The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a plan to allocate NT$28.55 billion (US$878.57 million) for Hualien County reconstruction after it was affected by a earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale on April 3.The approval came after Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) listened to briefings from governme
WHO SAGA: Excluding Taiwan undermines global public health cooperation and security, which the world demands, the US’ top diplomatic official said
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement published on Wednesday urged the WHO to invite Taiwan to participate in the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer.The US “strongly encourages the WHO to reinstate an invitation to Taiwan to participate as an observer at this year’s WH
Taiwanese are banned from holding positions in the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), Confucius Institutes and other organizations affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after revisions to a list of prohibited gr
The US Department of State on Wednesday accused Russia of having used a chemical weapon against Ukrainian forces, contravening the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), accusations Moscow denied.In addition to the chemical agent chloropicrin, Russia used “riot control agents (tear gas) as a method of w
Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday announced that his government would break diplomatic relations with Israel in the latest escalation of tensions between the countries over the Israel-Hamas war.Petro again described Israel’s siege of Gaza as “genocide.”He previously suspended purchases
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said
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