ON TRACK: The defense minister said the next US arms sales package was proceeding as expected, with the government receiving a letter of guarantee from Washington
Legislative committee members yesterday failed to reach a consensus on most articles of the three versions of the special defense budget bill.Over the past two days, a joint session of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee and Finance Committee conducted article-by-article deliberations
The Water Resources Agency (WRA) has imposed rationing and authorized unallocated water reserves for household use until July, after the driest winter in 75 years in Taiwan’s western region.Reservoirs south of the Hsinchu-Yilan line this winter reported between 7 and 37 percent of rainfall compared
US President Donald Trump plans to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in May during his first visit to China in eight years, a closely watched trip postponed due to the Iran war.Trump’s effort to reschedule the trip reflected the Republican president’s eagerness to project confidence in a chall
Iran and the US yesterday appeared at an impasse, with each side hardening its position over talks and setting the stage for another potential escalation in the Middle East war.US President Donald Trump issued a warning to Tehran on social media to “get serious soon” on negotiating a deal to end the
Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has been sentenced to 17 years in jail and deprived of his civil rights for six years.The ruling can be appealed.Ko, who also founded and chaired the Taiwan People’s Party, was accused of receiving bribes from Core Pacific Group (威京集團) chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈
TEAMWORK: Taiwan and US collaboration on drones has turned a buyer-seller relationship into a national defense industrial partnership, the vice president said
Taiwan’s manufacturing strengths, in combination with the US’ technological expertise, could bolster the nations’ trade resilience by enhancing supply chain resilience and tapping into emerging markets, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday.Industrial development
EAST-WEST DIVIDE: The areas with the worst air quality in Taiwan were Kinmen, Kaohsiung and Matsu, while the best were Taitung, Hualien City and Yilan
Taiwan’s air quality improved last year, with the annual average concentration of harmful fine-particle matter, or PM2.5, falling to 13.3 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m3), from 17.5mg/m3 in 2024, a report released on Tuesday by IQAir Group showed.Taiwan’s ranking among the world’s most polluted co
The nation’s three major telecoms yesterday pledged to jointly invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to improve mobile phone reception along the high-speed rail (HSR) line to provide uninterrupted, low-latency service, the Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) said yesterday.The project is part of the
A rights group yesterday warned that Hong Kong was becoming “increasingly dystopian” after a bookstore owner and his staff were reportedly arrested on suspicion of selling seditious publications, including a biography of jailed pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英).Pong Yat-ming (龐一鳴) and three
Japan yesterday said that it was “regrettable” that a member of its military broke into the Chinese embassy in Tokyo, while Beijing called for the perpetrator to be punished.The Tuesday morning break-in has further soured relations between Beijing and Tokyo, which nosedived over Japanese Prime Minis
‘UNFRIENDLY’: Changing the nationality listing of Taiwanese residents to ‘China’ goes against EU foreign policy as well as democratic and human rights principles, MOFA said
Taiwan yesterday called on Denmark to correct its designation of the nationality of Taiwanese residents as “China” or face retaliatory measures.The Danish government in 2024 changed the nationality of Taiwanese citizens on their residence permits from “Taiwan” to “China.”The decision goes against EU
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday thanked a group of US senators for proposing a resolution to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Taiwan’s first direct presidential election and to reaffirm US commitment to Taiwan as established in the Taiwan Relations Act and the “six assurances.”Th
Taiwan climbed to its highest position in global export rankings in more than three decades last year, buoyed by demand linked to artificial intelligence (AI) that lifted shipments of semiconductors and technology products, Ministry of Finance data released yesterday showed.Taiwan accounted for 2.4
The EU and Australia yesterday struck a long-awaited free-trade deal, while also agreeing to boost defense cooperation and access to crucial rare-earth minerals in the face of global uncertainty over trade.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to Australia comes as the 27-nation
DEMANDS: Iran, which has refuted Trump’s claims that talks have taken place, would seek guarantees against future attacks and refuse limits on its missile programs
Iran’s negotiating posture has hardened sharply since the war began, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps exerting growing influence over decisionmaking, and it would demand significant concessions from the US if mediation efforts lead to serious negotiations, three senior sources in Tehran sa
CONTROL YUAN CENSURE: Prison terms for national security offenders are lighter than those for officials convicted of bribery or people found guilty of drug trafficking
The Control Yuan yesterday urged the judiciary to impose stricter punishments on military personnel convicted of contravening national security regulations after being lured to spy for China.The government watchdog investigated two cases involving military personnel: one, a sergeant surnamed Tsai (蔡
A government-proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$38.95 billion) special defense budget is the most comprehensive among competing proposals, as it supports long-term domestic weapons production, Minister of National Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday, adding that the US is unlikely to acc
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has established a “diplomatic allies prosperity economic and trade office” to encourage local companies to invest in the nation’s allies, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said in New Taipei City yesterday, as he also confirmed that the Kingdom of
President Donald Trump said Monday the United States and Iran had held "very good" talks towards ending the three-week Middle East war, putting threatened US attacks on Iran’s power plants on hold in a stunning about-turn.In a social media post that immediately sent oil prices tumbling, Trump said W
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