The KMT and TPP successfully passed the third reading of legislation that would enact substantial cuts to the government budget earlier today. This took place on the heels of a marathon 20-hour session that led to the budget being passed before the Legislative Yuan adjourns for the Lunar New Year...
Recent comments by US President-elect Donald Trump have called for the US to annex Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal. Trump has also suggested renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” With Trump set to take office today, this already shows the instability that is potentially ahead for Taiwan with a second Trump presidency...
China will soon allow group tours to Taiwan to resume for residents of Fujian and Shanghai. It is to be seen if the Chinese government further relaxes tourist policy. The Lai administration has stated publicly that it welcomes Chinese tourism on a reciprocal basis...
Budgets cuts by the KMT have prompted outrage from Taiwanese society, given the scope of the budget cuts. Likewise, the budget cuts are accused of being haphazard in nature, in that the KMT is accused of hitting out at all manner of programming without much consideration...
The first execution under the Lai administration took place yesterday. This was the first execution carried out by the Taiwanese government in five years. For the execution to have been carried out, the Minister of Justice and President would have to sign off. The last execution in Taiwan took place under the Tsai administration in April 2020...
“Leaving Gaza was surreal. As we left the buffer zone from Gaza, people care little about throwing away half a bottle of soda, or flicking a cigarette, like how things are in a normal world,“ said Dr. Wu. According to Dr. Wu, just about 10 kilometers away from the blockade, only one out of the four sinks at Dr.Wu’s workstation in Nasser Hospital supplied a somewhat stable source of clean water. According to CSIS, Oxfam International, The United Nations Children’s Fund, BBC, CNN, there were barely any sanitation standards for water outside of hospitals because of Israel’s targeted strikes on Gaza’s infrastructure....
The KMT has sought to leverage on pension reforms as of late, as part of its current slate of pork barrel policies aimed at benefiting political groups it has historically experienced support for. As part of these moves, the KMT has sought to capitalize on confusion over the balance of powers in the Taiwanese legislature...
The Mainland Affairs Council has proposed the creation of new military courts to deal with espionage and national security cases. In particular, the council has argued that this is necessary to keep pace with the times, given the rising threats directed toward Taiwan, in which Chinese infiltration is on the rise...
The Taiwanese navy recently concluded three days of drills, which are held annually before the Lunar New Year as a means of reassuring the public about its capacity to counter Chinese threats...
