Out of 64 participating universities in this year’s Stars Program — through which schools directly recommend their top students to universities for admission — only 19 filled their admissions quotas. There were 922 vacancies, down more than 200 from last year; top universities had 37 unfilled places
Taiwan-South Korea relations face a critical test, as a deadline forces both sides to confront a long-simmering issue.Taipei has requested that Seoul correct its classification of Taiwan in South Korea’s e-arrival system, where it has been labeled as “China (Taiwan)” since Feb. 24 last year. The Min
A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators and supporters of former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Sunday gathered on Taipei’s Ketagalan Boulevard to show support for Ko, who was last week sentenced to 17 years in prison on corruption charges. Their choice to rally for the founder of th
EDITORIAL CARTOON
Just weeks ago, the US electric car market looked moribund. Amid plummeting EV sales, dealers were offering discounts as Detroit automakers scrapped electric lineups to make more gas-guzzling SUVs. Then, oil prices surged after the US and Israel attacked Iran. Now, a used electric car showroom in Sa
Former Taipei mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) founding chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Thursday, making headlines across major media. However, another case linked to the TPP — the indictment of Chinese immigrant Xu Chunying (徐春鶯) for alleged violations of the An
A gap appears to be emerging between Washington’s foreign policy elites and the broader American public on how the United States should respond to China’s rise. From my vantage working at a think tank in Washington, DC, and through regular travel around the United States, I increasingly experience t
A storm has broken within the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation (馬英九基金會), shocking the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Earlier last month, former National Security Council secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) delivered a letter of authorization from former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), the foundation’s chai
Days before he was due to be sentenced for corruption, former CPC Corp, Taiwan executive Hsu Han (徐漢) went missing after removing his ankle monitor. Since January 2022, when NT$27.1 million (US$850,062) in cash was seized from his office, until March 19, when the judicial electronic monitoring cente
EDITORIAL CARTOON
After declaring Iran’s military “gone,” US President Donald Trump appealed to the UK, France, Japan and South Korea — as well as China, Iran’s strategic partner — to send minesweepers and naval forces to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. When allies balked, the request turned into a warning: NATO would f
The National Security Strategy (NSS) that US President Donald Trump’s administration published in November last year was remarkable, far-reaching and unlike any other NSS that has appeared since former US president George H.W. Bush “kicked the Vietnam syndrome” in the early 1990s. In the cover lette
There is a photograph of former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) taken at a news conference on Thursday after the Taipei District Court sentenced him to 17 years in jail for corruption, embezzlement and mismanagement of political donations: Right arm raised, finger pointing for emphasis, his mouth locke
This month, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) released its first quarterly update of the year, adding more than 500 new words while revising nearly 1,000 existing entries. Such updates are the event of the season among word watchers and culture observers across the globe.For over two decades, I ha
This year’s parliamentary election in Nepal — the first after the Gen Z-led violent protest that toppled the previous government in September last year — were marked by a foundational shift in Nepal’s domestic politics. The results resoundingly rejected the traditional political parties, with the Ra
In Taiwan’s judicial practice, it is not easy to establish the crime of corruption. Amendments in 2001 to the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) significantly narrowed the conditions for a conviction, requiring proof that the official in question intended to seek unlawful gains while clearly knowing their
EDITORIAL CARTOON
When it comes to punishments levied against Meta Platforms Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google over the years, US$6 million for claims that their apps were addictive and caused a mental health crisis might not seem like much. The amount, which a Los Angeles jury on Wednesday ordered to be paid to a 20-yea
The Iran war has laid bare a paradox: Gulf money is helping underwrite the US’ effort to win the artificial intelligence (AI) race, and now the US has started a conflict that could destabilize those investments. Some estimates have projected US$2 trillion in long-term pledges from Middle Eastern nat
RSS