Incumbent Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou gained victory in Saturday's national elections after a tightly fought ballot. The win for the China friendly leader should see ties strengthened between Taipei and Beijing in during his second term.
Polling stations opened across Taiwan on Saturday as the island nation took the chance to elect a new president and parliament. The ballot will be closely watched by both neighbouring China and the United States.
Taiwan on Sunday issued sea and land warnings at the approach of Typhoon Nanmadol, which left at least eight people dead in the Philippines after fierce winds and heavy rain triggered landslides and floods.
France said Thursday that it would pay Taiwan €460 million after the Thales defence firm lost an appeal over wrongfully paying commissions to secure a frigate contract. The French state had guaranteed the 1991 Thales contract.
The Taiwanese government has arrested an army general Wednesday on spying charges. The defence ministry said the general was providing military secrets to China and may have compromised a military communications network that uses US technology.
The son of former Taiwanese Vice President Lien Chan was shot in the face while speaking Friday at a campaign rally in suburban Taipei, but the island’s leader says his life is not in danger.
Rescuers in Taiwan are still searching for two dozen missing people after Typhoon Megi struck the island, killing at least 11 and causing massive landslides. The storm was forecast to make landfall in southeast China on Saturday.
As the US military leads a massive build-up of troops in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, they say the toughest job is knowing who to trust. Soldiers trying to secure the district of Dand find that seeming friends could be enemies, while bombs continue to be laid in their path.
Former foes China and Taiwan showed a historic level of cooperation, signing on Tuesday an ambitious free trade agreement that marks the culmination of a Beijing-friendly policy introduced by Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou in 2008.
Thousands of protesters in Taiwan have condemned a new trade pact with long-time rival China, fearing a Chinese takeover but Taiwan's government says the agreement will allow the country to "compete fairly" in China with other South Asian countries.
