Sat, Aug 02, 2025
HEADWINDS: The new tariffs add to the challenges already faced by Taiwanese manufacturers, who have been squeezed by unfavorable foreign exchange rates Local manufacturers of machine tools, molds, plastic products and electronic materials are expected to bear the brunt of the newly announced 20 percent US tariff, as their main competitors from Japan and South Korea face lower rates, an impact assessment report obtained by the Taipei Times showed ye
Some Asian nations reacted with relief yesterday after US President Donald Trump announced tariffs that in some cases were lower than threatened, and delayed by a week to Thursday.However, while countries such as Taiwan still hope to negotiate lower rates, uncertainty remains over transshipments and
The Ministry of National Defense is to propose a NT$600 billion to NT$900 billion (US$19.98 billion to US$29.98 billion) special budget to purchase command and control systems, as well as air defense missiles, from the US, a senior official said yesterday.Taiwan is in negotiations with the US over t
Ukraine’s Parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a bill presented by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that restores the independence of two of the country’s key anti-corruption watchdogs, reversing his contentious move last week that curbed their power and brought an outcry.Last week’
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday.The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than
TRENDSETTING: DPP lawmakers across Taiwan urged KMT-led local governments to also issue cash handouts using surplus tax revenue, citing the precedent set by the legislature The Executive Yuan yesterday said it would not ask the legislature to reconsider a special act that includes a universal cash handout of NT$10,000 (US$334.27), but would seek a Constitutional Court review of the provision.Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference in Taipei
UNFAIR COMPARISON? The opposition is using Japan’s and South Korea’s 15 percent tariffs as benchmarks, but Taiwan’s rate was down by more points, Rosalia Wu said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi yesterday urged President William Lai (賴清德) to convene a national conference as soon as possible in response to the 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods the White House announced on Thursday.Speaking at a news conference, Fu said the tariff pose
PRIORITIZING TAIWAN: An economist said that he believed the government chose not to make too many concessions for now to protect the nation’s interests The 20 percent tariff the US imposed on Taiwanese exports is “not the worst,” as securing a lower rate would have required Taiwan to pay a steep price, Tunghai University economist Darson Chiu (邱達生) said yesterday.The tariff was higher than expected and far from ideal, but not the worst outcome, as
The Ministry of Agriculture and domestic importers agreed to increase purchases of US grains and meat to US$10 billion over the next four years, sources with knowledge of the matter said yesterday.US President Donald Trump on Thursday set a 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese products except semiconducto
CHINA TILT? Some US congressional members have expressed concern that Donald Trump is de-emphasizing security issues as he works on a trade deal with Beijing US Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the US Senate Committee on Armed Services, is to lead a congressional delegation to Taiwan this month, a senior congressional official said on Thursday.The trip, which was first reported by the Financial Times, is to take place as some members of the US Congress
The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) stands by its “no smoking is best” stance, but recognizes the reality that people will smoke, former HPA director-general Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) said in an interview published yesterday, a day after he retired from the position.Wu made the comments in an intervi
DEADLOCK: The Executive Yuan in May announced that it would cut subsidies to local governments after the opposition-controlled legislature slashed the general budget The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed a motion urging the Executive Yuan to undo its 25 percent cut to local government subsidies.The legislature passed the motion 57 in favor, 48 against, with one abstention, as the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) overcame
The Ministry of Environment on Monday honored 91 exemplary private companies and organizations for promoting green procurement and sustainable operations. The awardees included five companies that have kept their “green mark” for 20 consecutive years, 36 hotels that obtained gold or silver-level gre
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency on Tuesday unveiled a Web site to combat illegal logging, encouraging the public to take part in forest protection.Data from the agency showed that reported illegal logging incidents decreased to 58 cases last year from 290 in 2013.The agency amended the F
The mother of Kai Kai (剴剴), a one-year-old boy who died from abuse in foster care in late 2023, has been arrested and detained in connection with a separate criminal case dating back to a 2021 assault.Liu (劉), 29, was arrested on Thursday morning in Taichung’s Shalu District (沙鹿) and taken to the Ne
RESHAPING COMMERCE: Major industrialized economies accepted 15 percent duties on their products, while charges on items from Mexico, Canada and China are even bigger US President Donald Trump has unveiled a slew of new tariffs that boosted the average US rate on goods from across the world, forging ahead with his turbulent effort to reshape international commerce.The baseline rates for many trading partners remain unchanged at 10 percent from the duties Trump im
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.The decline reflects growi
The US is imposing sanctions on an international procurement network — including two Taiwanese companies — for supporting Iran’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) program, the US Department of State said on Thursday.The sanctions target five entities and one individual based in Taiwan, Iran, China and H
US President Trump last week announced that he had reached an agreement with Japan to reduce its tariff rate to 15 percent from the 25 percent he announced on July 8. Trump early this week said he had also cut a trade deal with the EU and had agreed to lower the tariff on EU imports to 15 percent, t
A popular Taiwanese adage claims that with every grain of rice comes a hundred drops of sweat (“一粒米、百粒汗”). In a crisis scenario in which tensions in the Taiwan Strait disrupt imports and global supply chains, that grain would carry an even heavier weight. Boosting food security must become a core el
Former CIA director and retired US Army general David Petraeus on Monday participated in a forum hosted by the Hudson Institute think tank, at which he discussed lessons Taiwan can learn from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As a close observer of the Ukraine war, Petraeus pointed out the deep influ
BULLPEN BOLSTERED: San Diego’s general manager traded a big part of the best talent from the club’s farm system to get a dynamic reliever and a dependable starter The San Diego Padres on Thursday acquired hard-throwing closer Mason Miller and left-hander J.P. Sears in a deal with the Oakland Athletics, adding major upgrades to their pitching staff in a trade deadline blockbuster.The Padres gave up an impressive package of prospects, sending highly regarded sh
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open.Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future.“Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the
SOCCERLucas Paqueta clearedWest Ham United forward Lucas Paqueta on Thursday was cleared of alleged spot-fixing after being accused of deliberately receiving yellow cards to influence betting markets. The English Football Association (FA) said that an independent panel had found the charges unproven
RESTRUCTURE: Myanmar’s military has ended emergency rule and announced plans for elections in December, but critics said the move aims to entrench junta control Myanmar’s military government announced on Thursday that it was ending the state of emergency declared after it seized power in 2021 and would restructure administrative bodies to prepare for the new election at the end of the year.However, the polls planned for an unspecified date in December face
HUMANITARIAN: Steve Witkoff’s visit to Israel has come amid reports of widespread hunger in Gaza and mounting criticism of Israel’s handling of the war US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel on Thursday to discuss the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, as the death toll of Palestinians waiting for food and other aid continued to climb. Witkoff and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee were to inspect food d
The family of deceased Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre is urging US President Donald Trump not to grant clemency to Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite serving a 20-year prison sentence for helping Epstein abuse underage girls. Giuffre’s family also said it was “shocking” to hear Trump
The unexpected collapse of the recall campaigns is being viewed through many lenses, most of them skewed and self-absorbed.The international media unsurprisingly focuses on what they perceive as the message that Taiwanese voters were sending in the failure of the mass recall, especially to China, th
The centuries-old fiery Chinese spirit baijiu (白酒), long associated with business dinners, is being reshaped to appeal to younger generations as its makers adapt to changing times.Mostly distilled from sorghum, the clear but pungent liquor contains as much as 60 percent alcohol. It’s the usual choic
Before performing last Friday at Asia’s bellwether music festival, Fuji Rock in Japan, the Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster (落日飛車) had previously performed on one of the festival’s smaller stages and also at Coachella, the biggest brand name in US music festivals. But this set on Fuji Rock’
Denmark’s state-run postal service, PostNord, announced that it would cease letter deliveries at the end of 2025 due to the impact of digitalization. As 95% of its residents now use the Digital Post service, Denmark has seen a 90% decline in letter volumes since 2000, from 1.4 billion to 110 million
A: Apart from the musical Sunset Boulevard, Japanese pop diva Ayumi Hamasaki is also touring Taiwan after a 17-year wait. She’s holding two concerts starting tonight.B: Ayu has the most No. 1 hits of any Japanese solo artist, with 33 total.A: “Time” magazine even crowned her as “The Empress of Pop.”
A: After touring Taipei, the play Life of Pi is now heading to Taichung. You wanna go?B: Did you forget? We’re going to Taipei this weekend to see the musical Sunset Boulevard and go to Japanese pop diva Ayumi Hamasaki’s concert. A: Oh yeah, that’s right. The classic composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber
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 | 27-31 | 30% |  |
| Hsinchu County | 28-31 | 20% |  |
| Hsinchu City | 28-31 | 20% | |
| Taipei City | 27-31 | 30% | |
| Miaoli County | 27-30 | 30% | |
| Taoyuan City | 27-32 | 30% | |
| Keelung City | 27-30 | 40% | |
| Yunlin County | 25-28 | 30% | |
| Taichung City | 26-29 | 40% | |
| Nantou County | 25-28 | 50% | |
| Changhua County | 26-29 | 30% | |
| Chiayi County | 26-28 | 70% | |
| Chiayi City | 25-27 | 70% | |
| Tainan City | 27-28 | 70% | |
| Kaohsiung City | 27-28 | 70% | |
| Pingtung County | 26-27 | 70% | |
| Yilan County | 26-30 | 20% | |
| Hualien County | 26-29 | 30% |  |
| Taitung County | 26-28 | 30% | |
| Kinmen County | 28-30 | 30% | |
| Penghu County | 27-28 | 30% | |
| Lienchiang County | 28-29 | 30% | |
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