Sun, Mar 17, 2024
‘CONFUSING’: A senior security official said Beijing is sending out mixed messages by harassing Taiwan while asking for its help in rescue missions Coast Guard Administration (CGA) personnel yesterday drove off four China Coast Guard patrol vessels that had entered restricted and prohibited waters off Kinmen County in the second such incident in less than 24 hours.China has stepped up its military activities near Taiwan in the past few years, w
A Hong Kong court yesterday sentenced 12 people to jail terms from more than four years to nearly seven years in a high-profile rioting case linked to the storming of the Legislative Council during a pro-democracy protest in 2019.Protesters broke into Hong Kong’s legislative council building on July
The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Friday proposed eight measures to improve child-placement services in response to the death of a one-year-old boy.The ministry’s Social and Family Affairs Administration held the meeting to review the incident, in which a child was allegedly abused to death by a
Efforts towards a truce in the Israel-Hamas war continued yesterday after a new proposal from the Palestinian militant group, which also called for more aid into Gaza, where famine threatens and the first food shipment by sea was unloaded.Israel said it would send a delegation to Qatar for another r
PUSHING BACK: The US is working ‘very carefully and closely’ with Taiwan’s three allies in the Pacific ‘to close off any opportunities that China could exploit,’ an official said The US has warned Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific to be “cautious and careful” in dealing with China, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink told US senators on Thursday, adding that Washington is working closely with them to maintain stabilit
A Criminal Code provision requiring repeat offenders to serve up to 25 years with no chance of parole if they violate the law during their parole contravenes the Constitution, and should be amended within two years, the Constitutional Court said yesterday.Hsieh Chao-he (謝朝和), who was sentenced to li
FOREIGN AID: The Latin America and the Caribbean aid budget is focused primarily on building basic infrastructure and social development, the ministry said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has proposed an NT$4.87 billion (US$154.1 million) international cooperation and foreign aid program budget for Latin America and the Caribbean this year.Lawmakers, citing the loss of Honduras as a diplomatic ally and the outbreak of civil unrest in Haiti that
‘FRIENDSHIP TOUR’: Taiwanese flocked to Keelung yesterday to see three warships, known as the Dunmu Goodwill Fleet, before they embark on a Pacific tour Executing concrete-smashing stunts and somersaults, Taiwan’s marines performed yesterday at a northern port where civilians were given a rare chance to board three warships before the navy embarks on a “friendship” tour in the Pacific.Three of the nation’s 12 formal diplomatic allies are in the Paci
A retired army colonel surnamed Liu (劉), a retired rear-admiral surnamed Sun (孫) and a man surnamed Chu (祝) were indicted on Thursday for allegedly developing an organization in support of China in contravention of the National Security Act (國家安全法).As Sun and Chu are considered a flight risk, the Hi
Several lawmakers held a ceremony in the Legislative Yuan on Friday to mark the inauguration of six parliamentary friendship groups to promote closer exchanges with European countries.The aim of setting up the groups is to help boost Taiwan’s international participation, lawmakers said.The groups i
A local industry association head said Taiwan should learn from Japan in terms of how to use a variety of resources for electricity generation, including nuclear power, as future technologies are destined to consume much more power.Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (CNAIC) chairm
CHILI AFTEREFFECTS: A lawyer said that electronic warrants would improve the efficacy of police work as long as the archive is coordinated and officers have good equipment There is an urgent need to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法) and introduce electronic warrants to address shortcomings in its Article 77, legal experts said yesterday.The issue arose after Gin Zhan International Co (津棧國際貿易) manager Lee Yen-ting (李彥廷), who is accused of importing tainted c
Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) on Friday said the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) should complete its inspection and testing of ingredients and food products containing Sudan III, an industrial dye banned in food in Taiwan, in a week and tainted products should be removed from shelves by th
ACADEMIC TREND: The Ministry of Education said that it advised against having a third semester in summer, citing controversial admission fees and other issues The new academic calendar released yesterday by the Taiwan University System, a consortium of three universities headed by the National Taiwan University (NTU), followed the growing trend of shorter university semesters.The Taiwan University System, which also includes National Taiwan Normal Univers
Hualien County councilors are in discussion with the Hualien County Government on how to help local establishments obtain a license to charge visitors to interact with animals.There are nine restaurants or farms in the county that allow people to feed or pet animals on the premises, but they do that
Before the Israel-Hamas war, the women of the West Bank-based tech nonprofit Female Innovators and Investors of Middle East and North Africa (FINOMENA) had grand plans.Some were honing their coding skills ahead of a hackathon in partnership with Microsoft Corp. Others were excitedly planning to trav
They are wriggly, they are gross and they are worth more than US$2,000 a pound. Soon, fishers might be able to catch thousands of pounds of them for years to come.Baby eels, also called elvers, are likely the most valuable fish in the US on a per-pound basis — worth orders of magnitude more money at
Eclipse-themed beer. Jewelry and ornaments. Doughnuts that capture the sun’s disappearing act with the help of buttercream frosting.With April 8’s total solar eclipse right around the corner, businesses are ready for the celestial event that is to dim skies along a generous path across North America
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) on Friday apologized for the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) failure to immediately conduct batch-by-batch inspection when traces of Sudan III — an industrial dye banned in food due to possible carcinogenic properties — was found in imported chili powder at border i
US Congressional Republicans’ delay in approving aid to Ukraine and former US president Donald Trump’s comments about not protecting certain NATO member states have stirred doubts about Washington’s commitment to safeguarding the global order that it put in place after World War II. In particular, t
Recently, Nauru terminated its diplomatic ties with Taiwan and switched to recognizing China, a development that has raised eyebrows given the historically strong ties between Taiwan and Nauru. It no longer acknowledges Taiwan as a sovereign state, but rather considers it an integral part of China,
CONTRASTING SEMIS: Iga Swiatek took 69 minutes to clinch her return to the championship match, while Maria Sakkari faced rain breaks and a three-set battle Maria Sakkari on Friday needed three sets and four match points to get past US Open champion Coco Gauff, setting up a title clash with world No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the ATP-WTA Indian Wells Masters.In a match halted twice by rain, Greece’s ninth-ranked Sakkari squandered three match points in the secon
The ACT Brumbies yesterday turned in an improved second-half performance to beat the Otago Highlanders 27-21 in Super Rugby Pacific for the third win of the season by an Australian team over New Zealand opponents.The Brumbies trailed 11-7 after a frenetic first half, but took the lead for the first
Michael Hayes stood in the drizzle outside of the gym on Friday, about 30 minutes after his final US college basketball game of the season, contemplating one of the weirder seasons for any team in recent memory.The journey for the Antelope Valley Pioneers — college basketball’s team who lost their c
Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday defeated her Chinese opponent to advance to the semi-finals in the women’s singles at the All England Open Badminton Championships.She was to play world No. 5 Carolina Marin of Spain in the semis after press time last night.The Taiwanese world No. 3 bes
DISSENT DURING ELECTIONS: There were at least nine arrests for pouring dye into ballot boxes and arson attacks at polling stations on the first of three days of voting Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday vowed a strong military response to a string of Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s border that he described as an attempt by Kyiv to derail his bid for re-election.Putin addressed his security council on the first day of the three-day vote that is also being hel
Russian missiles on Friday pounded Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa, killing more than a dozen people including rescue workers in an attack Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described as “vile.”Journalists on the scene saw bodies covered by blankets strewn on the street, while images fro
Haitians were on edge on Friday awaiting the naming of a transitional governing body meant to restore stability to the country, wracked by gang violence and largely isolated from the outside world.Attacks in the capital, Port-au-Prince, continued overnight, targeting the airport and a top police off
March 18 to March 24Yasushi Noro knew that it was not the right time to scale Hehuan Mountain (合歡). It was March 1913 and the weather was still bitingly cold at high altitudes. But he knew he couldn’t afford to wait, either.Launched in 1910, the Japanese colonial government’s “five year plan to gove
Like in most cities, Rio’s galleries are concentrated in its affluent neighborhoods. But artists like Maxwell Alexandre are trying to change that, hoping to “give access to what was previously the art of the bourgeoisie, something exclusive,” the 33-year-old said.Alexandre grew up in the shantytown
Nguyen Phuong Linh is among a crop of young electronics students crucial to Vietnam’s ambitions to become a chips hub.She’s driven, smart and already has her sights set on a professorship — wanting to train a new generation that could help woo foreign investors eager to diversify semiconductor produ
Markets around the world can vary in size and character, but some are especially extraordinary. The following three markets are considered cultural treasures and well worth visiting. First on the list is Barcelona’s Boqueria Market in Spain. A major tourist attraction in the city, Boqueria Market i
There are many different kinds of markets in the world. In developed areas, people are most likely familiar with supermarkets or hypermarkets. In less developed rural areas, traditional markets are more common. These can be divided into two categories: dry markets and wet markets or fresh markets. D
A: How does Taipei’s YouBike service charge after the free ride for the first 30 minutes?B: It’s NT$10 every 30 minutes within four hours.A: What a bargain. No wonder Taipei is listed by Britain’s “Time Out” magazine as one of the best 50 cities in the world.B: But I spotted a few English mistak
It’s certainly been a pleasure watching the presidential campaign launch of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Hou You-yi (侯友宜) lurch painfully about like a wounded pachyderm in search of an elephant graveyard. Hou’s fall to third place in some polls last week appears early, and it might still be recoverable. But grumbling in his party about replacing him has already begun. Indeed, all indications are that the party that twice gave us Lien Chan (連戰), the most despised politician in Taiwan, as a presidential candidate and later offered voters Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) and Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), is arcing along its normal descending trajectory, the North Korean missile test of electoral politics. A KIND OF POLICY PLATFORM Last week the KMT doubled down on this path with Hou’s calls for nuclear power and more death penalty executions, standard KMT fare for decades (the latter is unnecessary since so many potential criminals are likely to die in traffic accidents long before they harm anyone). Apparently KMT policy institutions are not echo chambers so much as mausoleums where dead ideas are embalmed and then periodically put on display. The lack of public policy imagination is obvious. A less obvious facet of KMT ineptitude: with years of speculation that Hou would be their man in 2024, neither Hou nor the party insisted on interesting or experimental public policies to showcase Hou’s greatness in preparation for the showdown. Of course, that is even more true of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Hou’s slide and the media buzz surrounding it are obscuring the truly urgent problem the pro-Taiwan side faces: DPP presidential candidate William Lai (賴清德) has not expanded his voter support beyond the party base. In most polls he remains below 40 percent. Independent voters are staying away in droves, and for the moment the young are turning to
July 17 to July 23 When Yeh Ken-chuang (葉根壯) came of age, the traditional skills of architecture and carpentry that had been in his family for four generations were disappearing. After helping his uncle Yeh Teh-ling (葉得令) construct ships, residences and temples for more than a decade, Yeh struck out on his own at the age of 28 in 1960 as a damusi (大木司, chief carpenter), earning his lifelong title “Chief Chuang” (壯司). Around this time, builders in his homeland of Penghu were increasingly using reinforced concrete instead of wood, due to the humid climate. The period also saw a frenzy in temple construction as the economy improved, meaning there was plenty of work for Yeh. Adept in non-structural techniques such as doors, windows and furniture, as well as the intricate carvings and detailed decorations that adorned the structures, Yeh was able to adapt his skills, leading the reconstruction of the historic Hsiliao Daitian Temple (西寮代天宮) on Penghu’s main island in 1963. According to the book Crossing Traditions in Yeh Ken-chuang’s Large-scale Carpentry Skills (宮廟巧藝 :跨越傳統的葉根壯大木作技術), it was Penghu’s first temple that used a purely reinforced concrete structure. Before his life was cut short, Yeh created more than 70 temples and related structures across the various islands of Penghu and left behind more than 230 building plans. Although Yeh could have built temples and other structures on Taiwan proper, he only worked on a handful of projects outside of Penghu because he wanted to be close to his family. CLAN OF CARPENTERS The Yeh family’s woodworking tradition began with Yeh Ma-li (葉媽利), who learned the architecture and carpentry trade from an unknown master on Kinmen. The Yehs trace their roots to Kinmen, although this branch had been living in Penghu since the early 1600s. Yeh Ma-li was Penghu’s chief temple builder between 1860 and
| New Taipei City | 14-23 | 10% |  |
| Hsinchu County | 14-22 | 10% | |
| Hsinchu City | 14-22 | 10% | |
| Taipei City | 14-22 | 10% | |
| Miaoli County | 12-22 | 10% | |
| Taoyuan City | 14-22 | 10% | |
| Keelung City | 15-21 | 10% | |
| Yunlin County | 14-24 | 0% | |
| Taichung City | 14-24 | 0% | |
| Nantou County | 14-24 | 0% | |
| Changhua County | 14-23 | 0% | |
| Chiayi County | 13-24 | 0% | |
| Chiayi City | 14-25 | 0% | |
| Tainan City | 15-22 | 0% | |
| Kaohsiung City | 17-23 | 0% | |
| Pingtung County | 16-25 | 0% | |
| Yilan County | 14-22 | 10% | |
| Hualien County | 16-22 | 10% | |
| Taitung County | 17-23 | 10% | |
| Kinmen County | 11-18 | 0% | |
| Penghu County | 17-20 | 0% | |
| Lienchiang County | 10-13 | 10% | |
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