China’s live-fire drills held in waters around Niushan Island near Taiwan's Lienchiang County today were part of an annual routine military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said.China might be using the exercise to exert deterrence in the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said, adding that
INTERNATIONAL WATERS: Lin Chia-lung said that freedom of navigation fits not only the national interest, but also the common interest of the Indo-Pacific region
A US and a Canadian warship on Sunday sailed through the Taiwan Strait together less than a week after China conducted a new round of war games around Taiwan.The US Navy’s 7th Fleet yesterday said that the destroyer USS Higgins and the Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver made a “routine” transit on Sund
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday temporarily shut down the nation’s nuclear energy generation as the state-run utility started regular maintenance on the remaining reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant for 41 days.The No. 2 reactor of the nation’s only active nuclear plant in Pingtung
The Presidential Office yesterday announced that it would send businessman and senior presidential adviser Lin Hsin-i (林信義) to attend this year’s APEC summit next month.Lin would attend the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in the Peruvian capital, Lima, scheduled for Nov. 15 and 16 as President Willia
TARGETING THE CASH: Israel struck branches of al-Qard al-Hassan, a Hezbollah-linked financial group, as it seeks to degrade the group’s ability to fund operations
Visiting US envoy Amos Hochstein yesterday said that the basis of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was a 2006 UN resolution, but it would require full implementation.UN Security Council Resolution 1701 states that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should be deployed in southern Leba
South Korea yesterday demanded the immediate pullout of North Korean troops allegedly deployed in Russia as it summoned the Russian ambassador to protest deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.South Korea’s spy agency on Friday last week said that it had confirmed that North Kor
TROUBLED WATERS: The ministers also said they opposed China’s obstruction of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and the militarization of disputed features
G7 defense ministers in a joint statement on Saturday singled out China over a number of concerns, including its “provocative actions” near Taiwan.The defense ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US gathered in Naples, Italy, from Friday to yesterday for the group’s fir
FREE MARKET: Artists who make pro-Beijing statements while working in China would not be targeted, as they are free to pursue opportunities there, Puma Shen said
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) and other lawmakers have proposed amendments to the Criminal Code defining four crimes of collusion with foreign powers.As collusion, which is currently not well-defined under the law, carries a severe penalty, judges tend not to invoke i
Fighting yesterday raged on two fronts as Israel targeted what it said was a Hezbollah “command center” in the Lebanese capital, while in Gaza rescuers reported 73 people killed in a single airstrike.The strikes on Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netany
Former Indonesian general Prabowo Subianto yesterday took over as president of the world’s third-largest democracy, vowing to combat internal issues such as corruption that plague the country and to make it more self-sufficient.The 73-year-old has undergone a remarkable transformation, from being a
A weather system forming in waters east of the Philippines could develop into a tropical depression or tropical storm in the next two days, but it is unclear whether it would approach Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.Warm water temperatures and low atmospheric pressure are provi
FLOURISH: Taiwan’s progress shows that a society rooted in freedom, democracy and respect for human dignity can thrive, even in the face of authoritarianism, Tsai said
Taiwan always stands with Europe in facing global challenges as partners sharing the values of democracy, freedom and human rights, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said in Brussels yesterday as she wrapped up her visit in Europe.In a post on Facebook, Tsai said she deeply felt Europe’s support f
HARD HITS: The institute’s new armor appeared to have been live-fire tested with weapons more powerful than the 25mm guns the CM-32 was designed to withstand
The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has unveiled a new composite armor material and hydrogen fuel cells in a demonstration of the latest products from the Ministry of National Defense’s research and development arm.The novel armor is to be utilized as a part of an add-on protection pac
The nation’s average life expectancy would rise 3.46 years if cancer were excluded from the data, the 2023 Table of Life released yesterday by the Ministry of the Interior showed.The ministry said it calculated the number of deaths due to the top 10 causes of death, then calculated the average life
British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy yesterday called for a resumption of dialogue between London and Beijing, urging the two sides to engage in “more diplomacy” as he concluded a rare diplomatic visit to China, in which he said he brought up conce
A man was arrested after throwing several suspected gasoline bombs at the headquarters of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) yesterday and ramming his van into a fence outside the prime minister’s office, police said.No injuries were reported in the incident, which came just more than a w
MILITARY TOUR: The president spoke via radio to an air force pilot in the sky, thanking ‘Viper One’ for his hard work and wishing him a safe and smooth flight
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked pilots for their efforts to safeguard the country and pledged that the nation would build 11 1,000-tonne ships to bolster national security.Lai for the first time as president visited officers at the air force’s Combat Command, and visited the navy’s Hai
DISTANCE NO FACTOR: Czech Senator Pavel Fischer said what happens to Taiwan is important, because it affects security and prosperity in the Euro-Atlantic area
A member of the European Parliament (MEP) on Thursday called for international cooperation to protect democratic institutions during a visit by former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to the parliament complex in Brussels.“It is the sovereign right of every European country to develop relations with Tai
Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group yesterday said that it is entering a new phase in its fight against invading Israeli troops.The group has introduced new weapons over the past few days, it said in a statement from its operations room.Hezbollah’s fighters have used new types of precision-guided mis
US lawmakers are pressing the administration of US President Joe Biden to block Huawei Technologies Co (華為) suppliers from buying American chipmaking gear, escalating efforts to prevent the sanctioned Chinese telecom giant from making progress on semiconductor manufacturing.The top lawmakers on the