Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity
Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims
The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
Because much of what former US president Donald Trump says is unhinged and histrionic, it is tempting to dismiss all of it as bunk. Yet the potential future president has a populist knack for sounding alarums that resonate with the zeitgeist — for example, with growing anxiety about World War III and nuclear Armageddon. “We’re a failing nation,” Trump ranted during his US presidential debate against US Vice President Kamala Harris in one particularly meandering answer (the one that also recycled urban myths about immigrants eating cats). “And what, what’s going on here, you’re going to end up in World War
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety
The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
The US Department of Defense (DOD) has taken action to make improvements after “unserviceable and poorly packaged” equipment and munitions were sent to Taiwan under the US Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), the department said on Friday. The PDA is a process under which the US can send equipment and weapons from existing stocks to its allied partners in crisis situations. In July last year, the administration of US President Joe Biden authorized as much as US$345 million in defense articles and services to be sent to Taiwan under the presidential drawdown. “Taiwan is a key security cooperation partner, and the US
Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) yesterday said that it authorized its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria, but that another company based in Budapest manufactured them. The pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungary’s capital, Gold Apollo said in a statement. The company said the AR-924 pagers used by the Hezbollah militant group were produced and sold by BAC, which was authorized to use Gold Apollo’s trademark in some regions. “We only provide brand trademark authorization and have no involvement in the design or manufacturing of this product,” it said. “The product
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts
Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Three people had died and nine were hospitalized as of yesterday morning after eating millet dumplings that might have contained toxic pesticides. On Tuesday evening, after consuming millet dumplings she had made earlier, a woman surnamed Tseng (曾) in Taitung County’s Jinfong Township (金峰) developed convulsions and was taken to Mackay Memorial Hospital Taitung Branch, where she died. Later that evening, about 30 friends and family gathered to pay their respects, with some of them eating the same millet dumplings, which contained snails, bamboo shoots and taro. Twelve of the attendees began seeking medical attention starting at about 3am for vomiting and convulsions. Six
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
Plans to pass a legislative motion clarifying Taiwan’s stance on UN Resolution 2758 might be derailed as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demurs on the issue, saying it could adversely affect cross-strait relations. The Democratic Progressive Party, which is planning to draft a motion to address UN Resolution 2758, is hoping to gain the support of other parties, but the KMT caucus yesterday said that such a motion needs further evaluation. China has aligned UN Resolution 2758 with its own definition of the “one China principle,” reducing Taiwan’s opportunity for participation on the world stage. However, the resolution has recently captured
NATIONAL SECURITY: Taiwan has a strong need to be resilient due to its importance to global industries and the global economy, the head of a civic organization said
The Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee — which is aimed at promoting society-wide involvement in national defense — is to hold its first meeting on Thursday next week, with four points of focus aimed at boosting resilience, sources said yesterday. The committee was established by President William Lai (賴清德) in June, a month after he took office, along with the National Climate Change Strategy Committee and the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee. Lai at the time said that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would chair the committee, with Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) and National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮)
A Chinese naval formation led by the Liaoning aircraft carrier sailed through waters northeast of Taiwan yesterday and continued toward the southeast of Japan’s Yonaguni Island, the Ministry of National Defense said. “During this period, the armed forces monitored the situation and responded accordingly,” the ministry said in a statement. China has been staging regular exercises around Taiwan for a few years. The Japanese government said it was the first time that a Chinese aircraft carrier, which was accompanied by two destroyers, entered its contiguous zone, an area within 24 nautical miles (44.4km) of the Japanese coast. “This incident is
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
SECURITY: The cyberattacks appeared to be a retaliation for comments made by President Lai suggesting China should have a territorial dispute with Russia
The Executive Yuan yesterday strongly condemned cyberattacks suspected to have been launched by a pro-Russia hacking group the previous day targeting the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) and several local financial institutions. It assured the public that government agencies are closely monitoring the situation and have a firm understanding of the incident. In a statement, Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the Executive Yuan strongly condemned reckless hacking attacks on countries including Taiwan. Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who also heads the National Information and Communication Security Task Force, has requested that the Administration of
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes
Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai
RETALIATION EXPECTED: About 200 people are in critical condition following the explosions that took place in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanese media said
The audacious pager attack in Lebanon, which killed 12 people and injured at least 2,800, has increased tensions between Israel and militant group Hezbollah, which vowed to retaliate. Hezbollah, the Lebanese government and Iran blamed Israel for the near-simultaneous blasts on Tuesday afternoon. Many of those injured were members of the Tehran-backed organization, which has been trading cross-border fire with Israel for almost a year. However, some civilians were hurt as the devices exploded in supermarkets and homes, and two children were among the 12 people killed, Lebanese officials said. Israel neither confirmed nor denied responsibility, and its officials are