The Ministry of National Defense is to build a new automated production line with a NT$14 billion (US$431.23 million) budget to meet increasing demand for 155mm artillery shells, a source said yesterday.The Russia-Ukraine war has created a defense demand that has galvanized many Western nations as w
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe
Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet.The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and traveler
Israel struck south Beirut on Sunday for the third time since a fragile ceasefire was implemented on Nov. 27 last year, prompting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to call on its guarantors France and the US to force a halt.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the strike targete
North Korea yesterday confirmed for the first time that it had deployed troops to Russia, with state news agency KCNA reporting Pyongyang’s soldiers helped Moscow reclaim territory under Ukrainian control in the Russian border region of Kursk.The admission comes just days after Moscow confirmed Nort
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would
SWAYING OPINIONS: The essay competition is designed to create the impression that Taiwanese youth support unification with China, an expert said
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it would probe allegations that a local academic society and a publication firm contravened cross-strait laws by working with Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-funded organizations to launch an essay competition in Taiwan.The essay competition, called “R
Iran and the US on Saturday held in-depth negotiations in Muscat over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, ending the discussions with a promise for more talks and perhaps another high-level meeting next weekend.Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi told state television after th
The China Coast Guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, Beijing’s state media said, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila.Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved away compet
A front is to bring wet and cooler weather starting today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast yesterday, and added that this year’s first plum rain front is likely to arrive next week.Daytime highs reached 27oC to 31oC nationwide yesterday, while temperatures hovered at about 22oC to
TARIFFS: The government is looking to increase funding availability, ease labor rules and attract returning businesses to assist local firms amid US-China tensions
The Executive Yuan is planning to expand its three action plans to promote investment in Taiwan and increase funding for the programs in response to US tariff policies and the resumption of the US-China trade war, a source said yesterday.US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tari
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
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