Mon, Feb 16, 2026
UNITED WE STAND: The ministry called on the international community to continue to back Taiwan in a ‘democracy protection umbrella’ against authoritarian challenges China is the real threat to security and is hypocritically claiming to uphold UN principles of peace, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday in a rebuff to comments by China’s top diplomat at the Munich Security Conference.Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅), add
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned by the Kremlin with a rare and lethal toxin found in the skin of poison dart frogs, five European countries said on Saturday.The foreign ministries of the UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands said analysis in European labs of samples t
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi reaffirmed their commitment to deepen bilateral ties in a meeting on Saturday, as Tokyo faces escalating tensions with China.The two officials agreed on the need to modernize economic security relations, and
Australia unveiled A$3.9 billion (US$2.8 billion) in spending yesterday as a “down payment” on a new facility to build nuclear submarines under the tripartite AUKUS security pact with the UK and the US.The AUKUS pact aims to arm Australia with a fleet of cutting-edge submarines from the US and would
REAL EMERGENCIES: To avoid overcrowding, the health minister urged people with mild or moderate symptoms to go to UCCs, while the ER should be for critical cases President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday inspected the nation’s Lunar New Year medical preparedness with a visit to an urgent care center (UCC) in Taipei and expressed confidence in the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s plans to prevent emergency room (ER) overcrowding during the nine-day holiday.The mi
HOLIDAY RUSH: Airport passenger volume is expected to reach a new high, while southbound road traffic would likely peak from Tuesday As Lunar New Year travelers flock overseas, passenger traffic at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is expected to shatter records, as Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC, 桃園國際機場), Taiwan’s largest aviation hub operator, projected yesterday’s passenger volume to climb to 167,000.The figure co
TAIWAN PROWESS: FS-8A’s highest-resolution images could be useful in disaster prevention, national security, mapping and precision agriculture, the agency said The Formosat-8 Chi Po-lin Satellite (FS-8A), the first satellite in Taiwan’s first domestically produced optical remote sensing satellite constellation, has delivered results beyond expectations, the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) said yesterday after the satellite released its first images on Wednesday
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it.There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the mu
IN LOVING MEMORY: Ali, who has been with the zoo since it opened, was loved by visitors for being clever and naughty, and viewed as gentle and by her keepers Kaohsiung’s Shoushan Zoo yesterday announced that it was mourning the death of one of its longest-tenured residents, African elephant Ali, who was found dead on Saturday. She was 52.Although Ali was relatively old, she had not shown any signs of illness before her sudden passing, the zoo said.The zo
Police said yesterday they have arrested a suspect in connection with a parcel explosion in Yilan City a day earlier that injured two elderly siblings.A task force late Saturday night arrested a man surnamed Wu (吳), 63, at his home in nearby Toucheng Township (頭城), seizing evidence including cop
The government plans to quickly submit the Taiwan-US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) and a full impact assessment to the Legislative Yuan, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said yesterday.Average tariffs on US exports would drop from 35.7 percent to 12.33 percent after the deal signed on Thursda
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) yesterday said he is traveling in France despite China’s threats against him.China’s Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau in October last year listed Shen as “wanted” and launched an investigation into his alleged “secession-related” crim
People yesterday shop for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday at Dihua Street market in Taipei yesterday.
prograM: A reward system would be implemented to encourage better care and a national breast cancer database would be established, the health agency said The National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) on Friday said it has initiated a National Health Insurance (NHI) breast cancer care improvement program, with funding of NT$40 million (US$1.27 million) to enhance care quality and reduce the breast cancer mortality rate.Breast cancer is the most
Two siblings in their 70s were injured yesterday when they opened a parcel and it exploded, police in Yilan said, adding the brother and sister were both in stable condition.The two siblings, surnamed Hung (洪), had received the parcel two days earlier but did not open it until yesterday, the fir
FINANCIAL MANEUVERING: The bank’s head announced the move at the Munich Security Conference, the first time that it has made an announcement at that venue The European Central Bank (ECB) unveiled plans on Saturday to widen access to its euro liquidity backstop, making it globally available and permanent in a bid to bolster the international role of the single currency.Access to such repurchase lines — often called repo lines, a crucial source of fundi
RUNNING OUT OF RAIL: A vast trade surplus combined with its weak consumer spending and a debt crisis do not a solid future make, the WTO head said in Munich The head of the WTO on Friday urged China to change its growth model, arguing that its soaring trade surplus was ultimately unsustainable and risked sparking new trade barriers.Beijing says it wants to support the multilateral trading system, “because it has benefited quite a bit from it,” WTO Direc
The introduction of advertisements and sponsored content in chatbots has spawned privacy concerns for artificial intelligence (AI) users as brands scramble to stay relevant in a fast-changing online environment.ChatGPT developer OpenAI began showing ads in chatbot conversations for free and low-cost
With the Year of the Snake reaching its conclusion on Monday next week, now is an opportune moment to reflect on the past year — a year marked by institutional strain and national resilience. For Taiwan, the Year of the Snake was a composite of political friction, economic momentum, social unease an
There is a story in India about a boy called Prahlad who was an ardent worshipper of Lord Narayana, whom his father considered an enemy. His son’s devotion vexed the father to the extent that he asked his sister, Holika, who could not be burned by fire, to sit with the boy in her lap and burn him to
When Hong Kong’s High Court sentenced newspaper owner Jimmy Lai (黎智英) to 20 years in prison this week, officials declared that his “heinous crimes” had long poisoned society and that his punishment represented justice restored. In their telling, Lai is the mastermind of Hong Kong’s unrest — the arch
BUILDING A LEGACY: The Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard won a historic fourth Three-Point Contest title, matching the records held by Larry Bird and Craig Hodges The Miami Heat’s Keshad Johnson on Saturday won the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, overcoming perfect scores by San Antonio Spurs rookie Carter Bryant on his first dunk in the final round.For his final dunk, Johnson started behind the judges’ table, took off from the free-throw line and threw down
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko on Saturday narrowly missed out on a second title in two months in a hard-fought women’s doubles final at the Qatar Open, while Czech Karolina Muchova captured her first WTA 1000 crown in women’s singles.Third seeds Hsieh and Ostapenko blank
Australia yesterday won the New Zealand leg of the SailGP series, which was overshadowed by a crash on Saturday involving New Zealand and France that left a sailor from each team with serious injuries.Driver Tom Slingsby steered the Australian Flying Roos to victory in the three-boat final ahead of
Local fisherman Abubakar Usman’s 59kg monster catch was the major highlight of the UNESCO-listed Argungu Fishing Festival, which returned on Saturday after a six-year hiatus because of insecurity in northwestern Nigeria’s Kebbi State.Thousands of people, including a handful of women and children, de
STANDING WITH IRANIANS: About 350,000 people marched in Toronto to demonstrate against Iran’s government, while 500 rallied outside the presidential palace in Nicosia About 250,000 people on Saturday demonstrated against Iran’s government on the sidelines of a gathering of world leaders in Germany, police said, answering a call from exiled Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi for cranked up international pressure on Tehran.Banging drums and chanting for regime chang
Former US president Barack Obama on Saturday condemned the operations of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Minnesota, comparing their behavior to conduct seen “in dictatorships.” Thousands of federal agents, including those from ICE, carried out weeks of sweeping raids and arr
European leaders, worried about threats from a nuclear-armed Russia and doubts about the future of US security commitments, are increasingly debating whether to bolster nuclear arsenals on the continent.While the US and Russia have thousands of nuclear warheads each, in Europe only France and the UK
Due to the Lunar New Year holiday, from Sunday, Feb. 15, through Sunday, Feb. 22, there will be no Features pages. The paper returns to its usual format on Monday, Feb. 23, when Features will also be resumed. Kung Hsi Fa Tsai!
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moving the Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds before midnight last month symbolized the closest humanity has ever been to global catastropheIn this context, the legislature remains gridlocked over the general budget, mirroring tensions simmering across the globe. Acco
Feb. 16 to Feb. 22Pai Ko’s (白克) film career appeared poised to reach new heights in 1962 with the completion of the highly-anticipated, star-studded Romance of Longshan Temple (龍山寺之戀). Despite being mainly in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), the film promoted harmony between those born in China
Due to the Lunar New Year holiday, from Sunday, Feb. 15, through Sunday, Feb. 22, there will be no Bilingual Pages. The paper returns to its usual format on Monday, Feb. 23, when Bilingual Pages will also be resumed.
A tragic case in California has brought renewed attention to the risks of using artificial intelligence. The parents of a 16-year-old boy, Adam Raine, filed a lawsuit in San Francisco against OpenAI, alleging that ChatGPT provided harmful information that encouraged his suicide. According to the com
A: Have you suddenly become so obsessed with ice sports because of the ongoing 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics?B: Apart from this, it’s also because of my obsession with an ice hockey-themed TV series, “Heated Rivalry.” A: Is that the gay romance drama where two ice hockey stars unexpectedly f
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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