MILITARY
Koo outlines RTX refund
The amount that US defense contractor RTX Corp overcharged Taiwan for weapons would be fully compensated, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday, reiterating a ministry statement from a day earlier. The overpricing case involving RTX — formerly known as Raytheon — was voluntarily investigated by US authorities to crack down on improprieties in the US arms sales system, Koo said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting. After US authorities informed Taiwan of the investigation’s results, judicial proceedings began and should result in the amount of the overcharges being returned to Taiwan, he said. Asked about the amount of funds involved, whether the overcharged funds would be fully returned and when the US notified Taiwan of the case, Koo said all of the money would be returned, but he declined to provide further details on the other questions. However, he did say that the major sale on which the case is based occurred in 2013 and that because the case involved other countries as well, Taiwan benchmarked the prices with the other parties. Yi Media on Tuesday reported that US arms sales to Taiwan might involve “international fraud.” Koo said Yi Media’s report portrayed Taiwan as being “a person taken advantage of.” Such a description was part of an effort to support an “America skepticism theory” that does not reflect reality, he said.
Photo: Lin Che-yuan, Taipei Times
ISRAEL
Office helps duo leave
Taiwan’s representative office in Israel said it helped two Taiwanese leave the country by land on Thursday amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. The office said it received a telephone call on Wednesday from two Taiwanese who were visiting Israel and wanted to leave, but were unable to due to flight cancelations following Iranian airstrikes. The office promptly arranged a vehicle to help the two leave Israel, it said. The duo arrived in Jordan earlier on Thursday and were waiting for a flight back to Taiwan, it said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously said that as of late August there were 266 Taiwanese in Israel. Meanwhile, the ministry said that Taiwan’s representative office in Jordan, which is also responsible for matters in Lebanon, has reported that one Taiwanese student previously in Lebanon left the Middle Eastern country on a Chinese-government-arranged cargo ship late last month, the ministry said. There are five Taiwanese in Lebanon, the ministry said. Three have informed the office that they would return to Taiwan early this month, it added. The Jordan office would continue to keep in touch with the five remaining in Lebanon to offer assistance should they need any, the ministry said.
CRIME
Cannabis suspects indicted
Ten people, including two brothers who made a living by producing tea, have been indicted for growing cannabis in Nantou County, Taichung police told a news conference on Thursday. Taichung police said that the brothers, identified by their surname, Lin (林), as well as eight others, were arrested in June and their cannabis-growing operation smashed. Police said that they received a tip-off that the Lins had allegedly started growing cannabis at their home in Lugu Township (鹿谷) earlier this year. During a raid of the residence, 51 cannabis plants, as well as tools and equipment for producing the illegal drug, were seized, police said.
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
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’s continued business with the country. While Taiwan joined the US and its Western allies in putting broad sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, it did not explicitly ban imports of naphtha, a major hard-currency earner for Russia. While state-owned firms stopped importing Russian oil in 2023, there is no restriction on private companies to
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
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