Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
By Sean Chang and Amber Wang in Taipei PINGTUNG, Taiwan, Oct 5, 2023 (AFP) – Typhoon Koinu left at least one person dead on Thursday as it grazed Taiwan’s southern tip, lashing the island with the strongest winds it has ever recorded and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes. Koinu made landfall on the island’s southernmost Cape Eluanbi Thursday morning and was weakening as it moved into the Taiwan Strait by 3 […]
TAITUNG, Taiwan, Oct 4, 2023 (AFP) – Taiwan cancelled flights and closed schools in parts of its southern region on Wednesday ahead of Typhoon Koinu’s expected landfall, the second major storm to make a direct hit on the island in a month. Taiwan experiences frequent tropical storms from May to November but last month’s Typhoon Haikui was the first to slam into it in four years — unleashing torrential rains, high winds and forcing nearly […]
TAIPEI, Sept 22, 2023 (AFP) – Taiwan’s defence minister said China’s recent military activities were “abnormal”, after a spike in incursions by Chinese warplanes around the island this week. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has maintained it will seize it one day — by force, if necessary. Beijing performs near-daily aerial incursions around the island, and on Monday Taiwan’s defence ministry reported a “recent high” of 103 warplanes within a 24-hour window. […]
UNITED NATIONS, United States, Sept 21, 2023 (AFP) – China warned Thursday at the United Nations not to underestimate its “strong will” on Taiwan, while saying Beijing preferred peaceful means to take the self-governing democracy. Addressing the General Assembly, Vice President Han Zheng repeated Beijing’s stance that Taiwan — around which the communist mainland has staged repeated military exercises — constitutes an “inalienable part” of China. “No one should ever underestimate the firm resolve, strong […]
TAIPEI, Sept 18, 2023 (AFP) – Taiwan told China on Monday to stop its “destructive unilateral actions” after more than 100 Chinese warplanes and nine navy ships were detected in areas around the self-ruled island. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory to be seized one day, and has ramped up diplomatic and military pressure on Taipei in recent years. In the 24 hours between the morning of September 17 and 18, the defence […]
TAIPEI, Sept 17, 2023 (AFP) – China flew 28 warplanes around Taiwan on Sunday, with most crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait for unspecified “long range” missions, Taipei authorities said. Taiwan’s defence ministry said 20 of the aircraft detected since Sunday morning crossed the median line of the waterway separating Taiwan and mainland China, and entered the self-ruled island’s southeast and southwest air defence identification zone. China was conducting “missions such as long […]
BEIJING, Sept 12, 2023 (AFP) – China outlined on Tuesday a raft of measures for strengthening integration with Taiwan, in an indication that Beijing aims to expand links with the self-ruled island that were severed during the Covid-19 pandemic. China claims the democratic island as part of its territory and relations have soured since Taiwan’s independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016. Ties drifted further as coronavirus curbs gummed up trade and other […]
TAIPEI, Aug 12, 2023 (AFP) – Taiwan’s Vice President William Lai flies to the United States on Saturday in a sensitive trip that has angered Chinese officials. The democratic island is claimed by China, which has vowed to take the territory one day — by force, if necessary — and has ramped up political and military pressure. It opposes other countries’ official exchanges with Taiwan, and often reacts angrily to Taiwanese leaders’ stopovers in the […]
TAIPEI, Aug 8, 2023 (AFP) – Former Japanese prime minister Taro Aso warned a Taipei security forum Tuesday that the international community must “wake up” to the worsening situation surrounding the Taiwan Strait, a hotspot waterway separating the democratic island from China. Taiwan has in recent years been under increased political and military pressure from China, which claims the island as its territory and has vowed to retake it one day. The past year has […]
TAIPEI, Aug 2, 2023 (AFP) – A Chinese invasion of Taiwan would have “disastrous results” for the world, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told AFP in an interview Wednesday, citing the island’s strategic importance for the semiconductor industry and global shipping lanes. Wu’s warning comes as democratically ruled Taiwan heads towards a presidential election next year, while facing increased military and political pressure from China across the Taiwan Strait. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The death toll from a typhoon in the northern Philippines has risen to six, official figures showed Thursday, as the storm swept towards southeastern China. Typhoon Doksuri battered the main island of Luzon on Wednesday, toppling trees, knocking out power and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people from coastal communities. Strong winds and heavy rain pummeled the lightly populated Babuyan islands and northern provinces, triggering flooding and landslides. A mother […]
