Thu, Aug 20, 2026
INSTALLING AGENTS: Minister Hsu Chia-ching said that the council is under great pressure, but it would not be confined, as that would mean it is failing in its duties China has compromised Taiwanese overseas diaspora groups, Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) said yesterday, confirming comments by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵).Hsu made the comments while presenting a report at a meeting of the Legi
PACIFIC OCEAN TRIP: Photographs of the single-seat jets at a facility in Fort Worth, Texas, were posted online, although their delivery date was unknown The first two of 66 F-16V Block 70 jets that Taiwan has purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan soon, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday.The two jets, bearing serial numbers 6727 and 6728, would be refueled in-flight and make a maintenance stop during the flight across th
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday announced plans to increase the salaries of government workers next year and that more military personnel were eligible for bonuses reserved for combat troops starting last month.The government has created a third category of combat unit to make troops performin
China has completed the first phase of construction on Antelope Reef (Lingyang Reef, 羚羊礁) in the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), building an artificial island in the disputed South China Sea that analysts say will form part of its largest military base.Satellite images showed the reclaimed fe
Annual war games between South Korea and the US are to end about a week earlier than planned, both countries said yesterday, after US President Donald Trump ordered the “inappropriate and hostile” drills scaled back.Trump on Sunday said that he had told the Pentagon to curtail the annual Ulchi Freed
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The ministry urged Uganda not to impose inappropriate entry restrictions, saying that they would have a negative effect on bilateral exchanges The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday thanked the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) and like-minded countries for expressing concern over the Ugandan government denying entry to Taiwanese. Department of European Affairs Director-General Eric Huang (黃鈞耀) said the IPAC yesterday
Scammers have been impersonating the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) and sending Line messages, the agency said recently, urging people not to click on suspicious links and to delete the messages immediately. Members of the public have reported receiving messages from scammers claimi
Taiwan's top military hospital yesterday highlighted its use of highly mobile surgical teams and virtual reality (VR) training to prepare medical personnel for frontline trauma care during disasters and military operations."A Forward Surgical Team (FST) is essentially a small, highly mobile surgical
The number of Taiwanese visitors to Japan last month reached a record high for July, as arrivals surpassed 700,000, with the figure only topped by South Koreans at 894,700, Japan's tourism board said today. Amid Sino-Japanese tensions, the number of visitors from China last month plummeted to 428,00
This year’s local government elections are to be held on Nov. 28, with an estimated 19.65 million people eligible to cast ballots, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said today.The nine-in-one local elections would see 11,051 local public officials chosen across 8,906 electoral districts and invo
Ugandan immigration authorities have returned the passports of four Taiwanese after recently withholding their documents at Entebbe International Airport, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said today.After learning of the incident, the ministry immediately instructed its representative office i
In response to rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and the goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, the government would continue promoting net zero technology innovation by leveraging Taiwan’s semiconductor and information and communications technology (ICT) clusters to turn laborat
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) would on Sunday next week officially open after nearly 10 years of construction, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new
TEAMWORK: The premier said he hoped to work with Han to address the constitutional imbalance between their branches of government and uphold the Constitution Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Tuesday continued to spar publicly over the Executive Yuan’s refusal to countersign bills. Han on Tuesday evening wrote on social media that he had called on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to do its duty to pass the general
An investigation into Taiwan’s representative in Geneva, Greg Lee (李冠德), could take two months given the extensive allegations against him, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a signed complaint late last month accusing Lee of work
A potential lull in Taiwan's offshore wind development from 2031 to 2033 could disrupt investment and erode the marine engineering capacity built up over the past decade, an industry executive said today.The government must move quickly on its next round of offshore wind projects to ensure continuit
LOAD LIFTERS: With a 50kg carry capacity, the arms, still in the proof-of-concept stage, could be used to manipulate AI servers or other goods in a production line Techman Robot Inc (達明機器人) yesterday showcased its new TM45S heavy-load dual-arm collaborative robots for artificial intelligence (AI) server assembly and semiconductor handling at the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show amid rising demand. Each arm can carry up to 50kg, or 100kg combined,
BLEEDING EDGE: The latest and greatest in robotics, AI, sensors, power sources, servos, joints, visual recognition and more are showcased in Nangang Intelligent Asia, Taiwan’s largest industrial exhibition and a major platform for artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and automation, opened yesterday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center's Hall 1 and 2.The exhibition features about 1,200 vendors from 16 countries and regions across 4,500 boot
German journalist and Chinese intelligence researcher Jurgen Kremb said the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau has confirmed that he was followed by a suspected Chinese intelligence operative while visiting Alishan last year. The bureau said the case highlights China’s use of transnational rep
Grab Holdings Ltd plans to acquire Taiwan’s No. 1 food delivery business, Foodpanda, for US$600 million. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is reviewing the proposal. Grab offers ride-hailing, dining, fresh food and grocery delivery, parcel delivery, payments, loans, insurance and digital banking servi
For more than a decade, the debate surrounding China’s global economic expansion has largely revolved around one phrase: “debt-trap diplomacy.” According to this narrative, Beijing deliberately extends unsustainable loans to developing countries and later exploits financial distress to secure strate
TWO OUT OF THREE: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Chan Hao-ching moved on to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles, while Liang En-shou was knocked out on Tuesday Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei (謝淑薇) and Chan Hao-ching (詹皓晴) on Tuesday advanced to the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open’s women’s doubles with partners Jelena Ostapenko and Maya Joint, while Aryna Sabalenka unleashed her big game with devastating effect in the women’s singles, hammering China’s Wang X
Sonal Dinusha continued his resilient innings and guided Sri Lanka to 175 for 6 at lunch on day five of the first cricket test, holding on as India pushes for the four wickets it needs for victory.Sri Lanka resumed yesterday at 84-4, trailing by 287 runs, with Sonal Dinusha — who scored a century in
Five Australian rules footballers have been banned for the remainder of the Australian Football League (AFL) season by the Sydney Swans for breaching player codes of conduct during a stay at a Melbourne hotel that has led to a police investigation into allegations of sexual assault.The Swans issued
Bayern Munich midfielder Jamal Musiala said he is dealing with a neurological issue, but doing well despite collapsing during a preseason game on Tuesday at Heidenheim, three days after a similar incident against Leipzig.The 23-year-old went down after entering on Tuesday’s friendly as a substitute
‘REGIONAL ESCALATION’: Abu Dhabi said its defenses had detected two missiles launched from Iran toward the country, later clarifying the targets were maritime The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday said that it is suspending all trade and financial dealings with Iran after reporting an Iranian missile attack directed at its ships.The announcement comes after a period of relative calm in the UAE, with no Iranian missiles aimed at the country since May a
The US on Tuesday imposed sanctions against International Criminal Court (ICC) President Tomoko Akane of Japan and another senior official as part of Washington’s campaign against what it calls a “corrupt and fatally politicized” body.Washington also slapped sanctions on ICC Senior Trial Lawyer Abdo
A former adviser at the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) on Tuesday pleaded guilty to conspiring to evade public records laws and conceal government documents related to grant research funding and the COVID-19 pandemic.David Morens, who had worked as a senior official
An interesting essay in the spring issue this year of International Security by Kerby Davis and Eugene Gholz explores the possibilities and outcomes of simulated missile attacks by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on Taiwan’s ports to carry out a blockade. “Substantively,” they conclude in Block
There is nothing quite so fascinating as a liminal state, where much is known but nothing is certain, and the potential for surprises remains tantalizingly or terrifyingly real. That is the current state of this year’s elections, with candidate registration just a couple of weeks away, starting on A
Summer is the season of socializing, from alfresco drinks to weddings to group holidays. It can get expensive — and suddenly you start noticing those friends who don’t pay their way. Or the ones who splash the cash and make you feel cheap. In fact, there are a host of annoying money-related habits t
A: What’s the latest in the music and film industries?B: South Korean supergroup BTS just announced they will not submit for the 2027 Grammy Awards, shocking fans worldwide.A: Five-time Grammy nominee BTS is boycotting the introduction of “Best Asian Pop Music Performance Award” to protest against t
Picture yourself standing before a gigantic iceberg, its surface glowing under the Arctic sun. The air is crisp, and the silence is broken only by the distant cracking of shifting glaciers. This is Greenland, the world’s largest island. Despite its massive size, fewer than 60,000 people call it home
Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey” has not only lured legions of fans to cinemas, but sparked huge interest in the UK in Homer’s epic poem and other Greek and Roman mythology works. Some involved in Classics academia hope the blockbuster’s box office success and wider cultural impact wi
| New Taipei City | 27-29 | 50% |  |
| Hsinchu County | 26-29 | 30% | |
| Hsinchu City | 27-30 | 30% | |
| Taipei City | 26-29 | 50% | |
| Miaoli County | 26-29 | 50% | |
| Taoyuan City | 26-29 | 40% | |
| Keelung City | 26-28 | 50% | |
| Yunlin County | 26-29 | 70% | |
| Taichung City | 26-29 | 70% | |
| Nantou County | 25-29 | 70% | |
| Changhua County | 26-29 | 70% | |
| Chiayi County | 25-28 | 80% | |
| Chiayi City | 25-28 | 70% | |
| Tainan City | 25-27 | 90% | |
| Kaohsiung City | 25-27 | 90% | |
| Pingtung County | 25-26 | 100% | |
| Yilan County | 26-29 | 30% | |
| Hualien County | 26-29 | 30% | |
| Taitung County | 26-29 | 60% | |
| Kinmen County | 27-28 | 40% | |
| Penghu County | 26-28 | 70% | |
| Lienchiang County | 27-29 | 40% | |
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