The High Cost of Canceling Offshore Wind in the United States

By Haley Zaremba - Mar 29, 2026 

• 
  
• The U.S. will reimburse TotalEnergies nearly $1 billion to abandon offshore wind projects that could have generated over 4 GW of clean power.
• 
  
• In exchange, the company will reinvest in U.S. oil, gas, and LNG infrastructure, marking a sharp policy pivot.
• 
  
• The move comes as global energy markets tighten due to geopolitical conflict and rising demand from AI and data centers.

Donald Trump’s hatred for wind farms reached a new peak this week. The President announced that the United States will pay $1 billion in taxpayer dollars to a French company to not build planned wind farms in leased federal waters off the coast of New York and North Carolina. Together, those wind projects would have supplied more than 4 gigawatts of clean electricity for households and businesses in the United States.

Under the unusual deal, the French energy giant TotalEnergies would abandon its planned wind farms and annul the lease deal it made during the Biden administration. After the U.S. Treasury reimburses the company the $928 million it paid for those leases, the deal stipulates that TotalEnergies will reinvest that money in oil and gas projects in the United States. This would include a facility to export liquefied natural gas from Texas, ramping up oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, and building additional gas-powered plants.

“The deal is an extraordinary transfer of taxpayer dollars to a foreign company for the purposes of boosting the production of fossil fuels, a main driver of climate change, while throttling offshore wind power,” reads a New York Times article published earlier this week.

While the Trump administration’s decision to axe a planned domestic energy project seems fuelled by personal vendetta and long-standing hatred for wind energy rather than energy security strategy, for France’s TotalEnergies, the deal is reportedly a pragmatic one. “When the Trump administration came to power and began setting U.S. energy policy, we said that we’ll have to reconsider, clearly, these offshore wind project developments,” says Patrick Pouyanné, the CEO of TotalEnergies. He said that without the Biden-era clean energy subsidies that have been cut by the Trump administration, the margins for such a project become much tougher in the United States. A $1 billion payout is therefore a pretty good alternative.

“To be clear, we don’t renounce onshore wind,” Pouyanné went on to say. “We continue to invest in onshore solar, onshore wind, batteries [in other countries].”

This is just the latest in a long series of attacks on ongoing offshore wind projects in the United States on the part of the Trump administration. Last year, Trump tried to order an immediate halt to the construction of five wind projects along the East Coast of the U.S., but judges overturned this ruling across the board. This failure has led to the administration’s current tactic, paying off companies to cancel their wind power projects before they’ve even begun.

This most recent deal comes at a pivotal time in global energy markets. While it’s somewhat puzzling that the Trump administration would choose to derail plans that would boost the United States’ energy independence and resilience to oil market shocks, it stands to reason that the U.S. would be doing everything it can to boost liquefied natural gas output as oil and gas prices soar across the globe. Europe will also benefit from an increased flow of LNG out of the United States, which would not require navigating the chaos in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global oil trade passes on a normal day, has been closed to nearly all traffic for nearly a month now as the United States and Israel continue to wage war in Iran, and that closure is not likely to reverse any time soon. This energy crisis comes on top of another concurrent threat to global energy security – the rapid rise of AI and data centers, which have sent energy growth trends skyrocketing and global leaders scrambling to shore up energy security strategies.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

 

Washington Plans $1 Billion Deal to Kill Wind Power as Energy Prices Rise

By Felicity Bradstock - Mar 28, 2026

• The U.S. plans to reimburse TotalEnergies $928 million to cancel offshore wind leases and halt future development.
• 
  
• The move reflects a broader policy shift away from renewables toward oil and gas amid geopolitical energy disruptions.
• 
  
• Critics argue the decision will increase energy costs and deepen reliance on volatile fossil fuel markets.

United States President Donald Trump will not stop in his efforts to quash offshore wind energy development, as he offers France’s TotalEnergies almost $1 billion to permanently halt its wind projects. The move follows more than a year of Trump badmouthing wind energy, cutting federal financial support for wind projects, and refocusing energy policy on fossil fuels.

Wind contributes around 10 percent of U.S. energy at present, with wind capacity having grown rapidly following the introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and other favourable policies under the Biden administration. In fact, Wind energy has become the cheapest source of new electricity in the U.S. However, since coming into office last January, President Trump has repeatedly taken aim at the wind industry.

Last January, Trump issued an executive order pausing the approval for wind development. He stated that wind projects were “the most expensive form of energy that you can have, by far.” He has often referred to wind farms as an eyesore, calling turbines ugly, as well as falsely claiming that offshore wind projects kill whales and overstating the impact of turbines on the bird population. Trump also suggested that the lifespan of the average wind turbine is just eight years, when it is actual

Trump paused several offshore wind projects in the United States last year, as he put increasing pressure on the industry to halt development. However, in February, a federal judge threw out the Interior Department’s halt work order on a multibillion-dollar wind farm off the coast of New York State, making it the fifth time that U.S. courts have ruled against the Trump administration’s efforts to stop offshore wind development. Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction with the intention of allowing the developer of the New York project, Sunrise Win,d to restart construction while the broader legal battle continues.

Now, in the face of rising energy prices linked to the ongoing Iran War (which the U.S. started), the Trump administration is looking to use any means possible to halt offshore wind development. The federal government has announced plans to pay French energy major TotalEnergies almost $1 billion to scrap plans to build wind farms off the U.S. East Coast.

U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the deal on Monday at the annual CERAWeek conference in Houston, where he appeared alongside TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne. The agreement states that TotalEnergies must give up two offshore leases it had purchased off New York and North Carolina, and, in response, the Interior Department is expected to reimburse the company the $928 million it paid for the leases under Joe Biden.

“We’re partnering with TotalEnergies to unleash nearly $1 billion that was tied up in a lease deposit that was directed towards the prior administration’s subsidies that were pushing expensive weather-dependent offshore wind,” said Burgum.

As part of the agreement, TotalEnergies has pledged not to develop any new offshore wind projects in the United States and will invest almost $1 billion in the development of four trains at the Rio Grande LNG plant in Texas, and the development of upstream conventional oil in the U.S. Gulf and shale gas production this year, according to a U.S. Interior Department statement.

Sam Salustro, a senior vice-president of pro-offshore wind group Oceantic Network, said in a statement, “This is political theatre meant to obscure the fact that offshore wind capacity is being pulled out of the pipeline when energy prices are skyrocketing, even as other offshore wind projects continue delivering reliable and affordable power to the grid.” Salustro added, “Paying to remove affordable, homegrown energy out of the equation leaves American consumers struggling to pay their electricity bills.

The move to kill offshore wind comes during the biggest oil supply disruption in history, which is driving up energy prices higher and higher every week that the conflict continues. Lena Moffitt, the executive director of the climate advocacy group Evergreen Action, believes that “Trump is deliberately deepening our dependence on the same volatile fossil fuel markets his reckless war is destabilising – while destroying the homegrown clean energy that could protect Americans from that volatility.”

Despite the Trump administration’s best efforts to restrict offshore wind development, several projects have gone ahead in recent months, with support from federal courts. The Vineyard Wind project, off the coast of Massachusetts, was completed in March, while Revolution Wind off Rhode Island’s coast launched operations just a few days before.

At a time when U.S. consumers fear rising energy bills (after a year of repeated cost increases), the Trump administration is continuing to attack offshore wind energy, as it favours the development of the country’s fossil fuel resources. The Trump administration will now pay almost $1 billion to halt TotalEnergies offshore wind plans, despite a federal court previously ruling in favour of the French firm’s wind projects.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

'Every housewife could be CEO of Rheinmetall': Zelenskyy hits back at German weapons boss

Copyright AP Photo

By Sasha Vakulina

Published on 30/03/2026 - EURONEWS

German defence company Rheinmetall issued a public statement expressing respect for Ukraine’s defence manufacturers after its CEO mocked Ukrainian weapons and drone producers over the weekend in sexist remarks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has responded sharply to remarks by Germany’s Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger, who dismissed Ukraine’s drone industry as “housewives with 3-D printers in the kitchen.”

“If every housewife in Ukraine really can produce drones, then every housewife could be the CEO of Rheinmetall,” Zelenskyy said, praising Ukraine’s defence industry for reaching “this high standard.”

Papperger, in an interview with The Atlantic, described Ukraine’s weapons production as unremarkable, likening it to “playing with Legos.”

His comments triggered widespread backlash in Kyiv.

Rheinmetall later issued a statement expressing “utmost respect” for Ukraine’s defence sector, highlighting the “innovative strength and fighting spirit of the Ukrainian people,” though it did not apologise for the CEO’s remarks.

Zelenskyy told journalists via WhatsApp that Ukraine competes “not with rhetoric, but with technology and results,” pointing to successes on land, in the air and at sea.

He added that Ukraine’s defence industry “will take, and is already taking, its place in the world.”

Alexander Kamyshin said Ukrainian drones have destroyed more than 11,000 Russian tanks. Officials and social media users responded with hashtags like #LegoDrones and #MadeByHousewives.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko called Papperger’s remarks sexist, saying: “Europe’s defence is powered by Ukrainian ‘housewives’. Ukrainian women are an essential part of Ukraine’s war effort and Europe’s security. They have stepped into roles once seen as male-dominated, bringing energy, discipline and determination.”

The statement was echoed by the head of Ukraine's Mission to NATO Alyona Getmanchuk.

Over 70,000 women serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with nearly 20,000 in combat roles. Many of them work as drone operators and developers.

Kyiv officials say women-drones operators took part in last year’s “Spiderweb” operation, in which more than 100 Ukrainian drones struck air bases deep inside Russia, targeting nuclear-capable long-range bombers.

Germany’s Rheinmetall, one of Europe’s largest arms manufacturers, has become a major supplier to Ukraine, providing tanks, 155mm artillery, mortar shells and surveillance drones.

The company’s chief executive officer, Armin Papperger, sparked controversy with comments dismissing Ukraine’s drone industry as “housewives with 3-D printers in the kitchen,” coming as Volodymyr Zelenskyy was touring the Gulf and signing defence agreements.

These deals include cooperation on missile and drone threats, with Ukrainian specialists deployed to several countries to assist with air defence and drone interception systems.

Papperger’s remarks have also sparked wider debate on defence innovation. Four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, drones are estimated to cause around 80% of combat casualties on both sides.

Germany and Ukraine have launched a joint venture between Germany’s Quantum Systems and Ukraine’s Frontline Robotics.

The facility, expected to produce up to 10,000 drones within a year, is the first Ukrainian drone production line in Germany and forms part of Kyiv’s effort to expand arms manufacturing in Europe amid rising demand for unmanned systems.

Ukrainian companies now produce around four million drones of various types each year.

Ukraine Sustains Unrelenting Nightly Attacks on Russia’s Baltic Oil Ports

Smoke rising from Ust-Luga after the overnight attacks (screen grab from Exilenova+)

Published Mar 29, 2026 4:17 PM by The Maritime Executive

Ukrainian officials are reporting that they have maintained a series of unrelenting attacks designed to dramatically impact the oil export operations on the Baltic. Overnight into Sunday, they staged what they said was the fifth consecutive nightly attack on the Russian terminal at Ust-Luga.

The governor of the Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, confirmed the attacks in a series of social media postings. He warned residents, initially saying they had destroyed 29, then 31, and then 36 drones. He also warned that additional attacks were possible throughout the day, with air defense forces on alert.

He sought to downplay the level of damage but confirmed there was damage and fires at Ust-Luga from the most recent attack. He reported that additional firefighting resources had been called in from the Leningrad region and St. Petersburg, including two fire trains. He later reported the fires had been contained while also saying drone debris had damaged a nearby residential building.

Satellite pictures, however, seem to show more extensive damage. Residents have been warned not to post photos, but some are leaking onto social media showing large plumes of smoke and workers evacuated. Ukraine asserted that as much as 40 percent of the export capacity has been impacted.

The attacks have alternated between Ust-Luga, which Reuters says ships 700,000 barels were day, and Primorsky, which it says handles one million barrels per day. Storage tanks and loading facilities are believed to have been damaged, as well as railroad tracks. Bloomberg notes the two terminals handle nearly half of Russia’s crude oil exports.

It is not the first time Ukraine has struck the terminals. They hit Ust-Luga in 2025. Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters, however, that long-range drones are becoming more effective. He said they are being technically refined.

Zelensky asserted that the systematic targeting of the oil operations, including also hitting refineries, was in response to Russia’s attacks over the past few months on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. “We responded with a strong blow, reducing the possibility of Ust-Luga,” he said.

Ukraine’s Security Service confirmed that they had hit the two terminals on successive days. Yevhenii Khmara said they were aiming at reducing Russia’s ability to finance the war through oil revenues. The strikes come as oil prices skyrocketed above $100 pr barrle due to the war with Iran.

Russian officials said they had shot down a total of 155 Ukrainian drones over 16 regions last night. It responded by launching 442 drones and one missile into Ukraine.

EV sales overtake petrol vehicles in EU for first time

The sale of EVs overtook petrol fuelled cars in the EU for the first time in 2025. / bne IntelliNews

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By bne IntelliNews March 30, 2026

Sales of EVs overtook standard petrol cars in the EU for the first time in December 2025, marking a milestone in the bloc’s transition to cleaner transport and reducing its reliance on oil imports, according to data published by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

Registrations of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) reached 217,898 in December, up 51% year-on-year, while petrol car sales fell 19% to 216,492, Carbon Brief reported on March 30, citing ACEA figures. The shifit to EVs is accelerating and will now only accelerate after the Gulf war is expected drive up petrol prices dramatically this year. Already sales of EV in Europe have increased significantly in just the last few weeks.

Across the full year, EVs accounted for 17.4% of EU car sales in 2025, up from 13.6% in 2024. A total of 1,880,370 BEVs cars were registered, with Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France together making up 62% of demand. ACEA described this as “still a level that leaves room for growth to stay on track with the transition”.

By contrast, registrations of petrol cars declined 18.7% over the year to 2,880,298 units, with France recording a 32% drop, followed by Germany, Italy and Spain. Petrol’s market share fell from 33.3% in December 2024 to 26.6% a year later.

Hybrid vehicles remained the largest segment of the EU market, with sales rising 5.8% year-on-year in December to 324,799 units. However, vehicles capable of drawing power from the grid — including BEVs and plug-in hybrids — expanded more rapidly, with plug-in hybrid sales increasing 36.7% during the month.

The figures come as the EU adjusts its regulatory framework for the automotive sector. A package released in December proposes shifting from a full ban on combustion-engine car sales by 2035 to a target of reducing tailpipe emissions by 90% from 2021 levels. The remaining 10% could be offset through low-carbon fuels and materials, allowing some combustion and hybrid technologies to remain in use.

Automakers have repeatedly pushed back against stricter emissions targets, citing competitive pressure from Chinese manufacturers and tariffs in the US. The head of Stellantis (STLAM.MI) in Europe recently claimed there was no “natural” demand for EVs.

Volkswagen (VOW.DE) retained the largest EU market share at 26.7% in December. Tesla (TSLA) saw its share fall to 2.2% from 3.5% a year earlier, while China’s BYD (1211.HK) increased its share to 1.9%.

China Pushes Electric Vehicles Toward the Five-Minute Charge Era

By Felicity Bradstock - Mar 29, 2026

• Chinese firms like BYD and CATL are developing chargers capable of delivering hundreds of miles of range in minutes.
• 
  
• New battery chemistries and vertically integrated manufacturing are enabling breakthroughs in charging speed and efficiency.
• 
  
• While promising, ultrafast charging still faces real-world testing challenges and infrastructure constraints.

Electric vehicle (EV) makers are racing to develop the fastest battery chargers to give them the competitive edge, with Chinese producers once again coming out on top. One of the biggest criticisms consumers have is the length of time it takes to charge EVs, compared to refuelling internal combustion engine (ICE) alternatives. This has led several EV-makers to invest heavily in research and development into charging technology over the last decade. Some EV producers now think they may have the solution - ultrafast chargers.

The race to develop the most effective ultrafast charger commenced in 2022, after the Chinese automaker XPeng launched its S4 ultrafast supercharging technology, which offered a five-minute charge that it said would provide 210 kms of range for its G9 SUV.

In March, China’s fastest-growing EV-maker, BYD, announced that its most recent Flash Chargers are capable of delivering up to 1.5 MW, or around four times the power being provided by the “hyper-fast” 350-kW systems available in the United States. Tests revealed that BYD batteries could charge from 10 percent to 70 percent in just five minutes, and from 10 percent to 97 percent in around nine minutes

This means that drivers may be able to gain up to 600 miles in not much longer than the time it takes to fill a petrol tank. BYD’s CEO, Wang Chuanfu, stated that limiting the charge to 97 percent is recommended, as the remaining 3 percent can be generated from regenerative braking.

BYD was able to achieve this feat by having a strong hold on the whole manufacturing process of its EVs, including vehicles, battery cells, and charging hardware. The firm switched from using lithium iron phosphate to lithium manganese iron phosphate technology, which increases energy density by around 5 percent while maintaining stability under heavy electrical loads. The firm needed to change every component of the batteries to achieve super-fast charging, including the electrodes, electrolytes, and separators, which are now capable of handling the intense current of a 1.5 MW charge without overheating or degrading.

The technology is expected to be launched in BYD’s Denza Z9GT in Paris in April. BYD plans to install over 16,000 of its new chargers across China by the end of the year and around 2,000 units in Europe. Each charging station will be fitted with stationary storage batteries to buffer grid demand and offset spikes that could otherwise overwhelm the infrastructure. While the technology had impressive results in the lab, it still needs to be used in a real-world environment to see whether the charger can hold up to BYD’s claims.

Other Chinese EV-makers are hot on the tail of BYD, having been developing their own super-fast charging technologies. Chinese automaker Zeekr showcased a fully liquid-cooled ultrafast charger, which it says is capable of providing up to 1.2MW per charging gun, in April last year. However, it is unclear whether the company has developed EVs that are compatible with the new charger.

China’s CATL has launched various battery technologies, including its second-generation Shenxing battery. The firm delivered the world’s first sodium-ion battery in 2021, which was promising, as sodium is both cheap and abundant. The new version is thought to deliver 1.3 MW of peak charging power, delivering around 2.5 km of range per second of charging.

Meanwhile, Huawei launched a 1.5 MW fast-charging system last April, which the company believes can charge a 300kWh battery in about 15 minutes, using two charging guns simultaneously. Huawei is expected to make its heavy-duty electric trucks compatible with the superfast chargers.

The United States is also racing to develop super-fast charging technology. While no U.S. company has yet achieved five-minute charging, several companies have driven down the price of batteries while making improvements to EV range. For example, GM launched a lithium manganese-rich (LMR) battery in 2025, which it produced in collaboration with LG Energy Solutions, to deploy in its vehicles starting in 2028. The low cost of some parts of the battery means that GM can reduce the price of its batteries without compromising performance or lifespan.

Meanwhile, other companies are exploring alternative charging methods to make them more competitive, such as wireless charging. The aim is to create a technology to charge a car when parked over a special pad. Studies have suggested that the technology is extremely attractive among consumers. Despite being in the nascent stage of development, wireless charging could become a reality in just a few years, given the necessary government backing and favourable regulatory frameworks.

As China races ahead in global EV manufacturing, several Chinese firms are rising to the challenge by continually breaking records for batteries and other EV technologies. All the while, companies like BYD are looking to drive down the cost of EVs, which is making them increasingly popular with consumers.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

 

Spain closes its airspace to all US aircraft involved in Iran war

Copyright AP Photo

By Javier Iniguez De Onzono

Published on 30/03/2026 - EURONEWS

The ban comes amid strained relations between Madrid and Washington following US President Donald Trump's threat earlier this month to cut off all trade with Spain over its refusal to allow the bases to be used for Iran operations.

Spain has banned US military aircraft involved in the Iran war from using its airspace and military bases, extending an earlier restriction that applied only to two American installations on Spanish soil.

Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares confirmed the expanded ban on Monday, telling Catalan radio station Rac 1 that Madrid would block any US flights linked to the conflict from entering Spanish airspace.

"Spain should not do anything that could escalate" the conflict, Albares said. He added that the decision reflects the "majority sentiment" of Spaniards who oppose the war and aligns with UN principles.

The measure builds on Spain's previous decision to restrict US access to the naval base at Rota in Cádiz and the air base at Morón de la Frontera in Seville.

The airspace ban now covers the entire country. It does not apply to emergency situations, according to Spanish military sources cited by El País.

Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo, speaking to radio Cadena Ser on Monday, described the US-led military action as "a unilateral war that violates international law" and said Spain would not participate in or contribute to it.

The ban comes amid strained relations between Madrid and Washington following US President Donald Trump's threat earlier this month to cut off all trade with Spain over its refusal to allow the bases to be used for Iran operations.

Trump called Spain "terrible" and said Madrid wanted to "travel for free" on defence spending.

"We could use their base if we want, we could just fly in and use it, nobody's going to tell us not to use it," Trump said, speaking alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during his White House visit on 4 March.

Defence Minister Margarita Robles said the restrictions had been communicated to US forces from the outset and were not a sudden policy shift.

"This was made perfectly clear to the US armed forces from the beginning," Robles told reporters. "Neither the bases are authorised, nor, of course, is the use of Spanish airspace authorised for any action related to the war in Iran."

She described the war as "profoundly illegal and unjust" and said Spain's position had been consistently clear.

Spain maintains close defence ties with the US through a bilateral agreement that grants Washington access to military facilities on Spanish territory.

The Rota naval base hosts a permanent US Navy presence and serves as a key logistics hub for American operations in Europe and the Mediterranean.

The airspace restriction could complicate US military logistics, as Spain sits along key flight routes between the United States and the Middle East.

Post WWII Soviet famine still haunts Moldova, 80 years on


Issued on: 27/03/2026 -

FRANCE24

15:57 min


Eighty years ago, Moldova was struck by a famine that killed more than 150,000 people. Long shrouded in silence, this episode remains a blind spot in the country's history. But gradually, survivors' accounts, combined with the work of researchers, have shed light on a tragedy largely orchestrated by the Soviet authorities of the time. FRANCE 24's Maria Gerth Niculescu and Bastien Renouil report.

According to some estimates, as many as 2 million people died in the Soviet famine. The highest proportion of deaths was recorded in Moldova, where 10 percent of the population perished between 1946 and 1947. Hundreds of thousands more were affected by severe malnutrition and disease, many of them children.

The famine was largely blamed on the ramifications of the end of World War II and a bad drought. But there is growing evidence that perhaps an equal cause came directly from the Soviet authorities. Historians delving into the archives point to the regime's grain requisitions. In many villages, the quotas were so high that people were not even allowed to keep enough grain to survive themselves.

Eighty years on, those who either remember what happened, or have heard stories from family members, continue to suffer a collective trauma. In a country still torn between its Soviet legacy and its European aspirations, the need to remember the famine is essential to those wishing to counter any nostalgic narratives of the USSR.

BY: Maria GERTH-NICULESCU
Bastien RENOUIL

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for HOLODOMOR

What Taiwan's imprisonment of opposition figure Ko Wen-je means for its political landscape


Taiwanese opposition figure Ko Wen-je was sentenced this week to 17 years in prison, ending his bid for the 2028 presidential election and removing a prominent centrist from the political stage. Analysts say the ruling could reshape the island’s political dynamics, with implications for both domestic alignments and cross-strait relations.


Issued on: 28/03/2026 - FRANCE24
By:  Natasha LI

Former mayor of Taipei and 2024 presidential candidate Ko Wen-je leaves the Taipei District Court on March 26, 2026. © I-Hwa Cheng, AFP

A Taipei court on Thursday sentenced former mayor and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je to 17 years in prison on corruption charges, along with the deprivation of civil rights for six years, dealing a major blow to both the opposition figure and his fledgling Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).

The ruling bars Ko from running in the 2028 presidential election, effectively derailing his ambitions to position himself as a “third way” alternative in Taiwan’s deeply polarised political landscape.

Ko, one of three front-runners in the 2024 presidential election, finishing third with 26.46 percent, was convicted on charges including bribery, misappropriation of political donations and breach of trust. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of more than 28 years, but the court handed down a combined term of 17 years.

Ko has maintained his innocence throughout the investigation and trial. Following the verdict, the ex-mayor of Taipei denounced the case as politically motivated, declaring he would “never surrender”.

The case

At the centre of the case is the “Core Pacific City” redevelopment project in Taipei, where prosecutors alleged that Ko accepted bribes in exchange for approving an increase in building density.

The court found him guilty on bribery charges, imposing a 13-year sentence for that count alone. Prosecutors had initially alleged over NT$17 million (€460,838) in illicit payments, though the court recognised NT$2.1 million (€56,927) as sufficiently substantiated.

Ko was also convicted in a separate political donations case tied to the 2024 election, involving allegations that funds were misreported or diverted through private channels, as well as the misuse of foundation funds for campaign-related expenses.

The case has unfolded over nearly two years. Ko was first named as a defendant in 2024, detained for months, and later released on bail under strict conditions, including travel restrictions and electronic monitoring.

Legal experts say the appeals process could take years, meaning the case may not be resolved before the next presidential election cycle.

Under Taiwan’s Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act, candidates sentenced to 10 years or more in prison are barred from running for president – even if appeals are ongoing – effectively sidelining Ko from the 2028 race.
Political persecution or rule of law

Ko’s allies and party members have framed the case as “political persecution” by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

READ MORETaiwan tensions: China-Japan row hits trade and travel amid escalating rhetoric

The TPP has called for mass protests on Sunday, while party chairman Huang Kuo-chang condemned the ruling as a “politically motivated verdict based on fabricated charges”.

“There are numerous irregularities,” said Wu Jing-qin, professor of law at Aletheia University, pointing to how certain evidence was handled and noting that some materials relied upon by prosecutors were indirect and, in his view, insufficient to support serious corruption charges.

Wu also highlighted broader structural issues in Taiwan’s legal system, including prosecutorial discretion and the use of pre-trial detention, which he said raises questions about proportionality and due process in high-profile cases.

However, other observers reject claims of political interference.

“It has been deliberately framed as political retaliation by the TPP,” said Chang Hung-lin, executive director of Citizen Congress Watch, a parliamentary watchdog. “But at its core, this is still a judicial process about whether there is sufficient evidence.”

Prosecutors have also dismissed allegations of bias, maintaining that the investigation followed standard procedures and was based on evidence.

Both the prosecution and Ko plan to appeal the conviction.
Death of a party

Ko’s conviction raises existential questions for the TPP, widely seen as built around his personal appeal.

WATCH MORETaiwanese voters reject attempt to recall China-friendly lawmakers

“Without a consequential figure like Ko, the TPP will become completely dependent on the KMT (Kuomintang, Taiwan's main opposition party),” said Yeh Yao-yuan, a Taiwan politics specialist at the University of St. Thomas.

He noted that Taiwan’s party competition tends to favour larger, established parties, making it difficult for smaller parties to maintain independent influence over time.

Chen Fang-yu, associate professor of political science at Soochow University, described the party as structurally fragile and centred around a single leader. “This is a one-man party, with the entire organisation revolving around Ko … their support base will only continue to dwindle,” he said.

He added that the party now has little leverage: “The TPP has no bargaining chips anymore … it has no other choice but to cooperate further with the KMT.”

These dynamics reflect a broader pattern in Taiwan, where smaller parties often struggle to sustain themselves without aligning with one of the two major political camps.
Return to two-party dominance

With Ko removed from the political stage, analysts say Taiwan may be drifting back toward dominance by its two main parties: the DPP and the KMT.

Ko’s TPP, founded in 2019, emerged as an alternative force, carving out a space between the two dominant blocs.

“Taiwan’s political environment is structurally unfriendly to smaller parties,” said Chang Chun-hao, a professor of political science at Tunghai University in Taiwan, pointing to the island’s electoral system and political culture. While third parties can emerge, sustaining long-term support without aligning with one of the major camps remains difficult.

Highlighting Taiwan’s electoral system, Chang Hung-lin said single-member districts tend to concentrate competition among leading candidates, limiting opportunities for third parties to gain representation without coordination with larger parties.

Yeh added that voter behaviour reinforces this dynamic. Strategic voting often leads voters to support the most viable candidates rather than smaller alternatives, further entrenching the dominance of major parties.

WATCH MOREChina seas: A new Cold War brewing?

Combined with the high costs of campaigning and limited access to resources, these factors create persistent barriers to long-term independent growth for smaller political organisations.

“Taiwanese politics has always been dominated by the two major parties, yet there remains a 30 to 40 percent segment of the electorate that supports neither,” Chen said, noting that while some of TPP’s supporters may switch over to voting for the DPP or the KMT, others will remain on the fence.
Cross-strait relations

Ko had long positioned himself as a pragmatic middle ground between the DPP’s China-sceptic stance and the KMT’s more engagement-oriented approach, appealing to voters across the political spectrum while maintaining flexibility on cross-strait issues.

His absence narrows Taiwan’s centrist space and reinforces a political environment increasingly dominated by the two major parties. Yeh noted that as smaller parties lose influence, the space for centrist positions on cross-strait issues is likely to shrink.

These shifts in Taiwan’s internal political balance carry implications beyond domestic competition. Beijing has long taken an active interest in Taiwan’s political landscape, viewing it as a key factor in shaping cross-strait relations and advancing its strategic objectives.

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“Despite not being a part of it, China has always played a role in Taiwanese politics,” Chang Hung-lin said, noting Beijing’s influence in past elections.

From Beijing’s perspective, Chang Chun-hao suggested Ko’s sentencing may be seen as favourable to its Taiwan policy, arguing that “this means that the KMT can now lead the dance in its alliance with the TPP”.

Still, analysts say Beijing’s broader approach is unlikely to change significantly. Chen said, “If one proxy fails, they will find another.”