UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense
Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday said it disqualified a person from an entrance examination for using AI smart glasses to cheat, along with two others for making untruthful statements in their curriculum vitae. The three applicants were given null scores, Taiwan’s highest-ranked university said, calling on prospective students to be honest in the admissions process. NTU registrar Lee Hung-sen (李宏森) said that the cheating applicant wore a hat and thick-rimmed glasses to the second written exam for medical school, claiming that they felt cold. Suspicions were aroused when the applicant stared oddly at the test for long stretches while steadily bringing the paper
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said
Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
In a historic first, Taiwanese officials participated in this year’s Riga Strategic Communications Dialogue in Latvia from Wednesday to Friday last week, which debuted a breakout session focused on Taiwan The event organizer, the NATO Strategic Communications Center of Excellence, displayed Taiwan’s national flag and the officials’ formal titles on their Web site. Taiwanese attendees included National Security Council (NSC) Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) and deputy head of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK, Chiang Ya-chi (江雅綺). In addition to the session discussing Taiwan titled “Taiwan: Navigating Strategic Communication in a Tense Environment,” the dialogue also included sessions
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said
Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
TOKYO-MANILA DELIMITATION TALKS: Beijing is attempting to use this opportunity to normalize patrols and law enforcement in the waters east of Taiwan, MOFA said
China has no law enforcement authority over the waters east of Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, accusing China of undermining regional peace and stability. The Chinese Ministry of Transport on Saturday evening announced that it had launched a “special maritime law enforcement operation” in the waters east of Taiwan, dispatching coast guard vessels to engage in illegal enforcement activities, the ministry said. State-run Xinhua news agency said the operation was “a necessary action taken in response to Japan and the Philippines unilaterally announcing the initiation of maritime boundary delimitation negotiations in the waters east of China’s Taiwan island,
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday fell sharply against the US dollar to close at its lowest level since May 22 amid a massive outflow of funds from the country because of investors panicking over global equity markets. The NT dollar ended at NT$31.580 against the US dollar, slightly lower than its close of NT$31.568 on May 22, after moving between NT$31.5 and NT$31.648 on combined turnover of US$3.062 billion on the Taipei Foreign Exchange and the Cosmos Foreign Exchange. The NT dollar received a significant hit in the morning session, slumping as much as NT$0.173 at a time when other Asian currencies
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is now ranked ninth among the world’s 100 most valuable companies after its market capitalization more than doubled over the past year, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan said in a report last month. TSMC’s market capitalization surged 101 percent year-on-year to US$1.427 trillion as of March 31, the accounting and consulting firm’s 2026 Global Top 100 Companies by Market Capitalization report said. The gain catapulted the world’s largest contract chipmaker from 12th place to ninth in the rankings, and it was the fastest-growing among the global top 10, it said. TSMC was the only Taiwanese company among the top
Taiwan ranked 42nd in terms of peacefulness among 163 countries, down five places from last year, according to this year’s Global Peace Index. With an overall score of 1.751, Taiwan dropped from 37th last year, the report published by the global Institute for Economics and Peace showed. The overall score measures a country’s level of peacefulness using 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators across three domains — ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, and militarization. While Taiwan ranked 42nd worldwide, it was listed in ninth place among the 19 Asian-Pacific countries in the report, after New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia,
Heavy rain is expected to affect parts of Taiwan this week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday as a meteorologist said the active part of the annual plum rain season has started. A stationary plum rain front and southwesterly winds would bring unstable weather and abundant moisture to Taiwan from today for about a week, with the heaviest rainfall forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday, the CWA said. The agency said western and northeastern Taiwan, and mountainous areas in the east and southeast, could expect showers or thunderstorms on those two days, with localized heavy rain possible. Other parts of
MILITARY ISSUES: A partisan divide between the Cabinet and the legislature ‘raised questions about Taiwan’s ability to adequately fund its defense,’ the report said
Taiwan’s defense budget, military personnel numbers and resilience are challenges to its ability to meet national defense goals, the US Naval Institute said in a report published on Tuesday. In response to the perception of a growing military threat posed by China, Taiwan has embarked on an effort to enhance the capabilities needed to deter an attempt by Beijing to annex the nation by force, the institute said in the US Congressional Research Service report, titled Taiwan: Defense and Military Issues, which was filed on Thursday last week. Taiwan’s defense budget increased by about 7.5 percent from 2024 to last year, it
Taiwan could experience its heaviest rainfall of the week today and tomorrow as a weather front and seasonal southeasterly winds continue to affect the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Scattered heavy showers are expected across the nation, with thunderstorms possible in western Taiwan and Yilan County in the northeast, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said. Extremely heavy rainfall, defined as 200mm or more within 24 hours, is forecast for mountainous areas in central and southern Taiwan, the weather agency said. The CWA has also issued a torrential rain advisory for parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, meaning rainfall of at least
Internist Chiang Kuan-yu (姜冠宇) yesterday warmed people not to ignore four warning signs of possible early leukemia symptoms. The caution was issued following news of Taiwanese actor Fu Jun’s (傅子純) abrupt death on Sunday. Best known for his role in the popular TV soap opera Rookies’ Diary (新兵日記), Fu died of leukemia at the age of 46, Formosa TV (FTV, 民視) Phoenix Talent Company (鳳凰藝能) confirmed on Sunday. “His family had no prior knowledge that he had leukemia,” general manager James Chao (趙善意) said. “The illness struck suddenly and he passed away.” Leukemia is a complex disease and its early stages often show no
China Coast Guard (CCG) ships operating around Taiwan over the past few days have been “harassing” commercial shipping by asking them for information about their point of origin and destination and claiming jurisdiction, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. Beijing was angered after Japan and the Philippines last month said they would begin formal talks on their exclusive economic zones (EEZ), viewing that as involving waters off Taiwan. Late on Saturday, Chinese state media reported ships had been sent to carry out a “special maritime traffic law-enforcement operation” in the waters east of Taiwan in response to the Japanese and
As China weaponizes its global dominance in critical material supply chains, more countries should look to Taiwan’s raw earth refining technology to create non-red supply chains, Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said yesterday during a forum discussion with the Brookings Institution. The Center for Asia Policy Studies at the Washington-based think tank and the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry yesterday hosted a webinar titled “New Frontiers in the Trade-economic Security Nexus in Asia.” Panelists discussed how US President Donald Trump’s administration has inserted economic security goals in US
PREPAREDNESS: Previous exercises required troops to enter positions a week in advance, but this time they arrived only one day before the drill, an official said
The army’s 10th Corps yesterday conducted artillery drills around the northern and southern banks of the Dajia River (大甲溪) estuary in Taichung, simulating a scenario in which Chinese amphibious forces attempt to invade central Taiwan in a combat scenario with limited preparation time. Despite heavy rain, troops carried out live-fire drills in an operational area with the Thunderbolt-2000 multiple launch rocket system for the first time in seven years, followed by exercises involving M109A2 self-propelled howitzers. The drills incorporated the 58th Artillery Command, the 234th Brigade and the 586th Brigade, with 372 rounds across six weapons systems fired from eight positions across
‘ASIA’S NASDAQ’: Taiwan must keep pace with global trends by adopting more flexible and innovation-friendly stock listing rules, William Lai said in an interview
Taiwan hopes to become a global hub for technology investment and capital, President William Lai (賴清德) said in an interview aired last night, adding that part of the vision is to create “Asia’s NASDAQ.” Taiwan has a strong position in the artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain and with this strategic advantage aims to make every industry a pillar of national strength, Lai said in the interview with Taiwan Television Enterprise (台視) and Unique Satellite TV (非凡電視). Taiwan has the world’s most comprehensive AI industry ecosystem and is truly a technology powerhouse, he said. Building from that base, it hopes to become a global
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