Sun, Feb 08, 2026
STANDING FIRM: The KMT said it supports a reasonable defense budget and that it would promptly review the budget once money is allocated for soldiers’ salary raises Bipartisan US lawmakers have once again criticized and expressed disappointment that Taiwan’s efforts to enhance its self-defense capabilities are being hindered.US senators Jim Risch and Jeanne Shaheen, chairman and ranking member of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations respectively, releas
In response to extreme weather conditions, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Health and Welfare are collaborating on an action plan, making “cold-weather adaptation” a key component, the environment ministry said yesterday.People have adapted to warm winters, as temperatures have climb
Greek authorities on Friday formally detained a senior air force officer accused of spying, his lawyer said, while another source and the media said the intelligence was given to China. The 54-year-old officer — who was not named, but was serving in a unit in the Athens region — appeared before mili
Hong Kong’s commerce chief on Friday summoned the Panamanian Consul General to condemn a court ruling that annulled Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison’s contract to operate two ports at the Panama Canal.The move came after China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office earlier this week warned Panama of “heav
STANDOFF: Wellington Koo urged the legislature to approve the budget, as the first installment must be paid by March, but the KMT said it would not sign ‘blank checks’ Taiwan is to seek an extension to the date by which an agreement must be signed with the US for a batch of weapons deliveries, given the ongoing standoff in the legislature about defense spending, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday.President William Lai (賴清德) last year proposed a
The partisan standoff over President William Lai’s (賴清德) proposed defense budget has raised questions about the nation’s ability to adequately fund its own defense, the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in a report released on Tuesday.The report, titled Taiwan: Defense and Military Issues
ExperIENCES MAY VARY: A handful of users in Taiwan and abroad have had adverse reactions to drugs such as Ozempic, causing governments to issue warnings Some GLP-1 receptor agonists, including drugs such as Ozempic, are prescription drugs for losing weight that should only be prescribed by a doctor, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday, adding that 21 cases of suspected adverse reactions have been reported in the past three years.Th
NOMINAL NEWLYWEDS: A man’s family and his wife — his long-term caregiver — are engaged in a legal dogfight over the propriety and validity of the recent union A centenarian’s marriage to his caregiver unbeknownst to his children has prompted legal action, as the caregiver accuses the man’s children of violating her personal liberty and damaging her reputation, while the children have sought a legal option to have the marriage annulled.According to sources
One of three people killed in a car collision into an Asian specialty grocery store in the Westwood area of Los Angeles on Thursday has been confirmed as a Taiwanese citizen.The incident occurred around noon near the University of California, Los Angeles, where a 92-year-old female driver first stru
Suddenly blurred vision might be a symptom of eye stroke caused by restricted blood flow, or vasoconstriction, from low temperatures during cold weather, a doctor warned as he called on people with chronic disease or nearsightedness to be careful.Eye stroke, or retinal artery occlusion, has symptoms
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport medical staff reminded people not to insist on flying while feeling sick, after certifying an office worker with severe flu-like symptoms as unfit to fly.The Landseed Hospital-run center said on Tuesday last week that doctors removed a woman in her 20s from her c
‘T-DOME’: IBCS would increase Taiwan’s defense capabilities, enabling air defense units to use data from any sensor system and cut reaction time, a defense official said A defense official yesterday said that a purported new arms sale the US is assembling for Taiwan likely includes Integrated Battle Command Systems (IBCS). The anonymous official’s comments came hours after the Financial Times (FT) reported that Washington is preparing a US$20 billion arms sale encom
A joint military exercise code-named “Justice Mission 2025” carried out by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in December last year suggested that the PLA was testing year-round operational readiness, appears focused on aggression against Taiwan’s eastern region as well as Penghu, a Taiwanes
Taiwan must first strengthen its own national defense to deter a potential invasion by China as cross-strait tensions continue to rise, multiple European lawmakers said on Friday. In a media interview in Taipei marking the conclusion of an eight-member European parliamentary delegation’s six-day vis
BACKLASH: Actor Candy Yang said the film, about a real-life murder case, has the thrill element like seeing Sherlock Holmes and John Watson solving a crime The production team of a new local period suspense movie, adapted from the Lin family murders on Feb. 28, 1980, yesterday apologized to the public for shooting it without consent from the victims’ family, after the film’s announcement last week caused a backlash. The producers of the film, titled Mu
IShowSpeed, a 21-year-old African-American influencer, has raced a cheetah, leapt with Maasai warriors and drawn huge crowds in a month-long tour of Africa that has also busted cliches about the continent.The YouTube and Twitch star’s tour, which started on Dec. 29 last year, took him to 20 countrie
Until US President Donald Trump’s return a year ago, when the EU talked about cutting economic dependency on foreign powers — it was understood to mean China, but now Brussels has US tech in its sights.As Trump ramps up his threats — from strong-arming Europe on trade to pushing to seize Greenland —
For the second year in a row, a Brazilian movie has wowed international audiences and critics, securing multiple Oscar nominations and drawing fresh interest in the Latin American giant’s film industry.Experts say the success of The Secret Agent, which has won four Oscar nominations, a year after I
In a Taipei Times editorial published almost three years ago (“Macron goes off-piste,” April 13, 2023, page 8), French President Emmanuel Macron was criticized for comments he made immediately after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing. Macron had spoken of the need for his country
In the past 72 hours, US Senators Roger Wicker, Dan Sullivan and Ruben Gallego took to social media to publicly rebuke the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) over the defense budget. I understand that Taiwan’s head is on the chopping block, and the urgency of its security situation cannot be overstated
For years, the US has been urging Taiwan to increase defense spending amid mounting threats from an increasingly capable China hell-bent on “unification.” Nevertheless, this month Taiwanese legislators moved to block a critical increase in the defense budget. Their obstinacy not only undermines Taiw
FIRST MEDALS: Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland secured the first gold medal of the Milan Games yesterday, winning the men’s downhill ski race The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics opened on Friday with a glittering ceremony at the San Siro stadium echoed by festivities at Games venues across the snow-capped Italian Alps.The extravaganza reflected the most geographically widespread Olympics in history.It culminated in the lighting of two cauld
During the past three Winter Olympics, biathletes had to race at night on icy snow and lighted trails, at venues that had rarely been used, since they were built just for the Games — conditions that made racing more challenging for the athletes.That all changes with the Milan-Cortina Winter Games.Bi
Taiwanese sprinter Chen Wen-pu made several achievements at the 12th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships on Friday, winning a silver medal in the men’s 60m and setting a new national record.Chen, 27, won the medal with a 6.60-second sprint, falling just 0.01 seconds behind Chinese sprinter Deng Xin
Great Britain (GB) secured their place in the final round of Davis Cup qualifying after Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool won the doubles on Friday to seal a 3-0 win over Norway.Wimbledon champions Cash and Glasspool beat Norwegian pair Nicolai Budkov Kjaer and Viktor Durasovic 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5) to
DIPLOMATIC THAW: The Canadian prime minister’s China visit and improved Beijing-Ottawa ties raised lawyer Zhang Dongshuo’s hopes for a positive outcome in the retrial China has overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian official said on Friday, in a possible sign of a diplomatic thaw as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks to boost trade ties with Beijing.Schellenberg’s lawyer, Zhang Dongshuo (張東碩), yesterday confirmed China’s
NEW RULES: There would be fewer school days, four-day workweeks, and a reduction in transportation services as the country battles a crisis exacerbated by US pressure The Cuban government on Friday announced emergency measures to address a crippling energy crisis worsened by US sanctions, including the adoption of a four-day work week for state-owned companies and fuel sale restrictions.Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga blamed Washington for the
A sign hanging from a rusty ice-green shipping container installed by Thai forces on what they say is the border with Cambodia reads: “Cambodian citizens are strictly prohibited from entering this area.”On opposite sides of the makeshift barricade, fronted by coils of barbed wire, Cambodians lamente
Feb. 9 to Feb.15 Growing up in the 1980s, Pan Wen-li (潘文立) was repeatedly told in elementary school that his family could not have originated in Taipei. At the time, there was a lack of understanding of Pingpu (plains Indigenous) peoples, who had mostly assimilated to Han-Taiwanese society and had
On paper, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) enters this year’s nine-in-one elections with almost nowhere to go but up. Yet, there are fears in the pan-green camp that they may not do much better then they did in 2022.Though the DPP did somewhat better at the city and county councillor level in
As much as I’m a mountain person, I have to admit that the ocean has a singular power to clear my head. The rhythmic push and pull of the waves is profoundly restorative. I’ve found that fixing my gaze on the horizon quickly shifts my mental gearbox into neutral.I’m not alone in savoring this kind o
Continued from yesterday（延續自昨日）https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/langBy now, it’s clear that pigs are not what we imagine them to be. But the surprises don’t end here. These creatures also carry traits that further defy common stereotypes. Take their noses, for example. A pig’s sense of smell is so
People praise the wisdom of owls and the loyalty of dogs, yet pigs are rarely commended for anything. Branded as lazy and dirty, they’ve long had a bad rap. But if you scratch beneath the surface, you’ll find that pigs are among the most underestimated animals of all. If you’ve watched the animated
A: Apart from Pokemon, ancient Egyptian relics have attracted much attention lately.B: Are you talking about the “King of Egypt: Pharaoh” exhibition at Tainan’s Chimei Museum? Apparently, it’s the largest exhibit of its kind ever in Taiwan.A: Yup, Chimei is displaying 280 relics from The British
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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