DEFENSE
US ship transits Strait
A US military vessel transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense said. The vessel sailed north through the Taiwan Strait, it said in a statement, adding that it was closely monitoring nearby airspace and waters as the ship crossed and observed nothing unusual. In another statement, the US identified the ship as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson. The ship was conducting a routine Taiwan Strait transit through waters where high seas freedom of navigation and overflight apply under international law, it said. “Ralph Johnson’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US’ commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all nations as a principle,” the statement said. “No member of the international community should be intimidated or coerced into giving up their rights and freedoms.” Chinese People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command spokesperson Li Xi (李熹) criticized the US for “trumpeting” the transit.
EVENTS
Taiwan to host scout event
Taiwan is to host the 2029 World Scout Moot following a successful bid at the World Scout Conference in Cairo, the General Association of the Scouts of China (Taiwan) said yesterday. Taiwan on Wednesday garnered the support of more than 90 percent of the nearly 2,000 attendees from 176 countries, it said in a statement. The association said the event is to take place at Tsou Ma Lai Farm in Tainan, where the 12th National Jamboree was held last month. The World Scout Moot is one of the three major international scouting events, along with the World Scout Conference and the World Scout Jamboree. The World Scout Moot is held every four years, primarily for scouts aged 18 to 25. Taiwan previously hosted the event in 2004.
WEATHER
Storm not to impact Taiwan
A low-pressure system in the Pacific was upgraded to a tropical storm early yesterday, but would not impact Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Shanshan was 2,290km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) at 8am, moving at 6kph in a north-northwesterly direction, it said. CWA data showed it had maximum sustained winds of 72kph, with gusts reaching 101kph. The agency said the storm would not directly impact Taiwan and was moving slowly toward Japan.
TRADE
Paraguay open to China
Paraguayan President Santiago Pena on Wednesday said he was “fully open” to trade deals with China via South American trade bloc Mercosur, despite his country’s diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Paraguay is the last South American country with formal relations with Taiwan. Mercosur, a customs union, has been in talks to finalize a trade deal with the EU, but has also discussed a potential trade deal with China. “Our position with China is one of total openness,” Pena said of Paraguay’s position within Mercosur, adding that the obstacle was China not accepting its recognition of Taiwan. “We are in favor of advancing trade agreements,” he said in an interview with Reuters. Mercosur officials held a dialogue with Chinese counterparts on Monday last week in Uruguay’s capital. “I see prudence on Brazil’s side,” Pena said of the possible China agreement, which he emphasized that he supported. “I think that the most interested is Uruguay, and we accompany this effort to have a conversation as a bloc.”
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
EVA Airways president Sun Chia-ming (孫嘉明) and other senior executives yesterday bowed in apology over the death of a flight attendant, saying the company has begun improving its health-reporting, review and work coordination mechanisms. “We promise to handle this matter with the utmost responsibility to ensure safer and healthier working conditions for all EVA Air employees,” Sun said. The flight attendant, a woman surnamed Sun (孫), died on Friday last week of undisclosed causes shortly after returning from a work assignment in Milan, Italy, the airline said. Chinese-language media reported that the woman fell ill working on a Taipei-to-Milan flight on Sept. 22
COUNTERMEASURE: Taiwan was to implement controls for 47 tech products bound for South Africa after the latter downgraded and renamed Taipei’s ‘de facto’ offices The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is still reviewing a new agreement proposed by the South African government last month to regulate the status of reciprocal representative offices, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. Asked about the latest developments in a year-long controversy over Taiwan’s de facto representative office in South Africa, Lin during a legislative session said that the ministry was consulting with legal experts on the proposed new agreement. While the new proposal offers Taiwan greater flexibility, the ministry does not find it acceptable, Lin said without elaborating. The ministry is still open to resuming retaliatory measures against South
1.4nm WAFERS: While TSMC is gearing up to expand its overseas production, it would also continue to invest in Taiwan, company chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has applied for permission to construct a new plant in the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區), which it would use for the production of new high-speed wafers, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council, which supervises three major science parks in Taiwan, confirmed that the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau had received an application on Friday from TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, to commence work on the new A14 fab. A14 technology, a 1.4 nanometer (nm) process, is designed to drive artificial intelligence transformation by enabling faster computing and greater power
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