title: Ex-soldier indicted for alleged data leak

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INFILTRATION: A lawmaker called on the government to impose tougher penalties for early-stage national security offenses, as they could lead to major security breaches   By Huang Ching-hsuan, Hsieh Chun-lin and Fion Khan / Staff reporters, with staff writer and CNA

Military personnel who betray the nation for personal gain “should face the harshest punishment,” the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.

The statement came after a former soldier was indicted on charges including contraventions of the National Security Act (國家安全法) and Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) for allegedly leaking classified information to a Chinese intelligence operative.

The former soldier, surnamed Lin (林), allegedly met a Chinese female operative online after being discharged from the navy’s Hai Feng Shore-Based Anti-Ship Missile Group, which is equipped with the domestically developed Hsiung Feng II and Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles, and their extended-range variants, prosecutors said.

The launch of a Hsiung Feng II anti-ship missile is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense

Lin allegedly recruited another soldier, surnamed Tsai (蔡), to provide his personal information and photograph the Hsiung Feng II missile operation manual, they said.

Tsai allegedly received NT$8,000 for providing his personal information and NT$30,000 for the missile operation manual, while Lin allegedly received NT$38,000 for passing on the information to the Chinese agent, prosecutors said.

The two suspects were indicted separately on charges of bribery and contravening the National Security Act, prosecutors said.

The ministry said it has implemented damage-control measures by modifying and terminating affected projects to limit the impact of the leaked information.

The Political Warfare Bureau in July 2023 received a tip about the case, which was then referred to the National Security Bureau and the Investigation Bureau for a joint probe, the ministry said.

The probe was coordinated with the Taichung branch of the High Prosecutors’ Office, successfully dismantling the espionage network, it said.

The ministry has established a “classified access qualification certification” mechanism for all service members, setting security clearance levels according to assignment sensitivity and the degree of classified material involved, the ministry said.

The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) infiltration efforts against Taiwan have been persistent, the ministry said, adding that it would improve counter-intelligence education, raise troops’ security awareness and patriotism, and coordinate closely with the national security team to enhance overall defense resilience.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) yesterday urged the government to impose tougher penalties for early-stage national security offenses in the military, saying that Chinese intelligence networks often first ask recruits for seemingly harmless information to lower their guard.

Although Tsai’s personal information and the missile operation manual were not “classified” information, the leak still posed a serious security risk, Wang said.

Receiving payment for such materials constitutes corruption, he said, calling for amendments to the National Security Act to impose harsher penalties for early-stage offenses that could lead to major national security breaches.

Failing to act would allow the CCP’s espionage networks to take root within the military, Wang said.

Military education must be improved to help service members identify security risks and understand that the National Security Act, the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), and the Criminal Code carry severe penalties for treasonous acts, he said.

The navy’s Hai Feng Shore-Based Anti-Ship Missile Group is as a key coastal defense force deterring potential Chinese invasion attempts, Wang said.

The unit, equipped with Hsiung Feng II and Hsiung Feng III missiles, extended-range variants and Harpoon shore-based missiles, is to be reorganized as the Littoral Combat Command starting on Jan. 1, making it a prime target for Chinese infiltration, he added.

The Military Security Brigade, a counterintelligence agency, has expanded its personnel to not only conduct research, but also maintain full situational awareness of potential threats, Wang said.

Calling the case “heartbreaking,” he condemned Lin’s and Tsai’s alleged actions as despicable betrayals deserving the harshest punishments, adding that military personnel must be loyal to the nation legally and morally.

Institute for National Defense and Security Research researcher Shen Ming-shih (沈明室) said that a soldier being bribed with just NT$38,000 revealed dangerously weak counterintelligence awareness.

This showed that confidentiality training and counterespionage education have not been effectively implemented — an issue that must be addressed, he said.

The storage and prevention of leaks involving non-classified, but sensitive information is critically important, Shen said, adding that there should be clear regulations on the responsibilities and consequences of leaking such information.

Some soldiers might be exploited due to personal weaknesses or mistakenly believing that if a document is not explicitly labeled “classified,” it is acceptable to share, he said.

This reflects a lack of awareness of the threat posed by enemy forces and inadequate counterintelligence vigilance, which could lead to sensitive data falling into hostile hands, he added.


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The government proposed amendments that would set up an inventory control mechanism to prevent panic buying and drug hoarding following the planned withdrawal of some drugs from the Taiwanese market, Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) data showed that as of the end of last month, 47 drugs are to be withdrawn from the Taiwanese market.

Most of these drugs have alternative options, the FDA said, adding that 25 share the same ingredients, dosages and dosage forms with other generic drugs, and 21 have substitutes with the same ingredients or mechanisms.

The Food and Drug Administration building in Taipei is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times

Only one drug would stop production by the end of next year, it said.

Shih yesterday said that the FDA has submitted proposed amendments to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法), which would require pharmaceutical companies to report plans to discontinue a drug’s production at least six months in advance.

The amendment also seeks to authorize the FDA to control the inventory of drugs when facing a supply shortage, he said, adding that the ministry plans to initiate a special drug import project in response to the planned discontinuation of an immunosuppressive drug next year.

Although pharmaceutical companies reported that supplies of the 47 drugs would be unstable over the next six months due to reduced production or plans to exit the market, only immunosuppressive agent cyclosporine would stop being produced, Shih said.

The company would continue to supply the drug until the end of the year, he said.

Companies that produce essential medicines must report to the FDA six months in advance if they plan to reduce production or withdraw from the market, but that is not mandatory for non-essential drugs, Shih said.

Sometimes those are reported at short notice, leaving the FDA with very limited time to assess and respond to the situation, he added.

The proposed amendment includes three main points, Shih said.

First, companies that produce any type of drug would be required to report to the FDA plans to reduce or stop production at least six months in advance.

Second, the FDA would be authorized to oversee inventory control when a drug is facing potential supply shortage due to discontinuation or lower production.

Hospitals often scramble to stock up on those drugs, causing other hospitals or pharmacies to experience a shortage earlier, he said.

Third, companies would be asked whether they want to adjust their drug prices.

The National Health Insurance Administration had asked the companies producing the 47 drugs if they want to change their prices, but they said their plan to discontinue supply was due to global supply readjustment, not pricing, Shih said.

Faced with potential drug price increases due to US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs, the special resilience act has allocated NT$20 billion (US$654.8 million) for drug price adjustments, he said.

However, for long-term drug industry resilience, the military must boost the public’s confidence in generic drugs, he added.

Additional reporting by Chiu Chih-jou

title: Tighter drug inventory controls proposed


title: Military begins annual Hai Chiang naval drills

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FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said

The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.

The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities.

China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said.

Four Kuang Hua VI-class missile boats sail during the Ministry National of Defense exercise at the Zuoying navy harbor on Jan. 31 last year. Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP

Beijing’s actions, including large-scale drills near Taiwan proper, have seriously undermined regional peace and stability, it added.

To counter such threats, the armed forces have been modernizing their equipment, increasing domestic weapons production, and enhancing training and combat readiness, it said.

This month’s exercise schedule also includes the army’s “Lu Sheng No. 1” (陸勝, “Land Victory”) exercise from Oct. 25 to 31 and the air force’s “Tien Lung” (天龍, “Sky Dragon”) exercise from Oct. 27 to 31, the ministry said.

The Hai Chiang exercise, the navy’s annual readiness assessment, would test a wide range of operational capabilities, including joint interception, damage control, onboard firefighting, tactical formation maneuvers, aerial replenishment and live-fire missions, it said.

A notable feature this year is the participation of Coast Guard Administration (CGA) vessels, which would be integrated into the navy’s command structure during the exercise to test wartime protocols for the coast guard’s transition between peacetime and combat operations, the ministry said.

However, the CGA vessels would not take part in live-fire drills, it added.

The CGA’s 600-tonne Anping-class patrol vessels — based on the navy’s Tuo Chiang-class corvette design — were built with dual-use capabilities. In addition to Zhenhai rocket launchers, the ships have space and wiring reserved for the installation of Hsiung Feng anti-ship missiles, allowing the navy to rearm them for combat missions during wartime.

The vessels would be placed under the navy’s command in the event of a conflict, it said.

The navy and the coast guard jointly plan their training schedules, the ministry said, adding that in 2022, an Anping-class patrol vessel successfully launched a Hsiung Feng II anti-ship missile, hitting its target and demonstrating its wartime conversion capability.

Naval notices issued to the Fisheries Agency and the Maritime and Port Bureau showed that live-fire exercises are to be conducted in four designated sea areas throughout this month.

The navy plans to hold gunnery drills three to five times per week during daylight hours, with target zones in the south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, the notices said.

Target distances would range between 305m and 7,620m, the notices said.

One part of the Hai Chiang drill is scheduled for today from 10am to 4pm in waters west of Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, during which a P-3C and an S-70C helicopter would conduct simulated anti-submarine warfare maneuvers at altitudes below 1.2km, the navy said.


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China, N Korea to bolster strategic cooperation: KCNA

China said it is ready to develop its relationship with North Korea to bolster strategic cooperation in international and regional affairs, North Korean state media KCNA reported.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) made the comment in a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Thursday, the state media said, adding that this was a reply to Kim’s message celebrating China’s anniversary of the foundation of the Chinese Communist Party.

China and North Korea are “good neighbors, good friends,” sharing a destiny and helping each other, and the friendship is growing stronger, Xi was quoted as saying.

Chinese President Xi Jinping raises his glass after speaking at the Great Hall of the People on Sept. 30. Warning: Excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your health Photo: AP

The two leaders prepared a “blueprint” for the development of relations at the meeting during Kim’s visit to China last month, Xi said in the letter quoted by KCNA.

In other news, Indonesian and North Korean ministers of foreign affairs on Saturday held a meeting in Pyongyang, KCNA said in a separate report.

The two sides exchanged views on deepening bilateral relations, and cooperation on regional and international issues of mutual concern, it added.

The two nations also signed a memorandum of understanding on mutual issues, KCNA said without elaborating.

The Indonesian minister of foreign affairs is among foreign visitors in North Korea participating in the ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of North Korea’s ruling party, it said.


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China, Philippines trade blame over collision at sea

The Philippines said a Chinese ship deliberately rammed one of its government vessels in the disputed South China Sea yesterday, although Beijing blamed Manila for the incident.

The Philippines said a Chinese coast guard ship yesterday fired its water cannon at the BRP Datu Pagbuaya, a vessel belonging to the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

“Just three minutes later... the same [Chinese] vessel deliberately rammed the stern” of the Philippine boat, “causing minor structural damage, but no injuries to the crew,” the Philippine Coast Guard said.

A Chinese Coast Guard vessel, right, fires its water cannon at the Philippines’ BRP Datu Pagbuaya at the South China Sea yesterday. Photo: Philippine Coast Guard via AP

The incident took place near Thitu Island (Jhongye Island, 中業島), part of the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), it said.

The Philippine National Maritime Council condemned the incident and vowed to pursue “appropriate diplomatic action to convey its strong objections to the aggressive and illegal actions of China.”

Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Angelica Escalona said that a diplomatic protest would be filed over the incident.

China’s coast guard said the incident occurred after a Philippine vessel entered waters near Sandy Cay, “ignored repeated stern warnings from the Chinese side and dangerously approached” the Chinese ship.

“Full responsibility lies with the Philippine side,” China Coast Guard spokesman Liu Dejun (劉德軍) said.

Photos and videos released by the Philippine Coast Guard showed a China Coast Guard vessel which had its water cannon activated, shadowing a Philippine ship.


title: China’s meddling aims to divide KMT: academic

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‘CYBERWARRIORS’: Beijing is no longer targeting only the DPP, but is also seeking to manipulate the KMT through AI-driven cognitive warfare, an academic said   By Chen Yu-fu, Chen Yun and Fion Khan / Staff reporters, with staff writer

The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) interference in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chair election is not aimed at overtly backing a particular candidate, but at sowing distrust within the KMT to create internal friction and increase its dependence on China, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday.

Former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), a KMT chair candidate, on Thursday wrote on Facebook that he had been targeted by “external cyberwarriors” who were interfering with the election by disseminating false rumors.

Former Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) on Saturday said the “external forces” were from China, urging Beijing to halt the interference and calling it a national security issue that Taiwanese authorities should investigate.

From left, former Changhua County commissioner Cho Po-yuan, former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin, former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Cheng Li-wun, KMT Legislator Lo Chih-chiang, academic Tsai Chih-hong and Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung pose for a photograph during a debate among KMT chairperson candidates in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

Hung Pu-chao (洪浦釗), deputy director of the Center for Mainland China and Regional Development Research at Tunghai University, said the controversy over “online troll intervention” in the KMT race shows how China’s cognitive warfare has escalated to a “political experiment.”

“It no longer targets only the ruling party,” Hung said. “It has also begun infiltrating opposition parties, using artificial intelligence and coordinated social-media operations to test the resilience of Taiwan’s political system.”

The key to the operation is not merely disinformation, but “real manipulation,” he said.

China employs AI-generated comments, synthetic videos and fake accounts to amplify specific narratives and create a false sense of consensus, he said.

China also mobilizes online influencers and opinion leaders through commercial cooperation and soft content placements to “localize” external narratives, disguising interference as spontaneous public opinion, he added.

As the “influence economy” becomes a political proxy, infiltration has already seeped deep into everyday online communities, he added.

This form of “decentralized control” is a type of psychological warfare not intended to make people believe in China, but to make them doubt reality itself, Hung said.

When KMT members start accusing one another of being manipulated by China, that means Beijing’s strategy has worked, he said.

Hung urged the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and opposition parties to initiate legislative reforms to counter Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics, saying that Taipei still lacks a defense system against AI penetration and cognitive warfare.

Laws governing national security, cybersecurity and digital intermediary services should be integrated to clearly define AI-generated content and cognitive-warfare activities, Hung said.

Social media companies should be required to disclose sources of political advertising and cross-border amplification, while influencers and opinion leaders should be mandated to declare any foreign cooperation, he said.

Separately, a national security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, yesterday said that authorities were aware of Chinese interference in the KMT chairperson election.

China has long used hybrid tactics to manipulate and disrupt the normal functioning of politics in democratic countries, including Taiwan, by provoking and escalating social divisions, the official said.

Efforts are under way to strengthen relevant legislation, they said, expressing hope for bipartisan support so Taiwan can effectively block foreign interference.

Meanwhile, KMT Taipei City Councilor Liu Tsai-wei (柳采葳), accompanied by Jaw, filed a report with the Taipei City Police Department’s Zhongshan Precinct over an AI-generated video that altered a selfie of her and Hau to make it appear as if they were kissing.

Police said they were investigating possible charges including defamation, personal data breaches and fabrication of fake images, adding that preliminary findings suggested the video originated from a foreign IP address.

The video was clearly a manipulated photograph, Jaw said, calling the act despicable.

He said he disagreed with former KMT lawmaker Cheng Li-wen (鄭麗文), another chair candidate, who on Saturday said that online speech should not be treated as a national security issue.

“Freedom of online expression is not unlimited, especially when cross-border activities involve relations across the Taiwan Strait,” Jaw said. “If this does not qualify as a national security issue, what does?”

Large-scale cyberattacks and defamation campaigns seeking to influence elections are among Taiwan’s most serious national security threats, he added.

Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-yu, Hsieh Chun-lin and Esme Yeh

people: 鄭麗文 郝龍斌


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INDUSTRY:  Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said

Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday.

Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies.

With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and components that often involve Chinese-sourced rare earths or refining processes, Hsu said.

The flag of China is placed in front of the elements gallium and germanium represented on a periodic table on July 6. Photo: Reuters

Beijing on Thursday announced sweeping new export restrictions requiring companies worldwide to obtain export licenses if their products contain more than 0.1 percent of Chinese-origin rare earth materials by value.

The measures also place semiconductor, artificial intelligence and defense-related technologies under strict case-by-case review.

The scope of Beijing’s latest rules closely mirrors the US’ foreign direct product rule, which Washington uses to regulate the global use of US technologies, Hsu said.

China’s move is a major escalation from previous restrictions, as it is broader in scope and has far greater potential reach, she said.

If fully enforced, the measures could trigger sharper price surges and more aggressive stockpiling in the global market, she added.

Unless China later adjusts its policies, the overall impact would be substantial, although it remains unclear how rigorously Beijing intends to implement the new rules, she said.

China produced 270,000 tonnes of rare earths last year, accounting for about 70 percent of global output, far ahead of the 45,000 tons produced by the US, which made up about 11 percent of the total, US Geological Survey data showed.

China controls nearly 90 percent of global rare earth refining capacity, and has significant leverage in the global market, business insiders said.

title: Taiwan faces risk from China’s rare earth rules


title: Academics urge better protection for migrant workers

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Taiwan must improve protections for lower-wage migrant workers if it hopes to be recognized as a developed country, academics said, after the US suspended imports from Giant Manufacturing Co over allegations of forced labor.

Chen Li-yi (陳立儀), an assistant professor in the Department of Labor and Human Resources at Chinese Culture University, said in a recent media interview that if Taiwan wishes to be regarded as a developed nation, “it must ensure the protection of migrant workers’ human rights.”

US Customs and Border Protection issued a withhold release order against Giant last year, aiming to prompt Taiwan’s leading bicycle maker to improve working conditions for migrant workers, Chen said.

Bicycles made by Giant Manufacturing Co are pictured in a retail store in Taipei on Sept. 25. Photo: CNA

Taiwan’s migrant worker management system is based on government-to-government arrangements, unlike in most advanced economies where employment is governed by direct contracts between private companies and workers, he said.

Citing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s operations in the US, Chen said cultural differences also influence workplace expectations and labor conditions.

“Many Taiwanese believe paying overtime to speed up progress is reasonable,” he said, “but American workers see holidays as time for rest.”

Lin Chun-yu (林君諭), assistant professor in the Department of Social Work at Soochow University, said that migrant workers in Taiwan’s industrial sector generally have better protections than those employed as caregivers or in fisheries.

Taiwan’s approach to migrant worker rights “has really improved,” but still leaves “room for progress,” she said, adding that some workers still have to pay high brokerage fees in their home countries under the quota system.

In response to the US order, Giant said it “absolutely has no debt-bonded labor” and “has never abused the disadvantaged status of migrant workers.”

Wages are paid within five days after each pay period, with bilingual payslips and legally calculated overtime pay, the company said, adding that its working environment meets ISO 45001 and Taiwan Occupational Safety and Health Management System standards.

Dormitories exceed legal space requirements and are equipped with air conditioning and bilingual management staff, Giant said, adding that it has hired legal counsel and would meet with US representatives “to explain the actual situation.”

Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) last week said that Taiwan has continually improved conditions for migrant workers, adding that the ministry would coordinate with the Ministry of Labor to issue clearer guidelines for improving living and working environments.

Giant said it implemented a “zero recruitment fee” policy in January, under which the company covers all recruitment, brokerage and government fees for newly hired foreign workers.


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Taipei would send a mutual contract termination proposal to Shin Kong Life Insurance today to discuss the surface rights of plots T17 and T18 in Beitou Shilin Science Park, where Nvidia hopes to establish its new headquarters, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) said yesterday.

Speaking at a news conference, Lee said the city government supports the US artificial intelligence chipmaker’s plan and has asked Shin Kong Life to agree to terminate its existing contract with the city.

Current difficulties center on the surface rights to the two plots, which Shin Kong Life acquired in 2021 under terms prohibiting any transfer before completing construction and obtaining occupancy permits.

The T17 plot of Beitou Shilin Science Park is pictured in Taipei on May 19. Photo: CNA

Although the insurer has expressed willingness to transfer the rights directly to Nvidia, the city said such a move would breach the contract.

Shin Kong Life has held the land rights for three years without breaking ground, Lee said.

Allowing a direct transfer now could raise concerns about unfair treatment toward other bidders in the 2021 tender, he added.

On the other hand, the company said that the city’s proposed terms for terminating the contract would undermine its anticipated benefits and thus harm shareholder interests, potentially exposing company executives to breach-of-trust liabilities.

Lee urged the company to “boldly” detail conditions required to remove any breach of trust concerns so they could be discussed with the city.

Shin Kong Life chairman Mark Wei (魏寶生) said he had not yet received any documents from the city government and was therefore unaware of the details.

He said the company would hold talks with the city once the documents were received and reviewed.

On Wednesday, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) confirmed that Nvidia had requested the ministry to identify alternative sites for its planned headquarters in Taiwan.

title: Taipei to urge Shin Kong Life to end Beitou deal


title: Temporary bridge opens near Guangfu

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POST-DISASTER: The Highway Bureau said the culvert bridge is open to all vehicle types except for semitrailer trucks, after flooding destroyed the Mataian Bridge

The Highway Bureau yesterday announced that a temporary culvert bridge opened on Friday as an access road across Hualien County’s Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) could accommodate all vehicle types except semitrailer trucks.

The new regulation for the culvert bridge went into effect at noon yesterday. The bureau announced that the maximum speed over the access road is 30kph.

The temporary bridge was completed on Friday, five days ahead of the estimated completion date, to enable easier access to Hualien’s Guangfu Township (光復), which was devastated by the breach of a barrier lake in the Mataian River caused by heavy rains from Super Typhoon Ragasa late last month. The collapse of the barrier lake caused massive flooding in the area, killing at least 18 people, and also destroyed the Mataian Bridge on Provincial Highway 9.

Vehicles access the temporary culvert bridge across Hualien County’s Mataian River on Friday. Photo: CNA

The bureau on Friday said that without the bridge, trips to some flood-affected areas increased from 500m to 20km.

To improve access to flood-stricken areas, the culvert bridge was built to replace the Highway 9 bridge that was swept away, enabling small vehicles that have been issued passes to transport resources and response vehicles to more easily enter the devastated communities.

Between Friday and yesterday, the bureau announced that the culvert bridge withstood stress tests from heavy vehicles such as buses.

By analyzing data collected and monitoring the condition of the access road after heavy vehicles passed over it, the bureau said it decided to open the culvert bridge yesterday to all vehicle types except for semitrailer trucks, with a speed limit of 30kph.

The bureau said it would release amended regulations in accordance with weather conditions released by the Central Weather Administration.

Water gauges have been installed along the access road and areas 2km upstream, with surveillance cameras installed to monitor the safe use of the culvert bridge around the clock, the bureau said.

It said the second phase of its plan, involving the construction of a reinforced steel bridge, would begin Wednesday and is expected to be completed by the end of January next year.

It might be necessary to close the access road partially or completely if construction or weather conditions demand, it said, warning users to abide by the new regulations.

The bureau added that it plans to complete the northbound section of a permanent bridge by the end of next year, to allow for two-way traffic, before completing the southbound section in 2027.


taiwan-subdivisions: 光復 鳳林

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Removing the 6 million cubic meters of post-flood silt on fields in Hualien County could take three years, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, adding that partial removal combined with on-site reconstruction or farmland readjustment could be alternative solutions.

The Irrigation Agency Deputy Director-General Lin Kuo-hua (林國華) yesterday said the agency has drilled two wells that are supplying 1,480 tonnes of irrigation water per day to the 63 hectares of farmland in Guangfu (光復) and Fonglin (鳳林) townships unaffected by the barrier lake that burst.

Soil analyses showed the deposit on fields is composed mainly of coarse sand, which is covered with silty sand, he said.

Farmlands covered by post-flood silt are pictured in Hualien County’s Fonglin Township yesterday. Photo: CNA

Minister of Agriculture Minister Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) said there were concerns whether the tiny particles of silty sand could affect produce growth, but an analysis of 30 samples showed the thickness of the silty sand layer is only 3 to 5cm and limited to the surface.

The underlying soil layers contain coarse sand, similar to the soil composition of farmland in the region, he said.

The investigation showed that levels of heavy metals in the floodwash did not exceed acceptable limits and would not affect either the soil or growth in the future, he added.

Chen said the two wells were built under the ministry’s emergency irrigation scheme to water the 63 hectares of unflooded farmland, with a 1km water pipeline installed to substitute for the blocked irrigation channels.

The flooded farmland in the two townships totals about 800 hectares and is covered with floodwash ranging from several centimeters to 6m in thickness, he said.

It would take at least three years to completely remove all the silt, which would require somewhere to put it, Chen said.

Complete silt removal would be difficult, Lin said, adding that another proposed solution is to reconstruct the farms at their original sites while removing some of the silt.

However, some flooded farms have residential housing, which would be situated below the surface level when surrounding silt is removed, he said.

Farmland readjustment — the third solution — is believed to be the most efficient, and could restart farming by planning suitable farm roads and irrigation lines for each plot of farmland, Lin said.

Farmland readjustment would be a lasting solution, Chen said, adding that all the three solutions were being explored.

“We will find out the solution that is most beneficial to agricultural workers and most sustainable for agricultural operations,” he said.

The government wants to hear local farmers’ opinions and seek to reach a solution with input from local agricultural communities to promote farmland rehabilitation in the region, he added.

title: Removing silt could take three years: ministry


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PUBLIC DEBATE: The policy targets disruptive behavior of people making loud phone calls or using electronic devices without headphones, not children, an official said

A senior transport official on Saturday defended Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s (THSRC) newly implemented “quiet carriage” policy, after people criticized it for “targeting families with children.”

The policy, which took effect on Sept. 22, targets disruptive behavior rather than children, focusing on passengers making loud phone calls or using electronic devices without headphones, Ministry of Transportation and Communications Secretary-General Shen Hui-hung (沈慧虹) said in a Facebook post.

“Infants, young children and passengers with medical conditions affecting autonomy would continue to receive care and understanding from staff,” Shen said.

A promotional brochure about the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s (THSRC) “quiet carriage” policy is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of THSRC

Her remarks came amid public debate over the policy, which has drawn criticism after being perceived by some people as “unfriendly” toward families.

One social media post recounted an alleged incident in which a mother traveling with two young children was shown a sign by staff asking her to lower the children’s voices. She took her younger child to the carriage doorway, leaving the older one in the seat, it said.

Shen said that when she recently traveled on a high-speed train, children were not disruptive and passengers with pets were accommodated without issue.

“The intent is clear: mutual respect,” she said, adding that the policy addresses behaviors adults can control rather than unavoidable noises from infants or passengers with medical needs.

Obstetrician Su Yi-ning (蘇怡寧) on Wednesday last week said true “quietness” is not achieved through suppression, but understanding.

“If a society cannot tolerate the next generation’s cry, then there would be no next generation,” he said, adding that “silencing the weak is not civilization.”

Su made the remarks on his Facebook page, responding to a post by an Internet user who talked about his experience of encountering a child who was screaming and crying behind his seat during a recent THSR ride from Tainan to Taipei.

The user said that he had endured the screaming and crying for five minutes before he had enough and shouted at them.

He wrote that he had argued with the mother and a food trolley salesperson, calling people whom he deemed noisy “morons” and parents “imbecilic,” and concluding that in nature, the weak and clueless deserve to be hunted down.

Children do not deliberately make noise to annoy people, but because they are incapable of controlling their emotions, and the THSR’s quiet carriage was not meant to exclude children, Su said.

“The quietness of the policy was never intended to be achieved through suppression, but through everyone being willing to take a step back and understand that parents are also making an effort,” Su said.

When children are noisy, their parents might also be under stress, but other people might not notice that, Su said.

Child-hating remarks are often disguised as rational, but are an extension of discrimination, he said, adding that “the civilization of humans is not based on silencing the weak, but on the strong choosing to be kind.”

“True quietness comes from understanding, not suppression, and for sounds to coexist, not disappear,” he said, adding that children’s crying is a way of learning to communicate, so people can dislike it, but should not despise it.

That the Internet user misused the “survival of the fittest” principle to rationalize human cruelty was “absurd,” he added.

title: THSRC official defends ‘quiet carriage’ policy


title: Court confirms final ruling in teen millionaire case

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The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate.

The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final.

In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.”

The entrance to the Taichung District Court is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo: Chang Jui-chen, Taipei Times

The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of establishing a permanent union” and that the marriage did not meet the essential requirements for legality.

Lai died on May 4, 2023, after falling from the balcony of Hsia’s 10th-floor apartment just two hours after registering the marriage. The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office found insufficient evidence to charge Hsia with murder, as there were no signs of trauma, poison or alcohol in Lai’s body.

Hsia was instead sentenced to 18 months in prison in June last year for forging documents related to the marriage registration. He began serving his sentence in February and, based on good behavior, was transferred to a minimum-security facility last month to complete his term.

Lai’s mother had filed the civil suit to formally annul the marriage, which has now been legally confirmed.


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Gastrocardiac syndrome can be triggered by factors including gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), causing cardiac symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of breath and chest tightness, a clinic said.

Internet personality Holger Chen (陳之漢), commonly known as Kuan Chang (館長), recently revealed in his livestream that he has an illness that causes stomach discomfort and severely affects his sleep quality.

Chen said he was diagnosed with gastrocardiac syndrome, as he had chronic GERD and frequent heartburn, and the acid reflux has affected his autonomic nervous system, as well as the diaphragm and heart, causing him to have frequent hiccups, palpitations and arrhythmia.

Ministry of Health and Welfare signage is pictured outside its building in Taipei in an undated photograph. Photo: CNA

TV talk show host Li Jing (利菁) has also revealed she has GERD and recently received an endoscopic cardial constriction procedure.

Li Jing said acid reflux had repeatedly damaged her esophagus and vocal cords, so at Far Eastern Memorial Hospital gastroenterologist Chung Chen-shuan’s (鍾承軒) recommendation, she received a minimally invasive surgery called an endoscopic cardial constriction to narrow the lower esophageal sphincter.

When GERD damages the esophageal mucosa or when gastric bloating causes pressure to the diaphragm or right atrium of the heart, the two conditions could cause vagal reflex abnormality, sometimes triggering irregular heartbeat, chest tightness, palpitations and shortness of breath, Ever Life Clinic said in a Facebook post.

When such patients receive cardiac health check-ups, such as a 24-hour Holter monitoring or an echocardiography, they are often found to have no abnormalities, and this condition can be called “gastrocardiac syndrome,” it said.

Three types of people are at higher risk of developing GERD, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said on its Web site.

The first is people who have “lower esophageal sphincter (LES) relaxation,” as the LES connects the esophagus to the stomach, acting as a muscular valve. So, when the LES is weak or becomes loose, it could lose its ability to close and block stomach acid and food from moving back (refluxing) into the esophagus, it said.

The second is “poor daily life habits,” including an irregular meal schedule; overeating; eating too fast; lying down right after finishing a meal; frequently drinking caffeinated or fizzy drinks, or alcoholic beverages; and eating food high in sugar or fat, or food that is too sour or spicy — as these eating habits could stimulate stomach acid production.

Smoking, staying up late, and having irregular work and rest schedules can also increase stomach acid production, leading to higher risk of GERD, it said.

Third, having “high risk factors” such as obesity, an apple-shaped body shape, or being pregnant could trigger GERD, as high intra-abdominal pressure can cause acid reflux, it said.

Anxiety and stress can also lead to excessive production of stomach acid, causing GERD, it said.

title: Clinic warns about reflux-related cardiac problems


title: Taiwanese agricultural products promoted in Japan

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The Ministry of Agriculture is presenting Taiwanese agricultural products for the first time at the Kasama Roman trade fair in Japan, which opened on Saturday and is running through today.

Kasama Roman is an annual crafts and gourmet market held every October at Kasama Art Forest Park in Ibaraki Prefecture.

The ministry said in the past seven years it has been collaborating with local governments to increase Taiwanese products’ share in the Japanese market, including incorporating Taiwan-grown fruits into school lunches in Ibaraki.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture Hu Jong-i holds a tray of Taiwanese bananas at the Kasama Roman trade fair in Ibaraki, Japan, on Saturday. Photo coutesy of the Ministry of Agriculture

Deputy Minister of Agriculture Hu Jong-i (胡忠一) attended the fair’s opening ceremony to promote Taiwanese seasonal fruits such as pomelos, bananas and dragon fruits, and pork dishes such as sausages, meat ball soup and pork chops.

Taiwanese fruits exported to Japan are traceable and Japanese consumers can scan QR codes on products to receive information in Japanese, the ministry said.

The World Organization for Animal Health on May 29 announced that Taiwan became the only Asian country free of classical swine fever, African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease, the ministry said, adding that it saw the fair as an opportunity to facilitate the restoration of Taiwanese raw pork exports to Japan.

Elsewhere, “Hatta rice,” which farmers in Tainan’s Lioujia District (六甲) and the Tainan Agriculture Bureau jointly developed, has hit the shelves at stores of two major Japanese supermarket chains in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

The rice is available in 5kg packages at Aruk and Marukyu stores — owned by Marukyu Co — in the prefecture.

Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) on Saturday thanked Marukyu president Yasuo Tanaka for recognizing the rice’s quality and contributing to its introduction to Japan.

Tanaka has long been supporting Tainan’s produce by purchasing local fruit products made of pineapples, mangoes and pomeloes, Huang said, adding that Tanaka also ordered Marukyu’s supermarkets to set up donation boxes to raise relief funds after Typhoon Danas hit Taiwan in July.

“Hatta rice” has a unique fragrance and a mouthfeel similar to Japanese rice, Huang said, adding that its introduction to the Japanese market could help relieve the tight rice supply in the nation.

The rice is named after Japanese civil engineer Yoichi Hatta, who designed and built the Chianan Irrigation Channel (嘉南大圳) and Wushantou Reservoir (烏山頭水庫) in Tainan, in commemoration of his contribution to Taiwan.

The rice is cultivated in clay-heavy soils in Lioujia and irrigated with water channeled from the Wushantou Reservoir.


content_text: Adults accompany children at a water canal at the Linhousilin Forest Park in Pingtung County yesterday, the last day of the three-day National Day long weekend. The Central Weather Administration said that the hot weather would continue this week, although temperature highs could drop by about 5°C from Sunday next week — with highs of 28°C to 30°C and lows of 22°C to 24°C in northern and northeastern parts of Taiwan, and highs of 30°C to 33°C and lows of 25°C to 26°C in other areas — as the northeasterly monsoon strengthens.

title: Water relief


title: The journey home

content_text: Motorists encounter heavy traffic on a section of the northbound lanes of the Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Freeway (Freeway No. 5) yesterday, the last day of the three-day Double Ten National Day long weekend.


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UNDER PRESSURE: Trump’s new tariff as well as new tech restrictions would spook sentiment in China, but markets could rebound after an initial drop, analysts said

The prospect of a revived trade dispute between Washington and Beijing is threatening to undermine this year’s blistering rally in Chinese stocks and weigh on the yuan.

Global equities took a hit on Friday after US President Donald Trump said he would impose a “massive” increase of tariffs on Chinese goods.

He later said he would put an additional 100 percent tariff on China from Nov. 1, as well as place export controls on critical software.

Statues of bulls in Pudong’s Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai are pictured on Aug. 18.  Photo: Bloomberg

His reaction came after Beijing unveiled curbs on the export of rare earths earlier in the week.

A gauge of Chinese stocks listed in the US plunged more than 6 percent in its biggest loss since trade tensions escalated in April. US equities also tumbled, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average sliding 1.90 percent and the tech-heavy NASDAQ index shedding 3.56 percent on Friday.

“China’s markets will likely open under pressure Monday,” Karobaar Capital LP chief investment officer Haris Khurshid said. “The tariff headline and new tech restrictions will spook sentiment right out of the gate.”

A lasting deterioration of ties between the two largest economies could imperil one of the world’s best performing stock markets this year, as well as renew doubt over China’s investability, while any sustained weakness in the yuan is typically negative for Asian currencies, because the yuan has long been seen as an anchor for the region. On Friday, the Australian dollar, a so-called China proxy, sank 1.3 percent.

Whether the truce holds or collapses remains unknown, but the uncertainty might limit the impact on Chinese equities, Guotai Junan Hong Kong Ltd (國泰君安證券) chief economist Hao Zhou (周浩) said.

“I expect China’s markets to fall initially and then rebound with caution,” he said. “There are lot of questions left unanswered.”

Regardless of the risks posed by tougher talk between Washington and Beijing, Chinese equities were already looking overheated, Oberweis Asset Management Inc portfolio manager Barry Wang said.

The MSCI China Index of stocks capped its fifth month of gains last month, its longest winning streak since 2018.

“The China rally this year has run too far,” Wang said. “It might take a pause for fundamentals to catch up.”

In Taiwan, the TAIEX could also be under pressure when the main board resumes trading today after the Double Ten National Day holiday weekend, as the American depositary receipts of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) tumbled 6.41 percent on Friday, even though the National Stabilization Fund remains in place, analysts said.

The Ministry of Finance on Thursday said the NT$500 billion (US$16.37 billion) fund would continue to intervene in the local stock market despite a significant rebound since it first entered the market in early April, citing uncertainties stemming from US tariff policies.

Additional reporting by CNA

title: Renewed trade war threatens markets


title: Qualcomm admits to China regulator claims

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INVESTIGATION TIMING:  SAMR, which also announced a probe into Nvidia, targeted Qualcomm in the run-up to planned talks between Trump and Xi later this month

US semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm Inc admitted that it had not informed Chinese authorities when it completed its acquisition of Israel’s Autotalks Ltd in June, China’s market regulator said yesterday.

The disclosure was made two days after China launched an antitrust investigation into Qualcomm, examining whether the US firm contravened Chinese regulations by not declaring some details of its acquisition of the Israeli chip designer.

Qualcomm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Qualcomm logo is pictured among computer motherboards in an illustration photograph taken on on Aug. 25. Photo: Reuters

The Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said it informed Qualcomm in March last year that the deal requires approval by the regulator, and the US firm in the same month notified SAMR it would not pursue further.

However, Qualcomm in June this year completed the deal without informing the authority, the regulator said, adding that the chip company “acknowledged above facts,” based on which Beijing launched the antitrust probe.

Qualcomm’s shares fell more than 5 percent on Friday after US President Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs against China and cancel a planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).

Beijing is targeting Qualcomm, which has technology that is key to smartphones and networking, in the run-up to talks between Trump and Xi. Both countries are maneuvering for leverage ahead of the expiration of a US-China trade truce — even at the risk of escalating tensions.

Apart from Qualcomm, Chinese regulators also announced an investigation into Nvidia Corp’s 2020 acquisition of networking gear maker Mellanox Technologies Ltd. That probe was unveiled just as Beijing and Washington officials sparred over trade and other issues during wide-ranging negotiations in Madrid about a month ago.

Nvidia, which is caught in the middle of the two nations’ export controls negotiations, slid nearly 5 percent on Friday.

Friday’s announcement also drove shares in Alphawave IP Group PLC about 6.5 percent lower in London. Qualcomm is in the process of buying the company in a US$2.4 billion deal struck earlier this year.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg


title: Chip supply chain braces for China’s rare earth curbs

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Businesses across the global semiconductor supply chain are bracing themselves for disruptions from an escalating trade war, after China imposed curbs on rare earth mineral exports and the US responded with additional tariffs and restrictions on software sales to the Asian nation.

China’s restrictions, the most targeted move yet to limit supplies of rare earth materials, represent the first major attempt by Beijing to exercise long-arm jurisdiction over foreign companies to target the semiconductor industry, threatening to stall the chips powering the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.

They prompted US President Donald Trump on Friday to announce that he would impose an additional 100 percent tariff on China and export controls on “any and all critical software.”

A silicon wafer is displayed during Semicon in Taipei on Sept. 11. Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA

The rare earth curbs might lead to weeks-long delays in shipments for ASML Holding NV, the only manufacturer in the world of machines that make the most advanced semiconductors, a person familiar with the company said.

A senior manager at a major US chip company said the firm is still assessing potential impacts, but the clearest risk the company is facing now is an increase in the prices of rare earth-dependent magnets that are critical to the chip supply chain.

An official at another US chip company said the business is rushing to identify which of its products contain rare earths from China, and is worried that the country’s requirement for licenses would grind its supply chain to a halt.

Chipmaking machines, such as those sold by ASML and Applied Materials Inc, are especially dependent on rare earths, because they contain extremely precise lasers, magnets and other equipment that use these elements.

ASML is preparing for disruptions, particularly due to a clause in China’s new rules that requires foreign firms to seek China’s approval for re-exports of products containing its rare earths, the person familiar with ASML said.

The company declined to comment.

“Within the semiconductor value chain, China’s new export controls will likely most impact chipmakers that use rare earth-based chemicals during the chip fabrication process and toolmakers that integrate rare earth magnets into their equipment,” said Jacob Feldgoise, senior data research analyst at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology.

Some have questioned how long the restrictions would last, viewing them as potential posturing ahead of a trip to Asia Trump had planned for later this month that was expected to include a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). It is unclear how China would even track rare earths at such discrete levels to enforce the rules.

It is not the first time that rare earths have landed in the center of US-China trade disputes. After Trump hiked tariffs on Chinese imports earlier this year, Beijing responded by cutting off mineral exports to US companies. Officials from both sides agreed to a truce in the spring, under which Trump lowered duties and Xi’s officials agreed to resume the flow of the minerals.

The world’s biggest chipmakers — including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp — rely on ASML to produce semiconductors. TSMC did not respond to a request for comment, while Samsung and Intel declined to comment.

A White House official said the government is assessing any impact from the new rules, which were announced without notice and imposed in an apparent effort to exert control over the entire world’s technology supply chains.

The US House of Representatives Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party panned Beijing for the move, describing the restrictions as “an economic declaration of war against the US.”

Committee Chairman John Moolenaar, a Republican, said in a statement on Thursday that China has “fired a loaded gun at the American economy.”

Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, has already introduced measures to diversify its supply of raw materials, and the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy on Friday called China’s curbs a “great concern.”

The government said it is in close contact with affected companies and the European Commission to respond.

Taiwan relies mainly on the US, Japan and Europe for rare earth supplies.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement that China’s new rare earth rules covered by the expanded ban differ from the rare earth items required in Taiwan’s semiconductor processes, so no significant impact on chip manufacturing is expected at this time.

Nevertheless, “we still need further assessment before deciding on the impact” on the chip industry, it said. “We will continue to monitor indirect impact from fluctuations in the pricing of raw materials and supply chain adjustments.”

Additional reporting by staff writer


title: Gasoline prices are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week

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Gasoline and diesel prices are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday, as global crude oil prices last week dropped for the second consecutive week.

Gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to fall to NT$27, NT$28.5 and NT$30.5 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements.

Premium diesel is to cost NT$25.7 per liter at CPC stations and NT$25.5 at Formosa pumps, they added.

The companies’ announcements follow a drop in international crude oil prices last week after Israel and Hamas agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire and hostage release plan in Gaza, which significantly reduced the geopolitical risk premium and weighed on market sentiment, the companies said.

Trade tensions between the US and China also added pressure to oil prices, after US President Donald Trump threatened a massive increase of tariffs on Chinese goods over a dispute on China’s new rules on rare earth minerals, they added.

Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — last week fell 2.79 percent to settle at US$62.73 per barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange, while West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures — the US oil gauge — lost 3.25 percent to close at US$58.9 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.


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President Trump announces deal with AstraZeneca on drug prices and tariffs

US President Donald Trump on Friday announced a deal with AstraZeneca PLC that he said would lead to significantly lower domestic drug prices in exchange for granting the pharmaceutical giant tariff relief.

The agreement, which follows a similar accord announced last month with US giant Pfizer Inc, requires AstraZeneca to charge “most-favored nation” pricing — matching the lowest price offered in other wealthy nations — to Medicaid, the US health insurance program for low-income Americans.

Officials also said the British drugmaker had agreed to participate in a Web site called TrumpRx that would allow direct purchasing at reduced prices.

From left, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, AstraZeneca PLC CEO Pascal Soriot, US President Donald Trump and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Adminstrator Mehmet Oz attend a news conference in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday. Photo: Bloomberg

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz said the drugmaker would also provide “massively” discounted drugs for lung disease.

In exchange, Trump administration officials agreed to a three-year delay on new tariffs on AstraZeneca, which had previously announced plans to invest US$50 billion in the US in response to looming tariff threats.

“Most of our products are locally manufactured, but we need to transfer the remaining part to this country,” said AstraZeneca chief executive officer Pascal Soriot, who appeared with Trump, Oz and other officials at a White House event early Friday night.

The agreement comes on the heels of a Sept. 30 drug price accord with Pfizer that also included three-year tariff relief. Sky-high drug prices are a perennial source of widespread ire in the US, and have sparked numerous legislative and administrative actions the impact of which can be difficult to determine.

Shares of Pfizer and other drugmakers surged after the Sept. 30 announcement, suggesting they are not viewed as a major drag on profits.

“From a company perspective, you have more visibility going forward,” CFRA Research analyst Sel Hardy said. “They know they’ll not be facing tariffs for three years.”

Hardy said it was too early to discern the breadth of the Trump administration’s impact on drug prices in a broad sense.

Part of that would be determined by pricing negotiations next month on 15 leading drugs under legislation signed by former US president Joe Biden in 2022.


content_text: Women dressed in “qipao” dresses gesture during the “1920s Dress-Up Event” of the Tua-Tiu-Tiann International Festival of Arts on Dihua Street in Taipei yesterday. The month-long festival features performances, workshops and events themed around the historical Dadaocheng area in the 1920s.

title: Old schol cool


title: EDITORIAL: Neighbors near and far

people: 賴清德 林佳龍

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Speaking about security arrangements between the Philippines and other like-minded nations, and how these arrangements might benefit Taiwan, Renato Cruz de Castro, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs Taiwan Fellow at National Chengchi University, smiled and said, “We are neighbors.”

De Castro made the remarks during an interview on the online platform Taiwan Talks about the possibility of a hub-and-spokes strategy, centered on the Philippines. He said that Visiting Force Agreements (VFA) have already been ratified with the US, Australia and Japan; signed with New Zealand; and are under negotiation with Canada, France and Italy. The UK and South Korea had expressed interest in signing similar accords.

Yesterday’s incident of a China Coast Guard ship ramming a Philippine vessel in the South China Sea was just the latest example of why Manila is keen to sign VFAs, and why countries near and far, with an interest in keeping the South China Sea open to shipping, are lining up to be on the list.

Taiwan is not on that list. Despite the obvious need for such integration in the evolving regional security landscape, Taiwan does not have official relations with any of those countries.

Taiwan has no official relations with India, either, and yet in the article “Taiwan: India’s distant neighbor,” on this page on Oct. 11, Rup Narayan Das noted that Indian civil society has moved increasingly closer to Taiwan, and further from China, which India actually neighbors.

“Neighbor” means more than geographical proximity; it also entails affinity. Being a neighbor does not always imply neighborliness; the opposite is also true.

Taiwan has long held close relations with Japan: both words, “neighbor” and “neighborly,” apply.

Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected president of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party and the presumptive Japanese prime minister, has said that Taiwan is an important friend of Japan’s, and called it an “extremely important partner and a valued friend” in a written response to a Hudson Institute questionnaire on Oct. 1.

Takaichi maintains good relationships with senior Democratic Progressive Party figures such as President William Lai (賴清德) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and has visited Taiwan several times recently. On one of these occasions, during a visit in late April, Takaichi proposed a “quasi-security alliance” between Japan, Taiwan, Europe, Australia and India to build a stronger network to protect each other. She did not say from who, exactly. We know who she meant.

Takaichi is a protege of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was the first Japanese politician to voice concern that a contingency in the Taiwan Strait was a contingency for Japan. Like Abe, she has consistently called on Japan to reinforce its military capabilities. Like many political figures of countries with security arrangements with the US, she has expressed concerns over US President Donald Trump’s administration, hence the idea of the “quasi-security alliance.”

We would not know if Takaichi will be elected as the new Japanese prime minister until at least Oct. 20. If elected, she would have practical constraints because of her need to engage with China, and again, none of the nations on her list have official relations with Taiwan, so such an alliance might be difficult to get off the ground. That said, as political commentator Rath Wang (王健智) writes in “What Takaichi means for Taiwan” on today’s page, the withdrawal of the pacifist Komeito on Friday from the Japanese government coalition and the possibility of cooperation with other parties stronger on defense could well strengthen Takaichi’s hand on national security arrangements.

Taiwan would certainly benefit from integration into a regional security alliance, but even if it is technically left out, there are reasons it could benefit from the Philippines-centered hub-and-spoke idea.


content_text:
Guermantes Lailari On Taiwan: City Sieges and Island Invasions: Chinese Communist Ways of War

George Santayana wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

This article will help readers avoid repeating mistakes by examining four examples from the civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forces and the Republic of China (ROC) forces that involved two city sieges and two island invasions. The city sieges compared are Changchun (May to October 1948) and Beiping (November 1948 to January 1949, renamed Beijing after its capture), and attempts to invade Kinmen (October 1949) and Hainan (April 1950). Comparing and contrasting these examples, we can learn how Taiwan may prevent a war with Communist China, and, if deterrence fails, to fight Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aggression successfully.

The sieges of Changchun and Beiping were pivotal moments in the Chinese Civil War, and they played out in different ways. The 1948 Siege of Changchun was a brutal military blockade that highlighted the CCP’s ruthless strategy to force a Nationalist surrender at any cost, including mass civilian starvation. It resulted in one of the civil war’s worst humanitarian disasters. In contrast, the Pingjin Campaign — which included the strategic encirclement of Beiping in late 1948 — culminated in a peaceful transfer of power in early 1949, displaying the CCP’s shrewd use of negotiation to avoid unnecessary bloodshed and preserve a symbolic, historic city.

From May to October 1948, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) under Lin Biao (林彪) encircled the Nationalist garrison in Changchun, cutting off supplies to the city. The CCP’s strategy was to “use the enemy’s food,” preventing civilians from leaving the city to put pressure on the Nationalist troops’ diminishing supplies. The five-month blockade of the city resulted in 150,000 to 330,000 civilian deaths from starvation. The blockade and its humanitarian catastrophe crippled the Nationalist garrison, which also faced internal morale problems and desertions. The Nationalist commander, Zheng Dongguo (鄭洞國), surrendered after a portion of his troops mutinied.

The fall of Changchun was a decisive victory for the Communists, effectively ending Nationalist control over Manchuria and setting conditions for their southward advance. The CCP’s ruthless methods cast a shadow over its legitimacy. Even today the CCP hides the starvation of Changchun civilians from history books.

In late 1948, the PLA strategically isolated Beiping by seizing the surrounding cities and cutting off escape routes, effectively trapping the Nationalist forces. The CCP conducted secret negotiations with the Nationalist commander, General Fu Zuoyi (傅作義), who faced a challenge like that of General Zheng at Changchun. The CCP secretly had recruited General Fu’s daughter, and she applied emotional pressure on him during the negotiations. General Fu agreed to “total disarmament and the redistribution of the Nationalist forces into the Communist Army.” On Jan. 31, 1949, the PLA marched into the city unopposed. The CCP named the city Beijing and designated it the PRC’s capital.

What happened to Fu Zuoyi and his 250,000 troops? The CCP did not treat him as a war criminal. After the war, Fu was appointed Minister of Hydraulics, and later Vice-Chairman of the 4th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee. The CCP absorbed his 250,000 Nationalist forces and reorganized them into PLA units. Mao later used them, and other PLA converted Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) soldiers, as “cannon fodder” in the Korean War. After the Korean War, 14,342 of the 21,451 Chinese prisoners of war requested to be repatriated to Taiwan instead of the PRC. This request revealed the number of surviving KMT soldiers who understood what their fate would be upon returning to the PRC and was the major factor in delaying the Korean Armistice for two years — Mao and the CCP were embarrassed by the soldiers’ defections to Taiwan.

What would happen to the military-age adults in Taiwan if the CCP — God forbid — annexed Taiwan? Would the CCP force them to be cannon fodder for the next CCP war? Russia also uses this cannon fodder tactic in its current war on Ukraine to reduce the number of non-White Russians under its control.

The sieges of Changchun and Beiping are contrasting examples of CCP strategy during the Chinese Civil War. The brutal attrition of Changchun demonstrated the Communists’ willingness to use any means to achieve victory. The peaceful capture of Beiping was a propaganda victory for the CCP. These events illustrate the dual nature of the CCP’s rise to power: a ruthless military force capable of great cruelty and a sophisticated political machine adept at exploiting opportunities.

Official CCP accounts of the five-month Changchun blockade ignore or downplay the immense civilian death toll from starvation and disease. Similarly, official CCP accounts of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre ignore the PLA’s murder of more than 10,000 peaceful protesters. There are no official monuments or memorials to the Changchun civilian victims. Survivors have spoken of a “long-buried trauma,” and younger Chinese are unaware of the details.

Originally published in 1989 by the PLA, Lieutenant Colonel Zhang Zhenglung’s (張正隆) book, White Snow, Red Blood: The Historical Truth of the Kuomintang-CCP Decisive Battle in Northeast China, documents the deliberate starvation of civilians. White Snow, Red Blood was banned in China after 100,000 copies had been sold. Zhang wrote “Changchun was like Hiroshima. The casualties were about the same. Hiroshima took nine seconds; Changchun took five months.”

The 1949 Kinmen (Guningtou [古寧頭]) and 1950 Hainan invasions were amphibious assaults by the PLA on KMT strongholds following their retreat from mainland China. The battles’ contrasting outcomes — a decisive KMT victory at Kinmen and a swift PLA triumph at Hainan — are attributed to differences in preparation, intelligence, and morale.

The PLA relied on a “people’s flotilla” of wooden junks and fishing boats in both invasions to transport troops across the straits, facing the KMT’s superior navy and air force. The KMT forces defending the islands were remnants of the mainland campaigns and had low morale and were poorly supplied. The engagements were part of a larger campaign to secure China’s offshore islands after the Communist victory on the mainland, preceding the KMT’s final entrenchment on Taiwan.

After their mainland victories, during the Kinmen campaign, PLA commanders underestimated the KMT’s strength on Kinmen. They failed to conduct thorough reconnaissance or secure enough transport vessels, leading to a single, poorly coordinated assault wave. The KMT had reinforced Kinmen with veteran troops and tanks shortly before the invasion. An accidental tripwire alerted defenders, who used their coastal defenses, aircraft, and tanks to significant effect against the stranded PLA forces.

Kinmen was too small to support a significant Communist guerrilla force; there was no internal assistance to support the PLA landing. The KMT forces annihilated the PLA landing force, a major embarrassment that ended immediate Communist plans to invade Taiwan and preserved Kinmen as an anti-communist outpost.

Learning from the Kinmen defeat, the PLA conducted extensive reconnaissance and pre-battle training against Hainan Island. They conducted small-scale landings over months to reinforce local guerrillas and test defenses before the main assault. The KMT garrison was larger but poorly led and comprised low-morale troops. The high command in Taiwan denied requests from Hainan for reinforcements, which resulted in an ineffective defense.

A strong local Communist guerrilla movement, the Hainan Independent Column, provided crucial intelligence, helped secure beachheads, and harassed KMT forces from the interior. The Communists overwhelmed KMT forces and conquered the island in just over two weeks. It was a successful amphibious operation that provided valuable experience for the PLA.

The PLA studies the historical examples of Kinmen and Hainan and other military campaigns against islands, such as their successful capture of Taiwan’s Yijiangshan Islands (一江山島) (1955) and other World War II battles in the Pacific and in the Mediterranean such as Crete and Malta. I encourage Taiwanese to explore these and other historical examples.

The message regarding these four historical case studies reminds me of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. His book’s lesson is that a ruling class’ unchecked tyranny and oppression inevitably leads to widespread suffering and violent revolution. We can hope that mainland Chinese who suffer from the CCP’s unchecked tyranny and oppression will contribute to the CCP’s collapse with minimal suffering. However, while the CCP still holds its grip around the throat of the PRC, Taiwan needs to prepare for all contingencies, including war.

Interestingly, the PRC 2005 Anti-Secession Law outlines violent and non-violent options for taking Taiwan: These options are historical reminders of the CCP’s conquests of Changchun and Peiping.

President William Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) concept of whole-of-society resilience (WOSR) is a comprehensive national security strategy that integrates military defense with extensive civil preparedness for natural disasters and potential conflicts with Communist China. The initiative aims to increase Taiwan’s deterrence and resistance capabilities by empowering the civilian population and fostering cooperation across government, the private sector, and civil society. As WOSR develops, Taiwan will make it more difficult for the CCP to make Taiwan suffer the fates of Changchun’s starvation and the capitulation of Beiping. Furthermore, by encouraging a stronger Taiwanese identity, service before self, and Taiwan nationalism, I hope that Taiwan can learn to avoid the historical example of Hainan’s loss and be inspired by the historical heroic and successful sentinels of Kinmen that served as an example of Taiwan’s political will and resolve against Chinese communist coercion.

Guermantes Lailari is a retired US Air Force Foreign Area officer specializing in counterterrorism, irregular warfare, missile defense, and strategy. He holds advanced degrees in international relations and strategic intelligence. He was a Ministry of Foreign Affairs Taiwan Fellow in 2022, a visiting scholar at National Chengchi University and National Defense University in 2023, and is a visiting researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in 2024.


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Following the resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba from the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party, Sanae Takaichi was elected president of the party on Oct. 4. Takaichi is familiar to many Taiwanese due to her many visits to and support for the neighboring island nation. She is widely seen as a protege of late former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, also a staunch ally of Taiwan.

President William Lai (賴清德) congratulated Takaichi as news broke that she was elected LDP president, calling her a “loyal friend of Taiwan.”

She has continuously pushed for closer cooperation between Taiwan and Japan, and has called for including Taiwan in security discussions and even creating channels to strengthen defense cooperation between Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and eventually Europe. The consistency of Takaichi’s support is noteworthy.

In her first bid for the LDP presidency, she said that a Taiwan crisis is a direct threat to Japan’s security and that Japan could send its troops to help fend off a Chinese invasion. In her second leadership bid last year, she specifically said a blockade of Taiwan could endanger Japan’s existence, and that Japanese forces might legally pre-emptively strike Chinese territory to deter strikes on Japanese soil.

Takaichi said in April that Japan, Taiwan and other regional partners should form a “quasi-security alliance,” in a hub-and-spoke security model.

In her written response to a Hudson Institute questionnaire, Takaichi last week reiterated her long-standing support for Taiwan, emphasizing that peace and stability in the Strait are of utmost importance to Japan.

She reaffirmed zero tolerance for changes to the “status quo” through force or coercion and that she is closely monitoring Chinese military activities. She called Taiwan an “extremely important partner and a valued friend for Japan, sharing fundamental values and maintaining close economic ties and people-to-people exchanges.”

Some analysts have been more cautious about Takaichi’s potential Taiwan policy. Despite concerns about toning down support, a handwritten letter from Takaichi to Lai was delivered on Friday by Japanese lawmaker Hajime Sasaki.

The same day, the Komeito party withdrew from its coalition government with the LDP. Komeito has been long opposed to constitutional reforms around Japan’s security, especially on amending Article 9, which limits the role of Japan’s military. With the departure of the pacifist Komeito, the LDP under Takaichi could have less restraint on pushes to bolster Japan’s military capabilities. This could increase cooperation with parties such as the Democratic Party for the People, far-right populist Sanseito party, and other smaller parties such as the Japan Innovation Party.

Despite narratives depicting Takaichi as a far-right conservative, she has compromised when needed. Serving several ministerial positions, she improved Japan’s working environment. Her policies called for gender equity around pay and flexible work arrangements, and for better awareness of diverse needs.

Although officially opposed to changing the law for allowing for a female emperor and same sex marriage, she voiced support for a female emperor and spoke against discrimination against LGBTQ people.

Rath Wang is a senior policy fellow at Safe Spaces, a consulting firm based in Taipei and Washington focusing on Taiwan’s politics, media and civil society, as well as key issues influencing Taiwan’s future. He is a producer and host of political talk shows and podcasts and has worked on political campaigns and advocacies in Taiwan, Japan and the U.S.

title: What Takaichi means for Taiwan


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In South Korea, the medical cosmetic industry is fiercely competitive and prices are low, attracting beauty enthusiasts from Taiwan. However, basic medical risks are often overlooked. While sharing a meal with friends recently, I heard one mention that his daughter would be going to South Korea for a cosmetic skincare procedure. I felt a twinge of unease at the time, but seeing as it was just a casual conversation among friends, I simply reminded him to prioritize safety. I never thought that, not long after, I would actually encounter a patient in my clinic with a similar situation. She had

By Lu Chun-wei 盧俊瑋

Chinese actor Alan Yu (于朦朧) died after allegedly falling from a building in Beijing on Sept. 11. The actor’s mysterious death was tightly censored on Chinese social media, with discussions and doubts about the incident quickly erased. Even Hong Kong artist Daniel Chan’s (陳曉東) post questioning the truth about the case was automatically deleted, sparking concern among overseas Chinese-speaking communities about the dark culture and severe censorship in China’s entertainment industry. Yu had been under house arrest for days, and forced to drink with the rich and powerful before he died, reports said. He lost his life in this vicious

By Yang Chih-chiang 楊智強

title: EDITORIAL CARTOON


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The EU has a secret weapon to counter Trump’s economic bullying. This is the time to use itEurope must act now, not only to push back against Trump, but to create space for itself to exist as a free and sovereign entity

Would Brussels ever stand up to US President Donald Trump and big tech? Its lack of action is not just a legal or economic failure: It is a moral one. It throws into question the very foundation of Europe’s democratic identity. What is at stake is not merely the fate of Google or Meta, but the principle that Europe has the right to govern its own digital space according to its own laws. If the EU cannot enforce its own laws, then it is a vassal to Washington and to Silicon Valley, with Trump as its overlord.

First, let us recount how we got here. In late July the European Commission accepted a humiliating deal with Trump that locked in a permanent 15 percent tariff on EU exports to the US. Europe received nothing in return. The indignity was all the greater, because the commission also agreed to give well over US$1 trillion to the US by way of investments, and purchases of energy and military materiel. The deal exposed the fragility of Europe’s dependence on the US. Less than a month later, Trump threatened crushing new tariffs if Europe enforced its laws against US tech firms on its own soil.

For decades, Brussels has claimed that its market of 450 million rich people gives it unanswerable sway in trade negotiations. However, in the six weeks since Trump’s threat, Europe has done little. Not a single retaliatory measure. No invocation of the new anti-coercion instrument, the so-called “trade bazooka” that Brussels once promised would be its ultimate shield against foreign pressure. Instead, there have been polite statements and a fine on Google of less than 1 percent of its annual revenue for longstanding anticompetitive behavior, already proven in US courts, that allowed it to “abuse” its dominant position in Europe’s advertising market.

The US, under Trump’s leadership, has made its intentions clear: It no longer seeks to strengthen European democracy. It seeks to undermine it. A recent essay published on the US Department of State’s Substack, written in the same paranoid, bombastic language as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s speeches, accused Europe of “an aggressive campaign against Western civilization itself.” It condemned supposed restrictions on authoritarian parties across the EU, from the Alternative for Germany to Law and Justice in Poland.

What is to be done? Europe’s anti-coercion instrument works by calculating the degree of the coercion and imposing counter-actions. Provided most European governments agree, the European Commission could kick US goods and services out of Europe’s market, or apply tariffs to them. It can strip their intellectual property rights, block their investments and require reparations as a condition of readmittance to Europe’s market.

The instrument is not merely economic retaliation; it is a declaration of political will. It was designed to signal that Europe would never tolerate foreign coercion, but now, when it is needed most, it lies unused. It is not a bazooka. It is a paperweight. In the months leading to the EU-US trade deal, many European governments talked tough in public, but failed to push for the instrument to be activated. Others, including Ireland and Italy, publicly pushed for a softer European line.

A softer line is the last thing that Europe needs. It must enforce its laws, even when they are inconvenient. Along with the anti-coercion instrument, Europe should shut down social media “for you”-style algorithms, that recommend content the user has not asked for, on European soil until they are proven safe for democracy. Citizens — not the algorithms of foreign oligarchs beholden to foreign interests — should have the freedom to decide for themselves what they see and share online.

Trump is putting Europe under pressure to water down its digital rulebook. However, now more than ever, Europe should hold large US tech firms accountable for anti-competitive market rigging, snooping on Europeans, and preying on children. Brussels must hold Ireland accountable for failing to enforce Europe’s digital rules on US firms. However, enforcement is not enough. Europe must progressively replace all non-EU “big tech” platforms and cloud services over the next decade with homegrown alternatives.

The real danger of this moment is that if Europe does not act now, it would never act again. The longer it waits, the deeper the erosion of its confidence in itself. The more it would believe resistance is futile. The more it would accept that its laws are not binding, its institutions not sovereign, its democracy not self-determined. When that happens, the path to authoritarianism becomes inevitable, through algorithmic manipulation on social media and the normalization of lies. If Europe continues to cower, it would be drawn into that same abyss. Europe must act now, not only to push back against Trump, but to create space for itself to exist as a free and sovereign entity.

In doing so, it must plant a flag that the rest of the world can see. In Canada, South Korea and Japan, democracies are watching. They are wondering if the EU, the last bastion of liberal multilateralism, would resist foreign pressure or surrender to it. They are asking whether democratic institutions can survive when the most powerful democracy in the world turns its back on them. They also see the example of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who faced down Trump and demonstrated that the way to deal with a bully is to hit hard.

However, if Europe hesitates, if it continues to issue polite statements, to impose token fines, to hope for a better future, it would have already lost.

Johnny Ryan is director of Enforce, a unit of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.


title: The Takaichi trade is not Abenomics 2.0

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Takanomics? The Takaichi trade? Sanaenomics?

There is no consensus yet on what to call the global investor moment spurred by Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi’s election as Japan’s presumptive next prime minister.

The need for a label harks back to the Abenomics era of late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe — and on the surface, there are lots of similarities. The come-from-behind victory of the market-friendly candidate who catches global attention. The re-emergence of figures such as Etsuro Honda, the visionary who advised Abe and is now doing the same for Takaichi, and the willingness to put public pressure on the Bank of Japan (BOJ).

So far, so familiar, but this moment is no Abenomics 2.0, and what is more, that is just fine.

For starters, Takaichi has a much weaker hand to play than her mentor did. True, Abe was elected in 2012 while the customarily ruling LDP was in opposition, but the writing was already on the wall for the Democratic Party of Japan’s flailing government. Within months, Abe swept a general election that gave him a strong mandate for change.

By contrast, the new party leader has been left with one of the poorest positions imaginable. The LDP is a minority in both houses of the Japanese Diet. Takaichi’s confirmation as prime minister by parliament is being delayed until at least Tuesday next week, and if talks with longstanding coalition partner Komeito break down, it could even lead to a restructuring of the political landscape. In any event, in the absence of a new coalition partner, she would have to strike individual deals with opposition parties just to keep the lights on.

DIFFERENT PRIORITIES

In Abe’s day, he was responding to public outcry for change to shake up an economy suffering from not just chronic deflation, but the double whammy of the post-global financial crisis of 2008 downturn, and the 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster.

Takaichi’s priorities must be elsewhere. The LDP president has talked up easy money and economic growth policies, which the stock market loves. However, the biggest issue on voters’ minds is inflation, particularly at the supermarket checkout. She must devise quick wins to ease pressure on low-income households — while also avoiding falling back into deflation. She would have to thread a needle on immigration, by being seen to tackle rulebreakers while continuing to boost foreign labor to cope with shortages. Grand growth visions would have to wait.

However, the biggest difference is Japan itself. Abe inherited a country full of potential but dealing with vast structural issues. Japan was criminally undervalued in 2012, from corporates to property; the problems faced today are far less acute, and valuations reflect that. The yen was trading around ￥77 to the US dollar, and the uproar was about how strong the currency was as exporters failed. The massive weakening that resulted was welcomed. That would not be the case now; if anything, Takaichi must try to strengthen it.

There are things she can draw from. Abenomics was, above all, a masterful piece of public relations to attract foreign money. It had a catchy name, and a simple concept; anyone could understand the metaphor of the three arrows, flimsy on their own but strong together, for the more nebulous concepts of combining monetary and fiscal policy with reforms. Takaichi should take inspiration from the public relations standpoint.

WHAT JAPAN NEEDS

Like Abe, she should not be afraid to have sharp elbows. We saw an example of that in her adviser Honda warning the BOJ away from a rate hike this month. One of the late prime minister’s early bold moves was the 2013 joint government-BOJ statement that set the current 2 percent price target. She should quickly move to update that and get BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda on the same page.

It is unknown what policies Takaichi would pursue. It is hard to do bold things with the Japanese Ministry of Finance clutching the purse strings and party kingpin former Japanese prime minister Taro Aso watching over her shoulder. Nonetheless, her pro-growth attitude would at least be an improvement on recent administrations.

Most importantly, Japan is not in need of another short-lived Abenomics moment. That era needed the shock and awe of the BOJ’s monetary easing “bazookas” to reignite global interest and rekindle animal spirits. However, that is not what the country needs now, when corporate profits are at record highs, unemployment near historic lows, and the looming issue is how to address a labor crunch with a public wary of immigration.

Takaichi likes to declare that “Japan is back,” but as I wrote recently, that is the wrong idea; its global relevance has rarely been higher. What is needed now is not the Abenomics bazooka, but a well-placed arrow: targeted, smart growth policies.

Gearoid Reidy is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Japan and the Koreas. He previously led the breaking news team in North Asia, and was the Tokyo deputy bureau chief. This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.


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Can anything stop the turbocharged growth of Vietnam’s economy?

In a lackluster global economy, Vietnam’s problems are good ones to have. The key challenge for this star Southeast Asian exporter is hitting a sky-high target for growth this year.

One of the country’s top statisticians said it would be “extremely” difficult for the expansion to reach 8.5 percent, the target the Vietnamese government has set (and one that no consequential economy is likely to log). However, Vietnam has a great starting point. It did better than almost anyone expected last quarter, and the outlook is still solid. Even coming close would be a win, given the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

Vietnam’s performance in the past three months has been truly impressive. GDP climbed 8.2 percent from a year earlier, the fastest clip since 2022, and second-quarter numbers were revised upward. The star was manufacturing, which has jumped 10 percent since January, and was still humming through last month. Some of this surge reflected a rush to get orders filled and shipped before Trump’s levies took effect in early August. However, there is little sign things have cooled significantly since then.

This week, the Southeast Asian country clinched a long-awaited upgrade from FTSE Russell to emerging-market status, putting it in the same category as China, India and Indonesia, and potentially adding billions in capital flow to its markets. The benchmark stock index is up 33 percent this year, in part reflecting anticipation of the shift, but also an acknowledgement of a strong economy.

The buoyant sentiment is a far cry from the warnings that accompanied the White House’s “liberation day” tariff announcement on April 2. While the levies on Vietnam’s exports are high relative to those prior to April, leaders did a good job whittling them down to 20 percent. Duties around that level seem to be the norm for most of Southeast Asia. Close security ties with Washington did not prevent the Philippines and Thailand from being tagged with 19 percent each, along with Malaysia and Indonesia.

That the US’ huge leverage over Vietnam would make it a special target did not pan out. It is not that Hanoi is not exposed: More than one-quarter of GDP depends on shipments to the US; overall exports are equal to about 90 percent of the Vietnamese economy. About half of Nike Inc shoes are made there, and Lululemon Athletica Inc churns out large amounts of merchandise. Tech matters greatly, too, with Intel Corp and Apple Inc operating there.

Vietnam’s rapid rise in living standards since the economy opened after the Cold War resembles China. This should restrain the celebrations. Like its northern neighbor, Vietnam first turned to low-cost manufacturing, then consumer goods and now, electronics and semiconductors meant for the US market. Like China, it was very successful; growth became turbocharged, and with it, the trade surplus, drawing scrutiny from Washington. However, Vietnam has avoided being on the outer for long. Hanoi does not trumpet designs on capturing the world market for electric vehicles or high technology, nor aim to push the US out of the Western Pacific region.

In the unlikely event such aims do ever exist, Vietnam would be well advised to hide them. Emerging markets tend to prefer the “status quo,” especially if they are relatively small and have a long way to go to meet broader objectives. Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, who has embarked on a reform drive, recently wondered whether the nation was destined to be stuck at the low end of the value chain, a provider of outsourced labor for international conglomerates.

“How much do we really earn?” Lam asked, according to a report by a Singapore think tank. “Perhaps just the labor cost — and the environmental pollution.”

Elements of China’s playbook are apparent in the drive for development. The State Bank of Vietnam has been guiding the nation’s currency, the dong, lower. It has fallen more than 3 percent this year to trade near a record low against the US dollar. Officials have little incentive to allow much appreciation.

When Trump imposed tariffs on China in his first term, Vietnam became the go-to place for adding industrial capacity in Asia. It was close to China, but not in it, and it was cheap. The value proposition still makes sense. I was skeptical about the tag “trade-war winner” often casually applied to Vietnam — the slogan implied that the country faced no challenges and that replicating China’s strategy was cost free.

I might have been a bit harsh. The latest numbers are impressive. Still, plenty of hurdles await, from declining fertility to an overhaul of the financial system, and even upheavals along the Mekong River. Trade-war survivor would be good enough, for now.

Daniel Moss is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian economies. Previously, he was executive editor for economics at Bloomberg News. This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.