DEEPENING TIES: The arrival of fighter jets purchased from the US and Lin Chia-lung’s participation in the office inauguration shows progress in cooperation, a source said
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is today scheduled to unveil a new Taiwan office in Phoenix, Arizona, signaling continued Taiwan-US cooperation after US President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last month, a source said yesterday.Lin would arrive in Ph
Taiwanese tennis players Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and Liang En-shuo (梁恩碩) yesterday won the women’s doubles gold at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, securing the nation’s fifth gold medal of the Games.The pair defeated compatriots Chan Hao-ching (詹皓晴) and Wu Fang-hsien (吳芳嫺) 6-4, 4-6, 10-5 at Higashiyama Par
The International Energy Agency (IEA) yesterday said member countries had so far released 325 million barrels of oil and oil-derivative products from strategic reserves, up from 400 million barrels promised in March.The update came a day after G7 countries, in coordination with the IEA, agreed to im
North Korea yesterday said it test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile that it claimed has maneuverable flight capabilities designed to evade missile defenses in South Korea and Japan. The latest test comes amid heightened tensions between the two Koreas over border land mine blasts.Kim Yo
WAITING FOR MORE: The delivery comes amid growing concern in Taiwan about the Trump administration’s commitment to arming Taipei, despite US reassurances
Taiwan yesterday took delivery of the first two of 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US after years of delays, helping to strengthen an air force that has to scramble almost daily to shadow China’s military.The aircraft, bearing tail numbers 6727 and 6728, landed at Chihhang Air Base in Tait
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) yesterday announced amendments to the Regulations Governing the Allocation and Use of Road Traffic Fines (道路交通違規罰鍰收入分配及運用辦法) that would increase the proportion of revenue from traffic fines used to improve traffic safety and enforcement from “
Taiwanese Olympic champion Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) yesterday won her second consecutive Asian Games boxing gold, defeating her Chinese opponent in the women’s 60kg final.Lin beat Yang Chengyu (楊成宇) by a unanimous 5-0 decision at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, adding the 60kg title to her 57kg gold from Han
RUNWAY: Analysts said the first aircraft landing is expected by the middle of next year, while Chinese state media said it would serve civilian needs
Chinese construction of a runway on Antelope Reef (Lingyang Reef, 羚羊礁) in the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), is well under way with analysts estimating it could be completed by the middle of next year, strengthening Beijing’s military control over the disputed South China Sea.Satellite image
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday threatened unspecified measures against Ukraine unless Kyiv acknowledged a confidentiality agreement that Seoul says covered the transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers and issued an apology.“If the refusal to acknowledge the facts and issue a pu
QUALIFIED: The CGA needs someone familiar with maritime defense operations and the peacetime-wartime transition, making Yuan Sheng-hua the best person for the job
Vice Admiral Yuan Sheng-hua (原聖華) yesterday became the first navy officer to be appointed a deputy director-general of the Coast Guard Administration (CGA), tasked with improving coordination between the navy and the agency amid intensifying maritime pressure from China.No active-duty navy officer h
TOUGH DIPLOMACY NEEDED: The officials criticized Donald Trump for rolling out the red carpet for counterpart Xi Jinping instead of confronting him on key issues
Twenty-one US Democratic senators in a joint statement on Thursday last week urged US President Donald Trump to “immediately deliver congressionally approved defense assistance to Taiwan.”The statement followed Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).Those commitments include US$1.3
The Cabinet yesterday approved a 10-year extension for securities transaction tax exemption for bond exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and corporate and financial bonds. It would also add active bond ETFs to the exemptions.The Ministry of Finance said the securities transaction tax on bonds and passive
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday said that the copilot who tried to crash a passenger jet carrying 174 people on its way to Israel had undergone Islamist radicalization.No motive has been determined for Wednesday’s harrowing near-disaster on flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Te
The Philippine Coast Guard yesterday said it has deployed its largest vessel and an aircraft to challenge a Chinese research ship operating off northern Batanes near Taiwan, adding that a Chinese coast guard vessel had also moved in.The Philippine operation “disrupted the vessel’s unauthorized marin
OVERHAUL: Defense officials are planning to change 160 out of the 176 rules governing exemptions and medical discharges from active military service
Defense officials yesterday announced new physical eligibility standards for conscription and a military exercise next month that would include new tanks, drones and command-and-control systems. Tsai Shih-hung (蔡適鴻), director of the Ministry of National Defense Medical Affairs Bureau’s Department of
DISCORD: KMT lawmakers love caning, but would not use it for crimes such as offenses committed by legislators, major economic crimes or treason, a DPP lawmaker said
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) plans to propose amendments to the Criminal Code to allow caning as a punishment for certain crimes, after a proposed caning referendum was vetoed by the Central Election Commission (CEC) last month, KMT Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said yesterday.The party is p
The Ministry of Agriculture is considering paid parental leave for young farmers, with Minister Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) yesterday saying that the government hopes to introduce the benefit next year. Chen made the remarks at the 100 Outstanding Young Farmers ceremony. The ministry is drafting a budget a
A fight between pilots on a commercial plane traveling from the United Arab Emirates to Israel yesterday forced the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, two officials said. The episode raised concerns about a possible hijacking of a plane carrying dozens of Israelis and prompted Is
After more than a decade, the US-led coalition yesterday ended its mission in Iraq, having helped save the country from the Islamic State (IS) while causing persistent friction. Coalition troops deployed to Iraq and Syria in 2014 to fight the IS, which had seized large swathes of both countries, and
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