Headline News
U.S. Senate passes bill calling for troops to join Taiwan drills
The American Senate on June 18 passed the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in a vote of 85 to10, which includes provisions for joint military exercises with Taiwan.
The NDAA states that the U.S. should “strengthen defense and security cooperation with Taiwan to support the development of capable, ready, and modern defense forces necessary for Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.”
Furthermore, the bill calls for the expansion of cooperation between Taiwan and the U.S. in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Taiwan to cooperate with EU on 5G
Taiwan reached an agreement with the European Union to help develop 5G wireless systems, the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced.
Taiwan agreed with the EU to finance the “Europe 2020 Strategy” and to work on the “European Framework Programme 9,” focused on future research and innovation.
Taiwan has a 5G alliance to promote commercial use of the systems while it focuses on both applications and research and developments. Chunghwa Telecom took the lead on a “5G national team” with more than 40 corporations and academic institutions from home and abroad to launch commercial use of 5G, according to Economic Minister Shen Jong-chin
Taiwan 2nd in the world in economic transformation
Bertelsmann Stiftung 2018 Transformation Index ranks Taiwan 2nd in terms of economic transformation in the world, 3rd in political transformation and 3rd overall out of countries surveyed.
The index compiled by the German think tank compares the level of political and economic transformation of 129 countries worldwide.
In its executive summary for Taiwan, Bertelsmann Stiftung wrote: “Taiwan has remained a high performer in terms of democratic politics and liberal market policies. It continues to enjoy a high degree of stateness, meaningful elections, the absence of undemocratic veto actors, stable democratic institutions and a vibrant civil society, and does extremely well in guaranteeing its citizens political rights and civil liberties.”
MediaTek teams up with Microsoft on Internet of Things (IoT) development
MediaTek, Taiwan’s largest integrated circuit designer, joined forces with Microsoft on the development of IoT.
Under the cooperation with Microsoft, MediaTek said it is scheduled to launch the first-ever Azure Sphere chip, the MT3620, which is to enhance IoT innovation with built-in security and connectivity. This chip will enable customers across a broad set of industries to easily connect their products and devices and is scheduled to hit the market later this year.
China Airlines first member to join Airbus MRO Alliance
China Airlines signed up as a member of the Airbus MRA Alliance (AMA), making it the first airline in the world to join the coalition launched by the European company to pursue high-quality maintenance, repair and overhaul services in the aviation market.
Airbus invited China Airlines to become a member of AMA in 2017 and is expected to complete signing AMA contracts with five other candidates by the end of June.
Tech & Society
Battery made of coffee wins invention contest
An environmental friendly battery made of coffee grounds won the first prize in an annual innovative invention competition.
The battery, which ranked first in the innovative information and technology category, was created by a team of Chung Yuan Christian University students.
The team came up with the idea of reusing coffee grounds as the source material to create electrodes for lithium batteries. Taiwanese annually consume more than 2.8 billion cups of coffee. The team’s instructor, Liu wei-jen, said the low production cost and eco-friendly nature of the concept increased its viability as a start-up business.
Taiwan bans ivory trade
Taiwan introduced a bill to ban all domestic ivory trade effective from January 1, 2020. Amendments to the Wildlife Conservation Act will make it illegal to sell or purchase ivory.
Violators face prison sentences up to five years and fines up to US$34,222.
