Mon, Jun 08, 2026
TIES: Hegseth did not mention Taiwan during his Shangri-La speech, but mentioned the First Island Chain, and ‘they included us as part of this partnership,’ the envoy said Representative to the US Alexander Yui (俞大?) said in an interview published on Saturday that he is not worried that Taiwan would be used as a bargaining chip, adding that the US would sell more weapons to Taiwan according to its needs as China’s threat level increases. The comments were in reference
Heavy rain is expected to affect parts of Taiwan this week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday as a meteorologist said the active part of the annual plum rain season has started. A stationary plum rain front and southwesterly winds would bring unstable weather and abundant moist
The US said it shot down a pair of Iranian drones threatening the Strait of Hormuz, the latest instance of violence as the war reached its 100th day yesterday with no end in sight. It came as mediator Pakistan delivered a message to Iran’s supreme leader, following weeks of indirect talks marked by
More than 1.2 million people filled the streets of Madrid yesterday for a mass by Pope Leo XIV at which he called for a renewal of the Catholic faith in Spain. Spanish King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia joined throngs of devotees waving Spanish and Holy See flags in Cibeles Square for a service filled
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilie
DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS: Taiwan would continue to engage with the world and deepen cooperation with like-minded countries, President William Lai said on social media Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) yesterday departed for a visit to Palau, one of Taiwan’s three Pacific allies, with the goals of deepening bilateral ties, promoting local tourism and seeing the results of development projects aided by Taiwan.Speaking at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport before
DANGEROUS TERRITORY: The KMT legislators’ draft amendment to the Nationality Act obscures the whole concept of sole allegiance to the ROC, an official said A bill proposed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi to allow naturalized Chinese spouses to run for office or assume government posts without giving up their Chinese citizenship is confusing sole allegiance to the Republic of China (ROC), an official said yesterday.Chinese spou
BIASED? DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu criticized the meeting, saying that Cheng visited the democratic US, only to meet with an academic sympathetic to China Rational cross-strait dialogue must be based on opposition to Taiwanese independence to lower tensions, which aligns with the shared strategic interests of the US, China and Taiwan, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said last week during a luncheon in Boston.During her to
In a historic first, Taiwanese officials participated in this year’s Riga Strategic Communications Dialogue in Latvia from Wednesday to Friday last week, which debuted a breakout session focused on Taiwan The event organizer, the NATO Strategic Communications Center of Excellence, displayed Taiwan’s
Vendula Vinsova, daughter of late Czech Senate president Jaroslav Kubera, said her recent trip to Taiwan with current Senate President Milos Vystrcil was a way to fulfill her father’s final wish.As the four-day trip drew to a close on Thursday last week, Vinsova said that she believed the mission ha
Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) yesterday encouraged more Taiwanese tourists to visit Palau, one of Taiwan’s three Pacific allies, after snorkeling with President Surangel Whipps Jr during her first visit to a diplomatic ally as vice president.Hsiao, who arrived in Palau on Saturday on a direct
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) reaffirmed the government’s commitment to combating drugs and organized crime, deepening marine conservation efforts, and advancing oceanographic research during a ceremony marking National Oceans Day in Kaohsiung yesterday.Speaking at Piers 16 and 17 of Kaohsiung Port,
MORE RULES: Experts would be commissioned to study motorcycle accidents involving children to create seat standards and regulations on transporting kids on such vehicles The Ministry of Transportation and Communications plans to introduce national standards for motorcycle child safety seats, similar to those required for cars, an official said yesterday.In 2023, 7,484 children aged 0 to 12 were injured in motorcycle incidents, ministry data showed. The figure peaked
The Changhua District Court’s recent decisions to release suspects accused of causing drug-impaired vehicle accidents and injuring police officers without bail have sparked a public outcry.The incidents prompted Changhua Mayor Lin Shih-Hsien (林世賢) on Saturday to blast what he described as a “lenient
The Taichung MRT Blue Line is facing a major budget shortfall, with Taichung Rapid Transit System Bureau Director-General Su Jui-wen (蘇瑞文) on Saturday estimating that nearly NT$100 billion (US$3.18 billion) might be needed.The 24.8km line is slated to have 20 stations — eight elevated and 12 undergr
FOREIGN INVESTING: Investors from around the world have set records over the past several months as money pours into explosively expanding Taiwanese holdings Foreign exchange reserves at the end of last month moved higher for the second consecutive month, while foreign investors’ holdings in Taiwan-listed stocks, bonds and New Taiwan dollar-denominated deposits neared US$1.9 trillion, the central bank reported on Friday.The nation’s foreign exchange rese
CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) announced on Saturday that it would leave domestic gasoline and diesel prices unchanged this week to ease the impact of high international crude oil prices amid tensions in the Middle East.Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) yesterday said it would also maintain fuel price
HSBC Holdings PLC is deepening its commitment to Taiwan as the economy emerges as one of the bank’s fastest-growing markets globally, driven by an artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom, expanding cross-border trade, and rising wealth creation.“The advantage that Taiwan has is a growth story l
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in San Francisco on Tuesday last week said if she had not met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), she would have been “just a plain” and “even negligible” KMT chairperson, bluntly signaling the role she is playing in her visit to the
In 1935, the German Reich led by the National Socialist Party officially created the Nuremberg Race Laws, a “legal cage”, for German Jews, stripping them of citizenship, criminalizing their personal relationships, barring them from public life, and transforming them into stateless subjects and isola
Nigel P. Daly’s recent article, “Taiwan wants bilingual, artificial intelligence-ready graduates — but tests for yesteryear,” (June 3, page 12) highlighted a challenge at the heart of Taiwan’s education system. We are asking schools to cultivate creative, critical thinkers for an AI-driven global ec
CITY SPIRIT: In a city with many teams with better records, the Knicks have brought many together in a way that teams like the Giants or the Yankees fail to achieve As New York prepares to host the World Cup, the city is instead awash in Knicks blue and orange, reflecting a deep love for the scrappy, unifying team chasing a historic NBA Finals victory.The Knicks took a commanding 2-0 lead on Friday in the best of seven series against the San Antonio Spurs, and
Thousands of people flooded one of the world’s great urban boulevards on Saturday, attempting to set a world record for the Mexican wave in the country that gave the beloved stadium ritual its name.The event commemorates the 40th anniversary of the wave’s debut during the 1986 World Cup held in Mexi
In a Tehran neighborhood dotted with shops selling soccer jerseys and sporting goods, 10-year-old Helma was already feeling World Cup fever.“I’m supporting Iran because it’s always the champion” she said, sporting a bracelet in the green, white and red of Iran’s flag. “This year, it will be number o
Clermont’s former New Zealand flyhalf Harry Plummer kicked a late drop goal to deny Bordeaux-Begles a place in the French Top 14 playoffs but Clermont, who won 34-31, also just missed qualifying.Plummer, 27, slotted the three points in the 77th minute, two weeks after the hosts won a second consecut
ANTI-MIGRANT RHETORIC: Hegseth’s comments echoed the argument of the Trump administration that mass migration represents a danger to European civilization US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Saturday urged Europe to counter what he termed an “invasion” of its coastline by migration, as he marked the 82nd anniversary of the World War II D-Day landings in France. Hegseth also called on European countries to do more to contribute to their own defense
Israeli forces on Friday evening killed a seven-month-old Palestinian baby and wounded his parents in the Tel Rumeida area south of the West Bank city of Hebron, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. The ministry identified the infant as Sam Fahd Abu Haikal and said he died at the scene, while hi
DARK HISTORY: A high percentage of Germans think their grandparents tried to help those persecuted by the Nazi regime, but the real figure is less than 1%, a historian said Many German families have faced the uncomfortable question: What did grandpa do during World War II? Now, the answer might be just a few clicks away — but it might not be what they wanted to hear. In March, the US National Archives posted online the digital scans of about 12 million membership cards
In December of 2008 Lee E-tin (李乙廷), a Miaoli county legislative hopeful, was convicted of vote-buying. Rather than buy votes retail, voter by voter, in the usual manner, Lee had done it wholesale, in a commendably efficient manner: he had visited local temples and made donations to gain their suppo
June 8 to June 14It was once said that flowers bloomed throughout the four seasons in Yunxiaocuo (雲霄厝). Not real ones, but “incense flowers,” referring to a radiating circular formation of freshly cut incense sticks set out to dry.Up until the 1970s, almost every woman in the settlement in Chiayi Ci
With weighty, anxiety-inducing geopolitical topics dominating the headlines, checking in on the wild and weird state of local politics can take some of the edge off. This November’s elections will determine who will be in charge of fixing potholes in your neighborhood, not the potholes in Taiwan’s c
1. 部長由總統任命，直接對總統負責。ˇ The Secretary serves at the pleasure of the President and is responsible directly to the President.χ The Secretary serves at the pleasure of the President and is responsible directly for the President.註：「對人負責」，用 to be responsible to；說「對事負責」，用 to be responsible for。例如： The govern
India has launched one of the world’s largest social policy experiments by transferring cash directly to housewives in recognition of their unpaid domestic labor. Across 12 states, an estimated 118 million adult women regularly receive 1,000 to 2,500 rupees (NT$348 to NT$871), equal to about 5% to 1
Vincenzo Peruggia looked like any other handyman at the Louvre on a Monday morning in 1911, when the museum was closed to the public for maintenance. In a white worker’s blouse, he entered the museum without drawing attention, took the Mona Lisa off the wall, and walked out into the streets of Paris
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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