Francis Tuschek TikTok has announced a blackout of the service for some 170 million US users of the viral social media app, days after the Supreme Court issued a ruling that could pave the way for a national ban of the platform. On Friday, the federal judiciary ruled that TikTok needs to divest from its Chinese…
Preparations for talks between US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are underway, incoming US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz has said. Phone conversations between the two are expected to occur in the “coming days and weeks,” Waltz believes. Asked during an interview with ABC News how soon a Trump-Putin meeting could happen, Waltz did not provide…
President William Lai (賴清德) awarded the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon to former Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis yesterday, honoring his significant contributions to Taiwan-Lithuania relations and expressing gratitude for his support of Taiwan’s democratic values. Landsbergis remarked during their meeting at the Presidential Office in Taipei that the camaraderie between Taiwan and…
Francis Tuschek European members of NATO need to drastically increase their military spending or start studying Russian, the US-led bloc’s secretary-general, Mark Rutte, has said. Rutte’s remarks came during a question and answer period at the end of the joint meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and the Subcommittee on Security…
Francis Tuschek, Staff Writer 中國正在建造入侵船隻 China is constructing at least five new specialized barges, which are believed to be intended for amphibious operations, according to Naval News. Defense analysts have observed an uptick in this type of vessel at the Guangzhou shipyard in southern China, with reports of at least three to possibly five or…
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has acknowledged that US authorities, including the CIA, can access WhatsApp messages by remotely logging into users’ devices, effectively bypassing the platform’s end-to-end encryption. Speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Friday, Zuckerberg explained that while WhatsApp’s encryption prevents Meta from viewing message content, it does not protect against physical…
Francis Tuschek, Staff Writer The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) ordered by Taiwan from the United States will be deployed in key locations in Taipei and New Taipei City for regional defense, according to a statement from the Ministry of National Defense released yesterday. Specifically, the air defense system will be installed in Taipei’s…
Francis Tuschek, Staff writer NATO countries should start spending 5% of their GDP on defense, US President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday. European members of the US-led military bloc, he told a press conference, continue to spend “only a tiny fraction” of what Washington spends on defense, even though they are more affected by the ongoing conflict…
Richard Sanders, Staff Writer US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has told Chinese companies they could face “significant consequences” if they provide material support to Russia in its conflict with Ukraine. Washington has repeatedly accused China of supplying Moscow with dual-use technology that could bolster its military capabilities, a claim Beijing has denied. Yellen held a video call…
Richard Sanders, Staff Writer Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence (MND) on Sunday detected five People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and six People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels near its territory. The MND noted that four of these aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwester Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ)….