The Central Daily News, the nation's oldest newspaper, announced yesterday that due to financial losses it would close its doors today after 78 years in business.
In its final issue, the newspaper said its 70 staff would stay on for one or two months while the company looks for a buyer.
"We are closing temporarily and hope to re-open soon. Please wait," the paper said in an announcement on its front page.
The newspaper is owned by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
The KMT, once one of the world's richest political parties with assets estimated at US$6.5 billion in the 1990s, has already sold its gleaming 12-story headquarters in central Taipei and will move into a modest building this month to try to shake off its corrupt image.
The party is no longer willing to absorb the Central Daily News' snowballing losses, which totaled NT$800 million (US$25 million) as of April, and has so far failed to find a buyer for the newspaper.
The KMT has been in the decline since President Chen Shui-bian (
But an insider trading scandal implicating Chen's son-in-law has been a godsend for the KMT, which has also sold its television and radio stations and a film company in recent years to fund elections.
"[The party] can survive only if it is pragmatic ... My heart is heavy and I hate to part with it," KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
The Central Daily News was launched in Shanghai in 1928 as the mouthpiece of the KMT, and moved to Taiwan in 1949 after the KMT lost the Chinese civil war to the Communists.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
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