Claims that President William Lai (賴清德) met with business leaders to help resolve tariff issues are false, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday, adding that the government maintains close communication with the US and is steadily working toward bilateral economic cooperation.
The Chinese-language Mirror Media magazone reported that Lai had repeatedly invited top business leaders in Taiwan for secret talks since US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April.
Lai hoped that the businesses would form a group to invest in the US in a bid to win a reduced US tariff rate, the report said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) rejected the plan and said “no official assistance from Taiwan is needed,” Mirror Media reported.
The situation described in the report is completely false, Kuo said, calling on the media to fact-check stories before they are published.
The government maintains close communications with the US in many fields, and continues to steadily promote bilateral industrial cooperation in economic and trade affairs, she said.
An AIT spokesperson yesterday told the Central News Agency that the report was “completely incorrect.”
The AIT is working closely with Taiwan’s government and private enterprises to promote bilateral trade and investment, the AIT spokesperson said.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
A British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14.37kg of marijuana into Taiwan through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Customs said late yesterday. The man, who arrived from Bangkok at 9pm on Friday, was asked by customs officers to open his luggage during a random inspection, Taipei Customs said in a news release. The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed, refused to open his suitcase and tried to flee the restricted area. He was eventually subdued by three customs officials and an Aviation Police Bureau officer. A later search of his checked luggage uncovered 14.37kg of marijuana buds. The case was handed over
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