseng says, TSMC has not decided whether it will develop its own products or order materials from others.

Fritz Morgan, an LED expert for Philips Color Kinetics, told IEEE Spectrum that TSMC's entry into this market makes sense. LEDs are rapidly being adopted as backlights for LCD units in computer monitors and TVs. "A result of this is that a large number of low-cost LEDs will be required," he says. TSMC is known for its ability to reduce the cost of manufacturing high-volume products, notes Morgan. "This will hurt some of the other LED producers, but the overall industry will benefit greatly from lower-cost, higher-quality LEDs being available," he says.

According to Morgan, the LED lighting industry in particular has greatly benefited from all the LED chip companies competing to drive the cost of the chips down. "In general, as these large foundry companies move into the LED and solar space, it only helps the companies that are making end products, as it drives efficiency up and cost down, thus making the end products cheaper," Morgan says.

About the Author

Yu-Tzu Chiu reports on science and technology from Taipei. In the August 2009 issue of IEEE Spectrum, she dug up the details of TSMC's solar and LED credentials. In the June 2009 issue, she laid out Taiwan's plan for its troubled DRAM industry.

Thomas and Janet: first kissing humanoid robots

BY: Yu-Tzu Chiu // Mo, August 24, 2009

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/blog/robotics/robotics-software/automaton/thomas-and-janet-first-kissing-humanoid-robots

First, the rehearsal:


Then the kiss:


While at the IEEE-sponsored International Conference on Service and Interactive Robotics (SIRCon) 2009, IEEE Spectrum scored an interview with the developers of theatrical robots Thomas and Janet, who they claim are the first kissing humanoid robots.

The first kiss happened back on 27 December 2008, during a robotic performance of several scenes of Phantom of the Opera at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (known as Taiwan Tech). Chyi-Yeu Lin, a mechanical engineering professor, directed the performance in front of a packed house of about 400. The overcrowded auditorium burst out in a resounding cheer when Christine (played by Janet) and the Phantom (played by Thomas) kissed.

Lin’s team spent three years developing the autonomous robots hand-eye coordination, intrinsic self-balancing mechanisms, and other technologies. He says that most of the movements during a scene are programmed into the robot ahead of time.

However, their startup and synchronization is controlled by a network connected to a computer that acts as a server for both robots.To make the robots smooches and expression seem realistic, the team adopted several techniques, including manual molding, non-contact 3D face scanning, and 3D face morphing. The robot’s six expressions come about via servos pulling at several points in the face and mouth.

Showing the video of the play at SIRCon, Li-Chieh Cheng, a Ph.D. student at Taiwan Tech’s Intelligent Robot Lab, said such performances bridge the distance between advanced robotics technologies and the public.

“Available service robots could be very expensive and are only used at certain places. However, tickets for theater performance are affordable for everyone,” Cheng says.

But last December’s performance wasn’t perfect. “In addition to unexpected malfunction of motors, the network controlling robots were somewhat interfered with by signals from walkie-talkie used by stage staff,” Cheng says.

Taiwan Tech has some grand plans. “We aim to form a group composed of autonomous robots, which are like well-trained versatile performers. They can not only perform different plays, sing songs, or broadcast news, but also interact with real persons appropriately,” Lin told IEEE Spectrum.

Human actors aren’t the only things in the works. “We’re designing life-size robots of panda and other animals with humanities, who can be gently hugged by children without causing danger and interact with them,” Lin says.