Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday.Tsai made the comment a
SOLIDARITY: ‘Taiwan is a very capable health partner. They have been observers in the WHA before. They deserve to be,’ Daniel Kritenbrink said
The US would soon speak on behalf of Taiwan’s bid to take part as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, later this month, a US official said at a US Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday.“We will speak out again very soon, as we have consistently every year, in supp
The Labor Fund increased by NT$242.21 billion (US$7.4 billion) in March, bringing the fund’s total gains to NT$494.96 billion for the year to the end of March, the Ministry of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Funds said yesterday.The bureau yesterday released its latest labor funds utilization performance re
New York City police officers surged onto Columbia University’s campus late on Tuesday, breaking up an escalating protest and arresting pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had barricaded themselves in a building.Live television broadcasts showed officers entering Hamilton Hall, the latest focal point
South Korea is considering sharing advanced military technology with the US, the UK and Australia through the so-called AUKUS partnership, South Korean Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik said yesterday.The possibility was discussed during two days of meetings between South Korea and Australia
STUMPED: KMT and TPP lawmakers approved a resolution to suspend the rate hike, which the government said was unavoidable in view of rising global energy costs
The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it has a mandate to raise electricity prices as planned after the legislature passed a non-binding resolution along partisan lines to freeze rates.Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers proposed the resolution to suspend the price hike, which passed
China is mischaracterizing UN Resolution 2758 for its own interests by conflating it with its “one China” principle, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for China and Taiwan Mark Lambert said on Monday.Speaking at a seminar held by the German Marshall Fund, Lambert called for support for Taiwan’s meaningf
Taiwan’s economy last quarter expanded 6.51 percent from a year earlier, beating the government’s February prediction by 0.59 percentage points, thanks to stronger-than-expected exports, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday, citing its advance estimate
RE-STRATEGIZING: Manila is mulling new options as Chinese coast guard ships yesterday fired two water cannons at two Philippine ships in disputed waters
Manila is weighing a new approach in the South China Sea, where increasing encounters with Beijing have damaged its vessels and injured its crew, said Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr, who signaled that he wants maritime operations to be “less telegraphic.”“We are re-strategizing
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday pledged to launch an incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering from the almost seven-month-long war, as ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas appear to be gaining steam.Neta
FAST RELEASE: The council lauded the developer for completing model testing in only four days and releasing a commercial version for use by academia and industry
The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) yesterday released the latest artificial intelligence (AI) language model in traditional Chinese embedded with Taiwanese cultural values.The council launched the Trustworthy AI Dialogue Engine (TAIDE) program in April last year to develop and train
The legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) that would allow members of the public to report five types of traffic offenses.The amendments were drafted by the Cabinet in response to mounting criticism o
Taiwan’s average wealth per household was NT$16.38 million (US$503,102) at the end of 2021, with about 71 percent of households coming in below the average, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.Median wealth per household was NT$8.94 million, said the a
GLOBAL CRISES: The French president expects talks to focus on Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as trade, science, culture and sports cooperation
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is due to make a state visit to France on Monday and Tuesday next week, Paris announced yesterday, with wars in Ukraine and the Middle East expected to be high on the agenda.The visit to France, which is to be followed by trips to Serbia and Hungary, marks the Chin
Japan’s governing party, stung by an extensive slush funds scandal, lost all three seats in parliamentary by-elections on Sunday in a major setback for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in seeking re-election as his party’s leader in the autumn.The loss is considered punishment by voters for the
NO RECIPROCITY: Taipei has called for cross-strait group travel to resume fully, but Beijing is only allowing people from its Fujian Province to travel to Matsu, the MAC said
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday criticized an announcement by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism that it would lift a travel ban to Taiwan only for residents of China’s Fujian Province, saying that the policy does not meet the principles of reciprocity and openness. Chinese Dep
A visit to China by a group of 17 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers “is doing nothing regarding China’s continuing military intimidation against Taiwan,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said yesterday.Wang made the remarks as the Ministry of National Defense
Taiwanese band Mayday (五月天) has announced plans to perform in Hualien County following an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale that struck the county on April 3.At the end of a charity concert in Quanzhou, China, on Saturday night, the band announced that its next show would be in Hualien,
NOT OVER: Manila hit a record 38.8°C on Saturday, with the heat index reaching 45°C, and hotter temperatures are forecast until the second week of next month
The Philippines would suspend in-person classes in all public schools for two days due to extreme heat and a nationwide strike by jeepney drivers, the Philippine Department of Education said yesterday.Extreme heat has scorched Southeast Asia in the past few weeks, prompting thousands of schools to s
A senior Hamas official yesterday said the group would deliver its response to Israel’s latest counterproposal for a Gaza ceasefire today in Egypt.“A Hamas delegation headed by Khalil al-Hayya will arrive in Egypt tomorrow ... and deliver the movement’s response” to the Israeli proposal during a mee