March 3 to March 9 Surrounded by three rivers, Fengshan Village (豐山村) was cut off from the outside world after Typhoon Herb washed away its only concrete bridge in August 1996. Villagers for the next few months relied on helicopters for food and medical emergencies, but the situation was dire
From censoring “poisonous books” to banning “poisonous languages,” the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) tried hard to stamp out anything that might conflict with its agenda during its almost 40 years of martial law.To mark 228 Peace Memorial Day, which commemorates the anti-government uprising in 194
On the final approach to Lanshan Workstation (嵐山工作站), logging trains crossed one last gully over a dramatic double bridge, taking the left line to enter the locomotive shed or the right line to continue straight through, heading deeper into the Central Mountains. Today, hikers have to scramble down
In 2012, American Brian Offenther, who goes under the performer name DJ Bo, became the first ever foreign DJ to perform inside North Korea. In the karaoke room of Pyongyang’s Koryo Hotel, he plugged in his DJ controller and played songs by Maroon 5, Chuck Berry and the Village People for about a hun
A routine deep sea diving mission in the North Sea goes terribly wrong when a young diver is stranded some 300 feet below the surface in the new film Last Breath, currently in theaters. His umbilical cable has severed. The support vessel above is aimlessly drifting away from the site through violent
There is a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) plot to put millions at the mercy of the CCP using just released AI technology. This isn’t being overly dramatic. The speed at which AI is improving is exponential as AI improves itself, and we are unprepared for this because we have never experienced anythin
More than 1,000 musicians including Kate Bush and Cat Stevens on Tuesday released a silent album to protest proposed changes to Britain’s copyright laws which could allow tech firms to train artificial intelligence models using their work.Creative industries globally are grappling with the legal and
This tiny island on Japan’s western frontier has no chain convenience stores. Nature lovers can dive with hammerhead sharks and watch miniature horses graze on a hill.But the wooded mountain ranges now carry radar sites. A southern cattle ranch has been replaced with the Japanese Ground Self Defense
It was only a matter of time before US President Donald Trump set his sights on Taiwan. Based on his congratulatory phone call to former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) after her return to power in 2020, the more optimistic among us might have hope for continued support. Alas, Trump 2.0 is a propositi
US President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs on semiconductor chips has complicated Taiwan’s bid to remain a global powerhouse in the critical sector and stay onside with key backer Washington, analysts said.Since taking office last month, Trump has warned of sweeping tariffs against some of his co
In the mess hall of a Canadian military base a few hundred kilometers south of the Arctic Circle, Brigadier-General Daniel Riviere pointed to a map highlighting the region that is becoming a national priority. “All eyes are on the Arctic today,” said Riviere, who heads the Canadian Armed Forces Join
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus convener Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) and some in the deep blue camp seem determined to ensure many of the recall campaigns against their lawmakers succeed. Widely known as the “King of Hualien,” Fu also appears to have become the king of the KMT. In theory, Le
It’s a bustling morning at the Dongmen wet market, in Taipei. Mr Yu is shouting at passersby, trying to offload his boxes of freshly steamed dumplings. In between customers, the self-professed “dumpling king” and his wife, Ms Liao, discuss US President Donald Trump.“He’s very positive, energetic,” s
Last week the State Department made several small changes to its Web information on Taiwan. First, it removed a statement saying that the US “does not support Taiwan independence.” The current statement now reads: “We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side. We expect cross-
Feb 24 to March 2It’s said that the entire nation came to a standstill every time The Scholar Swordsman (雲州大儒俠) appeared on television. Children skipped school, farmers left the fields and workers went home to watch their hero Shih Yen-wen (史艷文) rid the world of evil in the 30-minute daily glove p
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and the country’s other political groups dare not offend religious groups, says Chen Lih-ming (陳立民), founder of the Taiwan Anti-Religion Alliance (台灣反宗教者聯盟).“It’s the same in other democracies, of course, but because political
Taiwan doesn’t have a lot of railways, but its network has plenty of history. The government-owned entity that last year became the Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) has been operating trains since 1891. During the 1895-1945 period of Japanese rule, the colonial government made huge investments in rail infr
This deep dive into the lives of professional movie extras starts out on a hilarious note, but the harshness of their lives soon sets in, and hits hard. Yet, the tone remains lighthearted and even upbeat due to the subjects’ relentless positivity, humor and self-deprecating nature, saving this docum
If you ever turned on the TV in the 2000s after midnight, you might have seen an informercial for P90X.The exercise program promised shredded abs and bulging biceps for anyone who pushed themselves to their limits for 90 days of 90-minute workouts. So it may come as a surprise that its creator, Tony
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