■ Sports
Chen promotes games
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that Taiwan has rich experience in hosting international games and urged a world sports leader to support Taiwan's bid to host the World University Games. The president made the remarks when he received George Killian, president of the International University Sports Federation, (FISU) at the Presidential Office. Chen described the World University Games as "the cradle of the Olympic Games," adding that since 1998 Taiwan has hosted several individual events authorized by the FISU such as archery, taekwondo, golf and baseball.
■ Diplomacy
Chen decorates allies
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) decorated Central American Parliament President Mario Facusse Handal yesterday as a token of gratitude for his efforts to promote Taiwan-Central America relations and assist with Taiwan's participation in the international community. On being conferred the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon, Facusse said the order is not only a recognition for himself but also a representation of the friendship between Taiwan and its allies in Central America. Facusse said the countries of Central America firmly support Taiwan's bids to join international organizations, including the UN and WHO, to reciprocate Taiwan's years of aid to help the development of Central American nations.
■ Diplomacy
China's police under scrutiny
Officials will keep a close watch on China's plan to send riot police on a UN peacekeeping mission to Taiwan's diplomatic ally Haiti, foreign ministry spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶隆) said yesterday. Beijing will send 125 police to the war-torn Caribbean state later this month, marking its first-ever dispatch of riot police abroad. "China has attempted in different ways to sabotage Taiwan's diplomatic relations. We will monitor closely its police deployment in Haiti," Lu said. Ties with Haiti were firm, with various joint projects continuing, Lu said.
■ Society
First lady to promote cakes
President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) wife, Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍), will promote moon cakes made by handicapped citizens with the approach of the Mid-Autumn Festival, sources from the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said yesterday. The wheelchair-bound first lady, to be accompanied by Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), is scheduled to attend a gala tomorrow devoted to showcasing the moon cakes that will be made by mentally and physically challenged people from around the country, a ministry official said.
■ Defense
Ministry lauds arms deal
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday released a position paper to solicit public support for its massive arms purchase from the US. The position paper, titled "Love Taiwan and Protect our Homeland, " noted that the NT$610.8 billion (US$18.23 billion) arms purchase will be paid over the next 15 years, representing a sum of about NT$40 billion per year. If the nation adopts a technology transfer agreement with the US to replace the original plan of having Taiwan shipbuilding companies build some of the eight submarines that are part of the deal, then NT$100 billion will be cut from the total budget, bringing the annual cost down to about NT$33 billion per year.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
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