Skipper Sampsa Jalo greets three young children on their way home from school as they board an unusual amphibious vessel docked and humming at a wooden pier on the frozen Baltic Sea.Due to unusually thick ice this winter, a hovercraft called “Snovit” (“Snow White”) has replaced the ferries that norm
Recently the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and its Mini-Me partner in the legislature, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), have been arguing that construction of chip fabs in the US by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is little more than stripping Taiwan of its assets. For example, K
March 9 to March 15“This land produced no horses,” Qing Dynasty envoy Yu Yung-ho (郁永河) observed when he visited Taiwan in 1697. He didn’t mean that there were no horses at all; it was just difficult to transport them across the sea and raise them in the hot and humid climate. “Although 10,00
Institutions signalling a fresh beginning and new spirit often adopt new slogans, symbols and marketing materials, and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is no exception. Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), soon after taking office as KMT chair, released a new slogan that plays on the party’s acronym: “Kind Mindfu
“M yeolgong jajangmyeon (anti-communism zhajiangmian, 滅共炸醬麵), let’s all shout together — myeolgong!” a chef at a Chinese restaurant in Dongtan, located about 35km south of Seoul, South Korea, calls out before serving a bowl of Korean-style zhajiangmian —black bean noodles. Diners repeat the phrase b
The blockbuster GLP-1 drugs that have reshaped the treatment of diabetes and obesity may help prevent multiple substance use disorders — and reduce the tragic outcomes they cause, a large new study finds.An analysis published Wednesday in a medical journal looked at electronic health records from mo
Jessica Chastain takes on one of her most daring roles in Dreams, a torrid erotic thriller about power, obsession, art and immigration. Re-teaming with filmmaker Michel Franco (Memory), she plays a San Francisco socialite entangled in a tempestuous affair with a talented Mexican ballet dancer, playe
The Korea Times will host its third Korean Language Speaking Contest from now to May 7, offering participants a chance to showcase their Korean language skills and compete for prizes worth a total of 12 million won (US$9,000).The contest drew about 1,800 applicants last year, reflecting growing glob
Japan’s expedition to southern Taiwan in 1874 was ostensibly aimed at chastising the local indigenous people for killing shipwrecked Okinawan and Japanese mariners. In reality, it was a knowing attempt to establish colonies in southern and eastern Taiwan “in the hope that Japan would be able to take
Taiwan’s Chinese-language news media landscape is dramatic, richly textured and moves at lightning speed. It is also surprisingly large, boasting a complexity and variety one would expect from a far larger country. Taiwan is a nation of news junkies. The more neutral outlets come in two varieties. T
Who says to beware the Ides of March?A March 15 Academy Awards may feel late. By then, it will be almost a year since Sinners sunk its teeth into moviegoers last April. Some nominees have been on the campaign trail since the Cannes Film Festival in May.But the upside of a prolonged Oscar race has me
In a Shanghai shopping center, customers browsed racks of used winter coats, US$2 trousers and household appliances — pre-used items that would have been out of place in a major Chinese mall a decade ago.But these days, stagnating wages, youth unemployment and a years-long property crisis are making
Since ChatGPT stunned the world three years ago with the powers of generative AI, countries have grappled with how to govern the rapidly developing technology.As Vietnam’s artificial intelligence law goes into effect on Sunday, here is a look at regulation efforts around the globe: EU: FIRST MOVEThe
The second-hand market for smartphones has surged in recent years, borne up by lower prices as well as interest in eco-friendly consumption even as some still fear buying a dud.The success of refurbished phones is a reminder that flashy new gadgets and cutting-edge capabilities, on show this week at
Taiwan has next to no political engagement in Myanmar, either with the ruling military junta nor the dozens of armed groups who’ve in the last five years taken over around two-thirds of the nation’s territory in a sprawling, patchwork civil war. But early last month, the leader of one relatively min
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) announced last week a city policy to get businesses to reduce working hours to seven hours per day for employees with children 12 and under at home. The city promised to subsidize 80 percent of the employees’ wage loss. Taipei can do this, since the Celestial Dragon
March 2 to March 8Gunfire rang out along the shore of the frontline island of Lieyu (烈嶼) on a foggy afternoon on March 7, 1987. By the time it was over, about 20 unarmed Vietnamese refugees — men, women, elderly and children — were dead. They were hastily buried, followed by decades of silence.
Since its formation almost 15 years ago, Kaohsiung rock band Elephant Gym (大象體操) has shattered every assumption about contemporary popular music, and their story is now on screen in a documentary titled More Real Than Dreams.It’s an unlikely success story that says a lot about young people in Taiwan
Before the last section of the round-the-island railway was electrified, one old blue train still chugged back and forth between Pingtung County’s Fangliao (枋寮) and Taitung (台東) stations once a day. It was so slow, was so hot (it had no air conditioning) and covered such a short distance, that the l
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