On the occasion of Constitution Day of the Republic of Poland, I am honored to extend my warmest greetings and deep respect to the Taiwanese people.Each year on May 3, Poland commemorates a landmark moment in our national history: the adoption of the constitution of May 3, 1791, by the parliament of
The Japanese Ministry of the Environment on Wednesday last week began operating its special heatstroke alert system, in which alerts are issued in areas one day before there is a high risk of heat stroke based on the predicted wet bulb globe temperature. The Japanese government has also urged the pu
Spain and Portugal on Monday went offline due to nationwide power fluctuations that spurred outages, impacting the entire Iberian Peninsula, its connection to the power grid in southwestern France, and Andorra in the Pyrenees mountains along the border between France and Spain. The outages led to st
EDITORIAL CARTOON
Former US president Ronald Reagan was wrong. The nine most terrifying words in the English language are not “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” They are: “The arc of the moral universe bends towards justice.”This is a pretty phrase that was invented by a good person, Theodore Parker, an
For Europe, this is a pivotal moment in the fight against climate change. With extreme weather events becoming more frequent as temperatures continue to rise, the need to act is undeniable. Last year was the hottest on record, and the first in which global warming exceeded (temporarily) the 1.5°C th
Over a century of running the power grid on fossil fuels, we learned many lessons about why, how and when blackouts happen. We now need to learn new lessons about when they are triggered by green energy. On Monday, Spain and Portugal — and a sliver of France — suffered what could come to be known as
Even as China escalates its military threats around Taiwan, tens of thousands of Taiwanese attended trade and commercial events across the Taiwan Strait last year, as Beijing steps up its economic manipulation to lure Taiwanese into its trap. A study by the non-governmental organization Taiwan Infor
One of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship programs in Indonesia is initiating a free nutritious lunch (MBG) program for elementary and middle-school students. The policy has drawn sharp criticism due to the cost. Based on a 2017 report from the World Food Programme (WFP), school lunch
China’s partnership with Pakistan has long served as a key instrument in Beijing’s efforts to unsettle India. While official narratives frame the two nations’ alliance as one of economic cooperation and regional stability, the underlying strategy suggests a deliberate attempt to check India’s rise t
Driving across an intersection the other day, I almost collided with a motorcycle deliveryman, who suddenly appeared from the side at high speed and passed only half a meter away from my car. Had I not braked immediately, I would have been hit on the spot. It was a good thing that it was I driving,
Learning from immersionLearning a new language can be a slow, academic grind — flashcards, grammar drills and vocabulary memorization. However, when you are surrounded by the language every day — when it becomes your tool for survival — something incredible happens. I moved to Taiwan in 2021. Formal
EDITORIAL CARTOON
Many Americans have never heard of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM). However, for decades, hundreds of millions of people around the world have relied on the outlets that USAGM funds — including Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the Middle East Broadcasting Netw
Singapore’s democracy is maturing. About 2.8 million voters are to elect their next government tomorrow. Political discourse during the nine-day campaign has been notably robust, a positive sign for a nation that has been governed by a single party since its independence from Malaysia in 1965. At ra
Sydney non-profit worker Az Fahmi was once a dedicated volunteer for Australia’s ruling Labor Party, handing out pamphlets to get her local representative, Australian Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke, re-elected.That all changed for the human rights activist following Israel’s retaliation for an
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator-at-large Liu Shu-pin (劉書彬) asked Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) a question on Tuesday last week about President William Lai’s (賴清德) decision in March to officially define the People’s Republic of China (PRC), as governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as a foreign
The Food and Drug Administration has permanently removed its recommendation that companies conduct tests on animals to establish bone health claims for marketing food and beverage products sold in Taiwan. This is the fifth health claim regulation that the agency has scrapped clean of animal tests. C
The “426 Rally” that took place in Taipei on Saturday last week — branded with slogans such as: “fight green communism, resist dictatorship” — offered a striking window into the current political atmosphere in Taiwan. Organized by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TP
RSS