Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) yesterday warned that further sanctions may be imposed against the Philippines.

Manila said it had “gone the extra mile” to appease Taipei and expressed concern that its special envoy sent to the island had been rebuffed.

The Executive Yuan rolled out economic sanctions against the Philippines, which Economic Affairs Minister Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) said will not affect Taiwan's economy in the short term, though the nation's imports and exports will take a hit in the long run.

Tourists scheduled to visit the Philippines could suffer huge losses if they canceled their trips based on a high-level travel alert issued by the Taiwan government, local travel agents said Thursday, indicating that the sanctions against the Southeast Asian country might hurt Taiwan's travel sector.

The U.S. dollar rose against the New Taiwan dollar Thursday, gaining NT$0.022 to close at the day's high of NT$30.050 as the greenback recovered from its early losses with the help of the local central bank, dealers said.

The Public Health Bureau of New Taipei City yesterday seized up to 14,480 liters of soy sauce products allegedly containing an excessive amount of heterocyclic organic chemicals from an underground factory located in the Wugu District of the city, according to bureau officials.

A magnitude-4.3 earthquake jolted southern Taiwan at 7:46 a.m. Thursday, according to the Central Weather Bureau.

In response to a recent remark by Director of Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) that compared Taiwan's independence ideology to junk stock, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) returned the volley yesterday saying Zhang lacked the demeanor of a leader from a major country, according to Hung Tsai-lung (洪財隆), head of the DPP's China Affairs Committee.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday that if Taipei prosecutors declare the Twin Towers' bidding process “flawed” in any way, then the city government would not rule out nullifying the bid.

A criminal suspect wanted by the Taipei District Court was recently escorted back to Taiwan by two U.S. immigration and customs enforcement agents and then sent to the court by the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB,刑事警察局) for prosecution, according to a press release issued yesterday by the CIB.