Google chief urges IT-friendly policies

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt praised Taiwan's internet infrastructure, work ethnics and strong talent base but called for the Taiwan’s government to support the technology industry in his speech in Taipeion Nov 9.

It is due to Taiwan's solid infrastructure foundation that the search engine giant picked the island as home for its largest data center in Asia, Schmidt pointed out in the speech at a forum held by CommonWealth Magazine as part of his short visit in Taiwan. The US$100 million center, to be located in ChanghuaCounty, will serve the entire Asian region, he added.

Some Taiwanmedia, including the United Daily News, described Schmidt's visit to Taiwanafter Beijingand Koreaas a “rally trip” to consolidate support among manufacturers of non-Apple devices using Google's Android mobile operating system.

Schmidt apparently did not take the bait when Wu Ying-Chun, editor-in-chief of the CommonWealth Magazine, introduced him as a key player in the “non-Apple camp” and largely avoided touching on Google's relationship with the technology company, which he did not mention by name in his 30-minute address.