Chinese President Xi Jinping met with former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou in Beijing Wednesday in a bid to promote unification between the sides that separated amid civil war in 1949. Ma left office almost two decades ago and was largely excluded from the opposition Nationalist Party's failed campaign to retake the presidency in January, a concession to the electorate's strong opposition to political unification with China and politicians seen as willing to compromise Taiwan's security. He follows a long line of politicians from the Nationalists, also known as the KMT, who have been invited to China by its authoritarian one-party government and given VIP treatment on visits around the country. China claims Taiwan as its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary. Beijing sends navy ships and warplanes around the island on a daily basis in hopes of wearing down Taiwan's defensives and intimidating the population. The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are all ...
In response to Chinese activity, Taiwan sent aircraft, naval ships and deployed air defence missile systems to keep a track of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) activity
China asserts territorial claims over Taiwan and has issued threats of annexation if Taipei resists reunification indefinitely
Under preliminary agreement announced by the US, TSMC will construct a third factory in Phoenix, adding to two facilities in the state that are expected to begin production in 2025 and 2028
According to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence, Taiwanese armed forces have monitored the situation and deployed naval vessels and coastal systems in response to China's activities
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited a new semiconductor plant for which his government has pledged more than 1 trillion yen (USD 7 billion) of support to secure a steady supply of chips on Saturday. I believe this project will have positive ripple effects throughout Japan. It is key for not only the semiconductor industry but also a wide range of businesses such as electric vehicles and electronics, he said while touring the facility. The new plant on the southwestern island of Kyushu, majority owned by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., is the Taiwanese semiconductor giant's first in Japan. Kishida also expressed sympathy to Taiwan following an earthquake that left at least 12 people dead. Japanese companies like Sony, Denso and Toyota are investing in the TSMC subsidiary that opened the plant in February, although the Taiwanese giant retained an 86.5% stake in the Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. The project underlines Japan's hopes to regain
Rescuers were planning to bring in heavy equipment on Saturday to try to recover two bodies buried under boulders on a hiking trail, three days after Taiwan's strongest earthquake in 25 years. Four more people remain missing on the same Shakadang Trail in Taroko National Park, famed for its rugged mountainous terrain. Search and recovery work was set to resume, after being called off Friday afternoon because of aftershocks. At least 12 people were killed by the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck Wednesday morning off Taiwan's east coast, and 10 others were still missing. More than 600 people, including about 450 at a hotel in the Taroko park, remained stranded in various locations cut off by rockslides and other damage. Survivors have told harrowing tales of rocks tumbling onto roadways, trapping them in tunnels until rescuers arrived to free them. In the city of Hualien, a building left tilting over a street at a precarious angle was being carefully torn down. The relatively lo
Technological advancements in Taiwan appear to have kept damage and casualties relatively low after the 7.4 magnitude quake struck the island's east coast early Wednesday
The 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan's eastern coast near Hualien County on Wednesday morning, reportedly killing nine people and injuring more than 1,000
In the video clip circulating on social media, a man can be seen caught up in the pool amid the heavy waves caused by the earthquake
Since September 2020, China has increased its use of grey zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships operating around Taiwan
Rescuers searched for dozens of people out of contact Thursday a day after Taiwan's strongest earthquake in a quarter century damaged buildings, caused multiple rockslides and killed nine people. In the eastern coastal city of Hualien near the epicenter, workers used an excavator to put construction materials around the base of a damaged building to stabilize it and prevent a collapse. Mayor Hsu Chen-wei previously said 48 residential buildings were damaged. Some of the damaged buildings tilted at precarious angles with their ground floors crushed. More than 1,000 people were injured in the quake that struck Wednesday morning. Of the nine dead, at least four were struck inside Taroko National Park, a tourist attraction famous for its scenes of canyons and cliffs in Hualien County, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) from the island's capital Taipei. Nearly 150 people were either still trapped or out of contact Thursday, the National Fire Agency said. About two dozen tourists and some .
Buildings also shook violently in capital Taipei, but damage and disruption there was minimal
Manufacturers in Taiwan have been hardening their factories against earthquakes for decades and many use automatic shutdown systems to minimise damage to their production and tools, analysts said
Taiwan is regularly jolted by quakes and its population is among the best prepared for them, but authorities said they had expected a relatively mild earthquake and accordingly did not send out alerts
They further prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured and extended support for the people of Taiwan during these difficult times
Taiwan experienced its biggest earthquake in 25 years, which occurred 25 km south-southeast of Hualien County Hall at a depth of 15.5 km
Since September 2020, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships operating around Taiwan
The tsunami threat from a strong earthquake that struck Taiwan has largely passed. The Japan Meteorological Agency downgraded its forecast from 3 metres (9.8 feet) to 1 metre (3.3 feet). One island had a wave of about 30 centimetres (a foot), while smaller waves were detected in other islands. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said there has been no report of injury or damage in Japan. He urged the residents in the Okinawa region to stay on safe ground until all tsunami advisories were lifted. China issued no warnings for the Chinese mainland, and there was no threat for Hawaii and Guam. More than two hours after the 7.4 magnitude quake struck Taiwan, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said the threat of a tsunami has largely passed. The quake damaged buildings on Taiwan but casualty information was not yet available.
A powerful earthquake struck off Taiwan early Wednesday, rocking the entire island and collapsing buildings. Japan issued a tsunami alert for the southern Japanese island group of Okinawa. Japan's meteorological agency forecast a tsunami of up to 3 metres (9.8 feet). Taiwan's earthquake monitoring agency gave the magnitude as 7.2 while the US Geological Survey put it at 7.5. Television showed buildings in the eastern city of Hualien shaken off their foundations. The quake came at 7:58 am and could be felt in the capital Taipei.