FATES LINKED: The US president said that sanctions on Russia over Ukraine must exact a ‘long-term price,’ because otherwise ‘what signal does that send to China?’
US President Joe Biden yesterday vowed that US forces would defend Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack in his strongest statement to date on the issue. Beijing is already “flirting with danger,” Biden said following talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, in which the pair agreed to monitor Chinese naval activity and joint Chinese-Russian exercises. Asked if Washington was willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan, he replied: “Yes.” “That’s the commitment we made,” Biden said. “We agreed with the ‘one China’ policy, we signed on to it ... but the idea that it can be
‘TOO RESTRICTIVE’: Ending US sales of weapons that do not fall under the category of ‘asymmetric’ would hamper Taiwan’s defense against China, two business groups said
Taiwan’s weapons procurement decisions are made based on its needs, and are not influenced by individual arms dealers, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday after two US business groups questioned a US official’s comment on arms sales to Taiwan. US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Regional Security Mira Resnick told the business groups via video link on Saturday that Washington would adjust the types of weapons sold to Taiwan and end “most arms sales to Taiwan that do not fall under the category of ‘asymmetric.’” The American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan and the US-Taiwan Business Council on Monday
‘LONE WOLF’: The suspect was difficult to locate, as he did not use a cellphone, did not contact family and often lived in abandoned sites or parks, police said
Taipei police on Thursday morning arrested a man accused of numerous burglaries and at least 14 incidents of sexual assault spanning more than 20 years, in what might be the nation’s most notorious crime spree in recent years. Sixty-year-old Tu Ming-lang (涂明朗) — who was yesterday placed in judicial detention, after a judge determined he was a flight risk without a fixed address — faces multiple charges of sexual assault and burglary, police said. A task force comprised of various law enforcement agencies arrested Tu as part of an investigation into an April 28 burglary in Daan District (大安), in which a
Local COVID-19 cases are expected to continue rising in the upcoming week, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported a record-high 85,310 new domestic cases and 41 deaths. Daily case numbers had remained in the 60,000s for the past six days before surging about 30 percent yesterday, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said the number of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests conducted on Tuesday also marked a record-high of 112,915, with a
Ninth graders were asked to define “trolling” on this year’s standardized exam, reflecting efforts to make the test better reflect real-life situations. Adjustments to this year’s Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students were revealed on Sunday, after the last cohort of students completed the test over the weekend. The Ministry of Education solicited feedback about the test from teachers, who approved of the new question in the English portion. Not only was question No. 20 “very much in line with real-life situations,” but it also used a new style in which students were asked to ascertain the correct dictionary definition based
LETTER TO BIDEN: Excluding Taiwan from the proposed framework would run counter to the US’ economic interests and send the wrong message to China, 52 senators said
A bipartisan group of 52 US senators on Wednesday urged US President Joe Biden to include Taiwan in the in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), amid concerns that Taiwan would be left out of the agreement. Democratic Senator Bob Menendez and Republican Senator Jim Risch led 50 other senators from both parties in penning a letter to Biden, saying that including Taiwan in the IPEF would be an invaluable signal of Washington’s “rock solid commitment” to Taiwan, and its prosperity and freedom, they said in a press release. Expressing their concerns that “Taiwan will not be included in the proposed IPEF,” the
REMOTE AREAS: The plan is to eventually extend the policy to the entire nation, but changes need to be made along the way as needed, the minister of health said
Starting tomorrow, residents of indigenous townships and outlying islands can use a positive rapid test result that has been confirmed by a doctor for COVID-19 diagnosis, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The policy could eventually be applied nationwide, the center said. It is difficult for residents of indigenous areas and outlying areas to travel to medical centers, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said, explaining the reason for the change. The areas include 30 mountain and 20 plains indigenous townships, as well as 19 townships on outlying islands, said Chuang, who is the CECC’s spokesman. Residents
A post titled “I want to get COVID-19 to pay off my debts” caused a stir on popular Internet forum Dcard last month, as the anonymous user asked for the blood or saliva of the infected so she could claim her pandemic insurance payout of NT$75,000. She had paid just NT$809 for the policy. Although the user later clarified that the post was made in jest to criticize the government’s handling of the ongoing insurance crisis, it’s entirely plausible that some would get infected on purpose to receive their payout — especially given that over 99 percent of the reported Omicron
US President Joe Biden is expected to unveil a list of nations today who would be joining a long anticipated Indo-Pacific region trade pact, but Taiwan will not be among them. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that Taiwan is not among the governments included in the launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a trade pact that is meant to allow the US to work more closely with key Asian economies on issues including supply chains, digital trade, clean energy and anticorruption efforts. The US president is scheduled to highlight the launch of the framework as he meets with Japanese
INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT: The integrity of global disease prevention should not be compromised because of opposition from one country, President Tsai Ing-wen said
Taiwan and the World Health Assembly (WHA), the decisionmaking body of the WHO, need each other in the face of COVID-19 challenges, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, in response to yet another year of Taipei not receiving an invitation. Despite the support of 71 governments, legislative bodies and parliamentary groups, Taiwan has not been invited to attend the WHA’s annual meeting, which began yesterday in Geneva, Switzerland, and runs until Saturday. In a video recorded for Taiwanese traveling to Geneva in support of the nation’s inclusion in the WHA, Tsai said that Taiwan has contributed to global public health and advanced
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, was “amazed” and “enthralled” by Chinese who rise at 3am for work. He praised it as a manifestation of talent and a good work ethic. Truthfully, that praise and statement about China, no matter its motivation, is nothing more than a round of applause for the atrocities inflicted by dictators and the spiritual anesthesia of their victims. “There’s just a lot of super-talented, hard-working people in China that strongly believe in manufacturing,” Musk said in an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday. “And they won’t just be burning the midnight oil, they’ll be
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed “deep regret and dissatisfaction” that Taiwan had yet to receive an invitation to the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA), which is set to take place in Geneva, Switzerland, in three days. “We find it deeply regrettable that the WHO has once again failed to remain professional and politically neutral to extend an invitation to Taiwan,” ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news conference in Taipei. The WHO has disregarded the widespread international support for Taiwan’s participation as an observer in the organization’s decisionmaking body, which is necessary and urgent, in view of the
Taiwan is on alert for monkeypox, a rare viral disease that has caused 87 infections in 11 countries over the past three weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Saturday. The WHO on Friday convened an emergency session to discuss a sudden outbreak of monkeypox in North America and Europe. Since the beginning of this month, 87 confirmed cases and 28 possible cases have been identified in 11 countries. The countries with the highest case counts are England with 29 cases, and Portugal and Spain with 23 each. Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease occurring primarily in the tropical rainforest areas
NATIONAL SECURITY: Aiding foreign or hostile forces in stealing, copying or leaking business secrets involving core technologies is punishable by up to 12 years in prison
The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments setting penalties for economic espionage of up to 12 years in prison or a NT$100 million (US$3.37 million) fine, and banning employees in key industries from traveling to China without permission, as it seeks to stifle theft of key technologies. The first set of amendments to the National Security Act (國家安全法) stiffens penalties for helping China, Hong Kong, Macau, foreign countries or hostile foreign forces from obtaining, using or leaking business secrets involving “core” technologies through theft, cheating, coercion or reproduction without authorization. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said the amendments would “make
From Wednesday next week, owners of electric vehicles would be charged NT$262.50 per month for household electricity use in addition to varying electricity surcharges, state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) said on Sunday. Taipower said the new rates aim to encourage vehicle charging during off-peak hours. They would apply to the nation’s about 10,000 electric vehicle owners at their registered residence, as well as public charging stations, the utility said. In addition to the monthly fee, electric vehicle owners would be charged a surcharge of NT$34.6 per kilowatt-hour (KWh) from October to May and NT$47.2 per KWh from June to September. Taipower said it
Three human skeletons and artifacts believed to be about 400 years old were unearthed by construction workers at National Ilan University in Yilan County, the university said yesterday. The discoveries were made on May 10 as workers were digging to expand the College of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science’s facilities, the university said in a statement. The skeletons were found at three sites, along with glass beads, copper bells and rings, discs and a fish-shaped metal knot, it said. The find is likely connected to the “Old Baili Village” (擺厘舊社, Bai Li Jiu She), an as-yet-undiscovered Kavalan settlement that has been mentioned in
UPS AND DOWNS: The nation’s total number of infections has surpassed 1 million, with 954,139 reported this year, but the situation could ease soon, an expert said
The nation’s COVID-19 outbreak has entered the “mass community spread” stage, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) reported 90,331 new local infections, topping 90,000 daily cases for the first time. In a report to the legislature, the ministry said that Taiwan reported 475,497 new COVID-19 infections from Thursday last week to Wednesday, marking “a significant increase” over the 302,597 cases recorded over the previous seven-day period. The rising case numbers indicate that the nation has entered the “mass community spread” stage of the disease, the ministry said, adding that imported cases have dropped
ADAPTING: The CECC said the policy change would happen this week at the earliest, while PCR testing stations would be used to diagnose people and prescribe drugs
The general public would be able to use a positive rapid test result that has been confirmed by a doctor for COVID-19 diagnosis starting later this week at the soonest, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 79,441 new local infections and 53 deaths. The center on Saturday announced that it was expanding the rapid test diagnosis policy to people living in indigenous townships and outlying islands, starting today. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, yesterday said the policy might be further expanded to include “all people” this week, at the soonest. He
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy yesterday said that only a diplomatic breakthrough rather than an outright military victory could end Russia’s war on his country, as Moscow cut gas supplies to Finland. “There are things that can only be reached at the negotiating table,” Zelenskiy said, just as Russia claimed its long-range missiles had destroyed a shipment of Western arms destined for Ukraine’s troops. After more than 12 weeks of fierce fighting, Ukrainian forces have halted Russian attempts to seize Kyiv and the northern city of Kharkiv, but are under renewed and intense pressure in the eastern Donbas region. Moscow’s army has flattened and
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