February 7: Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martinez of Taiwan's diplomatic ally Guatemala informed Reuters that the country is considering establishing formal trade relations with China but plans to maintain its current relationship with Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded that after his election victory, President Bernardo Arevalo of Guatemala has on many occasions publicly reiterated his support for maintaining diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
February 8: The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) recently announced the lifting of the "group travel ban" slated to take effect on March 1, allowing organized tours from Taiwan to mainland China. However, there was an abrupt policy reversal. The MOTC stated that given China has not yet arranged for mainland tourist groups to visit Taiwan thus far and has unilaterally announced changes to the M503 air flight route, it is demanding an immediate halt to recruiting Taiwan travel groups to China. This sudden change has caused dissatisfaction among travel agencies, and thousands are planning to take to the streets to protest on May 20, when the new president will be inaugurated.
February 8: The Technical, Industrial, and Governmental Engagement for Readiness (TIGER) Task Force of the U.S. House of Representatives released a report to review the delay in U.S. foreign arms sales. There are 19 arms sales to Taiwan, totaling $22 billion, which have been approved by Congress but are scheduled for delivery as late as 2027 or beyond. The delay in arms sales to Taiwan is attributed not only to production constraints but also to policy decisions influenced by conflicts such as the one in Ukraine. The report publicly acknowledges that the delay in arms sales to Taiwan is related to policy decisions.
February 9: According to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI CEO Samuel Altman is in negotiations with investors, including the government of the United Arab Emirates, to raise $5 to $7 trillion in funding. The goal is to reshape the global semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) industries. If this substantial capital infusion materializes, it would significantly overshadow the current scale of the global semiconductor industry. The report also mentions that Altman has met with high-ranking officials from the UAE, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, and representatives from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), among other chip manufacturers.
February 13: The US$95.3 billion bill to assist Taiwan, Ukraine, and Israel faced Republican obstruction in the United States Senate on February 7, but on February 13, there was a significant turnaround in which the Senate voted in favor. However, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has threatened to block the bill, leaving its passage in the House uncertain.
February 14: In the waters near Kinmen, a mainland Chinese fishing vessel refused to be inspected and fled. It accidentally capsized, causing four people to fall into the sea, resulting in two deaths. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the mainland's State Council strongly condemned the "serious incident" which hurt the feelings of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and demanded an immediate investigation.
February 16: The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) held its Lunar New Year event for mainland-based Taiwanese business people similar in scale to previous years. However, due to ongoing cross-strait tensions, the current chairman of the All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots and chairpersons of Taiwanese business associations in major first-tier cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen) did not attend. Many Taiwanese business people expressed discomfort with President-Elect William Lai's "pragmatic Taiwan independence worker" stance, emphasizing that building bridges is more important than erecting walls.
February 16: Taiwan and India virtually signed a Memorandum of Understanding opening Taiwan to hiring Indian migrant workers. In the initial stage, priority will be given to Indian workers with certain academic qualifications and good English proficiency. The program will be piloted on a small scale and will be expanded based on the results. Responding to public opinion concerns that as many as 100,000 Indian workers might flood Taiwan, the Ministry of Labor refuted the rumor that an influx will happen all at once.
