PRESSURE: The restricted zone would span the strategically important shipping lane that links the Port of Hualien to the wider west Pacific Ocean
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) is to conduct two live-fire drills next month in waters off Hualien County, amid mounting pressure from Chinese navy and coast guard vessels operating near Taiwan proper.The naval exercise notice came just days after reports that the Chinese People’s Liberation A
Pope Francis was laid to rest in Rome yesterday after a Vatican funeral for the “pope among the people” attended by hundreds of thousands of mourners as well as world leaders, including US President Donald Trump.About 400,000 people packed St Peter’s Square and lined the streets of Rome to say goodb
Former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) interacted with international dignitaries at Pope Francis’ funeral in St Peter’s Square yesterday as President William Lai’s (賴清德) envoy.The Vatican is one of 12 UN members to maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.While the Ministry of Foreign Af
US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met briefly in the hush of St Peter’s Basilica on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral yesterday in their first face-to-face since their Oval Office clash in February, as the US president pushes the Ukrainian leader to make a pe
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels
All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday.US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pau
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations
More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday.The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one count
The Taipei District Court yesterday placed Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹) in judicial detention following a second hearing. Huang Lu is under investigation for her role in KMT-led recall efforts against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy met with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday in Moscow as Washington intensifies its push for a deal to end the war in Ukraine.The Kremlin published a short video on Telegram of Steve Witkoff greeting the Russian leader before sitting down at a table
Indian and Pakistani soldiers briefly exchanged fire along their highly militarized frontier in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, Indian officials said yesterday, while the UN has urged the two sides to show “maximum restraint,” as tensions soared between the nuclear-armed rivals following a
SOME SHIELDING: The budget, to be funded with a fiscal surplus, would help stabilize prices and protect industries from potential global economic shocks, the premier said
The Cabinet yesterday approved a NT$410 billion (US$12.6 billion) special budget to enhance national security and boost economic resilience against the effects of US tariffs.Based on the Cabinet’s proposal, it would earmark an additional NT$5 billion on top of the NT$88 billion package it approved e
INDUSTRY SHIFT: The AI boom would help push overall demand for chips, with industry revenue ‘easily’ exceeding US$1 trillion, a TSMC official said
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin production with its A14 fabrication process in 2028, aiming to remain at the cutting edge of the chip industry.The technology would advance the world’s biggest chipmaker beyond its current state-of-the-art 3-nanometer technology and th
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and King Mswati III of Eswatini presided over an unveiling ceremony for an oil reserve facility project Taiwan is to build to enhance the energy resilience of its ally, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.Lin and Mswati on Wednesday attended
A US Army intelligence analyst on Wednesday was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for providing sensitive defense information to China, including documents about the US’ potential defense of Taiwan, weapons systems, and military tactics and strategy.Sergeant Korbein Schultz, who held a top-secre
Russia yesterday attacked Kyiv with an hours-long barrage of missiles and drones, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 70 in its deadliest assault on the Ukrainian capital since July last year and just as peace efforts are coming to a head.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said
INTERFERENCE CONCERNS: An official did not respond to questions about whether Beijing had pressured the Holy See to prevent Lai from attending Saturday’s funeral
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday paid his respects to Pope Francis during a visit to the Catholic Archdiocese of Taipei, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) would act as Lai’s envoy to the pope’s funeral.Lai, who was accompanied by Deputy
JOURNEY EAST: The commander of a British carrier strike group to the Indo-Pacific region did not rule out the possibility of passing through the Strait
Threats and conflicts should not influence Taiwan’s future and there is “strong concern” for stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region, British Secretary of State for Defence John Healey said on Tuesday during a meeting at the House of Commons.Healey made the comments as part of the House of
Approximately 6,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) would be available for domestic and international airlines to use at airports across Taiwan this year, which would help curb about 15,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.The use
India’s defense minister yesterday vowed a swift response to those who carried out and planned the Kashmir region’s worst attack on civilians in years.“Those responsible and behind such an act will very soon hear our response, loud and clear,” Indian Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh said in a speec
An unprecedented coral bleaching episode has spread to 84 percent of the world’s reefs in an unfolding human-caused crisis that could kill off swathes of the essential ecosystems, scientists warned yesterday.Since it began in early 2023, the global coral bleaching event has mushroomed into the bigge
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