PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’
The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup.A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Tai
Europeans were reeling yesterday from US President Donald Trump’s announcement that eight countries would face 10 percent tariffs for opposing US control of Greenland.The responses to Trump’s decision on Saturday ranged from saying it risked “a dangerous downward spiral” to predicting that “China an
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said “several thousand people” died in this month’s anti-government demonstrations, his first acknowledgment of the deadly scale of the unrest. Some of those were killed “brutally and inhumanely,” Khamenei said without offering detail in a pu
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). It added that the coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C.Daytime highs
‘SALAMI-SLICING’: Beijing’s ‘gray zone’ tactics around the Pratas Islands have been slowly intensifying, with the PLA testing Taiwan’s responses and limits, an expert said
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday condemned an intrusion by a Chinese drone into the airspace of the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) as a serious disruption of regional peace.The ministry said it detected the Chinese surveillance and reconnaissance drone entering the southwestern par
RAPID EXPANSION: TSMC plans capital expenditure of at least US$52 billion this year, up more than 27 percent from last year, company chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday remained tight-lipped over a media report that the contract chipmaker plans to build an additional four advanced integrated circuit (IC) packaging plants in Taiwan.The world’s largest contract chipmaker declined to comment, saying that any
CTi News reporter Lin Chen-you (林宸佑) was yesterday detained incommunicado by the Ciaotou Prosecutors’ Office for allegedly funneling money from China as bribes to lure active-duty and retired military personnel for military information.Along with Lin, five active and retired military personnel were
US President Donald Trump on Friday suggested that he might punish countries with tariffs if they do not back US control of Greenland, a message that came as a bipartisan US Congress delegation sought to lower tensions in the Danish capital.Trump for months has insisted that the US should control Gr
More than 3,000 people have died in Iran’s nationwide protests, rights activists said yesterday, while a “very slight rise” in Internet activity was reported in the country after an eight-day blackout.The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency group said it had verified 3,090 deaths, including
FAVORABLE: The deal should help Taiwan’s non-tech sectors become more competitive, as they would be on equal footing with other major US trade partners
The US has agreed to lower tariffs on Taiwanese goods from 20 percent to 15 percent, without stacking them on existing most-favored-nation (MFN) rates, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, adding that Taiwan has also become the first country to secure the most-favorable treatment for its semiconductor
Taipei aims to become a close strategic partner of Washington in artificial intelligence (AI) after striking a deal to cut tariffs and boost investment in the US, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said yesterday.The administration of US President Donald Trump has pushed Taiwan, a major producer of s
INSIGHTS: The approval showed supporting Taiwan was a bipartisan consensus and the funding for the Philippines highlights first island chain security concerns, experts said
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill to provide Taiwan with US$300 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF), and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees to bolster deterrence in the Taiwan Strait.The measures are part of the National Security, Department of State, an
Tokyo and Washington yesterday agreed to boost joint production of defense equipment, including missiles, and expand their military presence in waters southwest of Japan, as China ramps up pressure on its Asian neighbor.The agreement came after Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi met US Se
A South Korean court yesterday sentenced former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol to five years in prison in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after
The US has agreed to lower tariffs on Taiwanese goods from 20 percent to 15 percent, without stacking them on existing most-favored-nation (MFN) rates, the Executive Yuan said in a statement today.The agreement, reached in trade negotiations that concluded yesterday in Washington, also grants semico
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill to provide Taiwan with US$300 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees to strengthen deterrence in the Taiwan Strait.The measures are part of the National Security, Department of State a
BACK AT IT: In the sixth round of in-person talks, Taipei aims to expand the ‘Taiwan model’ within US supply chains and seek a more favorable investment environment
Taiwan’s trade negotiation team, led by Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and chief trade negotiator Minister Without Portfolio Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮), has departed for the US for a new round of in-person trade talks that officials say are in the final stages, the Cabinet said yesterday.The delegation le
OPEN TO DISCUSSIONS: The legislature needs to give the Cabinet a ‘legal opportunity’ to explain the budget, so it can clear up any concerns, an official said
More US arms sales to Taiwan are in the pipeline with four deals yet to be notified to the US Congress, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) said yesterday, following the announcement of an US$11 billion package last month, the largest ever for the nation.The US is Taiwan’s most imp
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it plans to spend a record-high US$52 billion to US$56 billion in capital expenditure this year to expand advanced chip capacity to meet “insatiable” demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications.The budget represents a surge of
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