Sun, Mar 29, 2026
RESILIENT NETWORK: Taiwan would deepen cooperation with the EU and other like-minded countries through its ‘integrated diplomacy’ framework, MOFA said The European Parliament on Thursday passed a report calling for closer cooperation with like-minded partners, including Taiwan, to build a resilient web of trusted connectivity. The European Commission and the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy in 2021 launched the Global
US senators would urge legislators across party lines to support the government’s NT$1.25 billion (US$39.21 billion) special defense budget during a visit beginning today, the Financial Times said in a report yesterday. The delegation, headed by Democratic US Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican US
China used fake LinkedIn profiles to harvest sensitive data from NATO and EU institutions by soliciting information from staff, a European security source said on Friday. The operation, allegedly orchestrated by the Chinese Ministry of State Security, targeted dozens of employees at the military all
Yemen’s Houthi rebels yesterday announced their entry into the Middle East war by launching a ballistic missile toward Israel, as the world struggles to contain the economic damage of a conflict now entering its second month.The intervention of Iran’s Yemeni allies into Tehran’s conflict with Israel
Police in Nepal early yesterday arrested former Nepalese prime minister Khadga Prasad Oli over the deaths of dozens of people during violent protests in September last year that toppled the government and resulted in new elections.Authorities arrested the Communist Party leader at his residence on t
J-6 REMODEL: The converted drones are part of Beijing’s expanding mix of airpower weapons, including bombers with stand-off missiles and UAV swarms, the report said China has stationed obsolete supersonic fighters converted to attack drones at six air bases close to the Taiwan Strait, a report published this month by the Arlington, Virginia-based Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies said.Satellite imagery of the airfields from the institute’s “China Airpowe
The United States’ representative to Taiwan reiterated his support for the NT$1.25 trillion (US $39 billion) special defense budget proposed by the Cabinet in a recent TV interview, saying it would help Taiwan adapt to modern warfare and contribute to regional security.In an interview with TVBS t
PROTECTING FREEDOM: Taiwan needs defense systems, weapons platforms and bolstered societal resilience to ensure continued peace, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim said Taiwan is developing civil-government interoperability as an antidote to China’s new attempts to dislocate the nation’s political institutions and erode its society, Deputy Minister of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said yesterday.He made the remarks at the Civil Defense Convention in Taipei hosted
The Coast Guard Administration confirmed yesterday that a Taiwanese fishing vessel was docked at Zhangzhou Port in China’s Xiamen City, but did not comment on reports that the boat had been involved in illegal activities.Penghu-registered Da Jin Man No. 8 departed Taiwan’s Magong Harbor at noon on M
NO SHORTAGE: The Ministry of Economic Affairs said LNG supply would be unaffected as any shortfall would be covered by emergency procurement or expedited delivery Taiwan has been targeted by a wave of online disinformation saying that the nation’s gas supplies would soon be completely depleted due to disruptions from the war in the Middle East — a narrative officials said could cause panic and undermine confidence in the government.The false social media post
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday voiced support for a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally today, saying the judiciary “must not become a tool for political reckoning” and warned against what it described as selective enforcement of the law to target opposition figures.The KMT made
Henry Lee (李昌鈺), the famed forensic scientist who helped bring modern crime scene investigation into the public spotlight through his involvement in high-profile cases such as the O.J. Simpson murder trial, has died. He was 87. Lee “passed away peacefully” on Friday at his home in Henderson, Nevada,
NEW TAIPEI CITY: Taiwan Railway said that 201 services were affected, resulting in cumulative delays of 342 hours, 30 minutes, adding that tickets can be refunded Taiwan Railway Corp resumed normal services yesterday after major delays the previous day due to an electrical fault between Shulin (樹林) and Yingge (鶯歌) stations in New Taipei City.Two-way rail traffic was fully restored late on Friday night, and the first train yesterday morning departed on time, t
DUAL SPECIALITIES: Students should specialize in special-needs dentistry in addition to their main focus, as demand for the role has increased, an expert said Demand for dentists trained to help elderly people and those with special needs is not being met, so dentistry students should be encouraged to take on dual academic specialties, said Chen Hsin-ming (陳信銘), director of National Taiwan University Hospital’s (NTUH) Oral Health Care Center for Special N
The Taichung City Government should be admonished for its inaction over the Taichung International Airport Gateway Project, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taichung City Councilor Yang Tien-chung (楊典忠) said on Friday during a review of the project.The project aims to integrate the airport and the
Hundreds of used sneakers arrive each week at a workshop east of Paris, where workers inspect them and ask a simple question: Can a shoe be saved?Nonprofit SneakCoeurZ is in the business of sorting the shoes to check which ones can be resold or redistributed and which have to be rejected. It says it
In India’s rapidly growing economy, millions of newly affluent consumers are fuelling demand for luxury goods from the likes of Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Dior. However, getting to a store can be a problem — there are not that many of them.With nearly 1.5 billion people and an economy growing more th
The US’ and Israel’s war with Iran has highlighted the newfound alliance between the tech sector and the US military after decades of strained relations, displaying a synergy that investors see as a gold mine.Military-industrial heavyweights such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing are being joined by ris
There is a photograph of former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) taken at a news conference on Thursday after the Taipei District Court sentenced him to 17 years in jail for corruption, embezzlement and mismanagement of political donations: Right arm raised, finger pointing for emphasis, his mouth locke
This month, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) released its first quarterly update of the year, adding more than 500 new words while revising nearly 1,000 existing entries. Such updates are the event of the season among word watchers and culture observers across the globe.For over two decades, I ha
This year’s parliamentary election in Nepal — the first after the Gen Z-led violent protest that toppled the previous government in September last year — were marked by a foundational shift in Nepal’s domestic politics. The results resoundingly rejected the traditional political parties, with the Ra
SPEED vs. POWER: The US might have the best (or only) football players in the world, but flag football is an entirely different game to them Team USA does not need NFL players to help it go for the gold when flag football debuts at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. The Fanatics Flag Football Classic in LA last Saturday showed the men’s national team can bring it home. The men dominated games against teams made up of current and former NF
The 2026 edition of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) season opened with the Rakuten Monkeys winning 3-2 against the CTBC Brothers at the Taipei Dome yesterday.The game was a repeat of last year’s Taiwan Series, where the Monkeys outlasted the Brothers 9-7 in Game 5 in Taichu
Workers are hammering, cranes are swinging and seats are being bolted into place — but the clock is ticking. Mexico City’s famous Azteca stadium, reborn as Estadio Banorte, is in a frantic race to be ready for its grand reopening on Saturday.Drone footage showed crews installing seats and attaching
Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer in the sixth to end an 0-for-7 start to his year after the two-time reigning American League MVP had a strike call overturned by the automated system earlier in the same at-bat when he challenged, and the New York Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants 3-0 on Friday.Af
RIVALRY: ‘We know that these are merely symbolic investigations initiated by China, which is in fact the world’s most profligate disrupter of supply chains,’ a US official said China has started a pair of investigations into US trade practices, retaliating against similar probes by US President Donald Trump’s administration as the superpowers stake out positions before an expected presidential summit in May. The move, announced by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Friday
ROCKY RELATIONS: The figures on residents come as Chinese tourist numbers drop following Beijing’s warnings to avoid traveling to Japan The number of Chinese residents in Japan has continued to rise, even as ties between the two countries have become increasingly fractious, data released on Friday showed. As of the end of December last year, the number of Chinese residents had increased by 6.5 percent from the previous year to 930,4
A Russian man was on Friday sentenced to four years in prison for assaulting a woman in London in an attack that was witnessed on a video call and reported to police by US President Donald Trump’s youngest son, Barron. Matvei Rumiantsev, 23, was convicted by a jury on Jan. 28 of assault with bodily
March 30 to April 5 The discovery of 32 charred bodies on a smoldering ferry in China’s Qiandao Lake shocked the nation, as 24 were Taiwanese tourists. For over two weeks, Chinese authorities insisted that the blaze was an accident and kept silent about the details, igniting outrage in Taiwan over t
Jason Han says that the e-arrival card spat between South Korea and Taiwan shows that Seoul is signaling adherence to its “one-China” policy, while Taiwan’s response reflects a reciprocal approach.“Attempts to alter the diplomatic status quo often lead to tit-for-tat responses,” the analyst on inter
On Thursday, former Taipei mayor and founder of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Seven others related to the case were also handed prison sentences, wh
Continued from yesterday（延續自昨日）https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/langGig Tripping“Gig tripping” combines concerts with travel. People fly to see their favorite artists perform — usually abroad—and spend a few days sightseeing before or after the show. While die-hard fans have done this since the 1960
Travel fever is back, and it’s contagious. After years of being kept home during the COVID-19 pandemic, people are once again eager to explore the world. Rather than just book any trip, travelers are getting smarter about how they scratch that travel itch.MicrocationDefined as four days or fewer and
A: Apart from collaborating on crossover comics, “Chibi Maruko-chan” and “Crayon Shin-chan” will launch co-branded merchandise and pop-up stores this time.B: Actually, you don’t need to fly to Japan. Taipei’s Huashan 1914 Creative Park is hosting multiple anime-themed pop-up stores — including one
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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