Fri, May 08, 2026
The Legislative Yuan today passed the third reading of a special defense budget of NT$780 billion (US$24.82 billion), with a budget ceiling of NT$300 billion for the first round of US arms procurement and a cap of NT$480 billion for the second round.The bill, which fell short of the NT$1.25 trillion
ELECTORAL SURGE: The bill would increase the voting population by an estimated 410,000, but it must be passed by Aug. 20 for this year’s local elections, an official said The Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee yesterday passed an initial review of draft amendments that would lower the voting age from 20 to 18.The revisions to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (
TRACKING TRAVELERS: The CDC has compared passenger lists from multiple sources and so far believes reports that a Taiwanese was aboard are rumors The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is verifying whether any Taiwanese passengers were aboard the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius cruise ship, adding that it has established a task force to monitor the outbreak overseas and coordinate preventive measures.It is the first time a task for
Countries worldwide yesterday scrambled to prevent further spread of the hantavirus, after an outbreak on a cruise ship, by tracking those who had already disembarked before the virus was detected and anyone in close contact with them since.Three people — a Dutch couple and a German national — died
The government plans to amend laws to grant each parent an additional month of parental leave if both apply for the full allowed six months of leave, to encourage more equal sharing of childcare responsibilities, the Cabinet said yesterday.Under current regulations, parents can take up to two years
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday thanked Europe’s Formosa Club for supporting the nation’s right to participate in the WHO and visit diplomatic allies.The Formosa Club — an interparliamentary group of pro-Taiwan European lawmakers — on Wednesday issued a joint statement at the Unity
Former Penghu county councilor Chen Hui-ling (陳慧玲) and her husband were today found guilty of fraudulently claiming government-funded subsidies for their aides, but all four defendants in the case received only suspended sentences.Chen was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for five years,
Taiwan’s population last month declined for the 28th consecutive month, with just 8,144 births recorded, Ministry of the Interior data showed. Taiwan’s population was 23,262,544 as of the end of last month, a decline of 102,730 from a year earlier and 8,024 fewer than in March, the ministry said. Th
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Libe
There were no Taiwanese aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius, on which a deadly hantavirus outbreak occurred, despite earlier reports, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said today. The CDC said that it verified with the WHO and International Health Regulations focal points in the Netherlands and Ar
The New Taipei District Court yesterday agreed to a motion by prosecutors to detain three people involved with cosmetic chain Airlee Group Co Ltd (愛爾麗集團) after a recording device was found inside a smoke detector at the company's Banciao District (板橋) branch.At a detention hearing last night, the co
President William Lai (賴清德) today congratulated Pope Leo XIV on the first anniversary of his election, on behalf of the Taiwanese government and people. Taiwan would continue to maintain cross-strait peace, guided by the principles of freedom and human dignity, under the “Four Pillars of Peace” acti
Prosecutors today indicted Core Pacific Group chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and 12 others for contravening the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) in connection with Dingyue Development Corp’s purchase of Core Pacific City land, seeking a 26-year prison sentence for Sheen. China Petrochemical Deve
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake today struck Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7:08am, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.The epicenter of the quake was in Hualien County’s Fengbin Township (豐濱) about 31km south-southwest of Hualien Count
Visiting Paraguayan President Santiago Pena yesterday reaffirmed his nation’s diplomatic ties with Taiwan, adding that he met with his Honduran counterpart in the US before arriving in Taipei and shared Paraguay’s positive experience of maintaining relations with Taiwan.Pena arrived in Taiwan yester
POWER BUILDUP: Powered by Nvidia’s B200 Blackwell chips, the data center would support MediaTek’s computing power demand and business growth, the company said Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) data center with a maximum capacity of 45 megawatts to meet its rising demand for computing power required to develop new advanced chips for AI applications.The company has completed the first-phase com
Novatek Microelectronics Corp (聯詠), the designer of display driver chips used in TVs, PCs and smartphones, yesterday said revenue this quarter would grow as high as 23 percent sequentially, driven by pull-in orders due to surging key component prices.Revenue is expected to expand to between NT$27.5
INDUSTRYWIDE: The US$35 billion investment from Taiwanese companies would help the US build supply chain resilience in the semiconductor and technology sector Twenty Taiwanese firms have expressed interest in investing an aggregate US$35 billion in the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said on Wednesday. They include semiconductor companies and related supply chain firms — such as United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), GlobalWafers Co (環球晶), Win Sem
Despite Beijing pressuring three countries to block President William Lai’s (賴清德) trip to Eswatini, on Saturday he took a “surprise flight” to Taiwan’s only African ally and released a joint communique with King Mswati III reaffirming diplomatic ties, which have stood for 58 years. Lai had been sche
Taipei is facing a severe rat infestation, and the city government is reportedly considering large-scale use of rodenticides as its primary control measure.However, this move could trigger an ecological disaster, including mass deaths of birds of prey.In the past, black kites, relatives of eagles, t
When Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) sits down with US President Donald Trump in Beijing on Thursday next week, Xi is unlikely to demand a dramatic public betrayal of Taiwan. He does not need to. Beijing’s preferred victory is smaller, quieter and in some ways far more dangerous: a subtle shift i
ARSENAL AWAIT: Harry Kane’s late equalizer was not enough for Bayern after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia released Fabian Ruiz and got the ball back to set up Ousmane Dembele Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s superb assist on Wednesday put Paris Saint-Germain ahead early in a 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final for a 6-5 aggregate win against the six-time champions.Whether scoring or creating, Kvaratskhelia makes the differenc
Taiwanese pitcher Lin Wei-en, a left-hander with the Oakland Athletics’ Double-A affiliate, has been named to Baseball America’s latest Top 100 Prospects list.In the list released on Wednesday, Lin was ranked No. 93 overall, becoming the first Taiwanese player in 18 years to make the list. The last
The San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday handed the Minnesota Timberwolves their largest NBA post-season loss in franchise history with a 133-95 win to even their series at one game apiece.Spurs All-Star Victor Wembanyama responded to their Game 1 loss in the Western Conference semi-finals series by setti
Several cyclists, including riders due to start the Giro d’Italia today, fell ill after a Belgian one-day race, with cow manure on the roads suspected to be the cause.Three Lotto-Intermarche riders reported from abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever and vomiting, and were briefly hospitalized, the team sa
‘EYE FOR AN EYE’: A Ukrainian officer said Russian infantry raids continued on the front lines, and as Moscow did not comply with Kyiv’s ceasefire, his unit responded ‘in kind’ The Russian Ministry of Defense yesterday said that its forces had destroyed 347 Ukrainian drones overnight, days before Moscow holds World War II commemorations and amid competing calls from both sides for a temporary ceasefire.The drone strikes came a day after Russia warned in a note to foreign d
By miming children juggling ammunition found on the ground or driven mad by fear, four acrobats hope to express what is too painful for words: how their native Burkina Faso’s conflict has ruined countless childhoods.Titled Souffle (Breath), the Dafra Cirque’s latest performance “is about life ... an
The Philippine Coast Guard yesterday said it deployed aircraft to issue radio warnings to a Chinese research ship in a disputed area of the South China Sea “swarming” with vessels from Beijing’s so-called maritime militia.The research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 33 (向陽紅33), which is capable of supporting
On my way to the sprawling Wuci Fish Market (梧棲), I happened upon the Taichung Aquarium. The rows of seafood — salmon, milkfish and varieties of bivalves laid out on ice — could wait. Instead, I paid my NT$500 admission and stepped inside the aquarium to see the real thing: hundreds of species of fi
The breakwater stretches out to sea from the sprawling Kaohsiung port in southern Taiwan. Normally, it’s crowded with massive tankers ferrying liquefied natural gas from Qatar to be stored in the bulbous white tanks that dot the shoreline.These are not normal times, though, and not a single shipment
Talking animal movies do not, on the whole, have the best reputation. Yes, there is Babe, but Babe is the exception. Most are pretty bad, whether it’s the uncanny effects, the shoddy storytelling or some horrifying combination of the two.Audiences have earned the right to be skeptical when something
A: Apart from the Danjiang Bridge in New Taipei City, the MRT Sanying Line (Light Blue Line) will open in June.B: Is that the new line leading to Yingge District, the ceramic town?A: Yup, the line will connect the Yingge Ceramics Museum and the Old Streets in Sanxia and Yingge Districts.B: The e
A: The Danjiang Bridge in New Taipei City is to open on May 12, and the MRT Sanying Line (Light Blue Line) will also open in June. Isn’t that great?B: Is that the bridge connecting the city’s Tamsui and Bali Districts? What’s so special about this new landmark spanning the Tamsui River?A: The Dan
In the dense forests of Tanzania, a young researcher sat quietly among the trees, her gaze fixed on a troop of chimpanzees. It was 1960, and Jane Goodall, armed with nothing but a notebook and endless curiosity, was about to change science forever. Inspired by childhood stories like the Dr. Dolittle
Two moves show Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) is gunning for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) party chair and the 2028 presidential election. Technically, these are not yet “officially” official, but by the rules of Taiwan politics, she is now on the dance floor. Earlier this month Lu confirmed in an interview in Japan’s Nikkei that she was considering running for KMT chair. This is not new news, but according to reports from her camp she previously was still considering the case for and against running. By choosing a respected, international news outlet, she declared it to the world. While the outside world likely paid little attention, domestically the message was unmistakable: She is moving on to a larger stage. Part of the dance is to leave options open before formally committing, and with the chair race due in late September, she has time. If something goes wrong in the meantime, or if power brokers in the party offer her a deal that provides more benefits than taking on the role of chair, she can pivot accordingly. Earlier this year, I suggested that strategically, she would be better off concentrating on her job as Taichung mayor until she is term-limited out of office in December next year. Taichung mayor is obviously a full-time job, and concurrently running the Taipei-headquartered party runs the risk of doing one or both jobs poorly and making mistakes that could imperil her shot at the presidency in 2028. The situation has changed. Current KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), knowing he is likely to face challengers of a higher caliber than the three relative nobodies already declared, has gone all in on appealing to the base. The base is more likely to turn out to vote in the chair election, so this makes some strategic sense in the short term.
Among Thailand’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) villages, a certain rivalry exists between Arunothai, the largest of these villages, and Mae Salong, which is currently the most prosperous. Historically, the rivalry stems from a split in KMT military factions in the early 1960s, which divided command and opium territories after Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) cut off open support in 1961 due to international pressure (see part two, “The KMT opium lords of the Golden Triangle,” on May 20). But today this rivalry manifests as a different kind of split, with Arunothai leading a pro-China faction and Mae Salong staunchly aligned to Taiwan. Last spring at Arunothai’s Jiaolian School, principal Wang Mingming (王明明) had forewarned me of the division between villages, saying, “We are not like the people in Mae Salong. They are rich. Because of the Taiwanese.” Arunothai has in recent years become split in its loyalties between Taiwan and China (see part one, “A tale of two schools,” on May 15), but in Mae Salong, links to Taiwan remain strong. Taiwan-funded monuments pay homage to the Lost Army, villagers wear T-shirts emblazoned with the Republic of China (ROC) flag and tea plantations grown Taiwan’s most famous tea varieties, including Dong Ding (“frozen peak”) Oolong, Oriental Beauty and Jin Xuan (Golden Daylily or Milk Oolong). Even the numerical classifications of the teas — Oolong No. 12 or No. 17, for example — are the same, and the shops resemble those found on Alishan. At the tomb of General Tuan Hsi-wen (段希文) — perched on a Mae Salong hilltop with a view of his ancestral homeland in China’s Yunnan province — a third generation villager wearing a vintage KMT army uniform, Yan Si-Chung (岩思中), greets visitors with sharp military salutes. “Both my father and my grandfather were soldiers in the KMT army,” the 44-year-old
| New Taipei City | 27-28 | 20% |  |
| Hsinchu County | 26-27 | 10% | |
| Hsinchu City | 26-27 | 10% | |
| Taipei City | 27-28 | 20% |  |
| Miaoli County | 24-26 | 10% | |
| Taoyuan City | 26-27 | 10% | |
| Keelung City | 27-28 | 20% | |
| Yunlin County | 26-27 | 10% | |
| Taichung City | 26-28 | 10% | |
| Nantou County | 25-26 | 10% | |
| Changhua County | 27-28 | 10% | |
| Chiayi County | 26-27 | 10% | |
| Chiayi City | 25-27 | 10% | |
| Tainan City | 27-28 | 10% | |
| Kaohsiung City | 27-28 | 10% | |
| Pingtung County | 26-27 | 10% | |
| Yilan County | 25-26 | 30% |  |
| Hualien County | 25-26 | 30% | |
| Taitung County | 25-27 | 30% | |
| Kinmen County | 27-28 | 10% | |
| Penghu County | 27-27 | 20% | |
| Lienchiang County | 27-28 | 20% | |
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