More US arms sales are in the pipeline: official
The US is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties. China held war games around the nation late last month after the latest deal was announced. The arms sales announced last month cover eight items, including Lockheed Martin High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and Altius loitering munition drones. “It is not that we are unwilling to explain — give us an opportunity to explain, a legal opportunity,” he added. Taiwan has to spend more, given the threat, Hsu said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 15, 2026 17:12 UTC
Call for support
Taiwan eases work, residency restrictions for foreign professionalsNew measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
Source:Taipei Times
January 15, 2026 17:12 UTC
Trade team heads to US for tariff talks
Trade team heads to US for tariff talksBACK AT IT: In the sixth round of in-person talks, Taipei aims to expand the ‘Taiwan model’ within US supply chains and seek a more favorable investment environmentStaff writer, with CNATaiwan’s trade negotiation team, led by Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and chief trade negotiator Minister Without Portfolio Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮), has departed for the US for a new round of in-person trade talks that officials say are in the final stages, the Cabinet said yesterday. The delegation left Taiwan late on Wednesday after coordinating with its US counterparts, the Cabinet’s Taiwan-US trade working group said. Following the talks, the two sides are expected to announce the substance of any consensus reached, the group said. The meetings, the sixth round of in-person trade negotiations between Taiwan and the US, are to be held amid reports that the two sides are close to reaching a trade agreement. Washington imposed a 25 percent tariff on certain AI chips, such as the Nvidia H200, under a new national security order released by the White House.
Source:Taipei Times
January 15, 2026 17:12 UTC
Cold weather might not affect typhoon formation
Cold weather might not affect typhoon formationBy Esme Yeh / Staff reporterResearch built on hundreds of years of storm activity records showed that typhoons were most frequent in the 17th century during the “little ice age,” challenging the common belief that low temperatures inhibit the formation of typhoons. Researchers pose at a news conference hosted by National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei yesterday. Such a thermal contrast between the land and the sea likely created a more dynamic summer monsoon circulation, which fostered favorable conditions such as increased low-level moisture transport for tropical cyclone formation, the research showed. The database helps promote intercultural, interdisciplinary climate research by enabling non-Mandarin-using international researchers to utilize Chinese historical documents, he said. The research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America journal last month.
Source:Taipei Times
January 15, 2026 17:12 UTC
Carney hails Xi’s leadership, as he seeks warmer ties
Carney hails Xi’s leadership, as he seeks warmer tiesReuters, BEIJINGCanadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday hailed his nation’s improving ties with China, as well as the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), declaring that their nations were charting a new course in cooperation amid global division and disorder. The four-day visit to China was the first by a Canadian prime minister since 2017, following up on Carney’s positive meeting with Xi in South Korea in October. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the end of a signing ceremony in Beijing yesterday. Carney’s optimism follows months of intense re-engagement by both countries aimed at recalibrating ties that had soured under former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. “Our teams have worked hard, addressing trade irritants and creating platforms for new opportunities,” Carney told Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強) in a separate meeting.
Source:Taipei Times
January 15, 2026 17:12 UTC
Environmentalists concerned LNG port damaging reef
Environmentalists concerned LNG port damaging reefBy Esme Yeh / Staff reporterEnvironmental advocates yesterday called for action to reverse alleged breakdown of the algal reef near the third liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Guantang Industrial Port (觀塘工業港), saying it was likely caused by the construction of the terminal over the past few years. Construction of the third liquefied natural gas terminal at Guantang Industrial Port in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District is pictured in an undated photograph. The algal reef ecosystem along the coast of the district was divided into G1, G2 and G3 zones when the construction project was delineated, with G1 zone being the nearest to the construction site. He urged government authorities to establish a response unit to reverse the algal reef decline. CPC would cooperate in conducting on-site investigations along with representatives from environmental groups to examine algal reef conditions, as well as provide research data for review, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 15, 2026 17:12 UTC
TPP announces 13 budget items it wants to fund
TPP announces 13 budget items it wants to fundBy Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNATaiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers yesterday said the party would propose a motion to partially fund the government, prioritizing spending for the economy, livelihood and infrastructure. TPP deputy caucus whip Chang Chi-kai (張?楷) told a news conference that the party is facilitating the legislature’s review of 13 spending items in the annual budget, totaling NT$200 billion (US$6.33 billion). Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang, left, speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Improving bridges, upgrading water purification and distribution facilities, and spending on museums and an office building for the Central Election Commission’s Lienchiang County branch are among the budget items the party supports, Chang said. Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) slammed the TPP’s announcement, saying that the proposed budget deal overlooked crucial spending items after 140 days of delays.
Source:Taipei Times
January 15, 2026 17:12 UTC
Danjiang Bridge opening events set for April and May
Danjiang Bridge opening events set for April and MaySINGLE-TOWER SENSATION: The bridge, which would be the longest of its type in the world when opened, will be open to the public before vehicular traffic startsBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporter, NEW TAIPEI CITYThe Highway Bureau and New Taipei City are hosting events between April 25 and May 9 allowing people to experience the Danjiang Bridge (淡江大橋) before it officially opens on May 12. Reporters take pictures of the Danjiang Bridge spanning New Taipei City’s Tamsui and Bali districts yesterday. Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai, center, shows reporters newly laid pavement on the Danjiang Bridge spanning New Taipei City’s Tamsui and Bali districts yesterday. Organizers are hosting photography and painting contests for the bridge opening, accepting submissions until March 31. To ensure durability of the steel bridge, the construction team first applied GUSS asphalt concrete, which was created by blending petroleum asphalt and processed Trinidad lake asphalt, before applying regular asphalt, Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 15, 2026 17:12 UTC
About NT$900bn to go to foreign arms, official says
About NT$900bn to go to foreign arms, official saysACCUSATIONS: The official refuted insinuations that the special budget was a ‘blank check,’ citing examples where ceilings were approved before items were consideredBy Chen Yu-fu and Jason Pan / Staff reporters, with CNAMost of the NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.57 billion) special defense budget is for arms procurement from other countries, while NT$300 billion would go toward domestic defense production, Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) said yesterday. Hsu was responding to a comment by Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) on Wednesday that only NT$300 billion of the budget is for arms procurement from the US. Huang, who returned from a visit to the US on Wednesday, said he made the discovery after meeting unnamed officials in Washington. Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien, second right, speaks to reporters at a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei yesterday. The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) reiterated that it welcomes the NT$1.25 billion special defense budget, as AIT Director Raymond Greene wrote on social media on Nov. 26 last year.
Source:Taipei Times
January 15, 2026 17:12 UTC
Anger in Minneapolis after second shooting
Anger in Minneapolis after second shootingAP, MINNEAPOLIS, MinnesotaA federal officer shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after being attacked with a shovel and broom handle, further heightening the sense of fear and anger radiating across the city a week after an immigration agent fatally shot a woman in the head. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told a news conference that the gathering was an unlawful assembly and “people need to leave.”A protester attempts to protect themselves as federal agents fire munitions and pepper balls during protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Wednesday, after federal law enforcement agents were involved in a shooting incident. Photo: ReutersThings later began to quiet down at the scene, and by early yesterday fewer demonstrators and law enforcement officers were there. In a statement describing the events that led to Wednesday’s shooting, DHS said federal law enforcement officers stopped a person from Venezuela who was in the US illegally. Local leaders say the government is violating free speech and other constitutional rights with the surge of law enforcement.
Source:Taipei Times
January 15, 2026 16:45 UTC
Can Japan’s Sanae Takaichi beat the heat with a snap election?
Can Japan’s Sanae Takaichi beat the heat with a snap election? By Gearoid Reidy / Bloomberg OpinionJapanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reportedly hates the summer. A win could restore the LDP’s majority in the lower house, lost in 2024 under former Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba. It all risks being seen as self-serving — at a time voters would prefer to hold her to her promise to “work, work, work, work, work” on issues such as inflation. Remember the lesson of former Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga, who enjoyed Takaichi-like polling numbers when he replaced Abe in 2020.
Source:Taipei Times
January 15, 2026 16:45 UTC
Mother tongues are a vanguard
Mother tongues are a vanguardBy Liou Uie-liang 劉威良At the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) New Generation National Strategic Talent Empowerment Workshop in Taipei from Thursday to Sunday last week, DPP Secretary-General Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said that Taiwanese society often uses terms originating from China in everyday life. Much like other multilingual countries like Canada, Taiwan should — in addition to using a commonly shared language — also release accurate information in Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese, or Tai-gi) or other local mother tongues as tools for verification and clarification. In other words, mother tongues are not merely a matter of culture, nor solely an issue of revitalization. In the face of a hostile China, whose native language is also Mandarin, the government and military should regard mother tongues as the most effective defensive language for winning the cognitive war. This would significantly raise the cost for China to disseminate disinformation, and mother tongues that were previously suppressed would serve as the vanguard in Taiwan’s modern cognitive defense.
Source:Taipei Times
January 15, 2026 16:45 UTC
Trump’s Monroe Doctrine corollary
Trump’s Monroe Doctrine corollaryBy Liao Ming-hui 廖明輝In the US’ National Security Strategy (NSS) report released last month, US President Donald Trump offered his interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine. This is a logic that appeals to the safeguarding of national security, but in reality comes closer to economic nationalism and military expansionist aims. Although packaged as a national security issue, it amounts to a serious blow to regional sovereignty and the international order. With Trump’s statements on the Monroe Doctrine, asserting that it “was very important, but we forgot about it. While the western hemisphere has already become an arena for Trumpism, the chill of the geopolitical storm brewing is starting to be felt worldwide.
Source:Taipei Times
January 15, 2026 16:45 UTC
Not time to worry about TSMC’s reported expansion in US: Experts
Not time to worry about TSMC’s reported expansion in US: ExpertsStaff writer, with CNASpeculation surrounding Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s (TSMC, 台積電) potential expansion in the US should not be overinterpreted, as structural and economic constraints mean such moves are unlikely to weaken Taiwan’s central role in advanced chipmaking in the near future, experts said. The logo of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is pictured at the company’s earnings conference in Taipei yesterday. Tech commentator Owen Lin (林宏文) said TSMC’s US investments have always been long-term in nature. TSMC yesterday projected its capital expenditure at between US$52 billion and US$56 billion this year, up 27-37 percent from US$40.9 billion last year. About 60-80 percent of the spending will go toward advanced process development, TSMC chief financial officer Wendell Huang (黃仁昭) said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 15, 2026 16:05 UTC
US sets 25 percent tariff on select chips
US sets 25 percent tariff on select chipsNVIDIA DEAL: US sets 25 percent tariff on select chipsBloombergThe US has imposed a 25 percent tariff on imports of certain advanced semiconductors, a key step in an agreement blessed by US President Donald Trump allowing Nvidia Corp to ship Taiwan-made H200 artificial intelligence (AI) processors to China. The 25 percent tariff applies to “a very narrow category of semiconductors that are an important element of my administration’s AI and technology policies,” the proclamation said. There is an exception for those chips that are imported to support the build-out of the US technology supply chain, it said. Trump signed the measure a day after the US Bureau of Industry and Security eased its criteria for securing licenses to export H200 chips to China. The US must still take additional actions before Nvidia can send the chips to China, including the approval of export licenses by the bureau.
Source:Taipei Times
January 15, 2026 16:05 UTC