Sun, Oct 26, 2025
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week.“I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding tha
The US said it held “very constructive” discussions with China after the first day of trade negotiations in Malaysia, as US President Donald Trump began his trip to the region.Chinese and US officials met in Kuala Lumpur yesterday for a new round of talks aimed at defusing a standoff between the wor
Taiwan’s first African swine fever (ASF) case has been confirmed and would soon be reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) yesterday.The Ministry of Agriculture’s Veterinary Research Institute yesterday completed the analysis of sampl
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul plans to meet US President Donald Trump today in Malaysia and sign a peace declaration with Cambodia overseen by the US leader, proceeding with his overseas travel amid funeral arrangements for the Thai queen mother.The death yesterday of Thai Queen Mother Sir
SECURITY: DPP and KMT legislators proposed national security amendments to close legal loopholes, enhance safeguards and prevent the leaking of sensitive information Legislators across party lines have proposed amendments to the National Security Act (國家安全法) to prevent potential Chinese infiltration and safeguard the nation’s democratic system.Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers, including Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄), Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) and Wang Mei-hui (
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.”The article, titled “The US Must Bewa
SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITIES: One Chinese vessel used 11 mobile maritime service identification serial numbers and changed them 1,300 times in one year, a think tank said The Chinese maritime militia is operating hundreds of civilian fishing vessels to conduct “gray zone” campaigns in the Taiwan Strait, a US-based think tank said in a report this month. Beijing is deploying dual-use and unmarked fishing vessels to engage in surveillance and harassment operations with
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has been investigating nine shell companies working with Prince Holding Group, and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking further prosecution of alleged criminals, a source said yesterday.The nine companies and three Taiwanese nationals
BREAKING ISOLATION: Taiwan’s security is crucial for the Indo-Pacific region, and Taipei can leverage this ‘security value’ in its diplomatic affairs, an expert said With the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MOFA) budget rising to NT$41.53 billion (US$1.35 billion) next year, experts say Taiwan should increase aid to other nations, invest in countries with similar security interests and use official visits to break out of diplomatic isolation.The Chinese Ministry o
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday the “benefits after unification” touted by Chinese authorities at a Beijing event marking “the 80th anniversary of Taiwan’s restoration to China” hold no appeal for the people of Taiwan.“The crux of cross-strait relations lies in systemic differ
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to manipulate Retrocession Day to deny Taiwanese sovereignty and to limit its space on the international stage will not be effective and not be recognized by democratic countries, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday. The remarks, made in
DISEASE WATCH: An unexplained increase in deaths attributed to pneumonia, the third-biggest cause of death last year, is of concern, the Ministry of the Interior said The life expectancy in Taiwan last year was 80.77 years — up from 80.23 a year earlier — with cancer the top cause of death for the 43rd consecutive year, the Ministry of the Interior said in a statement yesterday.Cancer deaths totaled 54,032 last year, or 26.83 percent of all deaths, the ministry s
‘PAY FOR PERFORMANCE’: The ‘value-based purchasing’ plan would offer financial incentives to healthcare providers for top performance in breast cancer treatment A “pay for performance” (P4P) strategy would be implemented next year to address the increasing mortality rate of breast cancer, Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said at the opening ceremony of the two-day Taipei International Breast Cancer Symposium in Taipei yesterday.Breast c
The Taiwan Pride parade, themed “Beyond links, more than clicks,” promoted understanding of different life experiences amid global hostility toward diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the Taiwan Rainbow Civil Action Association said at the event yesterday.Nearly 150,000 people attende
San Jose, California, on Friday proclaimed Oct. 25 to be “Taiwanese Day” to honor the contributions of Taiwanese communities and recognize their role in efforts to restore a garden in Overfelt Park.A flag-raising ceremony for the national flags of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the US was held a
The bells and bleats faded as Osam Abdulmumen, a migrant from Sudan, herded sheep back from pasture, the sun setting over a centuries-old farm in Spain’s arid heartland.From dawn to dusk, Abdulmumen, 25, has looked over a flock of 400 animals for months in Los Cortijos, a village of 850 people in th
It is a grey morning in Shadwell, east London, but inside the old shell of Tobacco Dock, the gloom gives way to pulsating neon lights, flashy cars and cryptocurrency chatter.Evangelists for Web3, a vision for the next era of the Internet, have descended on the old trading dock to network for two day
US sports leagues rushed to get in on the multi-billion US dollar bonanza of legalized betting, but the arrest of an National Basketball Association (NBA) coach and player in two sprawling US federal investigations show the potential cost of partnering with the gambling industry.Portland Trail Blaze
Taiwan Retrocession Day is observed on Oct. 25 every year. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government removed it from the list of annual holidays immediately following the first successful transition of power in 2000, but the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led opposition reinstated it this y
On Oct. 3, the Ministry of Economic Affairs approved a 3.5 percent pay raise for employees of state-run enterprises — Taiwan Power Co (Taipower), CPC Corp (CPC), Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar) and Taiwan Water Corp — which would take effect starting from next year. On Sept. 26, the Ministry of Labor a
In 1925, Mao Zedong (毛澤東) published his article “Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society” (中國社會各階級的分析), which outlined six distinct classes and spelled out his thinking. He wrote that “our enemies are all those in league with imperialism — the warlords, the bureaucrats, the comprador class, the b
‘A HISTORIC moment’: ‘I think we all need to take a step back and appreciate Leo Messi is playing in Major League Soccer,’ league commissioner Don Garber said Lionel Messi raised the Golden Boot. He then got Inter Miami started with his head.The Argentine opened the scoring with a diving header in the first half, then capped the scoring in the 96th minute as Inter Miami opened the MLS playoffs with a 3-1 win over Nashville SC in Game 1 of their Eastern Co
Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling and Canada’s Brooke Henderson beat Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom and Ingrid Lindblad 4 and 3 yesterday to qualify the World team for the International Crown semi-finals.The win gave the World team their fourth point in Pool B from three wins and two ties in the LPGA team event at
Japan’s narrow defeat by Australia showed they can compete with the best teams in the world, coach Eddie Jones said after his side fell to a 19-15 loss yesterday.Australia coach Joe Schmidt led the Wallabies for the first time against Eddie Jones, his predecessor and now Japan coach. During Jones’ s
Barcelona star Lamine Yamal would be motivated by criticism ahead of the Clasico, Barcelona assistant coach Marcus Sorg said yesterday.Teenage winger Yamal has been in the spotlight in the Spanish capital after joking that Real Madrid “steal” and “complain” during an appearance on a social media str
POWER ABUSE WORRY: Some people warned that the broad language of the treaty could lead to overreach by authorities and enable the repression of government critics Countries signed their first UN treaty targeting cybercrime in Hanoi yesterday, despite opposition from an unlikely band of tech companies and rights groups warning of expanded state surveillance.The new global legal framework aims to bolster international cooperation to fight digital crimes, from c
A recent string of deadly bear attacks has prompted Japanese filmmakers to postpone the release of a gory horror movie with the same theme.Bears have killed at least nine people in Japan so far this year, an unwanted record that the government has described as a “serious problem.”The film, titled Br
Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine overnight into yesterday killed at least three people and wounded 17 others, local officials said.In Kyiv, one person was killed and 10 wounded in a ballistic missile attack, Kyiv military administration head Timur Tkachenko said. Three of the wounded wer
Oct. 27 to Nov. 2Over a breakfast of soymilk and fried dough costing less than NT$400, seven officials and engineers agreed on a NT$400 million plan — unaware that it would mark the beginning of Taiwan’s semiconductor empire.It was a cold February morning in 1974. Gathered at the unassuming shop wer
The consensus on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chair race is that Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) ran a populist, ideological back-to-basics campaign and soundly defeated former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), the candidate backed by the big institutional players. Cheng tapped into a wave of popular enthu
The classic warmth of a good old-fashioned izakaya beckons you in, all cozy nooks and dark wood finishes, as tables order a third round and waiters sling tapas-sized bites and assorted — sometimes unidentifiable — skewered meats. But there’s a romantic hush about this Ximending (西門町) hotspot, with c
Continued from yesterday（延續自昨日）https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/langPeople are leaving comments under a post about social media recommendations: (A) Carl: My Threads feed is perfectly tailored because of them. It makes keeping up with my interests incredibly easy.(B) Holly: Sometimes after I search
The stress of a long workday was really weighing Sarah down, and she felt the urgent need to get away. The moment the thought of escape crossed her mind, her fingers flew to the keyboard and typed “travel destinations.” Later, while she was casually scrolling through her social media, she was met wi
A: As the Taiwan Pride parade enters its 23rd year, the nation also celebrates the sixth anniversary of the legalization of same-sex marriage.B: However, a poll showed that support for same-sex marriage slightly dropped to 54.3 percent from last year’s 56.5 percent.A: The government is wavering o
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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