ADJUSTMENTS: Over the next five years, every year except 2026 would have only one makeup workday to compensate for national holidays, the government said
The Executive Yuan (EY) yesterday announced the official workday calendar for next year, which includes one makeup day and four holidays with more than three days off. It also announced new standards for makeup days in the event of consecutive holidays. The Directorate-General of Personnel Administration cited the importance of the Lunar New Year and Tomb Sweeping holidays to the public as its reason to mandate flexible off-days. The 115 total off-days dovetail with dates that international financial markets are closed, minimizing the effects of state holidays on stock and currency exchange trading, it said. Over the next five years, only the calendar for
REASSURANCE: The company, which installed new equipment in its Taichung plant, said that it would produce 1-gamma nanometers node DRAMs in Taiwan in 2025
US-based memorychip supplier Micron Technology Inc on Friday said that it would start producing its most advanced DRAM exclusively in Taiwan in 2025. Micron said that it would mass produce chips using its advanced 1-gamma process node DRAM in Taiwan, ahead of any other production site worldwide. The company installed cutting-edge extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography production equipment in its A3 fab in Taichung last year. The 1-gamma process — its third-generation 10 nanometer-class node — was jointly developed by Micron’s research and development (R&D) teams in Taiwan and Japan. Micron on Thursday said it would invest up to US$3.6 billion in Japan. A Ministry
Police on Sunday said they are on alert after the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) invited an alleged top leader of a Japanese criminal organization to visit Taiwan. The party and a branch of the Hongmen society reportedly invited Joji Uezu from the Kyokuryu-kai, the only yakuza group in Okinawa designated by Japanese police, to visit Taiwan along with six other people. Members of Taiwan’s Bamboo Union (竹聯幫) have reportedly participated in events hosted by the Kyokuryu-kai as early as 2015. The Okinawa Times in 2018 reported that Chang Wei (張瑋), son of former Bamboo Union leader and CUPP founder Chang An-le (張安樂),
INVASION UNPOPULAR: Chinese would likely accept their government having a softer stance toward cross-strait relations, one of the coauthors of the article said
Interest among the Chinese public in the issue of China’s unification with Taiwan is low, researchers said, citing the results of a poll. An article titled “Assessing Public Support for (Non-)Peaceful Unification with Taiwan: Evidence from a Nationwide Survey in China,” published in the Journal of Contemporary China on May 14, showed that only 55 percent of those surveyed in China would support the use of military force to achieve unification with Taiwan. In the survey, which polled 1,824 people on the question of how they would like to see the issue of Taiwan’s unification with China resolved, “only one out of
Netflix on Wednesday said it is to charge NT$100 more per month for each user that is not part of the same household. Under the plan, the streaming service is to limit viewership to people who live in the same household. If a member wishes to add people outside of their address, they must pay NT$100 more per person every month. No additional viewers can be added to the NT$270 per month “basic” account. “Standard” accounts (NT$330) can add one user, while “premium” (NT$390) accounts can add two users. The company has said that people in the same household would still be able
In the 74 years since its founding, the leaders of the People’s Republic of China have always seen the Republic of China in Taiwan as a thorn in their collective side. The Chinese Communist Party has wished for nothing more than to remove this thorn and fulfill its vision of communist revolution. During the Cold War, Beijing couched these ambitions in the language of “liberating” Taiwan. Now it strikes chords of national unity and sings the new propaganda line of unification of the motherland. But in those 74 years the Republic of China has undergone a revolution of its own: a
CONTINGENCY PLAN: Taiwan is a cornerstone of the global economy, and it is in the interest of the US to deter Chinese military aggression toward Taiwan, the report says
The US House of Representatives Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the US and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Tuesday made 10 policy recommendations to preserve peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. The committee unanimously agreed on the proposed “Ten for Taiwan,” the first report passed since the panel was formed in January. The proposal follows the committee’s wargame last month, in which “members saw the terrifying result of what happens when deterrence fails,” said US Representative Mike Gallagher, who chairs the committee. To ensure this scenario remains fictional, the committee voted to adopt the report, “which will surge hard power
‘ARCHAIC’: An interpretation of a law that considered Chinese as Taiwanese nationals was scrapped after the death of a Chinese in Kaohsiung led to state reparations
An administrative mandate to consider Chinese as Taiwanese citizens was outdated, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said yesterday, a day after the Executive Yuan ordered that agencies disregard the 30-year-old interpretation. Chen made the remarks at an event held by the Environmental Protection Administration in Taipei following changes to the administrative mandate concerning the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例). The previous interpretation of the law was archaic and contrary to the workings of laws and regulations, he said, adding that the order was made to avoid unnecessary problems created by the mandate. The Mainland
PRESSURE POINT: Beijing might seek to lean on Musk to prevent his SpaceX from providing Taiwan access to its Starlink satellite system, ‘The Economist’ said
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) called out Elon Musk on Twitter, saying the value of democracy transcends that of money after the Tesla CEO said that China was likely to “integrate” Taiwan. Asked in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday last week if “China would make a move to take control of Taiwan,” Musk said that “the official policy of China is that Taiwan should be integrated... One does not need to read between the lines.” “There is a certain inevitability to the situation,” he added. “That is their policy, and I think you should take their word seriously,” Musk said. Regarding
Several of the policies adopted by the Move Forward Party (MFP) and its seven prospective coalition partners in Thailand took inspiration from Taiwan, MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat said in an interview on Tuesday. The MFP won the most seats in Thailand’s general election on May 14, but Pita’s hopes of becoming prime minister could yet be denied by Thailand’s military. He told the Central News Agency (CNA) that some of the coalition’s 23 policy proposals were based on those already implemented by Taiwan. “A lot of our policies are based on the Taiwanese experience,” Pita said, citing Taiwan’s Uniform Invoice lottery, which encourages
One of the ways that pro-People’s Republic of China (PRC) peaceniks forward PRC propaganda is by presenting its fabricated history of the Taiwan-China relationship as accepted, mainstream history. Like the faces of astronauts on rocket sleds reshaped by high GEE effects, every conversation about Taiwan is distorted by this stream of effluent. PRC supporters ground their conversations about the PRC in this fake history because it allows them to maintain that the PRC is “reasonable” and is simply deterring Taiwan’s “permanent separation” from “China” rather than bent on annexing an island it has never ruled over. It also recasts the PRC
The Taipei Times bilingual pages are having a makeover, with professionally curated content for both English and Chinese learners of all levels. With our new partners Ivy English, English OK, and American Magazine Center (AMC), Taipei Times readers can improve their language studies while keeping abreast of important issues in Taiwan and abroad. 《台北時報》雙語版最優質的中英文內容，多年來一向受到讀者們的喜愛。近日起版面全新升級！每週和《常春藤解析英語》、《English OK中學英閱誌》、《AMC空中美語》……等專業英語機構合作，提供豐富多元且實用的英語學習內容，不但適合各種程度學生及上班族自修，老師、家長用它當教材也超便利。原先頗受歡迎的雙語新聞則予以保留，持續帶領大家了解國內外之重要議題，打造最強全方位中英文雙語版，精彩內容在網站上也看的到唷！
VIGILANCE: The mask mandate would remain in effect at healthcare facilities, healthcare-related institutes and senior welfare facilities due to high infection risks there
The mask mandate would be extended next month for three types of venues, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday as it reported that the average daily number of hospitalized COVID-19 cases increased by more than 30 percent last week. Local COVID-19 cases last week rose to an average of 204 daily hospitalizations, an increase of 32.5 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. The number of prescriptions for oral anti-viral drugs to treat COVID-19 also increased to 23,503 courses — 17,424 courses of Paxlovid and 6,079 courses of molnupiravir. The average positivity rate
AID PACKAGE: The military already operates variants of the weapons delivered by the US, and they can be used as short-range missiles against aircraft flying at low altitudes
A batch of FIM-92 Stinger missiles arrived overnight on Thursday, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported yesterday, citing an unnamed source. The arms shipment delivered in a Boeing 747 cargo plane at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport has been received by the Ministry of the National Defense, the newspaper reported. It is part of a US$500 million aid package to Taiwan utilizing the US’ presidential drawdown authority, which draws from US stocks of weaponry and has been used to expedite weapons deliveries to Ukraine, the report said. The air defense weapons are handheld portable variants of the Stinger missile system. The package is believed to
SOLIDARITY: Failing to include Taiwan in the WHO system would be ‘unjust,’ and not only detrimental to Taiwanese, but to the global community, a letter to Tedros said
The Formosa Club and 926 lawmakers from 29 countries signed a letter advocating for Taiwan’s inclusion in the World Health Assembly (WHA) and all WHO meetings, mechanisms and activities, as the 76th WHA began yesterday. Formosa Club cochairs and members, along with lawmakers from the European Parliament and parliaments of 28 European countries and Canada, jointly signed the letter sent on Friday. The Formosa Club, inaugurated in 2019, is a platform for cross-party European and Canadian legislators to work to enhance relations with Taipei and connect Taiwan with the world. The signatories urged WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to invite Taiwan to participate
US DISCUSSIONS: Monitoring and data are important factors to consider before the next pandemic, a US official said, adding that its work with Taiwan is important
Taiwan should be included in world health matters, Estonia said in a statement on Tuesday at the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland. In her address on the third day of the 76th WHA, the WHO’s annual decisionmaking forum, Estonian Minister of Health Riina Sikkut said that her country believed nations should “facilitate inclusion and meaningful participation of all partners, including Taiwan, and this would benefit global health.” Estonia was one of 10 countries to support Taiwan’s inclusion at the session, with the others being Lithuania, Luxembourg and Germany, which have no formal diplomatic relations with the nation, and diplomatic allies
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday urged people to refrain from parroting the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “united front” propaganda after Taiwanese taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東賢) sparked controversy for waving a Chinese flag after winning a bronze medal at the Asia-Pacific Masters Games (APMG) in South Korea last week. “We are asking people to cherish our democratic values and way of life. Even when they are developing a career in China or interacting with Chinese, Taiwanese should not cooperate with the Chinese government in its ‘united front’ efforts against Taiwan or serve as models for it,” the council said. The Sports
GROWING FAST: China continues to outpace the US in its production and commissioning of ships, as it seeks to expand ‘far seas operations,’ an ex-US Navy captain said
China continued to increase its naval capacity last year, indicating that it is seeking to bolster its ability to invade Taiwan, a retired US Navy captain said. In an article published in this month’s issue of the US Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine, retired US Navy Captain James Fanell wrote that China commissioned 10 warships and one submarine last year, and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) was continuing to commission the most annual tonnage globally, as it has done for at least the past five years. The PLAN is also outproducing the US Navy in total number of ships, tonnage and
TAIWAN CAN HELP: More than 3,000 people supported the bid on social media, including US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Chairman Robert Menendez
The government thanked more than 6,000 friends from around the world for supporting the nation’s participation in the WHO and the World Health Assembly (WHA), despite Taiwan not being invited to attend. Governments, parliaments, medical and health groups, think tanks and civil societies from more than 70 nations across five continents voiced support for Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHA, which began on Sunday in Geneva, Switzerland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. They demonstrated their support through various means, such as making public speeches or statements, sending letters to the WHO, passing resolutions or bills, releasing videos, launching parades and joining a
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