The legislature should not discuss the NT$610 billion (US$18.03 billion) arms deal in the interim legislative sittings next month, as negotiations are ongoing. The priority of the legislature must focus on the damage caused by Tropical Storm Mindulle, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said yesterday.
Vice Minister of National Defense Tsai Ming-hsien (
Tsai told the media after the meeting that the US would not offer a new quote on the submarines, but would offer "supplemental information" soon. In response, Wang told the media that it did not matter whether or not the US gives Taiwan a new quote on the costs, as the US agreed to highlight costs in the supplemental information. He also noted there is much room for negotiation.
Wang also said that Tsai did not request that the legislature review the deal in the interim sitting.
"I have proposed three principles regarding the arms deal. First, the submarines' price has to meet the legislature's expectations," Wang said.
"Second, the public has voiced strong opposition to the deal after [Tropical Storm] Mindulle devastated the country. Third, although the legislature is preparing to hold interim sittings in August, the arms deal has to be reviewed by the relevant commit-tee," he added.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai