Wed, Apr 08, 2026
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation.Cheng is visiting at a
The Republican Study Committee (RSC) delegation recognizes that the security threats that Taiwan faces are real and firmly believes in the principle of “maintaining peace through strength,” US Representative Zachary Nunn said at a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office i
Airstrikes yesterday hit two bridges and a train station in Iran, and Iranian officials urged young people to form human chains to protect power plants, as US President Donald Trump warned that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Tehran did not meet his latest deadline to agree to a deal that
Vietnam’s National Assembly yesterday elected Communist Party General Secretary To Lam as president, consolidating the nation’s top party and state roles in a rare concentration of power, as he moves to tighten control and tackle economic headwinds.Lam was the sole nominee for the five-year post, wi
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) departed today for a six-day visit to China, which might end with a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).Thirteen people are accompanying Cheng, including three KMT vice chairpersons, as well as former National Security Council
PRIORITIES: Maintaining stable production and securing sufficient supplies of oil and other vital products are critical to keeping inflation at bay, the Executive Yuan said To stabilize domestic prices in response to the Middle East conflict, the Executive Yuan yesterday announced that electricity rates would remain unchanged from this month through September, adding that fuel prices would also stay flat this week.To maintain price stability, the top priority is to ens
FUNDING FIGHT: DPP lawmaker Chen Kuan-ting said that drone platforms play a critical role in offense and defense, and the DPP budget backs their development US President Donald Trump could “collectively punish” Taiwan if it fails to demonstrate sufficient commitment to its own defense, particularly by resolving a funding controversy, former US Navy rear admiral Mark Montgomery told the Future Maritime Defense Symposium at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish governmen
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday shortlisted Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), legislators Puma Shen (沈伯洋) and Fan Yun (范雲), and Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee member Enoch Wu (吳怡農) as its Taipei mayoral nominees for the Nov. 28 elections.The party’s Election Strategy
The Supreme Court earlier this month rejected the appeal of Kung Fan-chia (孔繁嘉), a former lieutenant colonel and news desk deputy chief of the Military News Agency, finalizing his five-year, four-month sentence for attempting to recruit spies for China.The Taoyuan District Court in July 2024 sentenc
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday refused to accept questions from Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Li Zhenxiu (李貞秀) during her first general interpellation session, saying that Li is not legally a legislator of Taiwan, as she has not renounced her Chinese citizenship and household registration.D
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is leading a business delegation to the Marshall Islands on a three-day trip aimed at deepening bilateral economic and trade cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.During the visit, which runs from yesterday through tom
A government report released yesterday identified vessels dropping anchor as the most common cause of disruptions to Taiwan’s near-shore undersea cables, highlighting a risk posed by ships flying flags of convenience (FOC).Over the past four years, 38.3 percent of the seven to eight annual cable
TAKING OFF: After factoring in the approved surcharge, China Airlines said that it was absorbing about 77.67 percent of the increased costs for long-haul routes Fuel surcharges on international flights departing from Taiwan more than doubled yesterday, but the country’s major carriers said they would still have to absorb most of the increases in jet fuel prices.The surcharge for short-haul routes has increased from US$17.5 to US$45, while long-haul routes j
IN THE WOODS: The woman said she likely contracted the disease after visiting a forest near her home in Sweden, making her the 21st case detected since 2007 A woman in her 60s who arrived from Sweden was last week confirmed to be the first case of Lyme disease in Taiwan this year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.The woman, who had been living in Sweden since May 2024, arrived on March 17 and was confirmed to have Lyme disease after
ETHYLENE STABILITY: State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan would allocate 5,000 tonnes of additional ethylene as the war in the Middle East disrupts raw material supply The government has launched an “affordable plastic bag” program to stabilize local supply, as heightened Middle East tensions have caused fluctuations in the petrochemical raw materials market and led to supply constraints for some materials and higher prices, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-
Samsung Electronics Co earned a far stronger-than-expected eightfold leap in quarterly profit, underscoring robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI) memory chips in the face of markets roiled by war in the Middle East. Customers led by cloud service providers are ramping up orders for high-ban
Praise Victor Industrial Co (PVI, 頌勝科技) aims to grow its semiconductor business revenue by about 40 percent this year amid robust demand in Taiwan and China, the semiconductor material developer said yesterday. “Based on the first quarter’s performance, we feel a strong growth momentum. There would
As of the end of last week, the TAIEX and the TPEX had rallied 10.98 percent and 14.34 percent respectively since the beginning of this year, outperforming tumbling US markets, buoyed by trading of local semiconductor supply chain stocks, in particular Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) an
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday departed for China — with a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) expected — but an unexpected development has begun to reshape the conversation in Taipei.Reports indicate that, following confirmation of the visit, the
The war in the Middle East shows little sign of ending. Contradictory statements from Washington and Tehran about negotiations and timelines have made it difficult to assess the trajectory of the conflict. What is clear is that the war is continuing without a defined end, while its costs continue to
EUROPEAN AMBITION: Juventus moved to within a point of the Champions League places with a win over Genoa, as the Serie A top-four battle heats up SSC Napoli are still in the hunt to retain their Serie A title after the champions on Monday beat scudetto rivals AC Milan 1-0.Matteo Politano came off the bench and lashed home the only goal of the game with 11 minutes remaining in front of delighted fans in Naples as the hosts racked up a fifth st
The Orlando Magic on Monday kept up their bid for an automatic playoff berth with an 123-107 upset over the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons.Paolo Banchero scored 31 points and Desmond Bane added 25 as six Orlando players finished in double figures to overpower a Detroit side still missing
Dalton Rushing on Monday hit two solo home runs for his first career multi-homer game as the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep five times to rout the Toronto Blue Jays 14-2 in a rematch of last season’s World Series.Teoscar Hernandez and Freddie Freeman each hit a two-run homer, while Shohei Ohtani adde
Stan Wawrinka on Monday bid farewell to the Monte Carlo Masters as the 2014 champion fell 7-5, 7-5 to Sebastian Baez in the first round.The 41-year-old three-time Grand Slam winner is to retire from tennis at the end of the season and entered the main draw in Monaco as a wild card 20 years on from h
AFGHAN CAMPAIGN: The retired corporal, who allegedly killed five unarmed Afghans, has already lost a defamation suit he brought after news reports alleging war crimes Australia’s most decorated living veteran, Ben Roberts-Smith, faces war crime charges on allegations that he killed five unarmed Afghans while serving in Afghanistan from 2009 and 2012, police and media reported yesterday.Police have not confirmed the name of the 47-year-old former soldier who was a
MODERN-DAY PIONEERS: Aside from surpassing Apollo 13’s distance record from Earth, the crew included the first person of color, first woman and first non-American The Artemis II astronauts yesterday wrapped up their lunar flyby as they continued their journey back to Earth, bringing with them rich celestial observations, including little-known lunar craters, a solar eclipse and meteor strikes that scientists hope would open doors.Their eyes glued to the space
Filipino farmers like Romeo Wagayan have been left with little choice but to let their vegetables rot in the field rather than sell them at a loss, as rising oil prices linked to the Iran war drive up the cost of harvesting, labor and transport.“There’s nothing we can do,” said Wagayan, a 57-year ol
Afforestation and reforestation have long been central to Taiwan’s environmental and climate policy. If the goals set under the “Afforestation 2.0” program launched late last year are met, the central government will spend at least NT$7.5 billion to incentivize tree-planting over the next half decad
For generations, human beings have wondered: What would alien life from another planet be like? But we rarely ask the opposite: What would they think of us?It’s a question that can produce some, well, uncomfortable answers if you happen to be an earthling.“If I were looking at Earth from a distance,
The US war on Iran has illuminated the deep interdependence of Asia on flows of oil and related items as raw materials that become the basis of modern human civilization. Australians and New Zealanders had a wake up call. The crisis also emphasizes how the Philippines is a swatch of islands linked b
You might think knitting is only for grandmas, but surprisingly, many young people are embracing so-called “grandma hobbies.” On social media platforms, activities such as home cooking, embroidery and gardening are becoming popular among teenagers and young adults who are drawn to their relaxing and
★ Bilingual Story is a fictionalized account. 雙語故事部分內容純屬虛構。 Lucas was already on the ground before he fully understood what was happening. “Hurry! Kneel down!” someone shouted. The asphalt was warm against his knees. Around him, dozens of people lay flat in the narrow street outside Jenn Lann Te
對話 Dialogue清清：我連假回老家掃墓，帶了一些草仔粿回來，你要不要吃吃看?Qīngqīng: Wǒ liánjià huí lǎojiā sǎomù, dài le yìxiē “tsháu-á-kué” huílái, nǐ yào bú yào chī chī kàn?華華：哇！看起來就很好吃。這是你們家自己做的嗎？Huáhua: Wa! Kàn qǐlái jiù hěn hǎochī. Zhè shì nǐmen jiā zìjǐ zuò de ma?清清：對啊，是我阿姨親手做的。每年清明節她都會做。Qīngqīng: Duì a, shì wǒ āyí qīnshǒu zuò
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% | |
RSS