Tue, Apr 07, 2026
INTENSIFYING THREATS: Beijing’s tactics include massive attacks on the government service network, aircraft and naval vessel incursions and damaging undersea cables China is prepared to interfere in November’s nine-in-one local elections by launching massive attacks on the Taiwanese government’s service network (GSN), a report published by the National Security Bureau showed. The report was submitted to the Legislative Yuan ahead of the bureau’s scheduled brief
Israel and the US yesterday carried out a wave of attacks on Iran, killing at least 25 people and hitting the South Pars natural gas field, and Tehran responded with missile fire on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors. US President Donald Trump’s deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz loo
A global survey showed that 60 percent of Taiwanese had attained higher education, second only to Canada, the Ministry of the Interior said.Taiwan easily surpassed the global average of 43 percent and ranked ahead of major economies, including Japan, South Korea and the US, data from the Organisatio
Seoul’s expression of regret over a January drone incursion into Pyongyang is “wise behavior,” the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said.Earlier in the day South Korean President Lee Jae-myung expressed regret to Pyongyang over drones sent into the nuclear-armed North earlier this
The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) again classified Taiwan as free from African swine fever (ASF), returning Taiwan to its status as the only country in Asia to be free of all three major swine diseases, the Ministry of Agriculture said today.A case of African swine fever broke out on a
NEW LOW: The council in 2024 based predictions on a pessimistic estimate for the nation’s total fertility rate of 0.84, but last year that rate was 0.69, 17 percent lower An expected National Development Council (NDC) report expects the nation’s population to drop below 12 million by 2065, with the old-age dependency ratio to top 100 percent sooner than 2070, sources said yesterday.The council is slated to release its latest population projections in August, using an
POTENTIAL EXPLOITATION: Some experts said that China could send a surge of nationals into Taiwan illegally who would be free to roam as soon as their initial detention terms end A limit on the length of detention for Chinese nationals who contravene immigration rules could create a national security loophole, an immigration official said yesterday.The current system lacks a mechanism to re-detain Chinese nationals who contravene rules after being released from immigration d
SOWING CONFUSION: The CCP’s transnational repression aims to incite panic and division, and create the false impression of its governance over Taiwan, the report said The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is enhancing its “push and pull” strategy against Taiwan, using transnational repression to “punish” Taiwanese independence advocates and promoting a “Taiwan Retrocession Day” to mislead countries about Taiwan’s status, a National Security Bureau (NSB) report said.T
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) last year disciplined 983,000 party and government officials, a record high during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) tenure, according to a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB).The report was sent to the Legislative Yuan ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai
China has reserved offshore airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts that are usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday.Reserving such a large area for 40
Maryland Secretary of State Susan Lee (李鳳遷) yesterday welcomed increased investment from Taiwan in the state, citing Maryland’s top- tier talent pool, proximity to federal research institutions, and its strategic position as a key East Coast maritime gateway."We want Taiwan companies and investo
MARKET STABILIZATION: CPC and Formosa Plastics have secured additional crude oil and naphtha shipments until July, as a plastic shortage in the medical sector looms Taiwan is to increase monthly plastic bag production equivalent to 1.25 billion 600ml bags to address a shortage, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. A special project would supply ethylene to Formosa Plastics for producing affordable polyethylene, it said. As instability in the Middle East impacted
Taiwan has restored its status as a self-declared African swine fever (ASF)-free area with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the Ministry of Agriculture announced yesterday. Following WOAH’s acknowledgement, Taiwan is once again the only country in Asia free of the three major swine d
WARNING: Scammers sometimes pretend to be bank personnel calling the buyers and asking them to send their ATM cards or passbooks, the anti-fraud center said The Executive Yuan’s Anti-Fraud Command Center yesterday cautioned the public ahead of the Baishatun Matsu pilgrimage against scams disguised as trade in Matsu-blessed items, cheap produce or rice cookers. This year’s pilgrimage, widely recognized as Taiwan’s longest religious procession on foot, is
A Kaohsiung spring roll vendor who failed to disclose the use of eggs and shredded meat is facing a NT$360,000 fine and possible criminal charges in connection with a food poisoning outbreak that sickened 140 people. At least 12 of 140 people have tested positive for salmonella, the Kaohsiung City
MAIN PLAYERS: Technology firms invested about NT$79.3 billion in commercial real estate during the first quarter, accounting for about 79 percent of transactions Commercial property transactions surged in the first quarter, fueled largely by a major semiconductor factory acquisition, a report released by Colliers International Consultants Ltd’s Taiwan branch on Wednesday last week showed.Total transactions reached NT$99.3 billion (US$3.1 billion) in the firs
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday said it plans to resume operations at two coal-fired power generators for three months to boost security of electricity supply as liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply risks are running high due to the Middle East conflict.The two coal-fired power generators are
Saudi Arabia has raised the price of its main oil grade to Asia to a record high premium, as a widening conflict in the Middle East — and Iran’s near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz — convulse energy markets.State-run Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Saudi Aramco) would increase flagship Arab Light crude price
More than a month into the Middle East conflict, which started on Feb. 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, surging energy prices are fueling inflation worldwide, with economists warning of increased imported inflation risks as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains shut. With no off-ramp in sight, ene
Taiwanese media are not only ignoring the suffering of civilians in conflicts in Iran, Lebanon and the West Bank, they are treating it as irrelevant.On a typical political talk show, the pattern is unmistakable. Familiar commentators — former Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康),
Last month’s Nvidia GPU Technology Conference (GTC) set the tone with a three-minute opening film focused on a single concept: the token. The video portrayed tokens as the fundamental unit that transforms raw data into knowledge — linking scientific discovery, humanoid robots, healthcare breakthroug
BACK WITH A BANG: Inter had collected eight points from five league matches since Lautaro Martinez suffered an injury in the UEFA Champions League Inter on Sunday took a big step toward winning the Serie A title by thrashing sorry AS Roma 5-2, ending a late-season wobble and moving nine points clear at the top of the table.Closest challengers AC Milan were to travel to champions SSC Napoli yesterday with both bidding to see who might stop Inte
Lin Yu-ting, Taiwan’s first Olympic boxing gold medalist, yesterday claimed bronze in the women’s 60kg division at the Asian Boxing Elite Championships in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, after a semi-final loss.Competing in her first international tournament since the 2024 Paris Olympics, Lin lost 4-1 to Nort
Leeds United on Sunday reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 39 years as they survived a dramatic penalty shoot-out after squandering a two-goal lead in a thrilling clash with West Ham United.Daniel Farke’s side were moments away from victory at the London Stadium after Ao Tanaka’s fi
The Houston Rockets on Sunday spoiled Golden State star Stephen Curry’s sparkling return from a 27-game injury absence, thwarting a late Warriors rally for a 117-116 victory.Curry came off the bench in his first game since Jan. 30 and scored 29 points in 26 minutes on the floor.He connected on 11 of
JAN. 1 CLAUSE: As military service is voluntary, applications for permission to stay abroad for over three months for men up to age 45 must, in principle, be granted A little-noticed clause in sweeping changes to Germany’s military service policy has triggered an uproar after it emerged that the law requires men aged up to 45 to get permission from the armed forces before any significant stay abroad, even in peacetime.The legislation, which went into effect on J
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s officially declared wealth is fairly modest: some savings and a jointly owned villa in Budapest.However, voters in what Transparency International deems the EU’s most corrupt country believe otherwise — and they might make Orban pay in a general election this
FLYBY: The four astronauts were set to become the most distant humans from Earth in history, surpassing the record of 400,171km set by Apollo 13 in April 1970 AP, HOUSTON With the moon looming ever larger, the Artemis II astronauts yesterday raced to set a new distance record from Earth on a lunar fly-around promising magnificent views of the far side never seen before by eye.The six-hour flyby is the highlight of NASA’s first return to the moon since the
For generations, human beings have wondered: What would alien life from another planet be like? But we rarely ask the opposite: What would they think of us?It’s a question that can produce some, well, uncomfortable answers if you happen to be an earthling.“If I were looking at Earth from a distance,
The US war on Iran has illuminated the deep interdependence of Asia on flows of oil and related items as raw materials that become the basis of modern human civilization. Australians and New Zealanders had a wake up call. The crisis also emphasizes how the Philippines is a swatch of islands linked b
April 6 to April 13 Few expected a Japanese manga adaptation featuring four tall, long-haired heartthrobs and a plucky heroine to transform Taiwan’s television industry. But Meteor Garden (流星花園) took the nation by storm after premiering on April 12, 2001, single-handedly creating the “idol dra
★ Bilingual Story is a fictionalized account. 雙語故事部分內容純屬虛構。 Lucas was already on the ground before he fully understood what was happening. “Hurry! Kneel down!” someone shouted. The asphalt was warm against his knees. Around him, dozens of people lay flat in the narrow street outside Jenn Lann Te
對話 Dialogue清清：我連假回老家掃墓，帶了一些草仔粿回來，你要不要吃吃看?Qīngqīng: Wǒ liánjià huí lǎojiā sǎomù, dài le yìxiē “tsháu-á-kué” huílái, nǐ yào bú yào chī chī kàn?華華：哇！看起來就很好吃。這是你們家自己做的嗎？Huáhua: Wa! Kàn qǐlái jiù hěn hǎochī. Zhè shì nǐmen jiā zìjǐ zuò de ma?清清：對啊，是我阿姨親手做的。每年清明節她都會做。Qīngqīng: Duì a, shì wǒ āyí qīnshǒu zuò
1. 我曾聽人談起他，但我不認識他。ˇ I have heard of him, but I have never met him.χ I have heard him, but I have never met him.註：「聽到別人提起某人或談論過某人」，用 hear of。若不用 of，意為「聽到過某人講話、演奏、唱歌、唸書、走路、敲門」等等。2. 誰在敲門？ˇ Who is knocking at the door?χ Who is knocking the door?註：knock 為不及物動詞。通常說 to knock at/on the door。例如：Knock bef
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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