COINCIDENCE? FDA Director-General Chiang Chih-kang denied the changes were coordinated amid a spat between Tokyo and Beijing, which banned seafood imports
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday officially announced the cancelation of the requirement for a certificate of origin for Japanese food imports to Taiwan, effective immediately. It means that food products from five prefectures — Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba — would be
The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed an amendment to the Referendum Act (公民投票法), stipulating that referendums and national elections would be held simultaneously if their time frames coincide.Referendums were first coupled with national elections in 2017, but the legislature in June 2019 passed an
Two US senators on Thursday introduced a bipartisan bill to codify the “six assurances” as a cornerstone of Washington policy toward Taiwan and prevent any unilateral changes to its longstanding position without congressional review.The “Six Assurances to Taiwan Act,” proposed by US senators John Cu
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi rebuffed demands from China to retract her recent comments about Taiwan, saying there was no change to Tokyo’s stance on how it would respond to a major regional security crisis.Takaichi became the first sitting Japanese leader in decades to publicly link a Tai
HELP POORER NATIONS: Plans should conform with developed nations’ COP29 commitment to provide US$300bn annual climate finance, an official said
Negotiators were divided yesterday on the last day of fire-delayed UN climate talks, as Europe rejected UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) host Brazil’s latest draft agreement which lacks a road map to phase out fossil fuels.At stake is nothing less than proving that international cooperation can
OPPOSITION: The KMT and TPP caucuses said the Cabinet’s proposal was not in line with public opinion and failed to match the legislature’s version passed last week
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved its version of draft amendments that would raise funds for local governments to a record high of NT$1.2 trillion (US$38.34 billion) next year.The Cabinet’s amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) would inc
IN THE MIDDLE: Some of the lawmakers defended the trip as an opportunity for investment, cooperation and to see models that could help modernize Panama
A planned trip by some Panamanian lawmakers to Taiwan has unleashed the latest diplomatic spat with China as the Central American country tries to navigate the turbulent waters between the Asian superpower and the US.The Panamanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US ambassador to the country on
People suspected of drug-impaired driving who refuse to take a rapid saliva test at a police checkpoint would face a fine of NT$180,000, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.The updated Uniform Punishment Standard Forms and Rules for Handling Matters of Violating Road Tra
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday called on Taiwanese to increase travel to Japan and buy more of its products to help the country amid a wave of reprisals from China after it expressed support for Taiwan.The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has repeatedly deployed economic and
A Philippine court yesterday convicted a former mayor, who officials say is a Chinese national, of human trafficking charges for helping establish an illegal online gaming complex in a northern province where hundreds of Chinese and other foreign nationals were forced to conduct scams.The Pasig Regi
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said
US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review
NATIONAL SECURITY: The economics affairs ministry has mechanisms in place to protect the nation’s core technologies, but would update them, Kung said
The government will cooperate with the High Prosecutors’ Office investigation into alleged intellectual property theft from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday.The alleged theft raises national security concerns, and cou
The US Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, aimed at broadening exchanges between Taiwanese and US officials.The bill — which would amend the 2019 Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative Act and the 2020 Taiwan Assurance Act — is awa
Firefighters and army helicopters yesterday battled a fire that burned through a neighborhood of old wooden houses in a fishing town in southwestern Japan, killing one person, injuring another and forcing more than 170 people to evacuate in the country’s largest urban blaze in almost half a century.
The Republican-controlled US Congress on Tuesday voted almost unanimously to force the release of US Department of Justice files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an outcome US President Donald Trump had fought for months before ending his opposition.Two days after Trump’s abrupt a
PUBLIC SAFETY: The nationwide distribution campaign aims to enhance society’s overall understanding of threats and bolster defense awareness, an official said
The latest edition of the National Public Safety Guide is being mailed to all citizens starting today to foster public awareness of self-defense in the event of war or natural disasters, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.“The guides will be disseminated to the public to enhance society
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted seven people — a man from Hong Kong and six former and active military service members — on charges of spying for China.Ting Hsiao-hu (丁小琥), a Chinese man who holds Hong Kong residency, entered Taiwan multiple times on business and tourist visas to dev
Fraud reports last month reached 13,673, with losses totaling more than NT$6 billion (US$192.2 million), the National Police Agency’s anti-fraud dashboard showed. According to the National Police Agency, among the total of 13,673 fraud cases handled last month, the most common was “online shopping f
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday called for Hamas to be expelled from the region, a day after the UN Security Council endorsed US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war that offers the Palestinian militant group amnesty.Netanyahu publicly endorsed the plan during a White Hou
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