Wed, Apr 29, 2026
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its 2-nanometer (2nm) chip capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of 70 percent from this year to 2028.The projection comes as five fabs begin volume production of 2-nanometer chips this ye
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said an imported case of measles has been confirmed in a man who returned from Japan, marking the first case of measles from the country in seven years, so it has raised the travel notice for Japan to Level 1 — “watch.”CDC epidemiologist Lin Yung-ching
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion.Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime sec
A man accused of trying to open fire on a media gala attended by US President Donald Trump in Washington at the weekend was charged in court on Monday with trying to assassinate the Republican president.Cole Allen, 31, faces a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted of attempting to kill Trump
LEAKING TRADE SECRETS: Chen Li-ming, who previously worked in a yield engineering unit at TSMC, joined Tokyo Electron Taiwan’s marketing division after leaving the chipmaker A former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) engineer has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in leaking trade secrets involving the company’s advanced 2-nanometer process, a court ruled yesterday.The Intellectual Property and Commercial Court found Chen Li-ming (陳力銘) gui
NEXT WAVE OF INNOVATION: The office aims to integrate resources across industry, academia and research institutions, helping secure a key position in the industry Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday said that quantum technology is set to become Taiwan’s next wave of innovation after artificial intelligence (AI), as the ministry launched a new office to promote the technology and support firms in the industry.While quantum computing is
Civil groups today urged the Legislative Yuan to freeze the Department of Animal Welfare's budget until it proposes better measures to effectively resolve the issue of stray dogs.Stray dogs generate estimated social costs of NT$3.64 billion (US$115.21 million) every year by causing traffic incidents
A mother has been referred to prosecutors for investigation after her young son fell to his death from the family's balcony yesterday while she was picking up her older son from school, local authorities said today.New Taipei City police responded to a call from local residents shortly after 8pm yes
Singer Kui (邱軍) was sentenced to 10 years in prison today for negligent manslaughter while driving under the influence (DUI) and fleeing the scene of the crime.At about 4am on Dec. 27, 2024, Kui was driving a white sedan on Xinyi Road in central Keelung when he crashed into two taxi drivers parked o
Test results have confirmed that a food poisoning outbreak linked to a boxed lunch restaurant in Taoyuan earlier this month was caused by Staphylococcus aureus contamination, the Taoyuan Department of Public Health said today.The outbreak occurred on April 14 at the Neili (內壢) venue of Shang Yeh Roa
The World Coffee Championships (WCC) recently changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including for recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), after suspected political pressure from China.When Bala won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier
Five men have been indicted on charges including obstruction of official duties and assault after clashes during the annual Dajia Matsu pilgrimage in central Taiwan earlier this month injured three police officers, prosecutors said today.The incident occurred late on April 18 in Changhua City, when
A man was acquitted today by the High Court in a retrial of a 29-year-old attempted murder case.Su Yao-hui (蘇耀輝) was previously convicted in the case stretching back to 1997, in which a husband and wife in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城) were attacked by two men wielding machetes. He was sen
Student association leaders and lawmakers today advocated for abolishing curfews at university dorms today, saying that they infringe on the rights of university students as legal adults.Student rights advocates held a news conference at the Legislative Yuan, led by National Students’ Union of Taiwa
A Kaohsiung police officer was indicted today for indecently photographing women and secretly filming in the precinct bathroom, which he used to generate nude images using artificial intelligence (AI). He also used the pretext of investigation to ask a woman to remove her clothes, using his personal
CAPACITY EXPANSION: The additional NT$10 billion is to be used mainly for a new facility that it acquired from AUO as it builds out advanced packaging technologies Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) yesterday raised its projected capital expenditure for this year by 25 percent to NT$50 billion (US$1.59 billion) to step up capacity buildup for advanced packaging technologies, including panel-level packaging (PLP) for chips used in a
After reporting record-high profits for the first quarter, Adata Technology Co (威剛科技), a supplier of DRAM and NAND flash memory modules, yesterday said it expects to again post a new high this quarter as the global memory industry is entering a long-term upcycle, driving chip prices higher. Net prof
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) have repeatedly hit new highs, but an equity analyst said the stock’s valuation remains within a reasonable range and any pullback would likely be technical.The contract chipmaker’s historical price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio has ranged betwee
Taiwan is a sovereign nation that belongs to the world, President William Lai (賴清德), who had originally been scheduled to visit the Kingdom of Eswatini last week, said in a prerecorded video address broadcast on Sunday at a gala dinner that celebrated the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s access
China last week announced that it picked two Pakistani astronauts for its Tiangong space station mission, indicating the maturation of the two nations’ relationship from terrestrial infrastructure cooperation to extraterrestrial strategic domains. For Taiwan and India, the developments present an op
India’s semiconductor strategy is undergoing a quiet, but significant, recalibration. With the rollout of India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0, New Delhi is signaling a shift away from ambition-driven leaps toward a more grounded, capability-led approach rooted in industrial realities and instituti
LET IT RIP: The Astros are going to rely on Teng’s consistency as they stack up against Baltimore on the Orioles’ turf for a three-game series Houston Astros right-hander Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese pitcher in MLB, is slated to start against the Baltimore Orioles today as the team handle a pitching shortage.The news was first reported by Chandler Rome, an Astros beat reporter at The Athletic, in a social media post on Monday. Teng’s n
Tennis players are facing an unexpected opponent at the Madrid Open.A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and others, raising concerns.World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she is trying to avoid illn
Alex Johnston, who recently became National Rugby League’s all time leading try-scorer, has agreed to join the expansion team in Papua New Guinea in 2028 when it enters the Australasian competition.Local media reports said Johnston confirmed the move to his teammates at the South Sydney Rabbitohs on
Australia midfielder Jackson Irvine says soccer’s credibility as a force for good has been undermined by the game’s global governing body, accusing FIFA of making a mockery of its human rights policy.In an interview with Reuters, Irvine took aim at FIFA’s decision to give its inaugural Peace Prize t
UNGUARDED CROSSING: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto yesterday visited hospital patients in Bekasi and said that he had ordered an ‘immediate investigation’ Indonesia’s president yesterday ordered an investigation after a long-distance train smashed into a stationary commuter train overnight, killing 14 people and injuring dozens.Officials ended a nearly 12-hour rescue effort near Bekasi Timur Station, east of the capital, Jakarta, which saw crews pryin
The Pakistani military on Monday killed at least seven civilians and wounded 85 others in an Afghan border province, a provincial health official said.Hundreds of people have been killed since the two neighbors went to war in late February, according to UN data, although the violence has abated.The
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday.Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, followi
What do cocky gods, ghosts, hell contracts, temple charms and bubble tea have to do with young adulthood in Taiwan?Quite a lot, if Netflix’s Agent from Above (乩身) is any guide. Released on April 2, the Taiwanese supernatural drama rose to No. 1 on Netflix in Taiwan and Hong Kong within 48 hours and
One of the challenges with the sheer availability of food in today’s world is that lots of us end up spending many of our waking hours eating. Whether it’s full meals, snacks or desserts, scientists have found that it’s not uncommon for us to be mindlessly grazing at some point during all of our 16
The March/April volume of Foreign Affairs, long a purveyor of pro-China pablum, offered up another irksome Beijing-speak on the issues and solutions for the problems vexing the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the US: “America and China at the Edge of Ruin: A Last Chance to Step Back From the Br
Cameras are everywhere — in our pockets, on our walls and even in space. They capture emotions, preserve history and reflect culture. Through these devices, photography is now essential to modern life, influencing how we perceive ourselves and the world. To understand the root of their power, let’s
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has forced policymakers in Asia to face questions over the security of other maritime chokepoints, including the Strait of Malacca, which is the world’s busiest waterway for international trade.WHAT IS THE MALACCA STRAIT?The 900km long Malacca Strait, bounded by I
對話 Dialogue華華：欸，你最近有沒有發現，路上很多人背的包包上還有一個透明的小包包？Huáhua: Èi, nǐ zuìjìn yǒu méiyǒu fāxiàn, lùshàng hěn duō rén bēi de bāobāo shàng hái yǒu yí ge tòumíng de xiǎo bāobāo?清清：我上次去逛街，也注意到了。我看到好多人把吊飾、照片或娃娃什麼的放進小包裡，掛在包包上。那叫什麼啊？Qīngqīng: Wǒ shàngcì qù guàngjiē, yě zhùyì dào le. Wǒ kàndào hǎo duō rén bǎ diàoshì,
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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