The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a slew of bills targeting fraud by raising the penalty for convicted scammers, increasing police surveillance powers and compelling social media platforms to remove scam advertisements.The bills aim to build a legal framework to aid the government’s fight agains
SECURITY CONCERNS: The Ministry of Transportation and Communications said Taipei wishes for healthy exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, but is against ‘united front’ tactics
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said that any collaboration between the Lienchiang (Matsu) County Government and China’s Fujian Provincial Government to promote an international transportation card would contravene cross-strait law.In early March, Chinese media reported that the Fujian
The military was fully aware of an operation by the US Navy on Wednesday that involved the passage of a warship through the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of National Defense said on Wednesday.The US Navy’s 7th Fleet in a statement on Wednesday said that the USS Halsey “conducted a routine Taiwan Strai
Israel yesterday shelled Rafah as US President Joe Biden offered his starkest warning yet over the conduct of its war against Hamas, vowing to cut off arms transfers if an offensive into the southern Gaza city goes ahead.Israel has already defied international objections by sending in tanks and cond
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is set to announce a range of new investments in Budapest as he touts Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Hungary as a model for what the EU’s relationship could look like with the world’s second-largest economy.Xi was received by Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok yesterd
POSSIBLE SOLUTION: The government needs to convey regulations to advertising platforms based overseas and access to the offenders could be restricted, Minister said
The government is considering asking TikTok and other large digital advertising platforms to have agents based in Taiwan in accordance with the draft act on the prevention and control of fraud and crime, which is scheduled to be reviewed at an Executive Yuan meeting today, the Ministry of Digital Af
CHANGE NEEDED: If nothing is done, summers could last up to seven months, affecting farmers, and rising sea levels would also threaten Yunlin County, Tainan and Keelung
Two government agencies have jointly published a climate change report to provide industry with a scientific basis for reducing carbon emissions. The National Science and Technology Council and the National Environment Research Academy yesterday said that their 2024 National Scientific Report on Cli
Masks are no longer to be required in medical institutions from Sunday next week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced yesterday, officially ending all COVID-19 mask restrictions.Masks would be recommended rather than mandatory in all medical institutions and centers for the elderly, CDC
US and Philippine forces yesterday sank a decommissioned China-made Philippine Navy ship during South China Sea war games simulating an attack on an enemy vessel, officials said.The exercises are being held near the city of Laoag, about 400km south of Taiwan, amid a backdrop of increased confrontati
The Israeli military yesterday said that it has reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza, a key terminal for the entry of humanitarian aid that was closed over the weekend after a Hamas rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers nearby.However, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refuge
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20.Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his in
‘DIGITAL SOLIDARITY’: Taiwan, the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are to install and operate a cable that would connect up to 100,000 people in the Pacific Islands
Taiwan, the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are working together to install undersea cables as a demonstration of digital solidarity, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday.Blinken talked about the cooperation in a speech he delivered at the RSA Conference in San Francisco.He said
The Presidential Office yesterday remained mum about whether President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) plans to pardon former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) after a Chinese-language magazine reported that she would do so before her term ends on May 20.“The Presidential Office’s current position is still to ensur
Australia yesterday chastised China over its “unacceptable” behavior in international airspace, accusing a Chinese warplane of firing flares in the path of one of its navy helicopters.A Chinese fighter jet “intercepted” the Seahawk helicopter as it flew a UN sanctions surveillance mission above the
Israeli tanks yesterday seized control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as ceasefire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife’s edge.The UN warned of a potential collapse of the flow of aid to Pales
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said
Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges.“Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadershi
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday denounced Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) for making false allegations about donations to Ukraine and disclosing confidential documents, with the ministry saying that it would take legal action
BEHEMOTH: TSMC topped its peers with spending of NT$178.7 billion, up 11.1 percent from the previous year and accounting for 25.8 percent of the total
Taiwan’s listed manufacturing companies accelerated their research and development (R&D) spending last year to a record high NT$692.7 billion (US$21.4 billion), despite declines in sales and profits, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.The spending was up 2.9 percent from NT$673 billion
US and Filipino troops yesterday fired missiles and artillery at an imaginary “invasion” force during war games on the Philippines’ northern coast, days after their governments objected to China’s “dangerous” actions in regional waters.Thousands of troops are conducting land, sea and air maneuvers a
Israel’s military yesterday called for the evacuation of Palestinians from eastern Rafah ahead of a ground invasion of the city, as Gaza aid officials said Israeli jets struck two areas where the warning had been issued.The evacuation call followed intensified disagreement between Israel and Hamas o