BROAD-BASED GROWTH: The institute’s president said the upgrade was mainly due to AI-related technologies, which have boosted export and investment prospects
Taiwan’s economic outlook has brightened, despite mounting geopolitical risks, as robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI) drives exports and investment, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台經院) said yesterday.The Taipei-based think tank raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth
The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法), removing taxes on cinemas, stage performances and a wide range of other types of events.Prior to passage of the revisions, amusement taxes were levied on ticket sales or admission fees across many types of venues and e
Tensions in the standoff between the US and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz intensified yesterday after US President Donald Trump said he ordered the US military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats in the strait.Trump on Thursday said he “ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat,
Burmese President Min Aung Hlaing yesterday issued new emergency ordinances imposing military control in 60 townships, a move aimed at tightening security in regions still mired in conflict despite the transition to civilian rule.The ordinances cover 60 townships across Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, S
STAYING SHARP: Kuan observed drills, part of efforts to transform the island into a base for humanitarian aid in the South China Sea, which included rescuing fishers
Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) on Tuesday visited Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) to observe a maritime rescue drill, marking the first visit by a council head in seven years to the Taiwan-controlled island in the disputed South China Sea.The rescue drill was carried ou
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims.The video, issued
BIG YEAR: The company said it would also release its A12 chip the same year to keep a ‘reliable stream of new silicon technologies’ flowing to its customers
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said its newest A13 chip is to enter volume production in 2029 as the chipmaker seeks to hold onto its tech leadership and demand for next-generation chips used in artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance-computing (HPC) and mobile ap
Government agencies have been banned from using the Chinese navigation app AMap (高德地圖) due to national information security concerns, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday.Concerns were raised after it was found that the app displayed countdown timers for some traffic lights, prompting fear
The US Department of Defense yesterday said its forces boarded a vessel in the Indian Ocean that was transporting oil from Iran, as disruption from a standoff with the Islamic republic continued to batter the world economy.The announcement came hours after a senior Iranian official said the country
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare
The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute.Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as we
COMMITMENT: Polling shows that the willingness of Taiwanese to defend their country is ‘orders of magnitude’ greater than in prewar Ukraine, Paparo said
Taiwan must show the resolve to defend itself, including by passing a NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.63 billion) special defense budget, to secure US support, US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo told a US Senate hearing on Tuesday.“We can’t want Taiwan’s defense more than they want it itself,”
Taiwan has signed six arms procurement offers from the US totaling more than NT$208 billion (US$6.59 billion) covering long-range precision strike systems, missile stockpile replenishment and joint production of large-caliber ammunition, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.The government
Iran yesterday fired on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz, intensifying its assault on shipping in the waterway crucial to global energy supplies and complicating already faltering efforts to bring the US and Iran together for talks to end the war.The attacks were carried out by the paramilitary I
A group of Chinese naval vessels, including a destroyer, yesterday passed through a waterway between two islands administered by the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, as it returned home after testing far-seas capabilities, China said.Vessel formation 133 dispatched by the Chinese People’s Liberation
Several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) yesterday condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for pressuring three African countries to revoke overflight permission for President William Lai (賴清德), forcing the cancelation of his planned state visit to Eswatini this
ESWATINI VISIT: Taipei condemned Beijing’s coercive tactics after Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar unexpectedly revoked overflight permits for the president’s aircraft
President William Lai (賴清德) has postponed an official trip to Eswatini, after several countries in Africa revoked overflight permits following “intense pressure” from China, a senior aide said yesterday.Lai was due to visit the Kingdom of Eswatini from today to Sunday for the 40th anniversary of Kin
The central government’s general budget for this fiscal year was yesterday sent to legislative committees for review after a presentation by Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), in another step toward ending the budget impasse that has been ongoing for more than six months.Addressing the Legislative Yuan in
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday released a report detailing unclassified portions of the government’s proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget as it continued to seek legislative approval for the bill.A redacted version of the report released to the public detail
SECURITY: The change comes as Tokyo moves to boost its defense industry, wars strain US weapons production and other nations look for suppliers
Japan yesterday unveiled its biggest overhaul of defense export rules in decades, scrapping restrictions on overseas arms sales, and opening the way for exports of warships, missiles and other weapons.The move aimed at strengthening Japan’s defense industrial base marks another step away from the pa
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