【New News】Mystery Behind Wanye Paper Mill's 45,000-Ping Land Deal: Is CTBC Financial Teaming Up with Yunpao for an AI Computing Hub?

In February last year, Taiwan Financial Asset Management successfully auctioned off the Wanye Paper Mill land in Beigang, Yunlin County. This auction attracted attention due to former Taiwan Financial Asset Management Chairman Shih Jun-ji's controversial remark about "blocking someone's fortune." During the second auction, the buyer was not publicly disclosed. However, such a large-scale development project is difficult to conceal. In March this year, Yunpao Energy announced a land development partnership with CTBC Asset Management, a subsidiary of CTBC Financial Holding. The 45,000-ping site is the former location of the Wanye Paper Mill. Given Yunpao's recent announcement of launching "Yunpao Supercomputing," the collaboration between Yunpao and CTBC has sparked significant curiosity about whether it involves an AI computing center.

The Wanye Paper Mill land development project has faced numerous challenges. "Taiwan Financial Asset Management," backed by public-sector banks, took over the asset in 2008. On September 12, 2023, it announced a public tender. However, Democratic Progressive Party legislator Su Chih-fen expressed concern, as the site is designated as "Class A Industrial Land." She worried that if acquired by private conglomerates, it could bring pollution to the nearby Beigang urban area and strongly advocated downgrading the land to "Class B Industrial Land" before auctioning. Meanwhile, Yunlin County Magistrate Chang Li-shan proposed including the site in the "Greater Beigang Technology Industrial Park" plan. Caught between these positions, Taiwan Financial Asset Management faced a difficult dilemma.