SOCIETY
Students shine at Robofest
Students from Taiwan won four categories at the Robofest World Championship in the US. They were competing against teams that qualified for the event from regional competitions in 21 other countries and nine US states. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office said on Facebook yesterday said that Taiwanese students won the most popular award in the Exhibition Junior category, and first place in the Exhibition Senior and Game Senior categories. They also won the Junior Bottle Sumo category, in which teams of one robot try to push each other or a bottle off a platform. Twelve Taiwanese teams, comprising nearly 50 students from elementary school upward, participated in the competition at Lawrence Technological University in Michigan.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago
POLITICS
Tsai awards 13 top officials
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday conferred medals on Vice President William Lai (賴清德) and 12 other officials at the Presidential Office, in recognition of their hard work, which she said had left a better Taiwan for the world. Tsai, set to complete her second presidential term on Monday next week, awarded Lai, the president-elect, the Order of Dr Sun Yat-sen with Grand Cordon and the Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon. Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) was awarded the Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon. Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), Presidential Office Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and Examination Yuan Secretary-General Liu Chien-sin (劉建忻) were honored with the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon. Vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正), Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) and Stanley Kao (高碩泰), a former top envoy to the US, were among those who received the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago
CRIME
Triple murder suspect held
The New Taipei District Court yesterday approved a request by prosecutors to detain and hold incommunicado a man suspected of murdering his wife, stepson and mother-in-law in the city’s Sanchong District (三重). The 24-year-old suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was detained due to the severity of the case and the risk that he could try to flee or destroy evidence. Chang was arrested in Taichung on Sunday after his 30-year-old wife, surnamed Chen (陳), her 69-year-old mother, surnamed Liu (劉), and his three-year-old stepson were found dead at a residence on Saturday night, police said. A woman identified as Liu’s oldest daughter said she was unable to contact her mother for several days, police said. Police said Chang admitted during questioning that he had murdered them over a financial dispute.
SOCIETY
Indonesians wed en masse
Twenty-nine Indonesian couples on Sunday took part in a mass wedding event in Taipei that was held to reduce the number of unregistered marriages among Indonesians in Taiwan. After attending a ceremony of about 20 minutes featuring readings from the Koran, each couple spent 15 minutes processing documents before receiving an official marriage certificate issued by the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs. Sunday’s event was the third mass wedding event organized by the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office to Taipei since the beginning of last year.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
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