US$3b Infrastructure Spend Clears First Reading The budget for the Tsai administration’s US$3.29 billion first phase of a major infrastructure project passed an initial reading in Taiwan’s parliament this week. The passage of the legislation for the so-called “forward-looking infrastructure plan” was marred by physical clashes in the Legislative Yuan as opposition Kuomintang lawmakers tried…

FDI in Taiwan Slashed, Investment from China Mixed  Applications by foreign companies to invest in Taiwan in the first five months of the year was down 6% on the same time a year ago, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The ministry’s Investment Commission says 1,260 foreign direct investment (FDI)…

Panama Switches Allegiance from Taiwan to China Panama President Juan Carlos Varela announced on Monday that the Republic of Panama had severed ties with Taiwan and had established diplomatic relations with China instead. Panama and China announced that Panama now “recognizes that there is only one China in the world” and that Taiwan is part of Chinese…

US senators introduce bill to encourage high-level visits to Taiwan Six U.S. senators jointly introduced the Taiwan Travel Act on May 5 to encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels. The draft bill states that Congress believes the U.S. government should allow officials at all levels, including cabinet-level national security officials,…

Uber Returns to Taiwan Market Two months after hitting pause on its Taiwan operations, Uber is back running in Taipei under a new business model. The popular ride-hailing service surprised the local market announcing it had formed a new partnership with car rental companies.  Uber suspended its Taiwan operations on Feb. 10 after incurring fines of up to NT$328.5…