Thu, Apr 30, 2026
The Philippines plans to allow imports of pigs and pork products from Taiwan from May 14, after the nation was again certified as being free of African swine fever (ASF) early this month, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterdayOn April 6, the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) restored Ta
A US House of Representatives committee on Tuesday approved a key spending bill that includes US$500 million in military assistance for Taiwan and support for the nation’s participation in international organizations.The House Appropriations Committee passed the fiscal year 2027 national security, d
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday said that it would leave OPEC effective tomorrow, stripping the oil cartel of its third-largest producer, and weakening its leverage over global oil supplies and prices.In its announcement, made via its state-run WAM news agency, the UAE said it also would l
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision last month to let the British military board ships of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” has had no clear effect on the number passing through UK waters, a Reuters analysis showed.In the month after Starmer’s March 25 threat, at least 98 Russian vessels
CHINA THREAT: The CGA plays a frontline role in maintaining maritime order that not only safeguards national sovereignty, but also helps ensure the stability of global supply chains The government is planning a major coast guard overhaul to counter growing “gray zone” threats from China, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday.Lai made the remarks during the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) inaugural “National Sea Light Awards” ceremony, where he honored award recipients f
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its 2-nanometer (2nm) chip capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of 70 percent from this year to 2028.The projection comes as five fabs begin volume production of 2-nanometer chips this ye
The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office has opened an investigation into allegations that former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) might have been involved irregularities in construction methods and tender specifications for the demolition of the Zhongxiao Bridge (忠孝橋) ramp, people familiar with the matt
The government today blamed China for President William Lai’s (賴清德) canceled trip to Eswatini, while declining to comment on reports that Germany and the Czech Republic denied him transit requests.Beijing's pressure prompted the Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar to withdraw overflight permission
CuboAI CEO Thomas Tseng (曾志新) was today sentenced to life in prison for stabbing and killing the company’s chief technology officer (CTO), surnamed Liang (梁), in March last year. A citizen judge panel at the Taipei District Court today convicted Tseng of murder, depriving him of his civil rights for
Former US Indo-Pacific Command director of intelligence Michael Studeman has called on the Legislative Yuan to pass a NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.6 billion) supplementary defense budget "with all due haste," saying that Taiwan should look beyond this year and not allow "temporary" headwinds to derail it
Taiwan dropped four places to 28th in this year’s World Press Freedom Index compared with a year earlier, as Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that global press freedom conditions were at a record low.Taiwan's ranking out of 180 countries and territories declined from 24th last year to 28th this
Taiwan ranked as the world’s “least miserable economy” last year, claiming the top spot for a second consecutive year, according to Hanke’s Annual Misery Index by economic expert Steve Hanke, US business magazine Fortune reported. Hanke is a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins Universit
A man was detained for assault and stalking after he allegedly followed an 18-year-old girl home from school yesterday afternoon and then violently attacked her 72-year-old grandmother and a 69-year-old borough warden when they came to her aid, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. The N
Temperatures in northern and central Taiwan today dropped, due to the arrival of northeasterly winds, while rain is expected across the country, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.As a passing cloud system moves eastward toward Taiwan, showers or thunderstorms are forecast in the north an
Taiwan’s economy would again see unprecedented opportunities if it unites with China, Beijing said yesterday, stepping up a campaign to persuade Taipei to accept its rule.China has since late last year attempted to convince Taiwan of the benefits of "peaceful reunification," though Beijing has also
Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said he would leave for the US today to attend a major investment forum organized by the US government.Taiwan and the US in January signed a deal to cut tariffs on many of the global semiconductor powerhouse's exports. In exchange, Taiwanese companie
LOW-POINT: The company said the decline last quarter was due to deferred orders and expects higher shipments of AI-related products in the second half of the year Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday said the first quarter would be the trough for this year, and predicted revenue and profit to rebound from the second quarter and further strengthen in the second half of the year on the back of strong shipments of advanced power management solutions for arti
‘HEAVY SPENDING’: Net profit last quarter beat company predictions at 87 percent, with an extra US$1.5 billion to be spent on new facilities, the company said ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday raised its capital expenditure for this year by 20 percent in response to stronger customer demand for leading-edge advanced packaging (LEAP) this year and next.The company, headquartered in Kaohsiung, plans to spend US$1.5 billion on new facilities and ma
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), during an interview for the podcast Lanshuan Time (蘭萱時間) released on Monday, said that a US professor had said that she deserved to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize following her meeting earlier this month with Chinese President Xi
The challenges for Taiwan’s nursing workforce lies not only in staffing shortages, but also in the broader, structural crisis of how the medical care system operates. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) has proposed three major directions for reform, saying that of the National Hea
Taiwan should reject two flawed answers to the Eswatini controversy: that diplomatic allies no longer matter, or that they must be preserved at any cost. The sustainable answer is to maintain formal diplomatic relations while redesigning development relationships around transparency, local ownership
POTENTIAL: Despite giving up two runs and five hits in Teng’s first start after 11 relief appearances for Houston, 30 of the Taiwanese ace’s 42 pitches were strikes Astros’ right-hander Teng Kai-wei, the only active Taiwanese pitcher in MLB, on Tuesday struck out two, but allowed two runs and five hits in three innings in his first start with Houston, who lost 5-3 to the Orioles in Baltimore.It was the 27-year-old Taichung native’s second loss of the season, af
The San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday punched their ticket to the second round of the NBA playoffs, leading wire to wire in a 114-95 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.Victor Wembanyama scored 17 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked six shots to help the Spurs wrap up a 4-1 win in their best-of-s
Kite-surfing fabrics, car tires and shortened shoelaces helped Kenyan Sabastian Sawe and Adidas crack the two-hour marathon barrier.When Sawe on Sunday shattered one of athletics’ most elusive barriers in storming to victory at the London Marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes, 30 seconds, it did not come f
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembele on Tuesday scored twice each as Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern Munich 5-4 in an epic first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final — the highest-scoring match ever at this stage of the competition.However, Vincent Kompany, barred from the touchline wh
CONGRESS ADDRESS: The British monarch paid tribute to remarks his mother made on a visit to the US, but said the world today is ‘more volatile and dangerous’ King Charles III on Tuesday marked the 250th anniversary of American independence from Britain with gratitude that the two sides united to build “one of the most consequential alliances in human history” while urging “that we ignore the clarion calls to become ever more inward-looking.”Speaking to a
COLOMBIAN MEETING: France’s envoy to the event said that Paris has a road map to ending fossil fuel production, electrifying sectors such as heating and transportation France on Tuesday announced a “first of its kind” plan to phase out coal by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050 during a global conference aimed at breaking reliance on fossil fuels.The “road map” was published as dozens of nations gather in Santa Marta, Colombia, for the first-ever international talk
Young Palestinian artists in Gaza on Tuesday staged an impromptu exhibit, seeking another way to show the world what has happened during the war and the fragile ceasefire.The row of paintings, like much of Gaza life itself, was displayed outdoors, open to the weather and curious stares.There was a p
If one asks Taiwanese why house prices are so high or why the nation is so built up or why certain policies cannot be carried out, one common answer is that “Taiwan is too small.” This is actually true, though not in the way people think.The National Property Administration (NPA), responsible for tr
Politicians from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) often complain of being “smeared red” (抹紅), which is sometimes translated as “red baiting,” a term used to discredit political opponents by associating them with communism, especially during the Cold War. In a column last week, “Donovan’s Deep Div
The sport of surfing is generally believed to have been invented in Hawaii and then, in the 1910s, spread to California, the US East Coast and Australia. Its first popularity boom came in the 1960s on the back of youth culture and counterculture, and globalization has progressed it ever since. By th
A: This year’s two most anticipated films have finally hit theaters in Taiwan. “Michael” premiered last Wednesday, while “The Devil Wears Prada 2” premiered this Wednesday ahead of its global release. B: Isn’t “Michael” the biopic about the late King of Pop Michael Jackson?A: Yup, it tells the story
Cameras are everywhere — in our pockets, on our walls and even in space. They capture emotions, preserve history and reflect culture. Through these devices, photography is now essential to modern life, influencing how we perceive ourselves and the world. To understand the root of their power, let’s
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has forced policymakers in Asia to face questions over the security of other maritime chokepoints, including the Strait of Malacca, which is the world’s busiest waterway for international trade.WHAT IS THE MALACCA STRAIT?The 900km long Malacca Strait, bounded by I
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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