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One of the top stories from this past week was the announcement from the United States that it had approved the sale of an arms package to Taiwan worth US$1.83 billion.
In Taipei, Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen said Thursday that President Ma Ying-jeou has expressed appreciation for the years of US commitment to Taiwan’s defense.
Chen said that Taiwan-US relations are at their best since the end of formal diplomatic ties 36 years ago. He said that US officials have praised the Ma administration for improving Taiwan’s relations with the US and Mainland China.
The latest arms package is the fourth such deal since Ma took office in 2008. Chen said that Taiwan’s next president should not take Ma’s efforts for granted.
The arms sale will go into effect if the US Congress does not voice any objections within 30 days of receiving formal notification of the deal.
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Also this past week, we reported that Apple has a secret R&D lab in Taiwan. Sources say that Taiwanese engineers have been employed to work on new display technology in Longtan in northern Taiwan.
The Hsinchu Science Park management office said Apple’s Taiwan branch moved into the new office on April 15.
Sources say that Apple is working on making their products thinner, brighter and more energy-efficient. Engineers are working on better versions of the liquid-crystal displays used in their popular iPhones, iPads and Mac personal computers.
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And finally, this past week, the Financial Times has ranked Taipei third out of 163 countries in its 2015-2016 list of Asia-Pacific future cities. That’s a jump from sixth place in the last ranking.
Singapore came in first for a third straight time, while Tokyo jumped to second place, up from ninth place.
The biennial list compiled by fDi Intelligence scores cities in six areas including economic potential, GDP, foreign investment, and connectivity.
The Taiwanese capital performed best of all the midsize Asia-Pacific cities this year. When compared to similar sized cities, it came in first in two of the categories: economic potential and business friendliness.
Taipei was also recognized for attracting creative talent. The city registered 24,280 patents between 2010 and 2014. That’s the third most of all the cities on the list.