Sun, Jun 07, 2026
DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS: Taiwan would continue to engage with the world and deepen cooperation with like-minded countries, President William Lai said on social media Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) yesterday departed for a visit to Palau, one of Taiwan’s three Pacific allies, with the goals of deepening bilateral ties, promoting local tourism and seeing the results of development projects aided by Taiwan.Speaking at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport before
Taiwan’s markets are braced for a pressure test tomorrow after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged more than 10 percent on Friday, triggering a spillover effect that sent Taiwan index futures in after-hours trading down 3,006 points by the close, marking the largest point decline on record.
New attacks in the Middle East on Friday threatened to unravel an already fragile US-Iran ceasefire, even as US officials confirmed that Iranian soccer players had received visas for the FIFA World Cup. Weeks of complex talks marked by threats and flare-ups of violence have failed to secure a deal t
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office on Friday condemned comments by US Vice President J.D. Vance, who blamed immigration for the death of a university student who was handcuffed as he lay dying from a stab wound. Henry Nowak, 18, died after being stabbed by Vickrum Digwa in Southampton, Eng
‘ASIA’S NASDAQ’: Taiwan must keep pace with global trends by adopting more flexible and innovation-friendly stock listing rules, William Lai said in an interview Taiwan hopes to become a global hub for technology investment and capital, President William Lai (賴清德) said in an interview aired last night, adding that part of the vision is to create “Asia’s NASDAQ.”Taiwan has a strong position in the artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain and with this strate
The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed a resolution unanimously condemning Beijing’s heavy-handed efforts to obstruct President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned visit to Eswatini in late April.The Democratic Progressive Party introduced the resolution after the Presidential Office canceled Lai’s planned v
ONSHORING: A good tone has been set for US-Taiwan diplomacy, but challenges such as factory permits might limit Taiwanese efforts in the US, David Feith said Taiwan’s pivotal role in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain is irreplaceable for the foreseeable future, but underinvestment in asymmetric defense would be concerning, a former White House National Security Council (NSC) official told a Research Institute for Democracy, Society and
FUNDING SUPPORT: A committee advanced its version of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, legislation that includes the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative The US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee on Thursday approved a fiscal year 2027 defense authorization bill that includes up to US$1 billion to help Taiwan improve its self-defense capabilities.After more than 14 hours of deliberations, the committee advanced its version of the fisca
Washington is still considering a proposed US$14 billion arms sale to Taiwan, US President Donald Trump said on Friday, while indicating that he plans to discuss the issue with President William Lai (賴清德).Reporters aboard Air Force One asked Trump whether he had made a decision regarding the arms pa
Taiwan yesterday said that a China Coast Guard ship and a survey ship had carried out the first coordinated operation to “provoke” Taiwan, in waters around strategically located islands in the South China Sea.The Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), a national park toward the no
An exhibition commemorating the massive volunteer-led recovery effort following last year’s devastating floods in Hualien County opened yesterday in Guangfu Township (光復), preserving the memory of one of the largest post-disaster cleanup operations in Taiwan.The permanent exhibition, established thr
NEW RESEARCH DIRECTION: The study proves that acquired environmental factors can write a ‘metabolic memory’ into the epigenetic code of sperm, researchers said Male obesity could damage future children’s metabolic health through epigenetic factors carried in sperm, a study showed, indicating the importance of paternal health before conception.The study, titled “Male obesity causes adipose mitochondrial dysfunction in F1 mouse progeny via a let-7-DICER axis
NEW DISCOVERY: Experts have uncovered Asia’s tallest tree at 84.1m, but warn that natural disasters are threatening the survival of the vital carbon sinks Giant trees deep in the mountains of Taiwan proper are a vastly undervalued carbon sink, and could face extinction in the next two centuries, a team of Taiwanese forest surveyors who found the nation’s tallest tree said on Friday. Taiwan Champion Trees, a group consisting of arborists, spatial scien
The Taipei Public Health Specialists Association yesterday said it applauds the government for its efforts to institutionalize the management of food safety in food delivery by drafting a specialized act, but also suggested that it can further develop an “ability test” to replace mandatory “training
Videos of a heated exchange between a New Taipei City delivery driver and a teenage boy who answered the door in his underwear went viral earlier this week, sparking debate online over appropriate attire when receiving deliveries. Cable news channel Formosa TV (FTV) reported on Thursday that the inc
The cars navigating Brazil’s crowded streets currently powered by sugarcane or corn-based ethanol could before long run on a cornucopia of fuels made from grains, tubers and other exotic feedstocks.A new wave of biofuel innovation is sweeping the nation, with developers in unexpected corners of the
Investors cheered when Venezuela opened its vast mineral reserves to private capital in April, but gang control over many mines could prove a powerful obstacle.The South American country, which is undergoing a profound transformation following the US overthrow of then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Ma
South Africa cannot create nearly enough green jobs to make up for the many thousands it would lose as it closes polluting coal mines and power stations, experts said, adding to the country’s burden of massive and rising unemployment.Nearly one-in-three South Africans are unemployed, latest governme
The Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore provides an annual snapshot of evolving regional security concerns. At the 2024 forum, then-US secretary of defense Lloyd Austin spoke of a “new convergence,” envisioning a network of alliances incorporating Japan, South Korea, India, the Philippin
In the grand, circular choreography of the traditional East Asian calendar, the ninth act arrives around June 5, bringing with it a sense of urgency — both atmospheric and agricultural. The solar term is known as mangzhong (芒種). For the uninitiated, the name is a linguistic pivot; for the farmer, it
At the Computex Taipei expo on Tuesday, President William Lai (賴清德) told a hall of technology executives that the most responsible thing Taiwan could do for global supply chains was to keep the political “status quo” intact. It was meant as reassurance, but it read as a confession of dependence, run
EUROPEAN PROMISE: More than a hundred economists responded to the poll, marking France for glory and tapping Brazil to take a fall in the soccer championship France would beat Spain to lift the World Cup trophy and five-times winners Brazil are expected to be the biggest flops, according to a Reuters survey of economists who said football was still harder to call than inflation.For 160 respondents from around the globe, this poll, conducted once every fo
The Oakland Athletics promoted their No. 4 prospect, Lin Wei-en, to Triple-A on Friday, making the 20-year-old the youngest Taiwanese player to reach that level in US baseball.The Athletics assigned the Taiwanese left-hander to their Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators, the day after he was n
US President Donald Trump said he would attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday at Madison Square Garden, but said he does not have much sympathy for ordinary basketball fans who cannot afford sky-high ticket prices to do the same.“They can watch it on television,” Trump said aboard Air Force One
Two elephants trudged across a makeshift soccer field at Mexico’s Guadalajara Zoo in an attempt to divine the score of the 2026 World Cup’s opening game.The creatures’ choice carried the weight of prophecy: munch on the grass on the side marked with a Mexican flag, or opt for the greenery of opposin
ECONOMIC CRISIS? Asked about Russia’s economic woes, Putin paraphrased the US writer Mark Twain, saying that ‘rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated’ Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ruled out meeting his Ukrainian counterpart any time soon, a day after Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for a sit-down between the leaders to end the four-year war. Speaking at an economic forum in his home city of Saint Petersburg, Putin said he saw “no point” i
THE REVENANT: ‘I didn’t eat anything for the first two days. Then I began chewing ice. It hurt my teeth. I chewed the ice hard,’ Dawa Sherpa said A Nepalese mountaineer who survived nearly a week on Mount Everest said he “chewed ice” to stay alive as he recovered in a hospital after a miraculous rescue that stunned the climbing community. Dawa Sherpa, 57, disappeared in brutal conditions on the upper slopes of the world’s tallest mountain on
As Armenia holds nationwide elections today, experts say Russia has orchestrated an aggressive disinformation campaign aimed at discrediting the country’s prime minister, who has sought closer ties with the EU. Armenia is formally allied with Moscow, but has built ties with Brussels amid frustration
June 8 to June 14It was once said that flowers bloomed throughout the four seasons in Yunxiaocuo (雲霄厝). Not real ones, but “incense flowers,” referring to a radiating circular formation of freshly cut incense sticks set out to dry.Up until the 1970s, almost every woman in the settlement in Chiayi Ci
With weighty, anxiety-inducing geopolitical topics dominating the headlines, checking in on the wild and weird state of local politics can take some of the edge off. This November’s elections will determine who will be in charge of fixing potholes in your neighborhood, not the potholes in Taiwan’s c
Raw, bleak and at times difficult to watch, That Burning House (失樂園) does not shy away from depicting child sexual and physical abuse within children care homes. The movie is structured in three parts. “Stuffed Toy” depicts a severely bullied and abused boy (Hung Chun-hao, 洪君昊) living in a group ho
India has launched one of the world’s largest social policy experiments by transferring cash directly to housewives in recognition of their unpaid domestic labor. Across 12 states, an estimated 118 million adult women regularly receive 1,000 to 2,500 rupees (NT$348 to NT$871), equal to about 5% to 1
Vincenzo Peruggia looked like any other handyman at the Louvre on a Monday morning in 1911, when the museum was closed to the public for maintenance. In a white worker’s blouse, he entered the museum without drawing attention, took the Mona Lisa off the wall, and walked out into the streets of Paris
A: While AI is reshaping the world, “Money Talks News” revealed seven career fields that are “AI-proof.” First is the healthcare field, like nursing jobs, personal care aides, and social work specialists. B: This type of job is indeed in high demand. So what’s next? A: Up next are skill-based po
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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