Thu, Oct 23, 2025
STRICT: African swine fever cannot pass from animals to humans, Lai said, adding that the government is employing the most stringent disease-prevention standards The Ministry of Agriculture yesterday issued a five-day nationwide ban on transporting and slaughtering pigs after African swine fever was confirmed at a hog farm in Taichung’s Wuci District (梧棲) on Tuesday evening.The detection means Taiwan has lost its status as the only Asian country free of clas
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan.The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nat
The military is to consider medical records and body mass index (BMI) in addition to a traditional physical examination when determining if a man of conscription age is eligible for an exemption from military service, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday.Ministry officials said they would tou
A large-scale Russian drone and missile attack across Ukraine killed at least six people, including a woman and her two young daughters, officials said yesterday, as US-led efforts to end the war floundered and Ukraine’s president sought more foreign military help.Repeated waves of missiles and dron
North Korea yesterday fired what appeared to be multiple short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea’s military said, a week before a key Asia-Pacific leaders’ meeting in South Korea.It was the first launch of ballistic missiles since May by Pyongyang, which has defied a UN Security Council ban on t
African swine fever was confirmed at a pig farm in Taichung, the Ministry of Agriculture said today, prompting a five-day nationwide ban on transporting and slaughtering pigs, and marking the loss of Taiwan’s status as the only Asian nation free of all three major swine diseases. The ministry held
TRUMP AT APEC: The government is monitoring the developments and has contingencies in place ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea, Lin Chia-lung said The US has given Taiwan assurances that its interests would not be harmed when US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) meet next week, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.“The US side has repeatedly told us that it remains steadfast in its support
BILL LEE VISIT: The US state also announced plans to build a foreign direct investment office in Taiwan to better understand the needs of firms eyeing US moves Taiwan and Tennessee have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on economic and trade cooperation that would further the bilateral partnership in areas from electric cars to renewable energy, the Presidential Office said yesterday.Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, who was in Taiwan on Monday and Tue
China is to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Taiwan’s “retrocession” to Chinese rule, Beijing said yesterday, while sources told Reuters that the event was scheduled for this weekend in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday denied that his in-laws had funded a publicity company, which has been accused of surveilling political opponents.Huang said that he has filed two lawsuits against Mirror Media and its reporters, saying that it had published false
Taiwan will engage in “drone diplomacy” by supplying drones to its diplomatic allies for civilian uses and like-minded European countries facing Russian military threats, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said at a forum Wednesday.Speaking at the EU-Taiwan Drones Technology & Export foru
REASSURANCES: Supermarkets said that all local pork sold is sourced from slaughterhouses that comply with disease-control and food safety regulations Major retailers and hypermarkets yesterday moved quickly to reassure consumers about the safety of pork and supply stability after authorities reported the nation’s first case of African swine fever (ASF).Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) announced the case at a news conference yesterday,
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday.The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic sa
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) yesterday accused a tobacco company of deliberately breaking the law by failing to label nicotine content on heated tobacco products, and urged authorities to step up enforcement after the items were ordered pulled from shelves last week.Many have asked why the
Domestic flight operators confirmed that they have submitted applications to raise ticket prices as they have not been changed for 26 years.The nation’s two domestic flight carriers — Uni Air (立榮航空) and Mandarin Airlines (華信航空) — urged the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) to consider their reques
The central bank yesterday said it bought US$13 billion more US dollars than it sold in the first half of the year to prevent the New Taiwan dollar from appreciating too much. In a report submitted to the Legislative Yuan, the central bank said it bought US$13.25 billion more of the greenback than i
The technical issues in the Taiwan-US tariff negotiations have mostly been resolved, and the government is waiting for a concluding meeting with the US side, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday. Once the meeting is held, a deal could be reached to lower the US’ “reciproc
TECHNOLOGICAL RIVALRY: The artificial intelligence chip competition among multiple players would likely intensify over the next two years, a Quanta official said Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), which makes servers and laptops on a contract basis, yesterday said its shipments of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s GB300 chips have increased steadily since last month, should surpass those of the GB200 models this quarter. The production of
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) last week sparked debate with a Facebook post asking whether public caning could help deter crimes such as fraud and drunk driving in Taiwan.Hung wrote that Singapore plans to expand the use of judicial caning — traditionally applied to
After Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairwoman-elect Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) victory in the party’s leadership race, the KMT’s intent to bring in external forces to counter its domestic political rivals became all the more apparent.There is no shortage of such stories in history. At the end of the Mi
In 1976, the Gang of Four was ousted. The Gang of Four was a leftist political group comprising Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members: Jiang Qing (江青), its leading figure and Mao Zedong’s (毛澤東) last wife; Zhang Chunqiao (張春橋); Yao Wenyuan (姚文元); and Wang Hongwen (王洪文).The four wielded supreme power
MEMORABLE NIGHT: PSG, Barcelona, Arsenal, Manchester City and PSV Eindhoven were among winners, as a total of 43 goals were scored across nine games on Tuesday Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on Tuesday scored seven and both Barcelona and PSV Eindhoven hit six in big victories while Arsenal crushed Atletico Madrid 4-0 on a prolific night of UEFA Champions League action. Erling Haaland was among the scorers in Manchester City’s 2-0 win at Villarreal as a total of
Game 4 of the CPBL’s Taiwan Series between the Rakuten Monkeys and the CTBC Brothers yesterday was postponed to today, after incessant rain over the past few days flooded the field at Taoyuan Baseball Stadium. The Brothers on Tuesday kept their hopes of a repeat championship alive with a 2-0 win ove
La Liga’s plan to hold a Barcelona match in Miami in December has been called off because of “uncertainty” about the game within Spain, the Spanish top flight said in a statement on Tuesday. Champions Barca were set to face Villarreal in the US on Dec. 20, which would have been the first European le
Women’s leagues would feature in the new Football Manager video game, which is to be released next month, a first in the decades-long history of the popular series that simulates team tactics and transfer drama. Football Manager 26 reflects the fast-rising profile of women’s soccer, with UEFA Women’
‘GREAT OPTIMISM’: Vance said he was confident the truce would hold, but added that it was a tough task, requiring that Hamas disarm and Gaza be rebuilt Israel has identified the bodies of two more hostages, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said yesterday, as US Vice President J.D. Vance sounded a buoyant note about progress in Gaza’s fragile ceasefire during a visit to Israel.Authorities identified the deceased hostages as Arie Za
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday brushed off criticism over the demolition of part of the White House to build a new ballroom, saying the sound of the construction work was “music to my ears.”Democrats including former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton accused the Republican of failing to respec
PRESSURE: Trump is expected to demand that Tokyo raise its defense spending, but Japan’s new foreign minister said the amount is less important than how it is spent Japan plans to show its determination to further build up its defense to rapidly adapt to changing warfare realities and growing tension in the region when US President Donald Trump visits Tokyo next week, Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi said.Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s ad
The recent Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) election for party chair was an excellent reminder of how far out of the mainstream the KMT truly is. Former KMT legislator Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) was elected by the party rank and file over lifetime meh politician and former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), wh
The election of Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) as chair of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) marked a triumphant return of pride in the “Chinese” in the party name. Cheng wants Taiwanese to be proud to call themselves Chinese again.The unambiguous winner was a return to the KMT ideology that formed in the ear
After Sanae Takaichi took office as Japan’s first woman prime minister, some of her younger counterparts called it a symbolic victory.The three local councilors anticipate Takaichi’s win will do little to shift the male-dominated world of politics or entrenched expectations that women will prioritiz
A: The 23rd Taiwan Pride parade will be marching again on Saturday, Oct. 25.B: Will the parade kick off from Taipei City Hall Plaza as usual?A: Yup, and there will be over 110 LGBT-themed booths at the Rainbow Festival in the plaza. B: The organizer is reportedly teaming up with Japanese, South
Have you ever bought a new smartphone and suddenly found yourself dissatisfied with your perfectly fine headphones? Before long, you’ve purchased premium wireless earbuds, a protective case and a fast-charging station. What begins as a single acquisition snowballs into a shopping spree—this is the D
California will phase out certain ultra-processed foods from school meals over the next decade under a first-in-the-nation law signed on Oct. 8 by Gov. Gavin Newsom.The law seeks to define ultra-processed foods, the often super-tasty products typically full of sugar, salt and unhealthy fats. The leg
Two moves show Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) is gunning for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) party chair and the 2028 presidential election. Technically, these are not yet “officially” official, but by the rules of Taiwan politics, she is now on the dance floor. Earlier this month Lu confirmed in an interview in Japan’s Nikkei that she was considering running for KMT chair. This is not new news, but according to reports from her camp she previously was still considering the case for and against running. By choosing a respected, international news outlet, she declared it to the world. While the outside world likely paid little attention, domestically the message was unmistakable: She is moving on to a larger stage. Part of the dance is to leave options open before formally committing, and with the chair race due in late September, she has time. If something goes wrong in the meantime, or if power brokers in the party offer her a deal that provides more benefits than taking on the role of chair, she can pivot accordingly. Earlier this year, I suggested that strategically, she would be better off concentrating on her job as Taichung mayor until she is term-limited out of office in December next year. Taichung mayor is obviously a full-time job, and concurrently running the Taipei-headquartered party runs the risk of doing one or both jobs poorly and making mistakes that could imperil her shot at the presidency in 2028. The situation has changed. Current KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), knowing he is likely to face challengers of a higher caliber than the three relative nobodies already declared, has gone all in on appealing to the base. The base is more likely to turn out to vote in the chair election, so this makes some strategic sense in the short term.
Among Thailand’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) villages, a certain rivalry exists between Arunothai, the largest of these villages, and Mae Salong, which is currently the most prosperous. Historically, the rivalry stems from a split in KMT military factions in the early 1960s, which divided command and opium territories after Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) cut off open support in 1961 due to international pressure (see part two, “The KMT opium lords of the Golden Triangle,” on May 20). But today this rivalry manifests as a different kind of split, with Arunothai leading a pro-China faction and Mae Salong staunchly aligned to Taiwan. Last spring at Arunothai’s Jiaolian School, principal Wang Mingming (王明明) had forewarned me of the division between villages, saying, “We are not like the people in Mae Salong. They are rich. Because of the Taiwanese.” Arunothai has in recent years become split in its loyalties between Taiwan and China (see part one, “A tale of two schools,” on May 15), but in Mae Salong, links to Taiwan remain strong. Taiwan-funded monuments pay homage to the Lost Army, villagers wear T-shirts emblazoned with the Republic of China (ROC) flag and tea plantations grown Taiwan’s most famous tea varieties, including Dong Ding (“frozen peak”) Oolong, Oriental Beauty and Jin Xuan (Golden Daylily or Milk Oolong). Even the numerical classifications of the teas — Oolong No. 12 or No. 17, for example — are the same, and the shops resemble those found on Alishan. At the tomb of General Tuan Hsi-wen (段希文) — perched on a Mae Salong hilltop with a view of his ancestral homeland in China’s Yunnan province — a third generation villager wearing a vintage KMT army uniform, Yan Si-Chung (岩思中), greets visitors with sharp military salutes. “Both my father and my grandfather were soldiers in the KMT army,” the 44-year-old
| New Taipei City | 27-28 | 20% |  |
| Hsinchu County | 26-27 | 10% | |
| Hsinchu City | 26-27 | 10% | |
| Taipei City | 27-28 | 20% |  |
| Miaoli County | 24-26 | 10% | |
| Taoyuan City | 26-27 | 10% | |
| Keelung City | 27-28 | 20% | |
| Yunlin County | 26-27 | 10% | |
| Taichung City | 26-28 | 10% | |
| Nantou County | 25-26 | 10% | |
| Changhua County | 27-28 | 10% | |
| Chiayi County | 26-27 | 10% | |
| Chiayi City | 25-27 | 10% | |
| Tainan City | 27-28 | 10% | |
| Kaohsiung City | 27-28 | 10% | |
| Pingtung County | 26-27 | 10% | |
| Yilan County | 25-26 | 30% |  |
| Hualien County | 25-26 | 30% | |
| Taitung County | 25-27 | 30% | |
| Kinmen County | 27-28 | 10% | |
| Penghu County | 27-27 | 20% | |
| Lienchiang County | 27-28 | 20% | |
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