Tag: Taiwan

Taiwan braces for super typhoon Meranti

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) –Taiwan braced for approaching super typhoon Meranti on Tuesday, evacuating nearly 1,800 tourists from offshore islands and closing some schools and offices. Meranti is expected to skirt past the island’s southern tip, bringing torrential rain and powerful winds from late Tuesday, the Central Weather Bureau said. “Typhoon Meranti is maintaining its strength and speed, and its impact will be the strongest on Wednesday and early Thursday,” said forecaster Hung Jen-sheng. The super typhoon […]

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China, Russia naval drill in South China Sea to begin Monday

  (REUTERS)  China and Russia will hold eight days of naval drills in the South China Sea off southern China’s Guangdong province starting from Monday, China’s navy said. The exercises come at a time of heightened tension in the contested waters after an arbitration court in The Hague ruled in July that China did not have historic rights to the South China Sea and criticized its environmental destruction there. China rejected the ruling and refused […]

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Japan ‘seriously concerned’ by South China Sea tension

VIENTIANE, Laos (AFP) — Japan is “seriously concerned” about Beijing’s increasingly muscular claims in the South China Sea, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Asian leaders Wednesday. Beijing insists it has sovereign rights to almost all of the strategically vital waters, where the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims. It also has a simmering territorial row with Tokyo over disputed islands in the East China Sea. “I am seriously concerned with the continuing […]

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Ahead of summit, Philippines shows images of Chinese boats at disputed shoal

  (REUTERS)  The Philippines’ defense ministry released pictures on Wednesday showing what it said were Chinese boats near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, just hours before Southeast Asian nations were due to meet China’s premier at a summit in Laos. There was no explanation for the timing of the release, but it came two days after Manila expressed “grave concern” about the increasing number of Chinese vessels around the Scarborough Shoal and […]

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Philippines worried, says more Chinese boats spotted at disputed shoal

  (REUTERS) The Philippines expressed “grave concern” on Sunday and demanded an explanation from China’s ambassador over what it said was an increasing number of Chinese boats near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. A Philippines air force plane flew over the rocky outcrop on Saturday and spotted more boats than usual in a flotilla China has maintained since seizing the shoal after a tense standoff in 2012, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana […]

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NBA star Westbrook teaches young Taiwanese players new tricks

TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters) —  Russell Westbrook, point guard for Oklahoma City Thunder and two-time NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player in 2015 and 2016, encouraged a selection of young basketball players to pursue their dreams on Sunday (September 4) in Taipei, Taiwan. Westbrook, who is currently on a tour through the region to promote new Air Jordan basketball shoes, encouraged local basketball players in Taipei to focus on their dreams. “I mean, I think it’s […]

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Taiwan faces new rout of China ties over controversial diplomat

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) – Taiwan’s already frosty relations with Beijing are set to cool further after the appointment of a controversial diplomat to handle cross-strait ties sparked a backlash. Beijing still sees self-ruling Taiwan as part of its territory and has been piling pressure on new president Tsai Ing-wen to acknowledge that there is only “one China”. It deeply mistrusts Tsai, whose Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is traditionally pro-independence. Beijing has cut official communications with Tsai, who […]

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‘Missile practice’ caused deadly Taiwan misfire: prosecutors

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — An unsupervised Taiwanese naval officer who decided to experiment with a missile launcher and accidentally fired towards China was one of three people charged Monday over the fatal incident. The misfiring of the supersonic “aircraft carrier killer” last month struck a damaging blow to the military’s image, embarrassing new president Tsai Ing-wen and angering Beijing. The Hsiung-feng III (Brave wind) missile hit a Taiwanese trawler, killing the skipper on board and […]

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Airport protest as China official visits Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwanese shouting anti-communist slogans staged an airport protest Monday against a visit by a top Shanghai official which they see as intended to promote China’s unification with Taiwan. Sha Hailin, a standing committee member of the Communist Party in the city and head of the United Front Work Department there, is the highest-level mainlander to visit since cross-strait ties worsened under Taiwan’s new government. He arrived in Taipei for an annual […]

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Taiwan probes leading bank linked to Panama Papers

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan is investigating a bank linked to the so-called Panama Papers scandal, in the wake of a $180 million fine levied by US authorities for “flagrant disregard” of anti-money laundering laws. American regulators last week said Taiwan’s Mega International Commercial Bank showed indifference towards transactions carried out through Panama, which it calls a “high-risk jurisdiction for money-laundering”. The US Department of Financial Services (DFS) said it had identified “suspicious transactions” between […]

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Taiwan tea entrepreneurs brew up new twist on tradition

by Amber WANG TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Cheap instant “bubble tea” has become one of Taiwan’s best-known culinary exports — now a new wave of entrepreneurs hopes a high-end modern take on traditional brews will also be sipped worldwide. Taiwan has been producing tea for more than 200 years and a cup of the island’s famous oolong is obligatory for many visitors, but exports have been knocked by rising labour costs and bubble tea has […]

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Hundreds of Taiwan drivers fined after Pokemon Go launch

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Nearly 350 drivers in Taiwan were slapped with fines for playing on their phones after Pokemon Go launched on the island, which has already resulted in broken legs and museum bans. The gaming app has sparked a global frenzy since its launch last month as users hunt for virtual cartoon characters overlaid on real-world locations using augmented reality technology. A total of 349 fines were issued since the game launched in […]

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