Taiwan Government News

The boarding of a Taiwanese tourist boat by China's coast guard near sensitive frontline islands triggered "panic" among Taiwan's people, a government minister said on Tuesday, but Taiwan's military added it was not planning to get involved.Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory despite the island's rejection, has been wary of efforts by Beijing to ramp up pressure on Taipei following the election last month of Lai Ching-te as president, a man Beijing views as a dangerous…

Taiwan's defence ministry said on Monday that a Chinese carrier group led by the Shandong was about 120 nautical miles off the southeast of the island's coast, the same ship that took part in China's war games around the island earlier this month.Taiwan previously reported that the Shandong, commissioned in 2019, had sailed into waters in the Western Pacific through the Bashi Channel that separates the island from the Philippines ahead of a meeting between President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S.

China will ban vessels from an area near Taiwan on Sunday because of the possibility of falling rocket debris, its maritime safety agency said on Thursday, as Japan sought details from Beijing on a reported no-fly zone in the same location. China has not commented on the no-fly zone, but South Korea, which was also briefed on the plans, said it was due to a falling object related to a launch vehicle. The disruption comes during tension in the region over Chinese military exercises around Taiwan…

Chinese warplanes and navy ships were still in the waters around Taiwan, the island's defense ministry said on Tuesday after the end of three days of war games, as Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen criticized Beijing for its "irresponsible" behavior.China began the exercises on Saturday after Tsai returned to Taipei following a meeting in Los Angeles with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.China, which warned the U.S. not to allow Tsai to visit or meet McCarthy, has never renounced the use of force to bring the democratically governed island under Beijing's control.

As China sends warships and fighter jets to the Taiwan Strait after a U.S. visit by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, deemed a separatist by Beijing, fishing crews plying the narrow waterway say they fret more about their livelihood than politics.For years, Chinese fishermen trawling for fish, shrimp and crab have played cat and mouse with Taiwanese authorities as they closely track boats that near the median line of the Taiwan Strait.Villagers on Pingtan island in China's southeastern Fujian province…

The Taiwan Strait is an international waterway and Taiwan's government supports U.S. warships transiting it, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, rebuffing claims from China to exercise sovereignty over the strategic passage.The narrow strait has been a frequent source of military tension since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the communists, who established the People's Republic of China.In recent years U.S. warships…

Taiwan's government has urged shipping companies not to unfairly push up their prices amid a global squeeze on shipping containers and a shortage of space on cargo ships, the transport ministry said on Friday.Trade-dependent Taiwan, a tech powerhouse, has benefited from demand for telecommuting products like tablet computers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced millions to work and study from home.The finance ministry said last week it saw 2020 exports hitting a record high.The transport ministry's Maritime and Port Bureau said the shipping container shortage was most severe on U.S.

Taiwan reported 22 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, almost all of them sailors who were on a navy visit to the small Pacific islands state of Palau, which said there was “little chance” it was the source of the infection.Taiwan’s government on Sunday said 700 navy personnel were being quarantined and tested and there were 24 positive cases altogether. Of those, three cadets had been to Palau, one of only 15 countries to maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and one of the…

Wind turbine manufacturer MHI Vestas Offshore Wind has signed its third contract in Taiwan for local production as it prepares to execute 900 MW of offshore wind projects."Confirming the first electrical component for local supply in the budding offshore wind industry in Taiwan, MHI Vestas has signed a conditional agreement with Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V., with Taiwanese manufacturer, Shihlin Electric Co., included as an integral part of the production," said a notification from the company.The contract, signed by executives from MHI Vestas and Mitsubishi Electric Europe, meets the Taiwan government’s localisation requirements for local production…

Taiwan's government said on Wednesday it will offer to lend struggling local shippers NT$60 billion ($1.9 billion) at below-market interest rates, to help them cope with the industry's worst downturn. "The global shipping industry is going through a tough time. These loans are part of the government's efforts to help local shippers," said Yeh Hsieh-lung, a deputy director general of Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC). Shippers with accumulated losses in the past four quarters will be qualified to apply for the loans, Yeh said. South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd filed for court receivership in August after losing the support of its banks, setting the stage for its assets to be frozen as ports from China to Spain denied access to its vessels.

Global marine container terminal operator DP World  will help to expand the development of Kaohsiung Port’s Terminal 7, which is owned by the state run Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC), in an effort to increase its Asian portfolio. The Dubai ports operator signed a memorandum of understanding with TIPC to develop the terminal. Financial terms were not disclosed. As the first global operator entering the Taiwan market, DP World will bring to the table its international expertise and experience of over four decades spanning a portfolio of 77 inland and marine terminals and handling more than 170,000 TEU a day. Kaohsiung Port enjoys a key geographical location, is an excellent natural harbor and was once among the world’s top container ports.

A Taiwanese company has withdrawn notice to use Chinese vessels on a renewable energy project off the island, the port authority said on Thursday, after opposition lawmakers cited security concerns about the joint operation. The last-minute decision to drop the vessels underscores the island's concerns about possible surveillance by Beijing, and comes a day after the Taiwan government said it was making security checks on a Chinese smartphone company. The "Huadian 1001", a Chinese platform vessel, and a towing vessel, departed China's Nantong in Jiangsu Province earlier this month for Taichung port, after getting the all-clear from Taiwan's Maritime and Port Bureau to ply Taiwan waters. The Chinese-registered vessels had been contracted to work on Taiwan's first offshore wind project.

Taiwan's government has come under fire from the largest opposition party for stalling on the clean-up of an oil spill threatening the island's southern coast. A Greek cargo ship, the Amorgos, ran aground near Kenting National Park on Taiwan's southern tip 25 days ago, leaking 1,100 tons of fuel that have since spread across an area of some 24 acres (10 hectares). "We see people dredging buckets of oil while the government pushes responsibility, drags and delays," Central News Agency quoted Nationalist Party chairman Lien Chan as saying. "We are watching the environment dying right beneath our eyes," said Lien, whose party dominates parliament.

Last summer, the U.S. Navy billed the Taiwan government $2.5m to cover the cost of a little-known operation dedicated to helping Taipei close a ground-breaking arms deal to acquire eight American-made diesel submarines. But after investing about $8m since 2001, Taiwan refused to pay, despite Navy warnings in two August 2005 memos that it would shut down its submarine "pre-selection" operation without more money, a move sure to trigger long delays and higher costs. When President Bush approved Taiwan's request for arms in April 2001, the weapons deal was heralded as a turning point in U.S. relations with the Taiwan government, which clamored for years to augment its four aging submarines -- two of them World-War II-era boats from U.S.

The Taiwan Government is inviting bids for a majority stake in China Shipbuilding Corp, the island’s biggest shipbuilder, to help the company become more competitive and raise funds for public spending, according to a Bloomburg report. The Government aims to sell a stake of between 51 per cent and 66 per cent in the company, the shipbuilder said in a statement published in Taipei’s Commercial Times. The stake offered includes three billion new shares. The planned sale will release the company from policies and regulations that have constrained state-run companies, China Shipbuilding said in the prospectus to investors. Reducing state ownership to less than 50 per cent frees companies from having lawmakers review their budgets and from the Government’s management control.