Sat, Jun 21, 2025
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安).Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass
A newly approved Alzheimer’s drug is set to be administered for the first time in Taiwan on Monday, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City announced yesterday.Kisunla, the brand name of the monoclonal antibody donanemab, developed by US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co, would be giv
Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi yesterday was to meet in Geneva with leading European counterparts, who hoped to open a window for a diplomatic solution to the week-old war that has seen Israeli airstrikes target Iranian nuclear and military sites and Tehran firing back.British Se
Embattled Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra faced the prospect of losing her government’s majority yesterday, as a vital coalition partner looked set to demand her resignation and senators launched a legal bid to remove her from office.Paetongtarn, the politically inexperienced daughter of
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday.Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerne
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Kinmen County Government said that Chinese fishers should be allowed to remove the racks with CGA oversight, a plan the Cabinet rejected The government is to remove illegal oyster racks in waters between Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, adding that no Chinese fishers would be allowed to enter Taiwan’s territorial waters to remove them.At one point, nearly 200 hectares of illegal oyster racks were in
REHABILITATION POTENTIAL: The sea bream have high commercial value and are expected to help enrich fishery resources once they are released back into the ocean The Ministry of Agriculture’s Fisheries Research Institute (FRI) has made a global breakthrough in its development of a captive breeding technique that can cultivate juvenile crimson sea bream to at least 5cm in length, institute researchers said on Thursday.The institute has been developing captive
Women with enterovirus symptoms, such as fever, respiratory issues or diarrhea, should not breastfeed babies younger than 3 months, to keep the virus from spreading, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said in a statement yesterday.The CDC said it made the recommendation based on the conclusions m
The consumption of sugar substitute sucralose has been linked to male infertility, a study released by Taipei Medical University (TMU) said yesterday.TMU School of Nutrition and Health Sciences head Hsia Shih-min (夏詩閔) told a news conference that the school’s research found that sucralose causes low
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for a
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) announced yesterday it has resumed accepting student visa (F, J, M) appointment bookings after they were suspended in May.To accommodate applications for students with Fall semester start dates, AIT is also increasing the number of F, J, and M visa appoint
More than 100 venomous snakes were captured in Tainan in April and last month amid the Taiwan cobra (Naja atra) mating season, the city’s Agriculture Bureau said.Snake expert Cheng Kun-yen (鄭琨諺) was called in to capture a cobra that had entered an auto repair shop near Tainan City Councilor Kuo Hsin
SPACE APPLICATIONS: The development of ‘4 Kelvin’ chips would aid Taiwan’s aerospace technologies development, the Institutes of Applied Research’s head said The Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute has made progress in developing chips capable of operating in temperatures as low as 4 Kelvin (minus-269°C), contributing to domestic quantum and aerospace development, National Institutes of Applied Research president Tsai Hung-yin (蔡宏營) said in an interv
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait.It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights.The aircraft were sent in two separate tran
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview.“Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether
DEMAND FOR AI: Export orders in the first half of this year could reach US$318.8 billion, the second-highest level on record for the same period, an official said Export orders expanded 18.5 percent year-on-year last month to US$57.93 billion, driven by robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related applications such as servers and emerging technologies, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.Last month’s export orders exceeded the ministry’s
NO INTEREST? A person familiar with the Taiwanese chipmaker’s thinking said that the Softbank project would have no bearing on TSMC’s plans in Arizona Softbank Group Corp founder Masayoshi Son is seeking to team up with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to realize what could be his biggest bet yet — a trillion-dollar industrial complex in Arizona to build artificial intelligence (AI)-powered robots.Son envisions a version of the va
Consumer confidence improved this month, signaling a tentative return of optimism across economic expectations, equity market sentiment and spending intentions, even as concerns about slowing growth and lingering inflation persist, a survey released yesterday by Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) sh
A recent series of war games held in Taipei has cast a sobering light on Taiwan’s readiness to confront a Chinese invasion, exposing not just military vulnerabilities, but also strategic hesitation and fragile assumptions about international support. On Tuesday last week, nine retired generals from
After overcoming all odds, the Pingtung County Government has expanded its milk provisions program: From this month through the end of the first semester of the upcoming academic year, all students — from rural kindergartens to elementary and even high schools — can drink fresh milk at least five ti
While Taiwan’s efforts in external engagements face obstructions amid China’s growing assertiveness, the nation has demonstrated agility and flexibility in devising its own model of non-traditional global engagements. To this end, it is vital that Taiwan’s 22 cities and counties be recognized and su
AMERICAN REVIVAL: The last time a non-European club won the Club World Cup was when Brazil’s Corinthians defeated England’s Chelsea 1-0 in the 2012 final Thirteen years of European dominance in intercontinental club football came to an end on Thursday as US side Inter Miami defeated Porto 2-1 and Brazil’s Botafogo beat UEFA Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 at the revamped Club World Cup.Lionel Messi’s stunning free kick secured victor
Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul overcame an early double bogey to finish with the first-round lead at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Thursday in Frisco, Texas.Thitikul shot a 4-under-par 68 at Fields Ranch East to hold a one-stroke edge over Australia’s Minjee Lee.Yealimi Noh, South Korea’s Somi Lee
The Oklahoma City Thunder “sucked” in a sloppy, lopsided game six loss to the Indiana Pacers, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said, but he is confident they have what it takes to claim the title in Game 7.“The way I see it, we sucked tonight,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player,
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals.Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables.The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial d
Norway plans to raise overall spending on defense and broader security to 5 percent of GDP, its prime minister said yesterday, in line with a planned common goal among NATO states.Europe is scrambling to boost defenses against a potential Russian attack after the administration of US President Donal
‘REGIME CHANGE’: If Iran’s leadership falls, the aftermath could trigger wider instability and strengthen hardline forces in the region, analysts said Israel’s sweeping campaign of airstrikes aims to do more than destroy Iran’s nuclear centrifuges and missile capabilities. It seeks to shatter the foundations of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s government and leave it near collapse, Israeli, Western and regional officials said.Israel
Swooping low over the banks of a Nile River tributary, an aid flight run by retired American military officers released a stream of food-stuffed sacks over a town emptied by fighting in South Sudan, a country wracked by conflict.Last week’s air drop was the latest in a controversial development — pr
No more elephant and monkey acts. No more death-defying motorbike stunts. No more singing or acting on stage.Several hundred spectators still clapped constantly when acrobats with Dongchoon Circus Troupe, South Korea’s last and 100-year-old circus, twirled on a long suspended fabric, juggled clubs o
The wide-screen spectacle of Formula One gets a gleaming, rip-roaring workout in Joseph Kosinski’s F1, a fine-tuned machine of a movie that, in its most riveting racing scenes, approaches a kind of high-speed splendor.Kosinski, who last endeavored to put moviegoers in the seat of a fighter jet in To
The new generation born between 2025 and 2039 has been officially named “Generation Beta,” or simply “Gen Beta.” This generation will be the first to experience a world where artificial intelligence (AI) plays a key role in daily life.Generations are defined by shared cultural, social and historical
A: What exhibitions are you going to see this summer? B: The 100% Doraemon & Friends exhibit is set to open on June 28. A: The news says there will be a 12-meter-tall giant Doraemon model at the Huashan 1914 Creative Park.B: The One Piece Carnival will set sail on the same day.A: And the D’fes
A: The National Palace Museum (NPM) has launched an exhibition, titled “From Impressionism to Early Modernism.” There are 81 masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art on display now.B: The exhibit, held to celebrate the NPM’s centennial, must be so spectacular.A: It includes artworks by 38
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 | 31-34 | 50% |  |
| Hsinchu County | 30-32 | 20% |  |
| Hsinchu City | 30-32 | 20% | |
| Taipei City | 31-36 | 70% | |
| Miaoli County | 30-33 | 20% |  |
| Taoyuan City | 31-33 | 20% | |
| Keelung City | 30-32 | 20% | |
| Yunlin County | 31-34 | 20% | |
| Taichung City | 31-34 | 20% |  |
| Nantou County | 30-34 | 30% | |
| Changhua County | 31-33 | 20% | |
| Chiayi County | 31-34 | 20% |  |
| Chiayi City | 31-34 | 20% | |
| Tainan City | 31-33 | 20% | |
| Kaohsiung City | 31-33 | 20% | |
| Pingtung County | 31-34 | 20% | |
| Yilan County | 29-32 | 30% | |
| Hualien County | 29-31 | 20% | |
| Taitung County | 29-32 | 20% | |
| Kinmen County | 29-32 | 20% | |
| Penghu County | 29-32 | 30% |  |
| Lienchiang County | 28-31 | 0% | |
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