Suzuki, a former Japanese minister of justice in the Cabinet of former Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba and a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), arrived on Monday with his delegation. From left, Japanese representatives Akihisa Nagashima, Keisuke Suzuki and Junichi Kanda attend a news conference at the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association in Taipei yesterday. “We have concluded that to make sure a Taiwan contingency does not happen, we need to beef up our deterrence capabilities,” he said, without elaborating. Asked whether he discussed ways to enhance bilateral defense cooperation during the meetings in Taipei, Suzuki did not give a direct answer. Lawmakers traveling overseas to conduct exchanges would continue despite the lack of official ties between Tokyo and Taipei, he said.

Defense spending, be it part of a regular or special budget, is important, as it shows that the nation is willing to defend itself and fufill its responsibility to regional stability, he said. Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien speaks at an event in an undated photograph. Lawmakers from across the political divide should support adding the defense budget to the agenda of the Procedure Committee, he said, adding that the ministry is open to discussion and oversight regarding the bill. It described a Chinese military that is increasingly sophisticated and resilient, wary of large-scale agreements with the US and learning lessons from Russia’s setbacks in Ukraine as it increases pressure on Taiwan. It describes the goals as achieving “strategic decisive victory” over Taiwan, “strategic counterbalance” against the US, and “strategic deterrence and control” against other regional countries.

Plane crash in Turkey kills Libya’s army chief of staffReuters, ANKARA and TRIPOLIA private jet that crashed on Tuesday, killing Libya’s army chief of staff and seven others on board, had reported an electrical fault and requested an emergency landing shortly before contact was lost, a Turkish official said yesterday. Search teams found the black box of the plane early yesterday, Turkish Minister of the Interior Ali Yerlikaya said. Turkish Minister of the Interior Ali Yerlikaya, center, speaks at the site of a jet crash near Kesikkavak, Turkey, yesterday. Mohammed al-Menfi, head of the Tripoli-based Presidential Council, said that the deputy chief of staff would assume al-Haddad’s duties until a new chief is appointed. Al-Haddad, from the coastal city of Misrata about 200km east of Tripoli, was appointed chief of staff in 2020.

Civic groups, DPP slam stalling of fiscal budgetBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterCivic groups, including childcare advocates, and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday held a news conference at the legislature, condemning the opposition parties for stalling on the passage of next year’s budget, which they said resulted in withholding of funds, halting of subsidies to families and the suspension of public childcare centers. Democratic Progressive Party legislators Rosalia Wu, second left, Lin Yueh-chin, third left, and Chen Pei-yu, third right, pose for a photograph at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. “KMT and TPP legislators telling people that they ‘prioritize bills related to social welfare programs’ is just a lie,” she said. It is aimed at upgrading public childcare facilities and would rely on steady financial support from the central government,” she said. Lin criticized KMT and TPP legislators for prioritizing amending the Nationality (國籍法) and Constitutional Court Procedure (憲法訴訟法) acts, instead of dealing with the fiscal budget, saying that the budget is crucial in realizing welfare programs.

DGBAS warns about budget deadlockDEFENSE JEOPARDIZED? Although the DGBAS has yet to make a formal assessment, growth is estimated to decline by 0.05 percent per NT$10 billion (US$317.7 million) in cuts to government spending, DGBAS Minister Chen Shu-tzu (陳淑姿) told a legislative hearing on the budget fight’s impact on the economy. Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Minister Chen Shu-tzu speaks at the legislature in Taipei yesterday. The deadlock over funding jeopardizes the Ministry of National Defense’s budget of NT$78 billion, an amount accounting for 26 percent of next year’s budget, she said. “The KMT and TPP have opened a gap in the nation’s defenses, gladdened China and disheartened Taiwanese,” Wu said.

Sra Kacaw indicted over alleged illicit payment schemeStaff writer, with CNAChinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Sra Kacaw has been indicted for allegedly receiving NT$7.11 million (US$225,858) in bribes between 2020 and 2023, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Sra Kacaw speaks to reporters before attending a legislative session yesterday. The indictment said that Sra Kacaw had been elected four times as a lawmaker and should have known better. Instead, the legislator from Hualien County took bribes from businessmen and pressured government agencies to help them, prosecutors said. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office launched an investigation in the second half of last year into allegations that Sra Kacaw had received money from businessmen via his assistant beginning in December 2020.

Antibiotic injection recalled after glass fragments found in vials: TFDAStaff Writer, with CNATaiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) has ordered the recall of more than 27,000 vials of an antibiotic injection produced by Yung Shin Pharmaceutical Industrial Co. and purchased by medical facilities around Taiwan, after glass fragments were found in one vial, the agency said. The affected product is Tapimycin Injection Yung Shin, an antibiotic used to treat infections, according to a drug recall notice issued by the TFDA on Monday. The recall involves a single batch, lot number TYI4 T012, after a hospital reported discovering glass fragments in one vial, prompting the recall, said Huang Mei-chen (黃 玫甄), a senior technical specialist with the TFDA. As of now, a total of 27,680 vials from the batch have already been sold, Huang said. Huang noted that the same product was recalled in 2021 after glass fragments were found.

Police officer detained over threats to Taichung mayorBy Hsu Kuo-chen and Hollie Younger / Staff reporter, with staff writerA female detective assistant with the Taichung Police Department’s Second Precinct was detained on Tuesday night after repeatedly posting threatening remarks on social media platforms and in online groups, the Taichung District Court said. Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen speaks at a news conference yesterday. She later commented on a post on social media platform Threads regarding copycat crimes, in which she directly named Lu in threats involving shooting, prosecutors said. Huang posted the threatening remarks closely after last week’s incident in Taipei, causing fear and panic among those who reported her, city government personnel and the public, it added. Huang’s mobile phone has been seized by prosecutors, and all threatening remarks have been preserved via screenshots, it said.

The MAC slams Beijing’s ‘cross-border suppression’By Chung Li-hua / Staff Reporter, with ReutersThe Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday accused China of engaging in “cross-border suppression and political manipulation,” after a Chinese public security bureau alleged that it was Taiwanese citizens who led a smuggling operation involving a Chinese-crewed vessel that damaged subsea cables earlier this year. Yesterday, the public security bureau in Weihai in China’s Shandong Province said its investigations into the incident showed that two Taiwanese men were behind a multi-vessel operation that was illegally transporting frozen goods into China. The Chinese authorities’ findings came after interviewing seven Chinese crew members of the Hong Tai 58. If the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security has concrete evidence, it can provide that evidence to Taiwan’s law enforcement agencies to cooperate in preventing cross-strait crimes. However, in the absence of concrete evidence, publicly disclosing names and offering rewards is not a civilized approach; it is merely another form of cross-border suppression and political manipulation,” the council said.

Minister promises more proactive foreign policyBy Huang Ching-ting and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaiwan is to pursue and expand ties with like-minded countries to counter Beijing’s poaching, rather than reactively defending existing relationships with diplomatic allies, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said earlier this month. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is making a pivot from a “defensive” diplomatic strategy to an “offensive” one, emphasizing developing links with old and new friends, he said. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung speaks in an online show of the Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Dec. 11. Photo: Huang Yun-hsuan, Taipei TimesThat is because the former strategy of passively guarding existing ties against China’s overtures has resulted in a steady loss of diplomatic allies, Lin said. The EU legislative body’s adaptation of the text denouncing the resolution’s misinterpretation stemmed from the ministry’s years of work with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, Lin said.

Economic ties no longer boost Taiwan-China relations: expertStaff writer, with CNAEconomic ties are no longer boosting cross-strait relations, as Taiwanese businesses continue to shift investment away from China amid deepening US-Beijing decoupling, an expert said at a seminar in Taipei yesterday. Prospect Foundation president Lai I-chung delivers a seminar in Taipei on cross-strait relations yesterday. Photo: CNAThis shift has weakened the traditional role of economic interconnectedness as a "lubricant" in cross-strait relations, he said. Before 2016, trade relations between Taiwan, China and the US were closely intertwined under a model described as "Taiwan taking orders, China producing and products sold to the West," Lai said. However, during the first wave of the trade war in 2018, Taiwanese firms began ramping up investment in Southeast Asia, he said.

Civic groups flag human rights issues in ‘Two Covenants’ reportStaff writer, with CNAA coalition of civic groups yesterday released a report reviewing Taiwan's implementation of two major international human rights covenants from 2022 to this year, warning of persistent systemic shortcomings in rights protections. Coauthored by 33 groups, including Covenants Watch and the Taiwan International Workers' Association (TIWA), the 2025 Parallel Report on the Two Covenants was released at a press event in Taipei. Representatives from a coalition of civic groups pose at a news conference for the release of the 2025 Parallel Report on the Two Covenants in Taipei yesterday. Huang also said that the Constitutional Court — which he described as "the last line of defense for human rights" — has been "paralyzed for a long time due to political interference." The report also addresses other rights issues, including those involving the LGBTQ+ community and indigenous peoples.

Magnitude 6.1 quake shakes TaitungStaff writer, with CNAA magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Taitung County at 5:47pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was about 10.1km north of Taitung County Hall, at a depth of 11.9km, CWA data showed. Photo courtesy of the Central Weather AdministrationThere were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Beinan Township (卑南), where it measured 5- on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It measured 4 in other parts of Taitung, as well as in Hualien and Pingtung counties, and 3 in Kaohsiung, Tainan and Chiayi and Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin and Changhua counties.

The policy, proposed today by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文), suggests that the government and parents both contribute NT$1,200 (US$38.19) monthly to a Taiwan ETF investment account until the child is 10. The UK, Singapore, Japan and Canada all have similar ETF investment policies, and Taiwan’s ETFs are the third-largest in Asia, You said. Taiwan’s current child accounts under the Ministry of Health and Welfare target economically disadvantaged families and primarily include fixed deposits, Tsai said. While the health ministry offers child accounts for middle and low-income households, they are savings-oriented and subject to certain restrictions, Lai said. The NDC would bring the child investment account proposal to the Executive Yuan and convene relevant agencies to discuss the policy, she added.

Taiwan per capita income overtakes S Korea, Japan: IMFBy Hollie Younger / Staff writerTaiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Photo: EPA-EFEAcross Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. China’s per capita income was US$13,810 this year, ranked in ninth place after South Korea, Japan, Brunei and Malaysia, the report said.