From an entrepreneurial perspective, there is strong opposition to the recently passed amendments to the Court Organization Act (法院組織法) that would permit the live broadcasting of court procedures.News reports said that if live broadcasts of trials are ultimately implemented, they would cost the coun
Sovereign funds have been repeatedly proposed in Taiwan, but they have been nothing but thunder. Just as the public was slowly losing interest, President William Lai (賴清德) announced on May 20, the first anniversary of his inauguration, that the government would establish a sovereign fund to create a
Data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare showed that diabetes was the fifth-leading cause of death among Taiwanese last year. Even more concerning is that the disease is more commonly affecting young people.Long-term consumption of excessively sugary beverages and refined sugar products is causi
EDITORIAL CARTOON
As the debate plays out over the damage done to the Iranian nuclear program by US and Israeli strikes, one reality is clear: The country’s booming energy sector, the cash cow of the regime, emerged unscathed.The numbers do not lie. Iranian oil output reached a 46-year high last year, according to re
In one of the most memorable scenes in Pulp Fiction, a film replete with memorable scenes, a Los Angeles gangster, Marsellus Wallace, turns the tables on a man who has kidnapped and abused him. He is going to get a couple of friends to go to work on his assailant “with a pair of pliers and a blow to
On the eve of the 28th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China and the fifth anniversary of the promulgation of Hong Kong’s National Security Law, the pro-democracy party League of Social Democrats (LSD), the last active pro-democracy party in Hong Kong, on Sunday announced its disbandment due
On June 13, the documentary Invisible Nation (看不見的國家) premiered in Taiwan. The film focuses on Taiwan’s democratization process and the changes that happened during former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) eight-year administration. It also documents the history of Taiwan: from the rule of the Dutch, t
In the policy paper “National Security Strategy 2025” released by the British government on Tuesday last week, Taiwan and the Taiwan Strait are mentioned multiple times. Emphasizing the importance of the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait in global trade and supply chains, it said that their stab
As the 14th Dalai Lama approaches his 90th birthday, he has made a proclamation that reverberates far beyond the monastic halls of Dharamsala: His reincarnation would not be born in Tibet so long as it remains under Chinese rule. This is not merely a spiritual declaration — it is a geopolitical mast
Let us first discuss the national experience of transitioning from the British Empire to the Commonwealth of Nations. During the Age of Discovery, all European maritime powers had colonies — Portugal in South Asia and South America, Spain in Southeast Asia and South America, and the British Empire i
Recalls are not easy As the historic recall wave targeting 26 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators continues, many civic groups and volunteers feel energized. A surge of public anger has driven the widespread momentum of the recall campaigns. However, amid the passion, there might exist a da
EDITORIAL CARTOON
Life as we know it will probably not come to an end in Japan this weekend, but what if it does? That is the question consuming a disaster-prone country ahead of a widely spread prediction of disaster that one comic book suggests would occur tomorrow. The Future I Saw, a manga by Ryo Tatsuki about he
It is an irony that the minerals needed to save the planet might help destroy it. Rare earths, the mineral backbones of wind turbines and electric vehicles, are now the prize in a geopolitical arms race. The trade agreement between Washington and Beijing restores rare earth shipments from China to t
When one door closes, you would hope that another opens. As the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was formally shut down on Monday, a once-in-a-decade development financing conference was beginning in Seville, Spain. While initially intended to move the world closer to its ambitious 20
When the Presidential Office announced that President William Lai (賴清德) was going to embark on a series of 10 talks under the umbrella theme of “unity,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers immediately ridiculed the idea, saying that Lai himself was the main source of division within the countr
Chinese intimidation of Taiwan has entered a chilling new phase: bolder, more multifaceted and unconstrained by diplomatic norms. For years, Taiwan has weathered economic coercion, military threats, diplomatic isolation, political interference, espionage and disinformation, but the direct targeting
The Ministry of Health and Welfare recently announced the top 10 causes of death for Taiwanese last year. For the first time in 14 years, suicide is back on the list. Suicide rates have increased across the board among individuals between the ages of 15 and 65 — an upward trend highlighting the urge
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