Tue, May 12, 2026
PROMOTING TAIWAN: The action team is to hold four forums during the WHA to serve as platforms for exchanges with health experts from other nations The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday jointly announced that a “Taiwan Action Team,” a Taiwanese delegation led by Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良), would head to Switzerland on Friday to promote Taiwan’s smart healthcare and global hea
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) is to implement its annual summer electricity rates for residential users from June 1 through Sept. 30, with the average monthly bill expected to rise to NT$1,084.Summer rates for approximately 15 million residential and small commercial users are to begin on June 1, w
Iran yesterday said that it had demanded the release of its frozen assets and the end of a US blockade of its ports, after US President Donald Trump angrily rejected Tehran’s terms for ending the Middle East conflict.The sharp exchange of messages raised the specter of a return to open conflict in t
Philippine lawmakers yesterday voted by a wide margin to impeach Phlilippine Vice President Sara Duterte, setting the stage for a Senate trial that could end her 2028 presidential bid.The articles of impeachment accuse the daughter of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte of graft, corruption,
PRECISION STRIKES: The most significant reason to deploy HIMARS to outlying islands is to establish a ‘dead zone’ that the PLA would not dare enter, a source said A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) would be deployed to Penghu County and Dongyin Island (東引) in Lienchiang County (Matsu) to force the Chinese military to retreat at least 100km from the coastline, a military source said yesterday. Taiwan has been procuring HIMARS and Army Tactical Mi
‘CLEAR MESSAGE’: The bill would set up an interagency ‘tiger team’ to review sanctions tools and other economic options to help deter any Chinese aggression toward Taiwan US Representative Young Kim has introduced a bill to deter Chinese aggression against Taiwan, calling for an interagency “tiger team” to preplan coordinated sanctions and economic measures in response to possible Chinese military or political action against Taiwan. “[Chinese President] Xi Jinping [習
Recent major cases of sexual violence against minors affecting at least 140 victims prove that Taiwan’s child protection system has failed, the Garden of Hope Foundation said today, calling on the government to require permits to work with children and to establish a cloud-based monitoring system.Th
Chunghwa Post Co’s automated teller machines (ATMs) experienced a nationwide outage this afternoon, preventing users from making withdrawals or transferring funds.The state-run postal company said that the disruption affected all 3,178 of its ATMs across the nation, but services have since returned
An Australian man who went missing following a suspected domestic dispute was found this morning in a remote cave on a cliffside in Taitung County’s Donghe Township (東河).The 50-year-old man, who appeared mobile, was found playing his saxophone at the mouth of the cave in the Coastal Mountain Range w
The government is considering transforming the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall into a democratic education park, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said today.Civic groups have urged the government to remove remaining symbols of authoritarianism and advance transitional justice, as this year marks the 30th an
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck off the coast of Taitung County at 2:53pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.The epicenter was 66.8km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 22.9km, the CWA Seismological Center said.The
The Taipei District Court today sentenced well-known author Wang Yun (王薀) to 12 years in prison for injury causing death, following the fatal abuse of a follower at a Taipei Buddhist center in July 2024.Actor Lee Wei (李威), 45, and his wife, Chien Yu-chia (簡瑀家), who were also implicated in the case a
The government would respond to the Legislative Yuan’s reduced special defense budget by seeking patience from international allies, working with the domestic defense industry and pursuing legal remedies to restore funding in line with budgetary procedures, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said today.Led
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A former army sergeant and an active-duty lieutenant were indicted today for allegedly leaking military documents to Chinese intelligence in exchange for payments totaling more than NT$70,000.The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹), former sergeant squad leader of the 21s
New agreements between the University of Wyoming and the Industrial Technology Research Institute would deepen collaboration on advanced technologies and carbon capture, while helping build more resilient democratic supply chains, President William Lai (賴清德) said today.Lai welcomed a delegation led
AID: The Cabinet has proposed special loans, subsidies and capital injections for CPC, which has absorbed the cost of rising fuel prices, putting it under heavy financial pressure CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) has begun planning crude oil and natural gas procurement for the fourth quarter amid continued tensions in the Middle East, chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said yesterday.The most critical period for Taiwan has passed, and the nation’s energy supply is expected to remain st
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp.TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Ta
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers.Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its gl
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly widespread in workplaces, some people stand to benefit from the technology while others face lower wages and fewer job opportunities. However, from a longer-term perspective, as AI is applied more extensively to business operations, the personnel
The cancelation of RightsCon 2026 in Zambia was not merely a logistical setback — it was a political decision with global consequences, and one that should concern anyone who cares about open international dialogue and digital rights. RightsCon is the world’s largest forum dedicated to human rights
If the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) this week is framed only in terms of clashes over tariffs and Taiwan’s place on the negotiating table, it would be a misunderstanding of the nature of great power exchanges. What the US and China are vying for is
NEW YORK’S YEAR? Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse exhorted his team during one time-out to stay positive and ‘play harder,’ but the 76ers could find no answer The New York Knicks on Sunday used a stunning three-point barrage to crush the Philadelphia 76ers 144-114 and advance in the NBA playoffs as the Minnesota Timberwolves held off the San Antonio Spurs to level their series. The Knicks matched the NBA playoffs record with 25 three-pointers, setting an
Taiwan’s Yang Kun-pi and Liu Wan-yu on Sunday won gold in the trap mixed team event at the World Cup Shotgun in Kazakhstan, setting a new world record with hits on 36 targets. The Taiwanese duo dominated the final, hitting their first 10 shots and scoring a world record 36 combined hits to defeat th
Houston Astros right-hander Teng Kai-wei, the only active Taiwanese pitcher in MLB, on Sunday suffered his third loss of the season, throwing a season-high 63 pitches in his second start of the year. Teng allowed three earned runs over three innings on five hits in the Astros’ 5-0 road loss to the C
Barcelona on Sunday secured their 29th Spanish league title after beating Real Madrid 2-0 in El Clasico. Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres struck in the first half to help Hansi Flick’s side clinch La Liga in consecutive years, while consigning Madrid to a trophyless season. Barca moved an unassaila
ON PROBABTION: The former Thai PM was jailed after the Supreme Court ruled that he improperly served a 2023 sentence in a hospital suite rather than a prison cell Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was released early from prison yesterday, raising the prospect of a return to the spotlight for the political heavyweight.The 76-year-old telecom billionaire served eight months of a one-year prison sentence for corruption and is required to wear an elec
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the public to cut down on gasoline and diesel consumption amid supply disruptions due to the Middle East conflict.India is one of the few nations in the region that has not increased prices of gasoline and diesel for domestic consumers or rationed
CATASTROPHIC HEALTH FAILURE: Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi was transferred by ambulance to a hospital in Tehran ‘to be treated by her own medical team’ Iranian authorities on Sunday released Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi on bail following growing alarm over her health and she has already been transferred to Tehran for medical treatment, her supporters said.After 10 days of hospitalization in Zanjan in northern Iran where she had been se
An eye-catching crowd is gathered in front of Mess-age Studio & Graffiti Supplies (寫手城市工作室), a shop on a small Kaohsiung street.Young men wear fashionable streetwear, looking like the sleek extras of a hip-hop video, and girls wear improbable combinations of colorful garments and carefully crafted h
What government project has expropriated the most land in Taiwan? According to local media reports, it is the Taoyuan Aerotropolis, eating 2,500 hectares of land in its first phase, with more to come. Forty thousand people are expected to be displaced by the project. Naturally that enormous land gra
May 11 to May 17Traversing the southern slopes of the Yushan Range in 1931, Japanese naturalist Tadao Kano knew he was approaching the last swath of Taiwan still beyond colonial control.The “vast, unknown territory,” protected by the “fierce” Bunun headman Dahu Ali, was “filled with an utterly endle
An outbreak aboard a cruise ship of a rare rodent-borne illness called hantavirus has left three passengers dead and sickened others, but global health officials say the risk to the general public remains low because the germ does not easily spread between people.“This is not the next COVID, but it
對話 Dialogue清清：這個週末就是母親節了，你們打算怎麼過？Qīngqing: Zhè ge zhōumò jiù shì mǔqīn jié le, nǐmen dǎsuàn zěnme guò?華華：有啊，我們家通常會去餐廳吃飯，不過很難訂位。Huáhua: Yǒu a, wǒmen jiā tōngcháng huì qù cāntīng chīfàn, búguò hěn nán dìngwèi.清清：而且那天的餐廳都比較貴。Qīngqing: Érqiě nà tiān de cāntīng dōu bǐjiào guì.華華：所以也有人選擇在家吃，比較輕鬆。Huáhua: S
1. 他病了三天。ˇ He has been sick for three days.χ He has been sick since three days.註︰這裡現在完成時態 have / has been 表示從過去某一時日到現在的一段時間存在的行為或狀態，與它連用的時間副詞應為 「for ＋若干時」，如 for a year, for three hours 等，意思是歷時多少。2. 他自從星期三以來都很忙。ˇ He has been busy since Wednesday.χ He has been busy from Wednesday.註︰「自從……以來」，該用 since。說
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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