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
SOME PROTECTION: A worker whose hours were cut could make up some of their wages through the subsidy and more through another program, the labor ministry said
Workers on reduced hours in nine industries would be eligible to receive up to NT$12,100 per month under an expanded employment subsidy, the Ministry of Labor announced yesterday.The policy is to be effective retroactively from Aug. 1.Changes in the global economy, such as US tariffs and fluctuation
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday criticized the nuclear energy referendum scheduled for Saturday next week, saying that holding the plebiscite before the government can conduct safety evaluations is a denial of the public’s right to make informed decisions.Lai, who is also the chairman of the D
A Japanese lawmaker who leads the populist Sanseito party has voiced support for the concept “a Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency,” and called for preventing a conflict in the Taiwan Strait and stepping up Taiwan-Japan security collaborations.During an interview published yesterday by the Ce
The US yesterday deployed two warships in a disputed South China Sea shoal, where two Chinese navy and coast guard ships collided two days ago while trying to drive away a smaller Philippine ship in a high-seas incident captured on video, alarming several Western and Asian countries.China and the Ph
Israel’s military yesterday pounded Gaza City prior to a planned takeover, with another 123 people killed in the past day, the Gaza health ministry said, while militant group Hamas held further talks with Egyptian mediators.The 24-hour death toll was the worst in a week and added to the massive fata