Taipei City residents topped the “love to read” list in a recent survey of the nation’s 25 cities and counties.
A total of 55.8 percent of Taipei respondents said they loved to read, and read regularly or occasionally, according to the Global Views Survey Research Center.
Taichung City residents placed second at 52.7 percent, followed by Matsu residents at 52.4 percent, residents of Kaohsiung and Chiayi cities at 51.1 percent and Hsinchu City at 50.7 percent, the center said.
“These six cities are what I call ‘oases’ of the country. People living in these areas love reading,” said Charles Kao (高朝陽), founder and chairman of the Commonwealth Publishing Group.
The other 18 cities and counties are “deserts,” Kao said.
Hsinchu County is the only county in which the number of respondents who said they “like to read” was almost the same as those who said they “never read.”
“It is important for the government and private organizations to bridge the ‘reading divide,’” Kao said.
The survey also found that Taiwanese read slightly more than they did three years ago, with the average person devoting 26 minutes a day to reading, up from 23 minutes in 2007.
The survey found that 24.1 percent of respondents said they did not read, down from 25.4 percent in the previous survey, while 19.1 percent of respondents “rarely” read, much lower than the 25.5 percent in 2007, said Tai Li-an (戴立安), the research center’s director.
The survey also showed that the average person spends NT$1,461 a year on books.
“This is less than the price of a one-way high-speed rail ticket from Taipei to Kaohsiung,” Tai said.
Asked about the best policy to promote reading, 68.5 percent of respondents supported a tax deduction on reading materials, with only 23 percent disagreeing.
About a quarter of the respondents said they preferred e-books to printed editions, a large increase compared with the last survey.
The telephone survey was conducted between July 28 and Aug. 11, and involved 6,196 respondents aged over 18. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan