Tue, Feb 24, 2026
TEA PARTY: The president thanked Speaker Han Kuo-yu for inviting him to give a national affairs report that aligns with constitutional procedures, Karen Kuo said President William Lai (賴清德) has “gladly accepted” and is willing to deliver a state of the nation report at the legislature, Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) said yesterday following a Lunar New Year tea reception hosted by the Presidential Office, to which the heads of the five branches of gove
Taiwan has secured another breakthrough in fruit exports, with jujubes, dragon fruit and lychees approved for shipment to the EU, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday.The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency on Thursday received formal notification of the approval from the EU, the ministr
Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal yesterday rejected an appeal by 12 pro-democracy activists and upheld their jail terms in a national security case that critics say highlights Beijing’s crackdown on dissent.The appeal stems from the “Hong Kong 47” case, where many leading pro-democracy activists and poli
School was yesterday canceled in several Mexican states and local and foreign governments alike warned their citizens to stay inside, as widespread violence erupted following the army’s killing of the powerful leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, known
President William Lai (賴清德) this morning called for transformation and unity at a Lunar New Year tea reception for the heads of all five government branches.It marked the first time in Taiwan’s history that the heads of all five branches came together for a reception. Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES: The government has a full grasp of the latest developments and is prepared for a turbulent global trade environment, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said the government is closely monitoring the follow-up measures of the White House amid tariff shifts, adding that Taipei is in close contact with the US to ensure Taiwan’s most-favorable treatment would not be compromised.US President Donald Trump on Friday im
PROTECT THE ADVANCES Taiwan aims to safeguard the best parts of the deal struck last week with the US as the world waits to see where US trade policy lurches next President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday that the Taiwan-US tariff deal, signed earlier this month, is favorable to Taiwan, adding that Japan, South Korea and other countries have not chosen to reopen negotiations under the circumstances, according to a government source. Lai made the remarks at a
SENTENCE UNCHANGED A Filipino migrant worker’s appeal to the Supreme Court for a 2023 murder charge has reached its end as the court finalized the decision The Supreme Court has upheld a 15-year sentence for a Filipino migrant worker convicted of murdering another Filipino worker and endangering the lives of others in Changhua County in 2023.The ruling, issued on Feb. 11, finalized the lower courts’ sentences after finding no legal errors in their judg
The Kaohsiung (LCC-1), a US-built tank landing ship, is being decommissioned after just shy of seven decades in service with Taiwan’s navy, a military source said yesterday.A retirement ceremony is being held tomorrow for the Kaohsiung, first commissioned as the USS Dukes County (LST-735) in April 1
Manila Eonomic and Cultural Office (MECO) Chairwoman and Resident Representative Corazon Padiernos said her priorities are safeguarding the well-being of Filipino workers in Taiwan and deepening economic ties between the two nations.Padiernos was named the resident representative of MECO in October
When best-selling Czech author Katerina Tuckova was in Taiwan earlier this month to promote the Chinese version of her novel The Last Goddess, she said the novel might resonate with Taiwanese readers because of a similar authoritarian past.In an interview during the Taipei International Book Exhibit
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is to announce its mayoral nominees for New Taipei City, Yilan County and Chiayi City on March 11, then begin talks with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to field joint opposition candidates, a party official said yesterday.The two parties would set up a joint task
NATURE VIEWS: Many people visited mountain trails, seaside landscapes and old streets, with destinations such as Alishan and Sun Moon Lake seeing strong crowds Domestic travel during the Lunar New Year holiday more than doubled from last year, thanks to favorable weather and a strong economy, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) said.Average daily visits to tourist attractions reached 730,000 over the holiday, up 109 percent fr
Starlux Airlines is to open direct flights from Taipei and Taichung to Busan, South Korea, starting on June 1, with ticket sales to begin tomorrow, the airline said yesterday.Starlux would be the first airline in Taiwan to offer direct flights from Taichung to Busan.Of the 18.944 million outbound tr
Many people might have purchased health-related products during holiday sales to restock home care supplies, but some commonly used products are categorized as medical devices and must be sold with a legal permit, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said.The agency is urging people to only purcha
RESILIENT: The new US tariffs have had limited impact on Taiwanese equities, and the gain showed the market’s ability to absorb negative headlines, experts said Taiwanese equities closed at a record high yesterday in the first trading session after the Lunar New Year holiday, although renewed US tariff concerns tempered sentiment and limited follow-through buying despite abundant liquidity.The TAIEX rose 167.55 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 33,773 aft
FORTUNES REVERSED: The new 15 percent levies left countries with a 10 percent tariff worse off and stripped away the advantage of those with a 15 percent rate In a swift reversal of fortunes, countries that had been hardest hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs have emerged as the biggest winners from the US Supreme Court’s decision to strike down his emergency levies.China, India and Brazil are among those now seeing lower tariff rates for shipments
Senior US officials said US President Donald Trump’s tariff defeat at the US Supreme Court would not unravel deals negotiated with its partners as they sought to defend the administration’s assertive trade policies.Those deals — which the administration made with partners including China, the EU, Ja
After the US Supreme Court on Friday ruled that US President Donald Trump’s tariffs imposed on international trading partners under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were illegal, he within hours signed a proclamation imposing a flat 10 percent tariff on all imports under
The US’ highest court on Friday struck down a number of the White House’s tariffs in a revision of the extent and form of power wielded by US President Donald Trump’s administration over foreign trade and economic relations. As soon as he returned to office last year, Trump made sweeping use of exec
China has apparently emerged as one of the clearest and most predictable beneficiaries of US President Donald Trump’s “America First” and “Make America Great Again” approach. Many countries are scrambling to defend their interests and reputation regarding an increasingly unpredictable and self-seeki
‘HEARTWARMING’: Cross-country skier Sophia Velicer said she was very honored to be Taiwan’s flag bearer and to highlight the hard work of the other team members Taiwanese athletes on Sunday took part in the Winter Olympics closing ceremony in Italy, with cross-country skier Sophia Velicer serving as the team’s flag bearer. The 26-year-old led the parade of Taiwanese athletes at the Verona Arena, including figure skater Li Yu-hsiang, and bobsledders Lin Sin-
Armand Duplantis on Sunday fought off a bout of food poisoning to stretch his near three-year pole vault winning run at the All Star Perche, but was unable to better his world record. The double Olympic champion fell ill earlier in the weekend and only made a late decision to take part in Clermont-F
Eberechi Eze was the scourge of Tottenham Hotspur again as his double on Sunday restored Arsenal’s five-point lead at the top of the English Premier League in a 4-1 win, while Liverpool needed Alexis Mac Allister’s 97th-minute goal to beat Nottingham Forest 1-0. Eze, who nearly joined Spurs prior to
AC Milan on Sunday slumped to a surprise 1-0 home loss to Parma to leave city rivals Inter 10 points clear at the top of Italian Serie A, after SSC Napoli lashed out at the refereeing following defeat at Atalanta BC. Parma defender Mariano Troilo’s late header condemned second-placed Milan to a dama
POLITICAL GOALS: Kim Jong-un revamped the party’s Central Committee, replacing aging military chiefs, and is expected to further bolster the nation’s nuclear arsenal North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was re-elected to the top post of the ruling Workers’ Party, with delegates crediting him for bolstering the nation’s nuclear arsenal and strengthening its regional standing, state media reported yesterday.The report from the Ninth Congress of the Workers’ Party, a ma
Millions of people in New York City and a large swath of the northeastern US were stuck at home under road travel bans and blizzard warnings yesterday, as a fierce winter storm barreled into the densely populated region with heavy snowfall and high winds.Cellphones across New York City received wail
A new Dutch government took power yesterday, with 38-year-old centrist Rob Jetten sworn in as the nation’s youngest-ever prime minister and the first openly gay one.Jetten pulled off a stunning election win in October, coming from behind to dethrone the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) led by firebrand
Politically charged thriller One Battle After Another won six prizes, including best picture, at the British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, building momentum ahead of Hollywood’s Academy Awards next month.Blues-steeped vampire epic Sinners and gothic horror story Frankenstein won three awards each,
Social media addiction has been compared to casinos, opioids and cigarettes.While there’s some debate among experts about the line between overuse and addiction, and whether social media can cause the latter, there is no doubt that many people feel like they can’t escape the pull of Instagram, TikTo
For many centuries from the medieval to the early modern era, the island port of Hirado on the northwestern tip of Kyushu in Japan was the epicenter of piracy in East Asia. From bases in Hirado the notorious wokou (倭寇) terrorized Korea and China. They raided coastal towns, carrying off people into s
The Lantern Festival, celebrated on the 15th day of the first lunar month, is one of the most important traditional festivals in Chinese culture. The word yuan means “first,” and xiao means “night,” referring to “the first full moon night of the lunar year.” In 2026, the Lantern Festival falls on Ma
對話 Dialogue清清：過完年回來上班，我真的有點不太適應，早上起床變得特別困難。Qīngqing: Guò wán nián huílái shàngbān, wǒ zhēn de yǒudiǎn bú tài shìyìng, zǎoshang qǐchuáng biàn de tèbié kùnnán.華華：我懂你。年假每天睡到自然醒，現在一聽到鬧鐘，就很想再多睡一下。Huáhua: Wǒ dǒng nǐ. Niánjià měitiān shuì dào zìrán xǐng, xiànzài yì tīng dào nàozhōng, jiù hěn xiǎng zài duō
1. 他沒有看過那部電影，我也沒有看過。ˇ He hasn’t seen the movie. I haven’t seen it, either.χ He hasn’t seen the movie. I haven’t seen it, too.註：too 表示「也」，在肯定句中與 also 同義且更口語。too 一般放在句尾，或作為插入語放在句中；also 通常靠近動詞，不放在句尾。例如： He likes chocolate; I also like it. He likes chocolate; I like it, too.表示「也不」，不可以在否定語的後面用 too，應用 eit
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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