US-Taiwan Palau projects announced

The US Department of State has announced partnerships with Taiwan on two Palau projects after Washington pledged more than US$150 million for Pacific island nations.

Following the opening of the 55th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting in Palau on Sunday, the department on Tuesday issued a statement titled “Promoting Pacific Prosperity: US Engagement at the Pacific Islands Forum,” which said that the US’ commitment to the security and prosperity of Pacific island nations “is steadfast and enduring, and remains a core pillar of its ‘America first’ foreign policy.”

Meanwhile, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau announced at the PIF Partners Dialogue on Tuesday that the US would provide more than US$150 million in support to Pacific island nations, including funding for two projects being carried out in Palau in partnership with Taiwan.

“The United States’ continued participation in the Pacific Islands Forum reflects the importance we place on the Pacific islands as a vital part of the Indo-Pacific region. When the Pacific islands are stable, secure and prosperous, the United States is too,” the department said.

“Under [US] President [Donald] Trump and [US] Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio’s leadership, we are prioritizing commercial diplomacy and reorienting our foreign assistance programs in the Pacific around championing US enterprise and investments in enabling infrastructure that supports private sector-led economic growth,” it added.

Specific initiatives include the Palau Hospital Relocation project, a partnership of the US, Taiwan, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea to support the development and operation of a new, modern hospital facility in Palau, it said.

Meanwhile, the Drinking Water Sampling project is being carried out by the US Environmental Protection Agency in partnership with Taiwan, it said.

The initiative would help Palau conduct comprehensive sampling of its drinking water sources and wells, while providing training for drinking water operators and environmental laboratory regulators on proper sampling techniques, the statement said.

In Taipei yesterday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said in a separate statement that he welcomed the continued US support for Taiwan’s international participation and Washington’s recognition of Taiwan’s contributions to regional development.

Lin said he looked forward to Taiwan and the US expanding concrete cooperation in the Pacific and other regions.

He also expressed hope that Taiwan-US relations, as well as ties with Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and other like-minded countries, and prosperity and stability around the world would continue to flourish as Taiwan’s “integrated diplomacy” strategy complements the US’ “commercial diplomacy” approach.

China deployed a record number of coast guard, scientific research and other ships near Taiwan’s waters last month, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said, as Beijing dials up pressure on Taipei. The coast guard warned of an increasingly severe situation, as analysts say the increased activity is part of China’s bid to map the region for submarine warfare. The number of Chinese ships detected around Taiwan proper soared to a record 244 last month — an average of nearly eight every day, official data showed.

That compares with 55 ships detected in June and 30 in May, and 58 in July last year. In

The Hualien District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday launched an investigation following allegations by a former foreign correspondent in Taiwan of widespread vote-buying in Hualien County. In an interview with Formosa TV (FTV, 民視) aired on Saturday, former Financial Times Taiwan correspondent Kathrin Hille spoke about Taiwan’s democracy and said that she now lives in rural Hualien, where “all the votes are bought.” Neighbors would talk about who had come by and leave cash on the table showing “how much each vote was worth that year,” Hille said.

The practice needs to be addressed, considering Taiwan has been a democracy for many

Taiwan is bracing for heavy rain in the south and rough seas around outlying Lienchiang County (Matsu), as Typhoon Saudel passes north toward eastern China, with forecasters yesterday warning of localized flooding over the next two days. Saudel is expected to pass closest to Taiwan today, when its outer rain bands are forecast to brush past Matsu, before making landfall at about noon in China’s Zhejiang Province and weakening significantly, the Central Weather Administration said.

The storm’s outer bands, combined with strengthening southwesterly winds, are expected to bring heavy rain to southern and southeastern Taiwan today, it said. As the storm approaches Matsu,

LIMITED: The bill’s NT$40bn annual spending cap would prevent Taiwan from effectively building up its drone combat capabilities, National Defense Minister Wellington Koo said The legislature yesterday rejected the Executive Yuan’s NT$210 billion (US$6.62 billion) special budget proposal to buy military drones and instead passed its own plan, which earmarks NT$40 billion per year over six consecutive years. The Executive Yuan said its plan to buy about 210,000 drones by 2031 could not wait, as the wars in Ukraine and Iran showed the importance of uncrewed systems in modern warfare amid a rising threat from China.

However, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their opposition majority to pass a bill providing NT$240 billion through annual budgets over six years, with annual