GROWTH: The DGBAS projected that GDP would rise a further 4.45 percent this year, while GDP per capita is expected to surpass US$40,000 for the first time in 2026
The average disposable income per household last year reached NT$1.165 million (US$38,820), setting a new record high and increasing 2.5 percent year-on-year, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics’ (DGBAS) latest “Family Income and Expenditure” report showed on Friday.The medi
Team Taiwan won two more gold medals on the final day of the World Games in Chengdu, China, yesterday, their best-ever performance at a World Games event outside Taiwan.Taiwan sent 119 athletes to participate in 14 categories of the World Games this year.The women’s tug-of-war team claimed their six
European leaders are to join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during his visit to Washington today seeking an end to Moscow’s invasion, after US President Donald Trump dropped his push for a ceasefire following an Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.Securing a ceasefire in Ukr
At least nine people died in a flash flood in northern China, state media reported yesterday, with three others still missing, as the East Asian monsoon continues to unleash atmospheric chaos across the world’s second-largest economy.The banks of a river running through the grasslands of the Inner M
SOURCES: The Cabinet is proposing to allocate NT$500 billion to the Ministry of National Defense next year, while other ministries are required to maintain zero budget growth
The Executive Yuan’s defense budget plan for fiscal 2026 would reach 3 percent of GDP, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday.The Cabinet has prepared a proposal allocating about NT$800 billion (US$26.66 billion) for defense, which would exceed the 3 percent target once defense-related spec
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.“I will tell
‘NOT SUBORDINATE’: Lin Chia-lung rejected Wang Yi’s claim that Japan returned Taiwan to China after World War II, citing the Treaty of San Francisco and democracy
The Republic of China (ROC) is Taiwan’s sole legal government, and the “status quo” is that the ROC and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exist equally as separate entities that are not subordinate to each other, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said, rebutting Chinese Minister of
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is to meet with US President Donald Trump tomorrow as he and European allies push for a trilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite signs the Russian leader is not open to concessions to end the war in Ukraine. “Ukraine reaffirms its readi
More than 300 people are dead in northwest Pakistan after two days of intense rains and floods, local officials said yesterday.Rescue efforts and clearing of blocked roads were ongoing with the release of emergency funds, they said, adding that the heavy rains would continue until Thursday.Cloud bur
AIR DEFENSE: The armed forces are seeking hundreds of additional missiles, and views larger stockpiles as vital to withstanding a sustained PLA missile campaign
The armed forces are mulling placing additional orders for indigenously developed missiles in response to the growing threat from China, a defense official said yesterday.Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said the army, navy and air force have each submitted requests to the Ministry of
UNITY: Lai called World War II a catastrophe driven by dictators and military expansionism, and urged democracies to unite against authoritarianism
Aggression only leads to defeat and as authoritarianism once again gathers strength, it is important that freedom and democracy prevail, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday in a post marking the anniversary of the end of World War II.Taiwan has this year sought to cast the war as a lesson to
The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved an aid and recovery package authorizing the government to allocate up to NT$60 billion (US$1.99 billion) for regions hit by Typhoon Danas and subsequent torrential rains last month. Proposed by the Executive Yuan on Aug. 7, the bill was passed swiftly after ru
US President Donald Trump was to meet face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska yesterday for a high-stakes summit that could determine not only the trajectory of the war in Ukraine, but also the fate of European security.The sit-down offers Trump a chance to prove to the world th
Tens of thousands of people braved blazing heat to pay their respects at a controversial Japanese shrine yesterday, as Japanese Emperor Naruhito spoke of his “deep remorse” on the 80th anniversary of the nation’s World War II surrender.Naruhito said he felt “a deep and renewed sense of sorrow” in a
POWER AID: The upgraded budget would include NT$20 billion to help Taipower upgrade power grids and put cables underground, the deputy economics minister said
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved an amendment to raise the ceiling for a special response budget to NT$590 billion (US$19.7 billion), which includes universal cash handouts of NT$10,000, a measure it previously opposed.The Cabinet said the Ministry of Finance was unlikely to have a definitive a
CONCERNS: Allowing a foreign lawyer to advocate in the nation’s judicial system without proper vetting would set a detrimental precedent, an attorney said
Officials yesterday vowed to review regulations governing the entry of Chinese into Taiwan for lawsuits, following the Taichung District Court’s rejection a day earlier of a petition by a Chinese lawyer to represent a defendant in a civil case.The lawsuit was filed by a Taiwanese bicycle manufacture
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday unveiled the first images of a bomber drone, a loitering munition and a prototype of a vehicle armed with a 105mm gun developed by the Armaments Bureau.The bomber drone is a quadcopter capable of attacking ground targets with a heavy explosive and features
The Pacific islands bloc yesterday did not overturn a decision to exclude 21 donor countries, including Taiwan, China and the US, from the region’s top political meeting after a lengthy debate, officials said, following Beijing’s pressuring of the host to keep Taiwan out of the meeting.Pacific Islan
Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday praised “sincere efforts” by Washington to end the war in Ukraine and floated the prospect of a nuclear arms deal ahead of a summit with US President Donald Trump, an issue in which Europe has urged the US to stand firm.Putin was speaking to his most senior
RSS