Fri, Jan 19, 2024
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator-at-large-elect Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) yesterday announced that he is teaming up with KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) to run for legislative speaker and deputy speaker respectively, although Chiang said he would make way for a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legisl
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) yesterday inaugurated the Cognitive Warfare Research Center dedicated to studying the threat of online disinformation to Taiwan’s democracy and security.Foreign hostile forces produced and disseminated forged videos, fabricated news and doctored im
Pakistan yesterday launched deadly strikes against militant targets in Iran in apparent retaliation for Iranian air raids on its territory, further stoking tensions and prompting Tehran to summon Pakistan’s envoy.Nine people, including three women and four children, were killed in the Pakistani stri
POLITICAL SCANDAL: S. Iswaran, who denied the 27 charges against him, is the first key minister to be embroiled in a graft investigation since 1986 Singaporean minister of transport S. Iswaran yesterday resigned after being charged with corruption in the biggest political scandal in almost four decades, which has cast a pall on the city-state known for clean governance.Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) accepted Iswaran’s resignat
BLINKEN WARNING: The US secretary of state said Beijing’s attempts at economic, military and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan are counterproductive to its interests The Formosa Club — a coalition of Taiwan friendship groups — on Tuesday congratulated Vice President William Lai (賴清德) on his victory in Saturday’s presidential election and voiced concern over apparent Chinese involvement in Nauru severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan.Nauru switched recognition to C
SPIKED: The Iranian federation said Beijing objected to Taiwan’s hosting rights, while the head of Taiwanese volleyball said it would follow the organizer’s schedule Taiwan has withdrawn from hosting the Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship this year due to China’s objection on political grounds, a press release on the Iran Volleyball Federation’s Web site said on Tuesday.The Asian Volleyball Confederation wrote on Facebook that the tournament, originally sch
EXTENDED REALITY: Minister of Culture Shih Che said he hopes that Taiwanese culture would become ‘the Kuroshio Current that brings warmth to the world’ The Ministry of Culture yesterday announced a subsidy program to encourage extended-reality (XR) creations inspired by Taiwanese cultural elements.Applications for the program are to open on Monday next week until March 1, the ministry said.The program is part of the Cultural Kuroshio Current plan t
VOTE RESULT ON TUESDAY: The Taoyuan Union of Pilots said that when the vote results are confirmed next week, it would begin its planning for a work stoppage A union representing pilots of EVA Airways yesterday said that it does not exclude the possibility of going on strike during the Lunar New Year holiday if it secures the right to do so through a voting process that is to end on Tuesday next week.The Taoyuan Union of Pilots, which has members from EV
A mental health program has helped 17,178 young people and achieved a 96 percent satisfaction rate from August last year to the end of last month, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday.The program provides three free psychiatry sessions to people, prioritizing those aged 15 to 30, the De
The National Museum of Marine Biology Aquarium in Pingtung County yesterday released a green sea turtle back into the wild with a tracker, saying that its migratory path could help explain why sea turtles on the east coast are more prone to tumors.The release was conducted in Taitung County’s Shanyu
Highwealth Construction Corp (興富發), which caused a fatal crash on a Taichung MRT line in May last year, has been ordered to compensate the Taichung City Government and Taichung Mass Rapid Transit Corp a combined NT$222.64 million (US$7.05 million).Highwealth Construction said in a statement on Wedne
TAIWAN CONTINGENCY: The Liberal Democratic Party’s Taiwan Policy Project Team discussed the elections and ‘welcomed’ the victory of Vice President Lai Japanese lawmakers have urged its government to prepare for a Taiwan contingency, Japan’s Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported yesterday, adding that it is high time for Japan and Taiwan to deepen security cooperation.The Liberal Democratic Party’s Taiwan Policy Project Team held a meeting on Tuesday, duri
SOLIDARITY: US House Speaker Mike Johnson said that he would ask the Republican chairs of ‘relevant’ committees to travel to Taiwan after Lai’s inauguration in May Several US lawmakers are to travel to Taiwan in the next few weeks to show support for president-elect William Lai (賴清德), the Financial Times reported yesterday.US Representative Ami Bera, the Democratic ranking member of the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific, is to visit
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday asked Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) and his entire Cabinet to stay on in a caretaker role to ensure a smooth handover of political power, following the submission of their post-election joint resignation, the Presidential Office said.On Saturday, Taiwanese voter
The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on Wednesday decried accusations of cultivating “cult-like religious zealots,” by allegedly enticing students to attend political events and paying for “youth membership” in the TPP, calling it a politically motivated attempt to smear the party.The accusation stems fr
BOOST: Demand for AI-related products increased suddenly in Q4 of last year, a company official said, adding that TSMC is considering building another fab in Kumamoto, Japan Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its revenue would grow up to 25 percent this year, expected to be driven by strong demand for advanced chips for high-performance computing and artificial intelligence (AI) applications.The world’s largest contract chipmaker saw r
AI FEATURES: The S24 Ultra smartphone is said to be able to interpret foreign language phone calls and translate texts in real time, and provide better navigation Samsung Electronics Co on Wednesday announced its latest Galaxy smartphones with new artificial intelligence (AI) features as the South Korean giant seeks to win back its spot as the world’s biggest phone seller from Apple Inc.“Artificial Intelligence will bring about great change in the mobile indu
Presale projects and new houses last year totaled NT$1.1 trillion (US$34.84 billion) in northern Taiwan, suggesting a 12.1 percent fall to a four-year low, as unfavorable policy measures and economic uncertainty prompted developers to stay conservative, Chinese-language My Housing Monthly (住展雜誌) sai
While more than 50 countries made congratulatory calls to president-elect William Lai (賴清德) over the weekend, with many international media outlets lauding Taiwan’s elections as “transparent,” an Internet celebrity seemed to hold a different view.YouTuber Alisasa posted unverified videos from social
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) along with his running mate, Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), won the presidential election, delivering the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) a third term in office. However, the green camp spearheaded by the DPP did not win a majority of legislative seats. The Legislative Yuan
The voter turnout for Saturday’s presidential election was a respectable 71 percent, but still 3 percent less than four years ago. Although this election was crucial, it was not as crucial as some outsiders might have thought. Taiwanese had their finger on the pulse of what the nation’s diverse need
FAMILY TIME: Danielle Collins said after her loss that she would be retiring from the sport this year as she has ‘other things to accomplish,’ including having children World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and men’s sixth seed Alexander Zverev yesterday both fought their way back from the brink of defeat to reach the third round of the Australian Open, a day of close shaves for top seeds at Melbourne Park.Swiatek said she was mentally already at the airport when trailing Daniel
Shock 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists Morocco on Wednesday cruised to a 3-0 win over 10-man Tanzania as they opened their Africa Cup of Nations campaign, while 2012 champions Zambia held the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo).Captain Romain Saiss, Azzedine Ounahi and Youssef en-Nesyri ne
Taiwan on Wednesday secured one silver and two bronze medals at the inaugural World Deaf Youth Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil.The nation’s first medal was won by runner Wei Yu-tze, who clocked a personal best of 11.07 seconds in the men’s 100m at Centro Paralimpico Brasileiro and took second place.Wei’s
SOCCERForest, Everton winNottingham Forest and Everton on Wednesday shrugged off the threat of a potential Premier League points deduction as they battled into the fourth round of the FA Cup. Forest survived a scare to beat third-tier Blackpool 3-2 after extra-time, while Everton were 1-0 winners ag
INDO-PACIFIC CONFLICT: The US House committee on China said the defense department lacked a long-term solution to sustain US bases, ships and aircraft in the area A US congressional committee on China has sent a letter to the secretary of the US Navy raising doubts about a plan to move fuel from Hawaii to storage facilities across the Indo-Pacific and warning that the US military risks being unprepared for a possible conflict.In a letter dated Jan. 17, US Rep
The Philippines is building defense alliances with the US and other security partners to help pave the way for resource exploration in the oil-and-gas-rich South China Sea, the nation’s top defense official said, amid heightened tensions with Beijing.“I really do think it’s quite urgent that we star
King Charles III and the Princess of Wales are both dealing with medical issues that will force them to delay previously planned public engagements over the coming weeks.Charles is to undergo a “corrective procedure” for an enlarged prostate next week, Buckingham Palace said on Wednesday. The palace
China conducted joint combat patrols around Taiwan on Wednesday, in a potential resumption of military intimidation after Taiwan’s presidential election last weekend. But analysts say the reaction from China’s ruling Communist party has been relatively muted so far, despite the success of the ruling
A TikTok tarot card reader gazes at me through the screen and draws a card.“If you’re seeing this,” she coos, “it was meant for you.” And in a sense, she’s right. But it wasn’t fate that brought me here, it was an algorithm.Spirituality and mysticism have long found a home online, but the rise of ge
The first Mean Girls, that compulsively watchable high-school based social satire by Tina Fey, came out in 2004. The Broadway musical opened in 2018. Now it’s 2024, and we have a screen adaptation of the theater adaptation. How long will this reconfiguring go on? Is there a limit?Or ... does the lim
A: Eslite’s Xinyi branch, which housed its only 24-hour bookstore in Taipei,closed its doors recently. What a pity.B: I have good news for you. Eslite’s Songyan branch will be operating 24/7starting tomorrow: you can go anytime you want!A: Really? So I can enjoy book reading at night again.B: Al
對話 Dialogue清清：華華，今天是臘月初八，你喝臘八粥了沒？Qīngqing: Huáhua, jīntiān shì là yuè chūbā, nǐ hē Làbāzhōu le méi?華華：臘月初八？是什麼意思啊？為什麼要喝臘八粥？Huáhua: Là yuè chūbā? Shì shénme yìsi a? Wèishénme yào hē Làbāzhōu?清清：「臘月」就是農曆的12月，「初八」就是這個月的第8天。一到臘月初八，就開始準備過年了。以前的人就用暖呼呼的臘八粥，在寒冷的冬天拜祖先、祈求來年豐收，後來就有了喝臘八粥的習俗了。Qīngqing: Là yuè j
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has witnessed it all? Come along with me, the timeless mirror, as we reflect upon the evolution of the looking glass. In an era before my kind was recognized, humans glimpsed their vague reflections in calm water or lake surfaces. My earliest known man-made ancestors,
It’s certainly been a pleasure watching the presidential campaign launch of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Hou You-yi (侯友宜) lurch painfully about like a wounded pachyderm in search of an elephant graveyard. Hou’s fall to third place in some polls last week appears early, and it might still be recoverable. But grumbling in his party about replacing him has already begun. Indeed, all indications are that the party that twice gave us Lien Chan (連戰), the most despised politician in Taiwan, as a presidential candidate and later offered voters Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) and Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), is arcing along its normal descending trajectory, the North Korean missile test of electoral politics. A KIND OF POLICY PLATFORM Last week the KMT doubled down on this path with Hou’s calls for nuclear power and more death penalty executions, standard KMT fare for decades (the latter is unnecessary since so many potential criminals are likely to die in traffic accidents long before they harm anyone). Apparently KMT policy institutions are not echo chambers so much as mausoleums where dead ideas are embalmed and then periodically put on display. The lack of public policy imagination is obvious. A less obvious facet of KMT ineptitude: with years of speculation that Hou would be their man in 2024, neither Hou nor the party insisted on interesting or experimental public policies to showcase Hou’s greatness in preparation for the showdown. Of course, that is even more true of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Hou’s slide and the media buzz surrounding it are obscuring the truly urgent problem the pro-Taiwan side faces: DPP presidential candidate William Lai (賴清德) has not expanded his voter support beyond the party base. In most polls he remains below 40 percent. Independent voters are staying away in droves, and for the moment the young are turning to
July 17 to July 23 When Yeh Ken-chuang (葉根壯) came of age, the traditional skills of architecture and carpentry that had been in his family for four generations were disappearing. After helping his uncle Yeh Teh-ling (葉得令) construct ships, residences and temples for more than a decade, Yeh struck out on his own at the age of 28 in 1960 as a damusi (大木司, chief carpenter), earning his lifelong title “Chief Chuang” (壯司). Around this time, builders in his homeland of Penghu were increasingly using reinforced concrete instead of wood, due to the humid climate. The period also saw a frenzy in temple construction as the economy improved, meaning there was plenty of work for Yeh. Adept in non-structural techniques such as doors, windows and furniture, as well as the intricate carvings and detailed decorations that adorned the structures, Yeh was able to adapt his skills, leading the reconstruction of the historic Hsiliao Daitian Temple (西寮代天宮) on Penghu’s main island in 1963. According to the book Crossing Traditions in Yeh Ken-chuang’s Large-scale Carpentry Skills (宮廟巧藝 :跨越傳統的葉根壯大木作技術), it was Penghu’s first temple that used a purely reinforced concrete structure. Before his life was cut short, Yeh created more than 70 temples and related structures across the various islands of Penghu and left behind more than 230 building plans. Although Yeh could have built temples and other structures on Taiwan proper, he only worked on a handful of projects outside of Penghu because he wanted to be close to his family. CLAN OF CARPENTERS The Yeh family’s woodworking tradition began with Yeh Ma-li (葉媽利), who learned the architecture and carpentry trade from an unknown master on Kinmen. The Yehs trace their roots to Kinmen, although this branch had been living in Penghu since the early 1600s. Yeh Ma-li was Penghu’s chief temple builder between 1860 and
| New Taipei City | 14-23 | 10% |  |
| Hsinchu County | 14-22 | 10% | |
| Hsinchu City | 14-22 | 10% | |
| Taipei City | 14-22 | 10% | |
| Miaoli County | 12-22 | 10% | |
| Taoyuan City | 14-22 | 10% | |
| Keelung City | 15-21 | 10% | |
| Yunlin County | 14-24 | 0% | |
| Taichung City | 14-24 | 0% | |
| Nantou County | 14-24 | 0% | |
| Changhua County | 14-23 | 0% | |
| Chiayi County | 13-24 | 0% | |
| Chiayi City | 14-25 | 0% | |
| Tainan City | 15-22 | 0% | |
| Kaohsiung City | 17-23 | 0% | |
| Pingtung County | 16-25 | 0% | |
| Yilan County | 14-22 | 10% | |
| Hualien County | 16-22 | 10% | |
| Taitung County | 17-23 | 10% | |
| Kinmen County | 11-18 | 0% | |
| Penghu County | 17-20 | 0% | |
| Lienchiang County | 10-13 | 10% | |
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