Sat, Mar 14, 2026
WEAPONS TIME FRAME: The motion also directed the Executive Yuan to brief the legislature on the estimated delivery dates of the US weapons systems The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed a motion authorizing the Cabinet to sign letters of acceptance (LOA) for four weapons systems approved for sale by the US that were set to expire this month.The motion was passed by the legislature in line with the conclusion reached following cross-caucus talks
The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a four-year prison sentence for a retired National Security Bureau (NSB) agent for contravening the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法) by seeking employment in China using classified information.The ruling is final and cannot be appealed.According to a co
A large explosion yesterday rocked an area of Iran’s capital where thousands were gathered for the annual state-organized Quds Day to support the Palestinians and call for Israel’s demise.Israel had earlier warned that it would target the area in central Tehran.There were no immediate reports of cas
A three-year-old party won Nepal’s general election by a landslide, authorities said, positioning its candidate Balendra Shah to become the next prime minister, with a mandate for the rapper-turned-politician to restore political stability.The election on March 5 was the Himalayan nation’s first sin
ART: Taiwan and the US already reached a consensus on many issues covered by the Section 301 investigations, which the probe would reflect, a Cabinet spokeswoman said The benefits Taiwan secured under the US-Taiwan Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) would not be affected by Washington’s decision to launch a probe into 16 economies, including Taiwan, under Section 301 of the US Trade Act, Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said yesterday.Lee said she is optim
ON HOLD: KMT and TPP lawmakers declined to grant the Cabinet prior approval to sign an expected letter of acceptance to buy Altius’ 600 and 700M drones The three main political parties yesterday agreed to authorize the government to sign US agreements for four arms sales packages before the defense budget is passed, after officials warned that Taiwan would go to the back of the line if it missed the deadline.President William Lai’s (賴清德) administra
LIMITATIONS: Efforts to shut down illegal Web sites are usually frustrated by a lack of jurisdiction, as many owners of such sites use servers outside the country The failed government attempt to shut down a known Web site hosting pirated adult videos (AV) highlights the difficulty of managing emerging media, but Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) yesterday said that the government would continue efforts to shut down such sites.The case ste
BREAKTHROUGH: The genomic toolkit overcomes the limitations of DNA barcoding and advanced plant species identification to the genomic level, local researchers said The Taiwan Biodiversity Research Institute, in collaboration with National Taiwan Normal University, has developed a genomic toolkit that helps identify plant varieties with subtly different genomic characteristics.Scientists used to identify species via DNA barcoding, a technique that works well wi
Police on Thursday said they have arrested 26 people and shut down an investment fraud operation that collaborated with a scam center in Cambodia to swindle more than 40 victims.A man surnamed Hsu (徐) led the fraud ring, which made about NT$36 million (US$1.2 million) in profits from the operation s
Sindian police cautioned people joining “treasure-hunting” or “night adventure” trips organized by online groups after two groups of young people were arrested last month for trespassing. The Sindian Police Precinct said in a statement on Feb. 23 that they received calls on two separate days during
LACKING CREDENTIALS: The opposition’s nominees did not have enough expertise and the confirmations showed the legislature cannot make rational decisions, an official said The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation chairman Michael You (游盈隆) as Central Election Commission (CEC) chairman in a roll call vote, alongside four other nominees.You, who has no official political affiliation, was nominated by the Democratic Progressive Party (D
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday nominated Hsu Hsi-hsiang (徐錫祥), a head prosecutor at the Supreme Prosecutors Office, to serve as the next prosecutor-general and asked the Legislative Yuan to confirm the nomination in a document delivered to the Legislative Yuan earlier in the day.The nominatio
INDISPENSABLE PARTNERS: Kumamoto’s vice governor said he appreciated Kaohsiung’s joint delegation to the US idea, as it demonstrated the nations’ determination to cooperate A delegation organized by Kaohsiung and Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture on Thursday attended a semiconductor forum in Arizona, where they highlighted the importance of supply chain diversification in the fast-changing global economy.The Kaohsiung City Government yesterday said Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) l
Human rights groups yesterday condemned the harassment of people who rallied to support the religious freedom of Tibetans, saying that it was typical transnational repression by China, not a mere disturbance or criminal case.A candlelight vigil was held at Taipei’s Liberty Square on Tuesday in comme
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday presented receipts from his trip to Tokyo, where he attended the World Baseball Classic, showing that he paid for the NT$2.14 million (US$67,047) trip himself. Cho said he made the disclosure as the public has the right to know, and in response to allegations fro
SIXTY TARGETS: The probe would determine whether economies had properly implemented import bans on of goods produced with forced labor, an official said US President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday began its second tariff investigation in as many days, continuing its effort to rebuild Trump’s trade policy that was struck down by the US Supreme Court.The office of US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer initiated the probe under Section 301
NO MIDEAST HIT? As increasing memorychip prices are expected to lift average selling prices, notebook revenue might be flat or slightly up, an executive said Wistron Corp (緯創) yesterday said it expects revenue this year to grow by a high double-digit percentage annually, driven by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers amid data center build-outs by major cloud service providers.Major customers have not shown any slowdown in AI infrastructure sp
Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星科技), a supplier of PCs and PC motherboards, yesterday said that global PC shipments would dip by as much as 20 percent this year as memorychip price surges dampen demand.It is expected to be a challenging year for the PC industry and could be one of “the most diff
A survey released this week by Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies offered further insight into how Taiwanese view the nation’s security environment and their own role in defending it.The “American Portrait” survey is a Taiwan-based telephone questionnaire survey conducted a
China’s latest draft law on “promoting ethnic unity and progress” is presented as a benign effort to improve cohesion among its 56 recognized ethnic groups. In reality, it codifies assimilationist policies that have long been deployed in Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. This shift has profound im
Since taking office, President William Lai (賴清德) has been an active proponent of the Healthy Taiwan initiative. As a member of the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee, I have also contributed recommendations on various pharmaceutical policies. After the committee concluded its seventh meeting on Satu
MEDVEDEV AWAITS: The world No. 1 Spainiard said that he is ‘finding the right shots’ as he pushed his record so far this year to 16 victories and no losses Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year.The world No. 1 from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.In the semis tomorrow, he faces Russ
Taiwan coach Prasobchoke Chokemor yesterday was focused on his side’s preparations for today’s quarter-final against China at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup in Australia, steering clear of a controversial incident in the stands earlier this week.“We can say we did well agai
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Thursday reacted to his latest individual accomplishment with the Oklahoma City Thunder the way he always does: by deflecting credit and pointing to team goals, while in Los Angeles, Luka Doncic was needled by the Chicago Bulls and responded with his first 50-point game fo
Ollie Watkins’ second-half header on Thursday gave Aston Villa a 1-0 win over Lille OSC in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 tie.Just past the hour mark, Ezri Konsa sent a deep pass that Emi Buendia headed to Watkins in the home team’s box. The England forward noticed goalkeeper
SUPPLY DISRUPTION: The move reflects White House worries that the surge in oil prices would hurt US businesses and consumers ahead of the November midterm elections The US on Thursday issued a 30-day waiver for nations to buy sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products stranded at sea, in what US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said was a step to stabilize global energy markets roiled by the Iran war.Oil prices eased yesterday morning in Asia after th
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday unveiled a C$35 billion (US$25.6 billion) plan to boost Canada’s defenses in the arctic as it tries to decrease its reliance on the US.Canada has traditionally relied on US help to monitor the Canadian arctic, which covers 4.4 million square kilometers
NASA on Thursday said that the long-delayed launch of Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the moon in more than 50 years, could come as soon as April 1.“We are on track for a launch as early as April 1, and we are working toward that date,” Lori Glaze, a senior NASA official, told a news co
The race for New Taipei City mayor is being keenly watched, and now with the nomination of former deputy mayor of Taipei Hammer Lee (李四川) as the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate, the battle lines are drawn. All polling data on the tight race mentioned in this column is from the March 12 F
When my friend invited me to take a tour of a wooden house hand-built by a Pingtung County resident, my curiosity was instantly piqued and I readily agreed to join him. If it was built by a single person, it would surely be quite small. If it was made of wood, it would surely be cramped, dingy and m
It starts out as a heartwarming clip. A young girl, clearly delighted to be in Tokyo, beams as she makes a peace sign to the camera. Seconds later, she is shoved to the ground from behind by a woman wearing a surgical mask. The assailant doesn’t skip a beat, striding out of shot of the clip filmed b
Candles were made from animal fats in ancient times. As knowledge and materials improved, people began making them with beeswax and vegetable wax, which burned more cleanly and produced less odor. Before __1__ lighting, candles were considered highly valuable. In many religions, they came to symboli
A: Which team do you think will win the championship in the 2026 World Baseball Classic?B: The previous champion Japan and runner-up the US are exceptionally strong. A: The Taiwan team was captained by Chen Chieh-hsien with a roster of 16 pitchers, 3 catchers and 11 fielders, and was quite strong
A: Did you watch the preliminary games of the 2026 World Baseball Classic? Pool C included Australia, the Czech Republic, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. All the games in Tokyo were absolutely intense.B: Of course. Many teams called up star players from Major League Baseball this time. Going up aga
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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