China is increasing military activities near Taiwan and honing its ability to stage a surprise attack, as well as seeking to undermine trust in the government with "hybrid" online warfare tactics, the defense ministry said today.Taiwan has faced increased military pressure from Beijing during the pa
The Executive Yuan today approved amendments to a special act to rebuild in the aftermath of Typhoon Danas and extensive flooding last month, seeking an additional budget of NT$25 billion (US$820 million).The budget ceiling of the special relief package, if passed, would be raised to NT$85 billion,
President William Lai (賴清德) today reiterated that he hoped Taiwan’s defense spending would reach 5 percent of GDP before 2030 when he met with guests taking part in this year’s Taipei Security Dialogue.Taiwan is to continue to strengthen its defense capabilities, proactively develop its asymmetric w
Belize Governor-General Dame Froyla Tzalam and Saint Lucia Governor-General Sir Cyril Errol Melchiades Charles today arrived in Taiwan to take part in this year's Double Ten National Day celebrations.Their delegations were welcomed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺) when they
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) earlier this week signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation to enhance public-private sector cooperation in post-disaster relief and medical aid, MOFA announced today.The MOU was signed by Foreign Minister Lin
Taiwan recorded its third-hottest September since 1951, while Taipei set a record with 19 days last month reaching or exceeding 35°C, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday.In a recap of last month's weather published on Facebook, the CWA said Taiwan’s average temperature last month
POST-DISASTER: The body of a woman was found in a vehicle near a quarry site, and authorities believe that the deceased is the missing owner of the site
The body of a woman was found yesterday in a vehicle near a quarry in Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復) after a barrier lake on the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) burst on Sept. 23 amid Super Typhoon Ragasa, bringing the death toll from the disaster to 19. The badly bent vehicle was found buried in mud a
Raccoons, saltwater crocodiles and two types of venomous snakes — vipers and elapids — would be banned from being kept as household pets, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday. The species are to be added through an amendment to the list of animals prohibited from being raised, imported or expo
The Taiwan Association of Family Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday urged people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and influenza at the same time, saying that they are caused by different viruses and the two diseases are not only a “mild cold” for high-risk groups. Governm
FOOD SAFETY: The firm was found to have used industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide to bleach pig intestines and sold the product across the nation
The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday fined a Pingtung County-based food company more than NT$50 million (US$1.64 million) for selling bleached pig intestines. The company was found to have used industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide to bleach pig intestines and sold the product throughout Taiwan
Twenty-eight people sustained minor injuries early yesterday after a bus and a heavy truck collided on the northbound section of the Sun Yat-sen Freeway (Freeway No. 1) near the 33.8km mark in New Taipei City’s Wugu District (五股), highway police said. The crash occurred at 6:52am and blocked traffic
US scientist John Martinis, corecipient of this year's Nobel Prize in Physics, recalled his experiences with Taiwan in an interview with CNA on Tuesday, saying Taiwan is a global manufacturing hub and its companies are highly successful.Speaking via video call, Martinis, who has worked with the nat
Two Malaysian nationals have been indicted in Taiwan for smuggling nearly 3kg of heroin with an estimated street value of more than NT$30 million (US$983,011), the Aviation Police Bureau said.The bureau told reporters yesterday that the two men were invited to Taiwan by a drug trafficking group, whi
COMMON INTERESTS: If US President Donald Trump wants to make America great again, he cannot abandon Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu said
Taiwan has never been so strong and never been so threatened, and it is deepening its international cooperation through democracy and semiconductor capabilities to face the authoritarian threat, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with a German newspaper.Wu was
The Presidential Office yesterday said that it had appointed for the second year running a former minister as its envoy to this year’s APEC summit in South Korea, one of the few international forums both Taiwan and China take part in.Former minister of economic affairs Lin Hsin-i (林信義), chairman of
Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) yesterday urged the premier to quickly submit a list of nominees to replace outgoing commissioners, warning that failure to approve new members in a timely manner would “bring the CEC’s operations to a standstill.”Of the CEC’s 10 current
Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday said that private-sector refiners are willing to stop buying Russian naphtha should the EU ask them to, after a group of non-governmental organizations, including the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), criticized the nation
The newly established shrimp and algae germplasm bank is comparable to a “Noah’s Ark for aquatic products” and expected to help reduce reliance on foreign supply of shrimp larvae, the Fisheries Research Institute said on Thursday last week.The institute has already set up other germplasm banks for d
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is launching TPASS 2.0+ to encourage people to take medium and long-distance intercity buses by offering cashback incentives for trips of longer than 70km.Passenger would receive a rebate of 15 percent after two qualifying trips, and 30 percent after
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