According to media reports, after the national baseball team’s victory in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12, rumor has it that President William Lai (賴清德) is considering replacing the image of Nanwang Puyuma Wreath Experimental Elementary School’s (南王國小) junior baseball team on the NT$500 bill with an image of the “Taiwanese baseball heroes” of the national team. I think: Why not?
The designs of the New Taiwan dollar bills were renewed in about 2000 when the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) gained power in the nation’s first power transfer.
According to the experience of countries across the world, a currency is renewed every 10 to 20 years.
In July, the Bank of Japan started to issue new ￥1,000, ￥5,000 and ￥10,000 banknotes, the first time in 20 years that Japan has issued new bills. The image of the ￥10,000 bill was changed from thinker Fukuzawa Yukichi to the Meiji-era entrepreneur Shibusawa Eiichi, the image of the ￥5,000 bill was changed from female writer Ichiyo Higuchi to female educator Umeko Tsuda, and the image of the ￥1,000 bill was changed from medical scientist Hideyo Noguchi to medical scientist Shibasaburo Kitasato. The design logic behind the new bills not only highlights the significance of the times, but it also makes use of the latest printing technology to prevent counterfeiting
In 2020, the UK also changed the image on the back of the ￡20 bill from economist Adam Smith to painter William Turner, which became the first art-themed British banknote. Plus, the paper banknote has been upgraded to a “plastic banknote,” which is the most durable and difficult to counterfeit. The change in material not only extends the life of the bills, but also reduces printing and transportation costs.
Taiwan should keep up with the times and take this opportunity to renew its banknotes to keep up with the world trend of replacing paper banknotes with plastic ones. Compared with traditional paper bills, the plastic ones are considered more durable and more environmentally friendly, and they have improved security features.
The meaning of renewing banknotes lies in “commemorating events of special significance.” The issuance of commemorative bills featuring baseball heroes is not only representative and appropriate, but also highlights the unique significance of Taiwan’s victory in the championship. Every time Taiwanese use the new bills, they would remember the glorious and proud moment, all of which would be of benefit to creating a “Taiwan consensus.”
Dino Wei works in the information technology industry.
Translated by Eddy Chang
The government and local industries breathed a sigh of relief after Shin Kong Life Insurance Co last week said it would relinquish surface rights for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) to Nvidia Corp. The US chip-design giant’s plan to expand its local presence will be crucial for Taiwan to safeguard its core role in the global artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem and to advance the nation’s AI development. The land in dispute is owned by the Taipei City Government, which in 2021 sold the rights to develop and use the two plots of land, codenamed T17 and T18, to the
US President Donald Trump has announced his eagerness to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un while in South Korea for the APEC summit. That implies a possible revival of US-North Korea talks, frozen since 2019. While some would dismiss such a move as appeasement, renewed US engagement with North Korea could benefit Taiwan’s security interests. The long-standing stalemate between Washington and Pyongyang has allowed Beijing to entrench its dominance in the region, creating a myth that only China can “manage” Kim’s rogue nation. That dynamic has allowed Beijing to present itself as an indispensable power broker: extracting concessions from Washington, Seoul
Taiwan’s labor force participation rate among people aged 65 or older was only 9.9 percent for 2023 — far lower than in other advanced countries, Ministry of Labor data showed. The rate is 38.3 percent in South Korea, 25.7 percent in Japan and 31.5 percent in Singapore. On the surface, it might look good that more older adults in Taiwan can retire, but in reality, it reflects policies that make it difficult for elderly people to participate in the labor market. Most workplaces lack age-friendly environments, and few offer retraining programs or flexible job arrangements for employees older than 55. As
Donald Trump’s return to the White House has offered Taiwan a paradoxical mix of reassurance and risk. Trump’s visceral hostility toward China could reinforce deterrence in the Taiwan Strait. Yet his disdain for alliances and penchant for transactional bargaining threaten to erode what Taiwan needs most: a reliable US commitment. Taiwan’s security depends less on US power than on US reliability, but Trump is undermining the latter. Deterrence without credibility is a hollow shield. Trump’s China policy in his second term has oscillated wildly between confrontation and conciliation. One day, he threatens Beijing with “massive” tariffs and calls China America’s “greatest geopolitical
RSS