As a result of the “Year of the Dragon” effect, the number of newborn babies has reached a historic high, the Ministry of the Interior has estimated, though it added that it was worried that the figure may decrease next year because fewer couples opted not to marry this year.
While the nation’s birthrate has been declining continuously over the past decade, it has increased 14.5 percent from January with last month compared with the same period last year, the latest figures from the ministry showed.
Since the beginning of the year, around 163,000 babies have been born and the ministry estimates that the annual number of births could surpass 220,000 by the end of the year.
In a press release, the ministry attributed the increasing birthrate to the “Year of the Dragon” effect.
In traditional Chinese beliefs, children born during the Year of the Dragon are believed to be lucky and Chinese emperors were thought to be dragons in human form.
However, the ministry also has some worries.
“Compared with the same period [January to September] last year, the number of couples getting married has dropped by 7,060 — or 6.7 percent,” the ministry said. “It remains to be seen whether the childbirth fever will continue.”
Last year — the centenary of the Republic of China — was a popular year for couples to marry because it was seen as symbolic.
The ministry said the number of childbirths from binational couples has also been on the rise in recent years.
“On average, 9 percent of newborn babies are born from couples in which the father or the mother are of Hong Kong, Macanese, Chinese or other origin,” the ministry said.
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
RSS