Mon, Mar 09, 2026
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday.Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) a
CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) yesterday announced that they would increase their gasoline and diesel prices for a second consecutive week, as an escalating conflict in the Middle East continues to disrupt the region’s tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and fo
Israeli forces expanded their bombardment of Iran overnight, striking fuel depots near Tehran, while Bahrain said an Iranian attack had damaged one of its desalination plants, signaling a widening assault on vital infrastructure across the region.As fighting escalated on day nine of the US-Israeli c
China’s top diplomat yesterday signaled that Beijing is prioritizing a stabilization of ties with Washington, even as he issued a pointed critique of US military actions in the Middle East.Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅), speaking at his high-profile annual briefing on the sidelines
PLAN: The cooperation might involve combining the Indigenous Defense Fighter engine, a domestic AESA and Kratos’ XQ-58A stealth drone, a defense official said Taiwan’s state-run defense research group is mulling developing autonomous “loyal wingman” drones to support fighter jets in a potential collaboration with a US-based manufacturer, a source said.Speaking on condition of anonymity, a defense official said the National Chungshan Institute of Science a
REASSURING COMEBACK: After a demoralizing loss to Japan on Friday, the Taiwan team’s bats came alive, setting a new record with eight stolen bases in a single game Taiwan secured their first victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) yesterday, handing the Czech Republic a 14-0 trouncing at the Tokyo Dome.After being defeated in its first two Pool C games — including a demoralizing 13-0 loss to Japan on Friday — Taiwan’s bats came alive.The lineup eru
The Ministry of Education distributed a total of NT$151 million (US$4.73 million) to 271 high schools nationwide last year to support bilingual education.The subsidy program is a part of the national Bilingual 2030 policy, which seeks to integrate English into Taiwan’s education system, public admin
The Hualien District Prosecutors’ Office today indicted Guangfu Township (光復) Mayor Lin Ching-shui (林清水) and two other township officials over the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) barrier lake flood that left 19 people dead and five missing last year, seeking the maximum 10-year prison sentence for the mayor.Th
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) yesterday launched a series of gender equality events in New York to coincide with the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.Taiwan Gender Equality Week (TGEW) was launched in New York's Times Square
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are expected to drop to 15°C tonight due to a continental cold air mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.While daytime temperatures are to range between 17°C and 20°C, the mercury is likely to fall later in the day, reaching 15°C at night, as the cold ai
The US government yesterday called on Taiwanese lawmakers to pass a special defense budget bill that would finance Taiwan's planned purchases of US weapon systems for self-defense."We encourage all parties in Taiwan's legislature to work through political differences and quickly pass a special defen
WOLF AT THE DOOR: The proposed special defense budget is reasonable, even modest compared to countries like Japan or South Korea’s annual defense budgets The Executive Yuan’s proposal to allocate NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.3 billion) for defense over eight years is reasonable, especially compared with the defense budgets of Japan and South Korea, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday.Speaking during a visit to Jieyun Temple (接雲寺) in New Taipei City
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said.As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwa
Premier Cho Jung-tai’s (卓榮泰) brief visit to the Tokyo Dome on Saturday — the first sitting Taiwanese premier to visit Japan since Taipei and Tokyo severed diplomatic ties 54 years ago — could be an indication that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government is redefining boundaries with Taiw
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s refo
HORMUZ ISSUE: The US president said he expected crude prices to drop at the end of the war, which he called a ‘minor excursion’ that could continue ‘for a little while’ The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait started reducing oil production, as the near-closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz ripples through energy markets and affects global supply. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is “managing offshore production levels to address storage requirements,” the com
UNCERTAINTY: Many economists say the war’s overall impact on global GDP is likely to be modest, but that calculation would shift the longer the conflict drags on The economic fallout from the war in the Middle East is spreading outside the region. Persian Gulf ports have turned into military targets. The vital Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed, sending fuel costs and shipping rates soaring. Vessels cannot reach a container hub that handles more volume t
To celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day, Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) once again joined the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” initiative. Led by chairman Wu Tzu-hsin (吳自心) and chief executive officer Chou Chien-lung (周建隆), female executives and ma
In an op-ed published in Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said that Taiwan should not have to choose between aligning with Beijing or Washington, and advocated for cooperation with Beijing under the so-called “1992 consensus” as a form of “str
The Donald Trump administration’s approach to China broadly, and to cross-Strait relations in particular, remains a conundrum. The 2025 US National Security Strategy prioritized the defense of Taiwan in a way that surprised some observers of the Trump administration: “Deterring a conflict over Taiwa
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) are expected to meet this month in Paris to prepare for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). According to media reports, the two sides would discuss issues such as the p
‘CHALLENGING’: The first race of the season tested Formula One’s new-look cars for the first time in competitive conditions, with some drivers struggling to finish George Russell yesterday kept his cool to win a frantic season-opening Australian Grand Prix from Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli after a thrilling battle with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The pole-sitting Briton took the checkered flag by 2.974 seconds in Melbourne with Leclerc third and Lewis Hamil
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened the
Turkey is offering long-term financial support to recruit Jamaican and Kenyan track and field stars with the aim of winning a host of gold medals at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The move was prompted by Turkey’s dire performance at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, where it failed to win a single go
A Kyle Schwarber homer and a five-run fifth inning on Saturday helped the US overpower Great Britain 9-1 in the World Baseball Classic, but not before an early British lead tested US nerves. On the game’s very first pitch, Britain’s Nate Eaton struck a leadoff home run off two-time reigning Cy Young
‘THE PEOPLE’S REVOLT’ : Voters understand the RSP does not have a strong agenda, but they want to punish established parties for decades of poor governance, an analyst said Nepal’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) of rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah had secured a majority in the direct parliamentary elections, partial official results showed yesterday, and was heading for a landslide according to official trends.The 35-year-old’s RSP was also leading in pr
BOMBING: While a motive was not yet known, the blast follows a series of explosions that police said have been linked to gang-run extortion schemes A bombing at a nightclub in Peru has injured 33 people, including minors, authorities said on Saturday.The explosion happened early at the Dali nightclub in the province of Trujillo along the northern coast, the local emergency operations center said.It is a region that has been plagued by violence
Police in Australia’s Northern Territory yesterday warned of “crocs everywhere” and said they had moved more than 1,000 people across the state into shelter after massive floods.The state endured heavy rains over the weekend, with the town of Katherine experiencing its worst flooding since 1998, whe
Recently the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and its Mini-Me partner in the legislature, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), have been arguing that construction of chip fabs in the US by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is little more than stripping Taiwan of its assets. For example, K
March 9 to March 15“This land produced no horses,” Qing Dynasty envoy Yu Yung-ho (郁永河) observed when he visited Taiwan in 1697. He didn’t mean that there were no horses at all; it was just difficult to transport them across the sea and raise them in the hot and humid climate. “Although 10,00
Institutions signalling a fresh beginning and new spirit often adopt new slogans, symbols and marketing materials, and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is no exception. Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), soon after taking office as KMT chair, released a new slogan that plays on the party’s acronym: “Kind Mindfu
1. 因為食物不夠，我還是很餓。ˇ There was not enough food. I still feel hungry.χ There was no enough food. I still feel hungry.註：可以說 no good food, no suitable clothes，因為這裏 no 修飾 food, clothes（＝ no food that is good, no clothes that are suitable）。本句應該用 not enough food，因這裏 not 修飾形容詞 enough。同樣，There is no much tim
Continued from yesterday（延續自昨日）https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/langHere’s a breakdown of several common lens colors and their functions to help you choose the right one for your needs: ‧ Green: This tint enhances contrast by filtering some blue light, which also reduces glare and eye strain. It’s
When purchasing sunglasses, many people prioritize fashion or comfort. However, experts warn that eye safety should be the foremost concern. Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays can lead to serious eye problems, including cataracts, macular degeneration, and even a painful condition called ph
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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