The Ministry of the Interior, working with the navy and coast guard, is organizing Taiwan’s first joint exercise simulating escort tankers carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) and oil through a Chinese blockade. The drills simulate fuel transport along three maritime corridors leading toward Japan,
After arriving in Taiwan, Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) stated plainly that Taiwan needs more electricity for the development of artificial intelligence (AI). The remark was originally intended as an expectation for Taiwan’s overall energy strategy, but Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) turned i
On Menstrual Hygiene Day I am a university student in Taiwan, and I would like to thank Vanessa Aurelia Yotania for writing the article “Menstrual health is not just a female issue” (May 27, page 8) about menstrual health. Her article helped me better understand how menstrual health is closely conne
EDITORIAL CARTOON
The growing extraction of rainforest resources is pushing the Amazon and similar biomes toward breaking point, a report has shown.Fresh demands for critical minerals, biofuels and pulp — used in fast fashion, processed food and packaging — are compounding existing pressures from cattle ranching, mon
China’s unique system of registering households by splitting the population into rural versus urban dwellers has long outlived its usefulness. However, a much-needed policy revamp just unveiled misses some key details of how reforms would be paid for, potentially hobbling its effectiveness.New guide
As the Iran war drags on, emerging markets are reeling from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the oil trade’s most important routes. Turkey’s foreign reserves are depleting at record pace, India is considering all options as the rupee plunges to record lows and Indonesia delivered a jumbo
Taiwanese illustrator Chuchumei (啾啾妹) was told she was not allowed to take part in the Hong Kong Illustration and Creative Show just two days before the exhibition started on Saturday last week. Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao reported that the illustrator published a cartoon on social media in October
After a 29-year-old woman employed at a horror-themed escape room in Taipei died due to a performance accident earlier this month, the Taipei City Government said that it had already required escape room operators to incorporate public safety management measures and had issued safety guidelines.Some
In a Taiwanese university classroom, a lecturer asks in English: “Can anyone give me an example from Taiwan?” Students look down. No one answers. After class, one student writes on the course platform in Mandarin: “I understood the concept, but I didn’t know how to answer in English.” That moment hi
Every year on May 28, the world marks Menstrual Hygiene Day. It is a reminder that menstrual health is not a niche concern, but a public issue that affects human dignity, education and participation in society. Yet an estimated 500 million people still lack access to menstrual products and adequate
Authoritarian Xi’s paranoia On May 7, two former Chinese defense ministers and members of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Central Military Commission (CMC) — Wei Fenghe (魏鳳和) and Li Shangfu (李尚福) — were sentenced to death with a two-year “reprieve.” The penalties were the heaviest imposed on chi
EDITORIAL CARTOON
Maps are never neutral. They are instruments of knowledge, yes, but also of power, ideology and often manipulation. Nowhere is this more evident than in the depiction of Africa. For centuries, the Mercator projection — still ubiquitous in classrooms, media and digital platforms — has misrepresented
Geopolitics is making it harder for India’s 1.4 billion people to cool off in the punishing summer heat. Things are about to get a whole lot worse.The problem right now is with Diet Coke. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted exports of aluminum from smelters in the Persian Gulf, which a
The idea of a European Defense Union is gaining ground across Europe. However, so long as NATO continues to dominate Europe’s security, the prospect of building its own effective defense union would remain elusive. To become sovereign in defense matters (and more generally), Europe must terminate NA
On Wednesday last week, Meta Platforms Inc began laying off employees at its offices around the globe. About 8,000 people, or 10 percent of the company’s total workforce, are set to be laid off as Meta continues restructuring and accelerates its artificial intelligence (AI) investments. The company
Three major drug-related car crashes have occurred in Changhua County over just 20 days this month, resulting in four deaths and eight injuries. Separately, another fatal accident in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和) occurred on Saturday at the hands of a drug-impaired driver. Lives were lost
The summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) did not formally change US policy toward Taiwan. The less reassuring part is that Trump’s rhetoric gave Beijing something it values greatly: the sound of a US president echoing parts of China’s preferred vocabulary o
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