Fri, Apr 24, 2026
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims.The video, issued
BIG YEAR: The company said it would also release its A12 chip the same year to keep a ‘reliable stream of new silicon technologies’ flowing to its customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said its newest A13 chip is to enter volume production in 2029 as the chipmaker seeks to hold onto its tech leadership and demand for next-generation chips used in artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance-computing (HPC) and mobile ap
Government agencies have been banned from using the Chinese navigation app AMap (高德地圖) due to national information security concerns, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday.Concerns were raised after it was found that the app displayed countdown timers for some traffic lights, prompting fear
The US Department of Defense yesterday said its forces boarded a vessel in the Indian Ocean that was transporting oil from Iran, as disruption from a standoff with the Islamic republic continued to batter the world economy.The announcement came hours after a senior Iranian official said the country
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute.Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as we
COMMITMENT: Polling shows that the willingness of Taiwanese to defend their country is ‘orders of magnitude’ greater than in prewar Ukraine, Paparo said Taiwan must show the resolve to defend itself, including by passing a NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.63 billion) special defense budget, to secure US support, US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo told a US Senate hearing on Tuesday.“We can’t want Taiwan’s defense more than they want it itself,”
Five people have been indicted by Yunlin County prosecutors after allegedly exploiting Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s (THSR) ticket refund system to launder illicit funds.After receiving a report of irregular transactions from the rail company, prosecutors directed investigators from the Criminal Inv
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) today announced the establishment of two new parliamentary organizations aimed at bolstering international ties and showcasing Taiwan’s progress in gender equality.The Pan-Pacific Women Parliamentarians’ Alliance and Asian Women Parlia
The National Development Council (NDC) is to lead a delegation of 27 Taiwanese start-ups next week to attend this year's SusHi Tech Tokyo, one of the leading innovation conferences in Asia.In a statement today, the NDC said the three-day SusHi Tech Tokyo, which stands for Sustainable High City Tech
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) today said it has listed 54 contacts for health monitoring after a Japanese man tested positive for measles upon returning to Nagoya on a Starlux Airlines flight from Taipei.CDC spokeswoman Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told reporters that the patient, a Japanese national
Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines should not rely solely on US war reserve stocks and must instead increase their own missile inventories, Institute for National Policy Research vice president Kuo Yu-jen (郭育仁) said today.Since the conflict broke out on Feb. 28, the US has expended preci
Taiwan lacks a comprehensive support system for victims of image-based sexual abuse, the Modern Women’s Foundation said today, as complaints surged 46 percent last year amid a rise in covert filming cases.The foundation held an event today on combating image-based sexual violence, calling on all sec
The Legislative Yuan today passed an amendment to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) on its third reading, officially abolishing the amusement tax on a wide range of entertainment activities, including movies, concerts and sporting events.The amendment removes the amusement tax on movie screenings, profes
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday.Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening.Construction progress
Taichung police dog Uhoo on Friday last week passed two advanced man-trailing (MT) tests administered by the German rescue dog association Bundesverband Rettungshunde (BRH), becoming one of two working dogs in Taiwan to obtain this high-level international certification.Uhoo was pictured biting his
Strong tech output: Computer-related devices and electronic components saw strong growth, while flat-panel display production weakened by 14.66 percent Industrial production expanded 24.63 percent annually last quarter after the index climbed to a new high of 136.9 last month, driven by strong demand for cloud-based servers and semiconductors amid the race in artificial-intelligence (AI) infrastructure investments, the Ministry of Economic Affairs
RESILIENT: Taiwan’s unemployment rate rose to 3.34 percent last month — lower than the US’ 4.3 percent, but higher than Japan’s 2.6 percent, the DGBAS said Taiwan’s unemployment rate edged up last month as post-Lunar New Year job switching led to modest labor market fluctuations, although overall conditions remained stable, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.The unemployment rate rose to 3.34 percent, up
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings’ planned acquisition of Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations has yet to enter the formal review stage, as regulators await supplementary documents, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said yesterday.Acting FTC Chairman Chen Chih-min (陳志民) told the l
China announced “10 pro-Taiwan measures” on Sunday last week following Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) trip to China and meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). While the KMT described the measures as a “gift,” the Mainland Affairs Council warned they are “su
In late January, Taiwan’s first indigenous submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), completed its first submerged dive, reaching a depth of roughly 50m during trials in the waters off Kaohsiung. By March, it had managed a fifth dive, still well short of the deep-water and endurance tests required be
Hours before departure, the aircraft was ready and the route cleared. Then, almost simultaneously, Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar withdrew previously approved overflight permissions without warning or explanation.The runway remained open, but Taiwan’s president could not leave.The incident cap
‘GREAT TEMPO’: Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said that the floor game of star player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was outstanding and he ‘got us really good shots’ Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday scored 37 points to propel the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 120-107 victory over the Phoenix Suns and a 2-0 lead in their NBA playoff series, while the Detroit Pistons topped the Orlando Magic to knot their series at 1-1.NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander
The Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburg Penguins on Wednesday put a squeeze on the penalty box in Game 3 of their NHL playoff series — with 11 players cramped inside their designated punishment areas.Each could have snapped a team photo after a melee broke out in the second period of the Flyers’ 5
Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami on Wednesday tied an MLB rookie record by homering in his fifth straight game, crushing a 451 foot (137.5m) shot to right-center field against the Arizona Diamondbacks for his 10th homer of the season.“I’ve run out of things to say,” White Sox manager Will
Manchester City on Wednesday edged ahead of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League as a 1-0 victory at Turf Moor condemned Burnley to relegation.The defeat confirmed the Clarets’ third Premier League relegation in five seasons, consigning them to the Championship alongside Wolverhampton Wanderers
‘TROUBLING’: The firing of Phelan, who was an adviser to a nonprofit that supported the defense of Taiwan, was another example of ‘dysfunction’ under Trump, a US senator said US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general.The Pentagon announced his departure in a
Two local trains yesterday collided head-on north of the Danish capital, Copenhagen, injuring 17 people, five of whom were in a critical condition, emergency services said.Two yellow-and-gray trains were seen at the site, both with visible damage to the front and facing each other in a wooded area,
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident.“We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the a
Every actor in kabuki — a traditional Japanese performing art celebrated for its striking makeup and elaborate costumes — relies on one final, essential element to fully inhabit their role: the wig.Ahead of a show at the famed Kabuki-za theater in central Tokyo, wig master Tadashi Kamoji carefully p
Potentially millions of Americans suddenly have a much easier path to Canadian citizenship, prompting a rush of people to explore their ancestry and file paperwork seeking dual citizenship.For people like Zack Loud of Farmington, Minnesota, it was a surprise to learn that under a new law, Canada alr
Michael slides a sequin glove over the pop star’s tarnished legacy, shrouding Michael Jackson’s complications with a conventional biopic that, if you cover your ears, sounds great.Antoine Fuqua’s movie is sanctioned by Jackson’s estate and its producers include the estate’s executors. So it is, by i
A: Besides hit TV drama series like “Pursuit of Jade,” Disney+’s South Korean fortune-telling reality show “Battle of Fates” is also quite eye-catching.B: Fortune-telling reality show? That’s new. Are the competitors all fortune-tellers?A: Yup, 49 top shamans and fortune-tellers compete through d
A: Which TV drama series have been global hits so far this year?B: The US drama “Stranger Things 5,” South Korean drama “Can This Love Be Translated?” and Chinese megahit “Pursuit of Jade” are all popular lately.A: Isn’t “Pursuit of Jade” the costume idol drama about the romance between a charmi
Have you ever found yourself desperately feeding coins into a claw machine just because you’ve already spent so much trying to win that stuffed animal? Or maybe you’ve continued watching a boring movie simply because you already paid for the ticket? If so, you’ve experienced the “sunk cost fallacy.”
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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