A dispute between Taipower and New Taipei City over interim spent-fuel storage is complicating the shuttering of nuclear power plants. After the second reactor of the Chinshan nuclear power plant reached the end of its 40-year licensing period last July, the plant became the first of Taiwan’s three nuclear power facilities to enter the stage…
Two industrial sectors appear particularly promising for Taiwan to develop as a regional center for the Asia Pacific. The best opportunities for Taiwan to play a strong regional role may lie with its fast-developing capability in offshore wind power and its already well-established foundation as a high-tech R&D center. Taiwan has big expectations for wind…
Bechtel is the U.S.’s largest private construction firm. In its more than 120 years of operation, the company’s projects have included the Hoover Dam, the Channel Tunnel, and construction of over 30% of global Liquified Natural Gas capacity. While Bechtel has had a presence in China for many years, the company closed its Shanghai regional…
As a center of operations for local and foreign businesses across numerous industries, Taiwan has a lot to offer. However, some lingering issues require creative solutions if it is to compete on the same level as some of its neighbors. Back in the 1990s, the idea of Taiwan becoming a regional operations hub for a…
Taiwan currently leads the world in terms of its procurement of U.S.-made arms, with a total of US$10.7 billion in sales already approved this year by the U.S. Department of State under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. The US$8 billion F-16V acquisition accounts for the bulk of this amount, while an agreement for 108…
Sweeter offers and heightened outreach have raised recruitment numbers as Taiwan’s military rapidly transitions to an all-volunteer force. Most nations facing an implacable, existential military threat – examples are Israel, South Korea, and Finland – require military conscription, at least for all adult males. The policy not only helps ensure adequate levels of active-duty personnel…
Supporters say the acquisition of new F-16 Vipers is key not just to defending Taiwan’s airspace, but also to integrating the local manufacturing sector into global supply chains. This August the U.S. government formally offered Taiwan the F-16 fighter jets that it had requested more than a decade ago. It would be the first U.S….
The burgeoning cruise market has raised Taiwan’s profile in the travel sector and revitalized the port of Keelung. Taiwan’s northeastern port city of Keelung was once dubiously known for two unflattering distinctions: the country’s highest suicide rate and weather even gloomier than Taipei’s. A dozen years ago it seemed like a place that time had…
Beijing’s latest weaponization of tourism illustrates the risk of relying on the mercurial China market Taiwan’s hospitality sector could contract this year following Beijing’s decision to sharply curtail the flow of visitors from China, reversing many years of steady inbound tourism growth. Over the past decade or so, Chinese tourism has benefited Taiwan considerably. Before…
Taiwan is making great strides in developing its biotech sector, but reaching the NT$ trillion mark in annual production value by 2025 won’t be easy. When the Biotech Innovation Organization (BIO), the world’s leading industry association for biotechnology, chose to hold its annual regional conference this summer in Taipei, it was a big boost for…
