Taiwan is experiencing an unprecedented economic boom on the surface. Despite surging GDP, stock market and artificial intelligence (AI) exports, why do more people feel they have not become wealthier? This contradictory issue cannot be avoided, and the answer lies in the “K-shaped economy.”Accordin
China Merchants Port Holdings, a state-owned Chinese port operator, withdrew from a proposed US$392 million joint venture to develop a logistics hub in Sri Lanka’s Port of Colombo this month, renewing questions about the viability of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in South Asia. The developm
The Chiayi-based troupe Our Theatre (阮劇團) earlier this month performed the play Louder! (噪音風暴) at Taipei’s Wellspring Theater. The troupe set up a public bulletin at the venue, where an audience member posted a campaign sticker of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator and Taipei mayoral cand
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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s victory in Brazil’s election is a blow to US President Donald Trump’s plan for the Western Hemisphere. The US president was hoping to huddle with client states to the south who mimic his business and mano dura (iron fist) posturing, while further betra
“What have wealth or grandeur to do with happiness?” teenaged Marianne Dashwood rhetorically asks in Jane Austen’s 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility. Her prudent sister Elinor replies: “Grandeur has but little, but wealth has much to do with it.” Elinor’s wise answer seems to have served as the north
This weekend it will be two years since the collapse of a shoddily constructed train station canopy in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad. The tragedy, killing 16 people, was swiftly attributed to state corruption and failures of regulation, sparking student-led protests across the country. Some
Videos of passers-by playing a public piano at the new Tainan Railway Station have gone viral on the Internet. From children to teenagers, from young adults to seniors, people from all walks of life lined up near the piano, waiting to share their music with the crowd who had gathered to enjoy an imp
Upon entering Taipei Railway Station, what greets us at the interchange of Taiwan’s three major rail systems are not testimonies to the city’s technological development or cultural heritage, but an inescapable barrage of cosmetic surgery and aesthetic medicine advertisements. Advertising itself has
Diplomats are paid to say unpleasant things pleasantly. Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan (井泉) has managed the opposite. Asked on Oct. 15 about Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr’s description of China as the region’s lone troublemaker, he called the remark no
Each time a typhoon approaches, Taiwanese inevitably find themselves embroiled in a debate over whether a typhoon day off should be declared. The government must consider the severity of the wind and rain as well as safe commute, while the public is concerned with whether they have to commute during
Last year, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party reinstated Taiwan Retrocession Day on Oct. 25 as a national holiday. It came under a broader program of “giving holidays back to the people,” adding four new or restored public holidays to the calendar. Naturally, people we
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Since 2016, the story of populism in the rich world has been dominated by the UK and the US — by the UK’s vote for Brexit and the US’ election of Donald Trump, not once, which might have been put down to naivete, but twice — but things are about to change: Over the next year populism is likely to fa
Nearly three years after Javier Milei became Argentina’s president, the chainsaw-wielding free-marketeer has established himself as the darling of the far right. Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro promised in his failed presidential campaign an economic policy that would follow Milei’s lead, and US
Last week, cybersecurity researchers disclosed two serious vulnerabilities in PHP, an open-source, server-side programming language used by about 70 percent of the world’s Web sites, prompting its developers to release urgent patches for the bugs, and forcing governments and companies worldwide to f
Taipei’s school lunch program has run into trouble yet again. This time, Shilin District’s (士林) Shihtung Elementary School (士東國小) was exposed by parents on social media for serving rotten, blackened pears. The incident once again sparked criticism about food safety in Taipei schools and the quality
Since last month, the most eye-catching phenomenon in Taipei’s politics has been the “Ocean Wave” (洋流) — officially called “Taipei Current” — stirred up by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) and his supporters. However, if we only attribute this political
A simple orange ribbon has become one of Taiwan’s most unexpected political fashion statements. Supporters of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator and Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) have transformed “The Taipei Current” campaign ribbons into roses, stars, accessories and imaginati
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