READY TO GO: The act would help Taiwan procure arms with asymmetric warfare capabilities, such as those that are shelf-ready and fast to produce, a military official said
The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Wednesday approved a draft bill designed to enhance Taiwan’s military capabilities and diplomatic ties with the US.The Providing Our Regional Companions Upgraded Protections in Nefarious Environments Act, or PORCUPINE Act, would streamline the process
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said
The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday
A ban on transporting and slaughtering pigs would last at least 15 days after African swine fever was detected at a Taichung hog farm, as that is the incubation period for the virus that causes the disease, Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) said yesterday.The ministry would check for new
The EU yesterday heaped more economic sanctions on Russia, adding to US President Donald Trump’s new punitive measures the previous day against the Russian oil industry.Russian officials and state media dismissed the Western measures, saying they are largely ineffective.The sanctions are intended as
More than 600 people fled one of Myanmar’s most notorious scam centers and crossed into Thailand, a Thai provincial official said yesterday, after a military raid on the compound.Sprawling compounds where Internet fraudsters target people with romance and business cons have thrived along Myanmar’s l
POSSIBILITIES: With increased defense spending next year, Taiwan could seek tech related to Lai’s proposed ‘T-Dome’ project, the head of a US business group said
The US government is expected to release new guidelines to help expedite transfers of defense technology to its partners, including Taiwan, the head of the US-Taiwan Business Council said on Tuesday.The revisions to defense and state department guidelines seek to expedite “consideration and then rel
STRICT: African swine fever cannot pass from animals to humans, Lai said, adding that the government is employing the most stringent disease-prevention standards
The Ministry of Agriculture yesterday issued a five-day nationwide ban on transporting and slaughtering pigs after African swine fever was confirmed at a hog farm in Taichung’s Wuci District (梧棲) on Tuesday evening.The detection means Taiwan has lost its status as the only Asian country free of clas
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan
Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan.The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nat
The military is to consider medical records and body mass index (BMI) in addition to a traditional physical examination when determining if a man of conscription age is eligible for an exemption from military service, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday.Ministry officials said they would tou
A large-scale Russian drone and missile attack across Ukraine killed at least six people, including a woman and her two young daughters, officials said yesterday, as US-led efforts to end the war floundered and Ukraine’s president sought more foreign military help.Repeated waves of missiles and dron
North Korea yesterday fired what appeared to be multiple short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea’s military said, a week before a key Asia-Pacific leaders’ meeting in South Korea.It was the first launch of ballistic missiles since May by Pyongyang, which has defied a UN Security Council ban on t
African swine fever was confirmed at a pig farm in Taichung, the Ministry of Agriculture said today, prompting a five-day nationwide ban on transporting and slaughtering pigs, and marking the loss of Taiwan’s status as the only Asian nation free of all three major swine diseases. The ministry held
PROTECTING TAIWAN: Taipei has a ‘smooth communication channel’ with Washington, and would keep a close eye on the latest high-level US-China talks, a MOFA official said
Taipei is in close contact with Washington to make sure its interests are protected ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), who are expected to also discuss Taiwan, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said yesterday. Taiwan always keeps
CHALLENGES: Geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions, AI and aging populations are risks and opportunities for the region, the APEC envoy said
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday urged regional leaders to collaborate in technology and secure supply chains ahead of the APEC summit in South Korea on Friday next week.Presidential adviser and Taiwania Capital chairman Lin Hsin-i (林信義) has accepted the government’s request to again act as Tai
GENDER GAP: Despite her pledge to sharply increase the number of women in the Cabinet, Sanae Takaichi appointed only three, who backed her LDP chair bid
The Japanese parliament yesterday elected conservative Sanae Takaichi as the nation’s first female prime minister, a day after her struggling party struck a coalition deal with a new partner expected to pull her governing bloc further to the right.Takaichi replaces Shigeru Ishiba, ending a three-mon
Authorities are investigating up to 120 people suspected of dodging their military service amid a widening probe into celebrities who allegedly evaded service by forging medical documents, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday.The latest wave of investigations would target those not yet named
Beijing aims to annex Taiwan and reshape the international order, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and Jamestown Foundation president Peter Mattis told an international forum in Taipei yesterday.The premise for US-Chinese interaction and co-commitment to peace dissolved wi
US President Donald Trump on Monday signed a landmark pact with visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to boost the US’ access to rare earths and other critical minerals, an effort to counter China’s tight grip on the supply chains of key metals.The two governments are to jointly invest
‘IMPOSSIBLE’: Peace cannot be achieved solely through a peace agreement, the president said, as the KMT chairwoman-elect vowed to push the ‘1992 consensus’
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that it would be impossible to achieve cross-strait peace simply by accepting the so-called “1992 consensus” and Beijing’s “one China” principle.Lai made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the Overseas Community Affairs Council Conference in Taipei afte
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