SHANGHAI/TAIPEI: China’s military said on Wednesday that it had monitored and warned a US warship that had sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, a mission that happened shortly after China carried out drills near the island. The US Navy’s 7th Fleet said the guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal conducted a “routine” Taiwan Strait transit through […]
Taiwan
Schools shut in Singapore; Taiwan restricts foreigners entry to battle COVID
Singapore will close schools from Wednesday as authorities warned new coronavirus strains such as the one first detected in India were affecting more children. Taiwan also shut schools in the capital Taipei to control an outbreak, and the island banned all foreigners from entry or transit for a month unless they had a residency card. […]
China says it won’t rule out using force to reunify Taiwan
BEIJING: China says it will not “renounce the use of force” in efforts to reunify Taiwan with the mainland and vows to take all necessary military measures to defeat “separatists.” In a national defense white paper released Wednesday, China listed among its top priorities its resolve to contain “Taiwan independence” and combat what it considers […]
Taiwan on ‘high alert’ after finding invasive armyworm in corn crop
Taiwan is on “high alert” for further damage by the fall armyworm, said Premier Su Tseng-chang on Tuesday, after the island reported its first sighting of the invasive pest in a corn field. The fall armyworm, which has spread rapidly across Asia in recent months, was found in Miaoli county on the island’s northwest coast […]
In first for Asia, Taiwan lawmakers back same-sex marriage
Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage on Friday, as thousands of demonstrators outside parliament cheered and waved rainbow flags, despite deep divisions over marriage equality. Lawmakers of the majority Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) backed the bill, which passed 66 to 27, although the measure could complicate President Tsai Ing-wen’s bid […]
Foxconn chairman announces bid for Taiwan presidency
The boss of tech giant Foxconn said Wednesday he will be running for president of Taiwan — after securing the backing of a local sea goddess. Gou, who announced this week he was stepping back from frontline operations at the Apple supplier, said he would seek the nomination of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) opposition party. […]
Taiwan diplomacy harder than ever in US-China tug of war
Diplomacy has never been easy for Taiwan and is becoming ever more complex as it is caught between the United States under an unpredictable leader and an increasingly assertive China, which claims the self-ruling island as its own. In her strongest statement yet over pressure from China, Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen blamed Beijing after Burkina […]