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記者黃俊育 / 新北報導

由新北市立黃金博物館發行，集結水湳洞、金瓜石、九份在地居民共筆的年度刊物——《鑛山誌》第4期，已於2025年11月正式發行。實體書可於黃金博物館館及相關圖書通路選購，電子書亦已上架博客來、樂天 Kobo 與 Pubu等平台，提供讀者兼具便利與環保的閱讀選擇。

黃金博物館館長林文中表示，《鑛山誌》自2022年創刊以來，便定位為山城共筆平台，致力於讓耆老、中生代、新住民乃至孩童的聲音在此交匯對話。繼前三期分別以「家園的尺度」、「礦山遊樂場」、「礦山求生術」為題，從生活空間、娛樂及產業視角切入後，本期特輯聚焦「山城夜生活」，帶領讀者探尋礦山夜晚獨有的迷人風貌。

《鑛山誌》第4期深入挖掘山城的夜間記憶。〈礦山裡的夜間補習班〉帶領讀者重返日治時期，一窺夜裡傳授知識的「暗學仔」；〈遠方海面上的星火點點〉與〈山城裡的夜間食堂〉則分別跟隨討海人黃瑞聰與總舖師廖德聰的腳步，紀錄辛勤的夜間勞動身影。〈不再有鬼故事的金泉寺〉一文，則由在地里長吳乾正與文史工作者鄭春山的角度，還原一段從禁忌走向理解的宗教歷史。此外，雷永清、蕭錦章與曾譯嫻分別親自執筆，從不同世代、不同角度，還原山城不同的「夜間記憶」。

除夜生活專題外，「礦山景物人事」單元收錄了資深文史工作者唐羽老師寫給未來研究者的信，以及新住民張曉晴母女運用圖文信對「山海間的家」的深情告白。「博物館觀點」則透過〈金瓜石的百年大戲〉一文，系統性梳理從清代至戰後，多元族群在山城留下的文化足跡。

《鑛山誌》售價新臺幣150元，民眾除了能於博物館選購，也能於相關圖書通路線上訂購，更可於博客來、樂天 Kobo和Pubu等平台購買電子書。詳情可到黃金博物館官網與粉絲頁(https://www.facebook.com/goldmuseum)查詢。

title: 黃金博物館年度刊物《鑛山誌》第4期發行     集結水金九居民故事

taiwan-subdivisions: 新北 新北市


title: 從唱跳到搖滾！新北市政府公布19組華麗卡司     打造年度最具音樂性的耶誕城演唱會

taiwan-subdivisions: 新北市 新北

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記者黃俊育 / 新北報導

2025新北歡樂耶誕城「巨星耶誕演唱會—The Greatest Show」將於12月13日、14日在市民廣場盛大登場，新北市政府（28）日舉辦卡司公布記者會，新北市長侯友宜出席活動時表示，今年演唱會以音樂搖滾嘉年華為主題，邀請韋禮安、動力火車、告五人及糜先生等共19組重量級卡司登台演出，從唱跳、饒舌到搖滾、抒情曲風多元，歡迎民眾與家人朋友前來共享最熱鬧的耶誕音樂盛事。

▲侯友宜歡迎民眾與家人朋友來新北歡樂耶誕城巨星演唱會，共享最熱鬧的耶誕音樂盛事。(圖/新北市新聞局 提供)

侯友宜說，新北歡樂耶誕城邁入第15年，每年都是民眾期待的重點活動，今年特別與LINE FRIENDS合作，四大燈區以熊大、饅頭人、莎莉等熱門IP，營造幸福與歡樂的節慶氛圍，吸引大批民眾造訪拍照打卡。此外，市府以人潮分流及號誌管控等措施，確保活動期間交通安全順暢，讓民眾能開心來玩、平安回家。

▲侯友宜表示，今年演唱會以音樂搖滾嘉年華為主題，邀請韋禮安、動力火車、告五人及糜先生等共19組重量級卡司登台演出。(圖/新北市新聞局 提供)

觀旅局補充，今年新北歡樂耶誕城「巨星耶誕演唱會—The Greatest Show」將透過多平台同步Live實況轉播，包括「TVBS 歡樂台」、MOD「TVBS 精采台」、海外頻道「TVBS Asia」、「新北旅客」臉書與YouTube、「TVBS NEWS」臉書與YouTube、「CATCHPLAY+影音平台」及「LINE TODAY」，讓無法到場的民眾也能即時感受演唱會魅力。


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記者蕭湘凌、陳木隆/宜蘭報導

繼冬戀蘭陽溫泉季日前亮燈之後，2025礁溪溫泉燈花季於今天11月28日晚間盛大開幕，四大主題展區的光雕與燈景裝置藝術，在溫泉鄉的夜晚交織成繽紛浪漫的燈景世界，溫泉季與燈花季兩大展區相互映襯，共伴出宜蘭礁溪專屬的冬遊賣點。

礁溪溫泉燈花季四大主題展區分別位於溫泉廣場、迎賓廣場、地景廣場及水景廣場，即日起至明年3月4日，每天晚上6時至11時亮燈。

▲「礁溪溫泉燈花季」啟動，鄉長張永德等人邀請國內外旅客相約冬遊到礁溪。（圖/礁溪鄉公所）

今晚的點燈儀式，特別上演「AI智能生化人LED震撼擊鼓互動秀」，將現代科技與傳統打擊樂相互結合，透過LED燈光、音樂與擊鼓，帶來視覺與聽覺的雙重震撼！

鄉長張永德表示，礁溪溫泉燈花季已經成為冬季觀光亮點，透過豐富的視覺設計與趣味造型燈飾，為礁溪注入嶄新的活力與藝術的氣息，「礁溪溫泉燈花季」正式展開，邀請國內外旅客相約在冬季，體驗溫泉鄉獨有的浪漫與魅力。

title: 影音/礁溪溫泉燈花季繽紛啟動 邀您相約冬遊到礁溪

taiwan-subdivisions: 礁溪 宜蘭


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文 / 胡一鳳

港灣新聞網 胡一鳳老師專欄 / 《回到「一」：修行不是變偉大，而是找回初心與幸福的本質》

再過幾天，我們將告別十一月，走入十二月。在歲末轉折的時節，我常靜下來問自己，我從哪裡來？要往哪裡去？生命真正的源頭是什麼？幸福又從哪裡開始？

無論是宗教、哲學、科學或生命教育，最後都把答案指向同一個字——「一」。

一、為何所有宗教都說「一」？走訪各宗教後，我愈來愈清楚：

宗教不同、語言不同、儀軌不同，但本質都在講同一件事：回到源頭、回到起點、回到「一」。

佛教《華嚴經》「一即一切，一切即一。」萬法同源，每一滴水都含著整個宇宙。 《易經》「一」是乾卦：天行健，君子以自強不息。代表創造力、行動力、責任與剛健。基督信仰 • 獨一真神（申命記 6:4） • 三位一體中的「一」 • 教會的七個「一」：一神、一主、一靈、一身、一信、一洗、一望「一」是信仰的核心，也是合一的基礎。

道教天人合一——人若與天地同頻，便得自在。

天使數字 1代表新的開始、意圖顯化、創造力。 生命靈數 1象徵開創者與領導者，有行動力與使命感。 卡巴拉生命樹「1」＝ Kether 王冠象徵神性統一、原始之光、創生能量。 《大佛頂首楞嚴經》「方便有多門，歸元無二路。」道路千百條，本源只有一個。所有宗教，都在說同一件事：

「萬象歸一，一即萬象。」

二、科學告訴我們：宇宙也從「一」開始宗教講「一」，科學也在講「一」： • 宇宙大爆炸：起源於單一奇點 • DNA：全人類共享共同祖先 • 數學：所有系統從「1」開始 • 神經訊號：從單一電位差啟動 • 量子糾纏：顯示「萬物互聯、一體共振」

宗教與科學在最底層的邏輯是一樣的：多元是表相，一體是本質。

從太空看地球：人類原本就沒有邊界、地球只有一顆，也沒有國界

太空人常說：「地球從太空看，沒有國界。」那是一顆漂浮在宇宙黑暗中的藍色小點——沒有陣營，不分國界，也沒有誰比誰更高貴。

但在人間，人心創造了分裂；歷史創造了傷痕；戰爭創造了無法真正修補的痛。

當我們看見烏克蘭、敘利亞、阿富汗，看見孩子成為孤兒、母親成為寡婦、城市化為廢墟，我們更深刻明白：

真正的和平，不是沒有戰爭，而是人心願意回到「一」——回到善、回到慈悲、回到光。

生命教育提醒我們：不要讓仇恨遺留給下一代，不要讓苦難變成新的苦難。願每一次傷痛，都成為人類回到「一」的契機。

三、不同插頭、不同宗教，但電源只有一個

我們生活得再複雜，宇宙運行的道理其實很簡單——源頭只有一個。

最能讓大家一聽就懂的比喻，就是「電」。

世界各地電壓、插頭不同： • 美國、日本用 Type A • 歐洲多用 Type C • 英國、香港用 Type G • 澳洲、中國部分地區用 Type I • 泰國甚至有 Type O孔數不同、形狀不同、電壓不同，但它們都有一個共同特點：接上正確轉接頭，就能運作電壓調整好，就能使用因為電源，永遠只有一個

電流的原理，也是宗教的原理 • 一盞燈接上電，就能照亮房間。 • 一台電腦接上網路，就能連結世界。 • 一顆心接上愛，就能溫暖人間。 • 一個宗教接上源頭，就能度化世界。

只要用對——轉接頭（學會理解彼此）變壓器（調整自己的心頻）插到對的插座（找到適合自己的法門）

不論電器來自哪個國家，都能發亮。

宗教修行也是如此： • 宗教不同，是「插頭不同」； • 文化不同，是「電壓不同」； • 儀式不同，是「造型不同」； • 修行方式不同，是「使用說明書不同」。但真正的源頭永遠一樣：愛、善、慈悲、良知與智慧。重點不是「誰跟誰比較像」，而是：你接上你的源頭了嗎？你亮起來了嗎？

任何宗教都能度人，也能自度；任何文明都能發光，只要找到與「源頭」的正確連結。

四、家庭也是宇宙的縮影：「一」的最簡單比喻一個家庭可以有五個兄弟姐妹，每個人外貌不同、性格不同、道路不同，但源頭都是父母。這是最生活化、最好理解的：「一」。

宗教亦然：道路不同，本質同源。

五、但要記住——「合一」不是盲從

宗教可以多元、文化可以交流、智慧可以互補，但有一件事必須始終清楚：合一，不是盲從。古德說：「人能弘法，非法弘人。」法永遠在那裡，但帶我們走向法的，是人。因此——跟對人、走對方向，比什麼都重要。

世界上的道路可以百千條，但不是每一條都能走向光；不是每一個地方都值得依止；不是每一個人都能帶你抵達安穩之處。

找到清淨的道場、遇見真正的善知識，就像——把電器插到正確的插座：能量立刻流動，生命自然發亮。

但如果走錯地方、跟錯人，就像插錯電壓：不是讓自己短路，就是把整個系統燒壞。

宗教不是迷信，信仰不是盲從。真正的修行，是一種「分辨 + 清明」的能力： • 心要清楚 • 眼要看明白 • 善惡要能分辨 • 取捨要能果斷

能讓生命越來越光明、越來越自在，那才是真正的法。那才是走上了「源頭」的道路。

六、慎終追遠：冥陽兩利，一體相連 父親以離開度我：借死度生的覺醒

我常思考：若父親仍在世，我會開始走上生命教育嗎？我會真正開始修行嗎？我會接觸佛教經典、甚至理解跨宗教智慧嗎？答案可能是否定的。正如佛陀為何示現「入涅槃」——不是離棄，而是提醒：若常住世，眾生不珍惜；當佛入滅後，人們才懂得反思、精進。父親也是如此。他以離開的方式度我，引我入道，讓我開始問自己：「我是誰？我要往哪裡去？」

若不是父親的離去，我不會接觸佛法，也不會走進生命教育，更不會閱讀不同宗教經典，更不會悟到「一」的真義。

20 年來，我持續為往生父親與歷代先祖們做法會、誦經與「觀文起意」的過程中，我深刻地體悟：慎終追遠，在超度自己時，也是在超度祖先；因為我身上的血脈與細胞，來自他們是他們的延續，當我悟道，他們也同時得度。所以「超度」，不是迷信的儀式，而是 冥陽兩利、代代相連、回到源頭 一體相連的生命教育。

這時才能究竟體會到，原來佛陀入涅槃不是離去，而是度化，父親亦然。

七、「一鳳」的真正深義：名字不變，心境已變

在父親離開後的二十年間，隨著生命教育、跨宗教交流與一次次對經典的閱讀，我慢慢看懂——原來「一鳳」不是名字，而是修行功課。過去，我看到「一」，以為是唯一；要做第一，如今再看，「一」是本源，是萬法的源頭。

過去，我看到「鳳」，以為是飛得高、飛得遠；成為人中之鳳；如今再看，「鳳」是涅槃，是重生，是在淬鍊後再度展翅的力量。

見「一」又是一；見「鳳」又是鳳。

名字不變，但我的視野變了；世界不變，但我的心境變了。

我愈來愈明白：父親要我「學習」的不是成為誰？超越誰？而是——

學習從「一即一切、一切即一」中看見胸襟；學習在生命淬鍊裡浴火重生；學習鳳凰涅槃後的自在飛翔；學習把生命帶回清淨的「一」。

而我也終於懂得：

「一鳳」不是耀眼的象徵，而是——學習「自我超越」，一條回到初心、回到本心、回到源頭，回到那份平凡、平常心的道路。

八、世界神明聯誼會：宗教合一的實踐場2011 年，星雲大師倡議 12 月 25 日為「聖人節」：讓耶穌、佛陀、孔子與世界各大宗教的創始者都能在同一天受到尊重。這不是創新，而是大愛與合一的智慧。2024 年世界神明聯誼會 • 超過 10 萬人次 參與 • 七大宗教共同簽署祈和平宣言 • 962 家宮廟教堂參加 • 3853 尊佛像神尊出席 • 刷新三項世界紀錄台灣正在向世界展示：我們有能力成為宗教和平的典範。

今年（2025）12/25（四），我也如去年會在佛光山佛陀紀念館，歡喜接待有緣不同宗教的朋友們一起集體創作——「合一的幸福」。

九、合一不是概念，是行動 為香港祈福：不分宗教，我們一起

12/6–13，我也將參加，佛光山萬緣水陸法會（第二期）： 為世界祈願 為香港新界大埔區宏福苑往生者祈福回向 也願傷者早日康復 願家屬獲得力量 願社會與世界更祥和 願每一個生命都入光、入願、入安寧

也誠摯邀請所有讀者，歡迎各宗教的朋友，以自己信仰中最自在的方式——送上一真誠的祝願。祈福無需排場，慈悲沒有宗教的界線，祈願也可不必等到法會——

您此刻的一念善念，就是光。這就是合一真正的樣子——尊重彼此、祝福彼此、成就彼此

十、12/1（一）：回到幸福源頭的一堂課在談「回到一」的這個時節，也誠摯邀請您一起進入佛法的核心智慧：

《人間佛教與當代社會》第十堂課12/1（週日）晚間 7:30

主講｜法鼓文理學院 鄧偉仁 副教授與談｜政治大學 李玉珍 教授主持｜佛光山人間佛教研究院院長 妙凡法師幸福不是追求更多，而是讓心越來越清明、越來越善、越來越自在。線上收看Zoom｜https://reurl.cc/O5NKxrID：899 3699 0838密碼：123456佛陀的教法，本質就是——幸福之道。

無需報名、隨時線上收視；願您在這一堂課裡重新看見：佛法的本質，就是幸福；幸福的源頭，就是「一」。

十一、結語：一，是宗教的起點，也是人生的原點「一」不是唯一，而是合一；「一」不是執著，而是源頭；「一」不是形式，而是大愛。當人心回到一，家就和，社會就安，宗教就合，世界就和平。

願我們一起——

行三好．一教鳳行活出生命的光與熱。

胡一鳳老師 簡介：

國立高雄科技大學行銷與流通管理系碩士，並於香港中文大學人間佛教研究中心與佛光山人間佛教研究院首屆全球「人間佛教管理文化」課程結業。

該課程由香港中文大學人間佛教研究中心主任陳劍鍠教授擔任總監，強調「理論與實踐合一」的自覺式管理，匯聚近九十位來自亞洲、大洋洲、北美洲、歐洲十三國、四十六城市的企業與文化菁英。

課程體現了星雲大師「人間佛教管理學」不僅是修行智慧，更是一門科學化、現代化的管理學，具備跨國、跨文化、跨產業的實踐力。

同儕包括琉璃工房董事長楊惠姍、清玄享閱文化集團董事長方淳珍、廣州嶺南教育集團董事長賀惠山、上海米源集團董事長陳志峰、泰國型創科技董事總經理張仁安等知名領袖。

現任佛光山普門中學生命教育兼任老師、南華大學終身學習學院榮譽顧問長，亦為百人行善團發起人。

長期關注教育、公益、環保與跨宗教交流，致力於推廣星雲大師「人間佛教」理念，將修行落實於日常，推動「行三好：做好事、說好話、存好心」。

並擔任高雄市中華企業經營領袖協會顧問、高雄市團體企業講師職業工會講師、謝黃扁文化藝術基金會顧問、高雄少年觀護慈愛協會理事、高雄科技大學東區校友會顧問等，持續推動文化教育與社會關懷。

近年榮獲美國德保羅大學自然醫學聯合頒證、國際社會服務獎（2023年），以及國際佛光會中華總會頒贈「佛光三好人家」殊榮（2024年）。

taiwan-subdivisions: 高雄市 高雄 和平 東區 大埔

countries: 美國 阿富汗 英國 敘利亞 日本 台灣 烏克蘭 中國 香港 泰國 澳洲


title: No need for loyalty exemptions: Lai

content_text:
GIVE BACK: The president thanked immigrants, recounting heartwarming stories, from a gymnast helping athletes shine internationally to a spouse helping the disadvantaged

There is no need to amend the law to exempt Chinese spouses from single allegiance to the Republic of China (ROC), President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that such changes would only increase the public’s doubts toward new residents from China and would not improve social harmony.

Taiwan is a democratic, diverse and free country, he said.

“No matter which ethnic group you belong to, where you come from or when you arrive, as long as you identify with Taiwan, you are masters of this country,” he said.

Taiwan is a democratic nation that follows the rule of law, where immigrants are all equally protected by the law, he said, adding that those who contravene the rules must be dealt with according to the law.

“This has nothing to do with ethnicity or identity. Before the law, everyone is equal,” he said.

Nationality Act (國籍法) amendments are unnecessary and redundant, Lai said.

There is no need to revise the act to specially exempt immigrants from China from pledging singular loyalty to the ROC, he said, adding that the move would not be beneficial to immigrants and could increase social concerns, undermining social harmony.

“Don’t love in a way that leads to harm,” Lai said, urging legislators to think twice about revising the law and to work together to safeguard national security, promote unity and focus on making Taiwan more progressive.

Lai also expressed his gratitude for the efforts and contributions of the hundreds of thousands of immigrants in Taiwan.

There are countless heartwarming stories of immigrants integrating into Taiwanese society, Lai said.

He cited as an example South Korean YouTuber Kim Jin-young, better known by her handle “ggu_Kim,” who recently obtained her residency status and used the NT$10,000 cash handout she received from the government to pay for a large billboard in South Korea promoting Taiwan as a travel destination.

Another example is Larisa Bakurova, a gymnastics champion from Ukraine, who, after marrying a Taiwanese, fully dedicated herself to her profession and trained young Taiwanese athletes to shine on the international stage, Lai said.

He also mentioned Chinese spouse Qiu Qiaozhu (邱巧珠) from Fujian, who married into a family in Yunlin County and joined her husband’s family egg wholesale business.

She has not forgotten to give back to the community and is helping the disadvantaged, Lai said.

In related news, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) proposed amendment to the Nationality Act, led by caucus whip Fu Kun-chi’s, was yesterday referred to the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee for review.

The proposed amendment follows several recent cases in which Chinese spouse of Taiwanese nationals were removed from office after failing to provide proof that they had relinquished their People's Republic of China (PRC) nationality.

The draft amendment to the Nationality Act stipulates that the political rights of residents from China should be governed by 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)

Under this framework, Chinese spouses who have household registration in Taiwan would no longer be subject to Article 20 of the Nationality Act.

Article 20 requires ROC nationals who hold a foreign nationality to renounce it within one year of assuming public positions, with failure to comply resulting in removal from office.

According to the bill's explanatory note, the Nationality Act currently governs only the acquisition, loss, restoration, and revocation of ROC nationality, and does not clearly define its applicability to mainland Chinese residents.

In practice, this has created confusion between Article 20's renunciation requirement and the provisions of the cross-strait relations act, undermining legal clarity and predictability, according to the bill's authors.

It is believed to be impossible for China-born spouses to provide proof they had renounced their Chinese citizenship because Beijing does not issue the necessary documents since it considers Taiwan as a part of China and its residents as its own citizens.

Under PRC law, Chinese nationals who have settled abroad and been naturalized as a foreign national "shall" automatically lose Chinese nationality.

The KMT argues that Chinese spouses' political rights should be evaluated under the cross-strait relations act, which already provides a distinct framework for household registration, employment, and eligibility to stand for election -- and that this special law should take precedence to avoid misapplication of the Nationality Act.

Fu's proposed amendment was placed on yesterday's plenary agenda by the Legislature's Procedure Committee. As no objections were raised during the reading of reports, the bill was referred to committee for further deliberation.

The committee is slated to hold a public hearing next week on the amendment, at which they would discuss other countries’ regulations on naturalized citizens or dual nationals holding public office; whether the current rules on foreign nationals, naturalized citizens or dual nationals holding public office are appropriate; and other legislative recommendations for amending the Nationality Act.

Additional reporting by CNA, Liu Wan-lin and Chen Cheng- yu


title: DGBAS sharply raises GDP growth forecast to 7.37%

content_text:
NEXT-YEAR ESTIMATES: Exports could surge 6.32 percent amid the AI boom, while the consumer index is expected to rise 1.61 percent due to soft global oil prices, DGBAS said

The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) yesterday sharply raised its GDP growth forecast for this year from 4.45 percent to 7.37 percent, the fastest expansion in 15 years, thanks to strong global demand for electronics used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

The revised outlook marks the best performance since 2009 and represents a 2.92 percentage point jump from the agency’s August estimate, driven overwhelmingly by technology exports linked to AI, and new-generation smartphones and other mobile devices.

“The upgrade reflects much stronger second-half showings than previously projected,” DGBAS Minister Chen Shu-tzu (陳淑姿) said.

The economy grew 8.21 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, better than a 7.64 percent increase indicated in last month’s advance report, she said, adding that the outperformance stemmed mainly from aggressive capital spending by US hyperscale cloud companies on AI-related hardware, which benefited local suppliers.

These investments boosted third-quarter exports by 36.49 percent, while imports climbed 24.91 percent, as domestic tech manufacturers increased purchases of raw materials and equipment to satisfy customer needs, Chen said.

In all, external trade contributed 7.57 percentage points to third-quarter growth, the strongest contribution since 2008.

Meanwhile, private consumption provided only limited support, with household spending rising by 1.19 percent in the third quarter, and modest growth in domestic tourism and higher stock market turnover partly offset by sluggish retail and restaurant activity along with weak car sales, the DGBAS said.

Taiwanese spent 7.59 percent more on overseas travel, while domestic tourism spending rose only 0.76 percent, it added.

The economic growth momentum is expected to carry into the current quarter.

The DGBAS said it is looking at a fourth-quarter growth of 7.91 percent, far exceeding the previous projection of 1.61 percent.

Exports are forecast to surge 36.84 percent during the October-to-December period to US$172.3 billion, supported by sustained global demand for AI servers, chips and related components, it said.

Despite the rapid acceleration in output, inflation would remain well-controlled, it said.

The consumer price index is expected to rise 1.67 percent this year and 1.61 percent next year, helped by soft global oil prices and mild food inflation, the DGBAS said.

The agency also said it expects GDP growth to moderate to 3.54 percent next year, as global trade growth would slow to 2.3 percent from 3.6 percent this year.

Exports could reach US$664.4 billion next year, 6.32 percent higher than this year’s exceptionally high base, the DGBAS said, adding that Taiwan is well-positioned to outperform as AI adoption deepens, sovereign AI initiatives expand, global hardware demand remains solid and new advanced semiconductor capacity comes online.


taiwan-subdivisions: 萬里 貢寮 石門 恆春

title: Taipower to submit plan to restart nuclear plants

content_text:
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) is expected to submit a plan to restart two decommissioned nuclear power plants to the Nuclear Safety Commission by March next year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

The ministry in a statement said that it has approved Taipower’s evaluation report, which found it was feasible to restart the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春).

However, the report concluded that restarting the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門) was not feasible, because its two reactors were decommissioned more than eight years ago and its equipment has severely aged, the ministry said.

The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times

Following the evaluation, Taipower would draft restart plans for the two nuclear power plants and launch safety inspections, including assessments of how badly the plants’ equipment has aged and their seismic resilience, it said.

Inspections at the Ma-anshan plant would require peer review and assistance from the original manufacturer, a process that is expected to take about one-and-a-half to two years to complete, the ministry added.

The process would take longer at the Guosheng plant, because its used nuclear fuel must be removed from the reactor and stored before safety inspections can be carried out, the ministry said.

The evaluation report was carried out in response to amendments to the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) passed in May, which provide a legal basis for continuing to operate nuclear power plants even after they have entered the decommissioning stage.

The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant was shut down on May 17.

Taiwan’s three nuclear power plants, which generated about 15 percent of the nation’s electricity as recently as 2014, have all been decommissioned.

Nuclear power advocates have said the plants should be restarted and that the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), which was close to completion before being mothballed in 2014, be opened and used to give Taiwan a source of low-emission electricity.

The Energy Administration said that for the first nine months of this year, about 85 percent of Taiwan’s electricity was generated by fossil fuels.


title: Eight arrested over HK blaze that left 128 dead

content_text:
Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency yesterday said it arrested eight people connected to the renovation of the high-rise apartments that were engulfed in a massive fire that left at least 128 people dead and many more unaccounted for.

The seven men and one woman were scaffolding subcontractors, directors of an engineering consultant company and project managers supervising the renovation, the Independent Commission Against Corruption said.

The agency also searched their offices, seizing documents and bank records.

Firefighters walk near the site of a major fire at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex, where flames engulfed bamboo scaffolding across multiple blocks, in Tai Po District, Hong Kong, yesterday. Photo: Reuters

The investigation over possible corruption in the renovation project was launched on Thursday after the fatal fire broke out on Wednesday.

Hong Kong firefighters found dozens more bodies yesterday in an intensive apartment-by-apartment search of Wang Fuk Court, where a massive fire engulfed seven buildings.

First responders found that some fire alarms in the complex, which housed many older people, did not sound when tested, Hong Kong Fire Services Director Andy Yeung said.

The blaze jumped rapidly from one building to the next, as bamboo scaffolding covered in netting and foam panels apparently installed by a construction company caught fire.

Crews prioritized apartments from which they had received emergency calls during the blaze but were unable to reach in the hours that the fire burned out of control, Hong Kong Fire Services Deputy Director Derek Armstrong Chan said.

It took firefighters about 24 hours to bring the fire under control, and it was not fully extinguished until yesterday morning. Even two days after the fire began, smoke continued to drift out of the charred skeletons of the buildings from the occasional flare-up.

About 200 people remain unaccounted for, Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang said. That included 89 bodies that have not yet been identified.

More bodies might be recovered, authorities said, although crews have finished a search for anyone living trapped inside.

More than 2,300 firefighters and medical personnel were involved in the operation, and 12 firefighters were among the 79 people injured, Yeung said, adding that one firefighter was killed.

The apartment complex of eight 31-story buildings in Tai Po District was built in the 1980s and had been undergoing a major renovation. It had almost 2,000 apartments and about 4,800 residents.

Eight people have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and gross negligence, police said.

Police have not identified the company where the suspects worked, but documents posted to the homeowners association’s Web site showed that Prestige Construction and Engineering Co was in charge of renovations.

Authorities suspected some materials on the exterior walls of the buildings did not meet fire resistance standards, allowing the unusually fast spread of the fire.

Police also said they found plastic foam panels — which are highly flammable — attached to the windows on each floor of the one unaffected tower. The panels were believed to have been installed by the construction company, but the purpose was not clear.

It appears that the fire started on a lower-level scaffolding net of one of the buildings, and then spread rapidly, as the foam panels caught fire, Tang said.

“The blaze ignited the foam panels, causing the glass to shatter and leading to a swift intensification of the fire and its spread into the interior spaces,” Tang added.


title: UN urges US not to close its doors to asylum seekers

content_text:
UN agencies yesterday appealed to Washington to continue allowing asylum seekers access to the country and be given due process after US President Donald Trump vowed to freeze migration from “third world” countries after an attack near the White House.

The comments mark a further escalation of migration measures Trump has ordered since the shooting on Wednesday that investigators said was carried out by an Afghan national who entered the US in 2021.

“They are entitled to protection under international law, and that should be given due process,” UN human rights office spokesman Jeremy Laurence said.

US President Donald Trump points as he speaks to reporters via video from his Mar-a-Lago estate on Thursday. Photo: AP

UN refugee agency spokeswoman Eujin Byun echoed those remarks, saying: “When people who need protection arrive in their territory, they have to have a due process of asylum. And then they have to have access to territory.”

The overwhelming majority of refugees are law-abiding members of the host community, she added.

Trump on Thursday said he would suspend migration from what he called “third world countries,” after two US National Guard soldiers were shot, killing one.

He also threatened to reverse “millions” of admissions granted under former US president Joe Biden.

Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old West Virginia National Guard member deployed in Washington as part of his crackdown on crime, had died from her wounds, Trump said.

The other soldier wounded in Wednesday’s attack, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, was “fighting for his life,” he said.

The suspected shooter was also in a serious condition.

Trump linked the shooting and his decision to send hundreds of National Guard troops to the city.

“If they weren’t effective, you probably wouldn’t have had this done,” he said. “Maybe this man was upset because he couldn’t practice crime.”

US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow said he had ordered a “full scale, rigorous reexamination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern.”

US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said the suspected assailant — identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal — had driven across the country to the capital.

The gunman opened fire on a group of guardsmen on patrol just a few blocks from the White House, she said.

The suspect was charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill, which would be upgraded to first-degree murder should either of the wounded troops die, she added.


content_text:
BAD DEATH:  Animal rights groups decry the traps as unnecessarily cruel, maiming animals — such as the president’s adopted dog — for life if not killing them

The Taiwan One Ecology Coalition yesterday urged prompt legislation to ban spring snare traps as it extended an invitation to President William Lai (賴清德) to attend a gathering among people with pets injured by such traps.

The gathering is to be held at the Huajiang Pet Park (華江寵物公園) in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋) on Saturday next week, with people who had their pets injured by spring snare traps joining together to share their stories to advocate for banning the traps.

The coalition yesterday presented an invitation card to a representative from the Presidential Office, inviting Lai to participate in the gathering with his adopted dog, Ban-ban (斑斑), who lost a leg from being caught in a spring snare trap.

A dog whose leg was severed by a boar trap is pictured at a news conference hosted by the Taiwan One Ecology Coalition outside the Taipei Guest House yesterday. Photo: CNA

The group presented postcards written by more than 200 students of Harvard University and MIT to urge Lai to ban the traps were presented.

Animals caught by spring snare traps have their circulation cut off in the trapped limb, leading to tissue death in the limb, Chinese Animal Welfare International Exchange Association executive supervisor Lee Chih-chiang (李志強) said, citing the example of the dog Hei-hei (黑黑), present at the event, whose leg required amputation due to a spring snare trap.

Animals caught in traps might suffer severe tissue damage, or fractured or broken bones even if they manage to escape, Lee said.

Animals unable to escape generally die after seven to 10 agonizing days, he said.

Although the Forestry and Natural Conservation Agency has developed improved traps, which it said would not cause as much harm to animals, they are not much safer than spring snare traps, Lee said.

Tests conducted by the coalition showed that the improved traps’ 12cm jaws can easily trap the toes of adult Formosan black bears or the paws of bear cubs and cause injuries.

Animal rights advocate Yang Hsiu-ling (楊秀玲) said spring snare traps are not traditional indigenous hunting tools, as they had not been used in Taiwan until about a decade ago.

Coalition representative Huang Tai-shan (黃泰山) said the group hoped Lai could exercise his influence as the head of state in pushing legislation to ban spring snare traps, urging the president to ask the Cabinet to put forward amendments to the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法).

That would benefit many wild animals and dogs similar to Ban-ban, Huang said.

The coalition said the spring snare trap ban campaign has bipartisan support, including Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Tai-hua (林岱樺), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯), DPP Legislator Kuo Yu-ching (郭昱晴) and KMT Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷).

However, the draft bill proposed by the ministry has been stalled for about five years in Cabinet meetings and has yet to be sent to the legislature for review, it said.

people: 賴清德 洪孟楷 徐巧芯 林岱樺

taiwan-subdivisions: 泰山 板橋

title: Animal advocacy group seeks to ban snare traps


title: Monthly insurance premium to increase

content_text:
BOTTOM-LEVEL ADJUSTMENT: Only workers at the bottom minimum wage pay bracket would see a slight increase in their labor insurance premiums, the ministry said   By Lee Ching-hui and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

With the minimum wage hike going into effect in January, the Ministry of Labor yesterday said that workers in the absolute minimum wage bracket would see a NT$23 increase in monthly labor insurance premiums.

To reduce administrative burdens and uphold workers rights, the ministry is raising the monthly insurance salary for full-time insured workers whose monthly wages fall in the NT$28,590 to NT$28,800 brackets to NT$29,500 starting next year, the new minimum wage standard from the beginning of the year, it said.

Part-time workers whose wages fall in the NT$28,800 bracket, physically and mentally challenged individuals under sheltered employment, low-income members of vocational unions, or insured personnel trained by vocational training facilities, would have their monthly insurance salary set at NT$29,500 next year, it said.

The starting month’s wage for Grade 1 of the Pay Grade Reference Chart for Laborer Insurance (勞工保險投保薪資分級表) and the Pay Grade Reference Chart for Occupational Hazard Insurance (勞工職業災害保險投保薪資分級表) would be hiked to NT$29,500, up from NT$28,590, while Grade 2 has been removed, Bureau of Labor Insurance Director-General Wu Yi-ting (吳依婷) said.

The sums for all other grades have not been changed, she said.

Item 2 of the Paygrade Reference Chart for Laborer Insurance states that those trained at the listed facilities would have a monthly insurance salary of NT$28,590.

Grade 25 of the Paygrade Reference Chart for Laborers’ Pension Premiums (勞工退休金月提繳分級表) would be hiked to NT$29,500, up from NT$28,800, while the pay floor for Grade 26 has been adjusted lower, Wu said, adding that no other grades are affected.

Workers whose premiums have been adjusted would be listed on next year’s labor retirement pension list, and the new premiums notices would be sent by Feb 25 next year.


title: La Nina brings warmer, drier winter to Taiwan

content_text:
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday forecast that the nation is likely to experience a warmer-than-average and slightly drier winter as a La Nina-like pattern continues to develop in the Pacific.

Sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific are currently cooler in the eastern Pacific and warmer in the western Pacific, a typical precursor to La Nina conditions, it said.

In years with similar patterns, air currents from the south tend to be slightly stronger than normal, meaning leeward areas in western Taiwan might experience less rainfall and slightly higher temperatures, said Lo Ya-yin (羅雅尹), deputy director of the CWA’s Weather Forecast Center.

People in winter clothing walk on a street in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times

However, La Nina indicators are not yet well defined, indicating that significant year-to-year variations in weather patterns are still possible, she said.

This autumn was Taiwan’s warmest since records began in 1951, Lo said.

From September to November, the average temperature in Taiwan was 26.5°C, well above the climatological norm of 25.1°C.

Rainfall during the period totaled 644.2mm, roughly in line with the long-term average, but the number of rainy days was unusually low — only 26.5 — the fifth fewest on record, she said.

Separately, the CWA yesterday said that a localized “strong wind advisory” function on its Web site officially goes online next month.

The new function, which began testing in March, provides users of the Web site with district and township-specific wind information for the following 48 hours in three color codes, Lo said.

A yellow signal warns that the wind in a specific location could measure between 6 and 8 on the Beaufort scale over the next two days, with wind speeds reaching 39kph and gusts starting at 62kph.

An orange signal cautions that average wind conditions could fall within the 9 to 11 range on the Beaufort scale over the next two days, when wind speeds would reach 75kph and gusts would hit 103kph.

A red signal, the most severe classification that would normally be used ahead of typhoons, shows that a specific region could see winds in a 12 to 14 range on the Beaufort scale within the next two days, with average wind speeds reaching 118kph and gusts starting at 149kph.


content_text:
A cardiology team at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) successfully implanted Taiwan’s first dual-chamber leadless pacemaker, which overcomes limitations of previous single-chamber pacemakers, a new milestone for domestic medical advancements, the hospital said on Tuesday

The NTUH medical team was invited to participate in the global pivotal Aveir Dual-Chamber Leadless i2i IDE Study beginning in 2023, becoming Taiwan’s only collaborating medical center, it said.

During the clinical trial, five patients received implants, with nearly three years of follow-up studies conducted, the hospital said, adding that the results demonstrated that the device operated reliably and maintained excellent synchronization.

National Taiwan University Hospital cardiologists and a patient surnamed Cheng, fourth right, who underwent heart surgery, pose for a photograph at a news conference in Taipei on Tuesday. Photo: CNA

The medical team said that a 79-year-old woman, surnamed Cheng (鄭), who had a slower than normal heart rate, began experiencing arrhythmia after she began receiving chemotherapy.

Her arrhythmia worsened to 40 beats per minute, causing her to feel shortness of breath even from walking, which greatly affected her daily life.

NTUH Cardiovascular Center physician Liu Yen-bin (劉言彬) said Cheng’s health condition left her at a high risk of infection, so she became one of the first patients that the medical team implanted with a dual-chamber leadless pacemaker, and the very first in Taiwan.

People with slow heart rates can feel out of breath and fatigue from walking, or sometimes experience dizziness or fainting, which can lead to fall injuries, and in serious cases cause a potentially fatal cardiac arrest, Liu said

More than 7,500 patients with heart rhythm disorders receive a pacemaker implant in Taiwan every year, he said.

About 80 percent of them are implanted with traditional dual-chamber pacemaker with leads, insulated wires threaded through veins to the heart, which leaves a scar in the upper chest, and limits arm and shoulder movement, Liu said.

There is also the risk of lead infection, in which case pacemaker and leads must be removed and could become life-threatening, he added.

Another 2 to 4 percent of patients have conditions needing atrial pacing, but the only leadless pacemakers available in Taiwan until now were single-chamber (ventricular) pacing, he said.

Therefore, although ventricular leadless devices have been available for years, widespread use of atrial pacing systems has only become possible with this innovation, he added.

The hospital said the new dual-chamber leadless pacemaker it introduced has three major innovations, including enhanced safety and comfort, re-engineered battery replacement and extended device longevity, and an atrial pacing and atrioventricular synchronization technology.

The bullet-sized device eliminates the need for transcutaneous leads and subcutaneous batteries, utilizing a minimally invasive femoral vein approach to deliver the pacemaker into the heart, reducing the risk of infections, it said.

When the battery runs out, the old device can be removed through a minimally invasive procedure, reducing the risk of multiple surgeries, the NTUH said, adding that the new system enables direct atrial pacing and uses wireless communication within the body to coordinate with the ventricular pacemaker, achieving dual-chamber synchronization, improving clinical outcomes.

The medical team said the dual-chamber leadless pacemaker is particularly suited for patients with vascular limitations, heightened infection risks or those requiring multiple lead replacements.

The system was approved for market release by the Food and Drug Administration in September, and it is expected to be integrated into clinical care at the hospital later this month or by early next month, it said.

title: NTUH doctors test new heart device


content_text:
Yunlin man in Dubai released, but not free to leave

A Taiwanese traveler who was detained by police on Sunday when transiting through Abu Dhabi International Airport has been released from custody, but is still not allowed to leave the country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

The ministry in a statement said its office in Dubai received a call from the man’s family yesterday at 1:30am, informing the office that he had been released from detention.

Despite the release, the Yunlin County man surnamed Chen (陳), still has to report to police to have his travel restrictions lifted, and that cannot happen until Wednesday because of a national holiday in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from today to Tuesday, the ministry said.

A Taiwanese man surnamed Chen, left, who was detained while transiting Abu Dhabi, and his wife are pictured in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of Chen’s wife

The ministry did not elaborate on why the man was still not allowed to leave the country.

In the meantime, the office in Dubai — in charge of all UAE affairs — has established contact with the man after his release and is putting him up in the office’s dormitory, office director Eric Chen (陳俊吉) said.

Before the release, the Dubai office had remained in contact with Abu Dhabi police and the man’s family, but it had yet to receive any clarification on why the man was taken away by police, the ministry said.

The ministry said it first received a call for help on Monday from the man’s wife, surnamed Yang (楊), who was traveling with her husband, and was told that Chen had been taken away by five armed police officers as they were about to board a connecting flight to go on a 16-day tour of Turkey.

Yang said she was not able to ask why her husband was being detained and, having cleared immigration, had to board the flight to Istanbul with other members of the tour group they were part of, the ministry said.

Soon after receiving the phone call, the Dubai office contacted Abu Dhabi police to get information about the case.

Abu Dhabi police briefed the office on the incident early on Wednesday, but didn’t provide details on why Chen was detained, the ministry said.


title: Poll shows many doubt defense ability

content_text:
PARTY LINES:  Among DPP supporters, 63.8% said that Taiwan’s defense capacity is lacking, while it was 64% among KMT backers and 74% among pro-TPP respondents

Most respondents questioned whether Taiwan has sufficient defense capacity amid increased geopolitical risks, while a majority believed Chinese infiltration is severe, the Taiwan Inspiration Association said yesterday, citing a survey.

The poll showed that 65 percent doubted the sufficiency of Taiwan’s defense capacity, while 61.7 percent believed Chinese infiltration is severe, the association said.

Thirty-three percent of respondents believed Taiwan’s defense capacity is enough, while among those who disagreed, 27.8 percent said it was “very insufficient” and 37.2 percent said it was “insufficient,” the poll showed.

Navy special forces personnel maneuver as during a drill in Kaohsiung on Jan. 27, 2021. Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE

In the 30-to-49 age group, 70 percent said defense capacity is insufficient, it showed.

Broken down by political preference, 63.8 percent of respondents who backed the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said defense capacity is lacking, while the rate was 64 percent among those who backed the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and 74 percent for those who supported the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), it showed.

Asked why they believed Taiwan’s defense capacity is insufficient, 30.7 percent said “insufficient arms,” while 37.3 percent said “insufficient personnel” and 30.4 percent said “insufficient international support,” the poll showed.

Chen Fang-yu (陳方隅), an associate professor of political science at Soochow University, said that confidence in the armed forces would influence determination regarding national defense.

Asked whether they were confident that the US would send troops to Taiwan in a cross-strait conflict, 36.9 percent said “yes,” while 60.9 percent said “no,” the poll showed.

Among KMT and TPP supporters, the rate was in excess of 80 percent, while 34.8 percent of DPP supporters said they did not believe that the US would help defend Taiwan, it showed.

The willingness of Washington to send troops to help defend Taiwan has lost relevance when assessing the determination of Taiwanese to defend the nation, Chen said.

Asked about Chinese infiltration in Taiwan, 61.7 percent of respondents said that it was “severe,” while 36.4 percent said it was “not severe,” the poll showed.

Among respondents who said infiltration was severe, 36.5 percent backed the KMT, 40.5 percent backed the TPP and 86.4 percent backed the DPP, it showed.

“Social media platforms and online remarks” was the category most commonly linked to Chinese infiltration tactics at 70 percent, while 45.9 percent cited media and 16 percent said it was inviting village or borough wardens to tour China, the poll showed.

Asked about approval rates for the government, 53.5 percent said they were satisfied with its performance, while 45.8 percent were not satisfied, it showed.

Among those who were unsatisfied, 51.1 percent said it was due to “political fighting,” while 42.2 percent said it was “scams” and 23.4 percent said it was “cost of living” issues, the poll showed

Wang Hung-jen (王宏仁), a professor of political science at National Cheng Kung University, said that political fighting is irrelevant when assessing the government, as it should be focused on policies.

Political fighting involves the ruling and opposition parties, Wang said, adding that the poll showed people are unhappy with tensions between the ruling and opposition parties, including over how the national budget bill was boycotted.

Regarding the domestic economy, 45.9 percent of respondents said it was good, while 54 percent said it was not good, the poll showed.

Asked why they thought the economy was not good, 47.7 percent cited the high cost of living, with high housing prices and low incomes blamed to a lesser extent, it showed.

The results show that the high cost of living is what most people want the government to fix most, not the cross-strait relationship, Wang said.

The telephone poll garnered 1,200 valid samples from people aged 20 or older nationwide. It was conducted from Nov. 3 to Nov. 8 and has a margin of error of 2.83 percentage points.


people: 賴清德 陳玉珍 吳宗憲

title: KMT demands president speak to the legislature

content_text:
DEFENSE PLANS:  Taiwan is in a hazardous situation, and President Lai should not add fuel to the fire for the satisfaction of having the final say, a lawmaker said

President William Lai (賴清德) needs to address the Legislative Yuan regarding a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.8 billion) special defense budget bill, as it is inflammatory and would escalate cross-strait tensions, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said yesterday.

Lai on Wednesday announced the plan, which he said would be allocated over eight years through 2033 to meet military goals to have a “high level” of joint combat readiness against China by 2027.

The Presidential Office later clarified that Lai’s speech meant that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aimed to be prepared for military unification by 2027, denying media reports that Lai had said the CCP would unify Taiwan by force by 2027.

From left, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers Chen Yu-jen and Wu Tsung-hsien, as well as KMT spokeswoman Chiang Yi-chen, attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times

KMT Legislator Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲), head of the party’s Culture and Communications Committee, told a news conference yesterday that Lai’s comments stirred unrest domestically, and upset military morale, the economy and the willingness of foreign corporations to invest in Taiwan.

Lai should not be allowed to speak nonsense, even if he enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution as president, Wu said.

Taiwan is in a hazardous situation, and Lai should not add fuel to the fire for the fleeting satisfaction of having the final say, he said.

If Lai has actionable intelligence that the CCP is preparing to launch an invasion by 2027, he is duty-bound to inform the country, Wu said.

If the 2027 date is confirmed and arms purchases from the US — which have faced constant delays — are pushed back to after 2027, any announcements would have little significance, he said.

If there is no actionable intelligence regarding an imminent CCP invasion, Lai is trading the peace, stability and happy lives the public have for his own political benefit, or he is secretly working as an arms dealer for the US, Wu said.

KMT spokeswoman Chiang Yi-chen (江怡臻) said that 40 percent of the national budget being spent on national defense is something seen only in wartime economies.

The special budget’s eight-year timeframe overshoots 2027 by a long way, Chiang said, adding that development of the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤), has missed delivery schedules, despite the government’s spending NT$50 billion on the project.

KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) said that if the 2027 prediction is real, the government should not instigate division within the country.

As the US owes Taiwan NT$660 billion in military assets that have not been delivered, is an eight-year plan that extends beyond 2027 necessary? she asked.


title: Experts clarify the significance of 2027 for China

people: 賴清德 習近平

content_text:
By Fang Wei-li and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The year 2027 is regarded as the year China would likely gain the capability to invade Taiwan, not the year it would launch an invasion, Taiwanese defense experts said yesterday.

The experts made the remarks after President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference on Wednesday that his administration would introduce a NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.8 billion) special defense budget bill to boost Taiwan’s overall defense posture over the next eight years.

Lai said that Beijing aims for military unification of Taiwan by 2027. The Presidential Office later clarified that what Lai meant was that China’s goal is to “prepare for military unification of Taiwan by 2027.”

Su Tzu-yun, director of the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s Division of Defense Strategy and Resources, is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo: Taipei Times

Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), director of the Division of Defense Strategy and Resources at the military-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, on Thursday said that former top US Indo-Pacific commander Philip Davidson in 2021 predicted that China would attain the military capability to mount an invasion by 2027.

Although the timeframe — later coined the Davidson window — is frequently discussed in the context of Chinese military development, it does not mean that experts believe Beijing would launch an invasion that year, or that it would win if such an attack were attempted, Su said.

For China, obtaining the military capabilities to invade Taiwan enables the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to try waging war, but does not guarantee victory, he said.

Davidson’s discussions of the timeframe are speculations based on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) publicly stated force modernization goals revolving around scheduled milestone events on the Chinese administrative-political calendar, Su said.

The years 2027, 2035 and 2049 are the years that Xi is anticipated to seek a fourth term as China’s supreme leader, the centennial benchmark of the PLA’s force modernization plan and the People’s Republic of China’s 100th founding anniversary respectively, Su said.

For that reason, Beijing is expected to set 2027 as the year the PLA must acquire the capabilities to conduct an offensive campaign against Taiwan, he said.

Taiwan’s regular military spending accounts for 3.23 percent of GDP, which is low, he said.

Lai’s pledge on Wednesday to invest in national defense is a remedial measure aimed at addressing urgent needs, not a permanent answer to the underlying problem, he said.

While the president’s defense pledge could potentially boost total military spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2030, the appropriate solution should be to achieve the expenditure via the regular defense budget, Su said.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, US-China trade disputes, China’s economic decline and Xi’s military purge have introduced uncertainties about Beijing’s ability to meet the PLA’s force modernization timetable, said Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), another researcher at the institute.

It is unknown whether Xi would remain in power past 2027 and the likelihood of the Chinese leader resorting to invading Taiwan for internal political ends has significantly declined, Shen said.

Additionally, Xi’s repeated public calls on the PLA to be prepared to invade Taiwan suggest that the Chinese military has not achieved its modernization goals, he said.

The Davidson window remains prominent in expert discourse because the concrete dates it furnishes are useful for informing strategic planning, including Taiwan’s timetable for acquiring F-16 jets and M1 tanks, he said.

The public should refrain from incorrectly interpreting Lai’s comments surrounding his pledge to boost defense spending as a prediction that China would attack in 2027, Shen said.

The strategic environment, China’s internal political struggles leading up to the 21st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and the PLA’s level of preparedness would likely play major roles in determining whether China would invade, he said.

However, Taiwan’s military capabilities and preparedness — which dictate its deterrence capabilities — remain the most important factors, Shen said.

As there is no possible method to accurately predict if and when war would break out, the best and only measure for the nation is to be prepared to repel a Chinese invasion in 2027, he said.


content_text:
Taiwan’s envoy thanks Japan for recognizing Taiwan-China differences

Representative to Japan Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) yesterday thanked the Japanese public for "understanding the differences between Taiwanese and Chinese people" following official comments rejecting the term "Taiwan Province."

Lee, posting via the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan’s X account, cited recent survey data showing 74.5 percent of Japanese respondents feel an affinity toward Taiwan, while a 2024 poll found 89 percent hold negative views of China.

"We sincerely appreciate that Japanese people do not conflate Taiwan with China," he wrote.

Representative to Japan Lee Yi-yang is pictured at an event in Ibaraki, Japan, on June 20. Photo: CNA

His remarks followed a Wednesday post by the office stating, "Taiwan is Taiwan, not Taiwan Province."

As of last night, that post attracted 2.9 million views, about 91,000 likes, and nearly 1,000 comments, with many Japanese users expressing support.

The message was seen as a response to a post on X by Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao (吳江浩) on Tuesday, which stated that "people from all sectors in Taiwan Province are demanding that Sanae Takaichi apologize for her erroneous remarks," while sharing a news clip by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV carrying the same headline.

The "erroneous remarks" referred to Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi’s Nov. 7 statement in parliament that a Chinese naval blockade of Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to the Asahi Shimbun.

"If warships are used and armed actions are involved, I think it may count," she was quoted as saying, adding the government would judge such situations case by case.

Under Japan’s security laws, such a scenario enables the use of "collective self-defense" if an attack on the United States or another closely related country is deemed to threaten Japan’s survival, even without a direct attack on Japan.


title: Groups to form ‘Taiwan dome’ defense alliance

content_text:
A "Taiwan dome alliance" would be set up to help implement a civilian defense system, civil groups including the Taiwan Society North told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.

Taiwan Society North president Lo Chun-hsuan (羅浚晅) said that more than 50 pro-Taiwan organizations would form the alliance and give full backing to a government plan to invest more in defense-related industries.

President William Lai (賴清德) outlined the proposed defense spending bill on Wednesday.

Taiwan Society North president Lo Chun-hsuan, center, speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times

Lai previously announced plans for a “Taiwan dome” missile defense system. The plan is for a multi-layered defense system with high-level detection and effective interception to protect the nation from potential attack.

Beijing has instigated an onslaught of propaganda to turn democratic Taiwan into “China’s Taiwan,” while some people in Taiwan are promoting Beijing’s agenda, touting the “one country, two systems” and “peaceful unification” models, Lo said.

“It is not mere political rhetoric, but would destroy Taiwan’s democracy from within,” he said. “We must deal with such comments in accordance with the law, punishing those who collude with foreign forces to dismantle our country.”

The nation needs the Taiwan dome, and Taiwanese must learn about history and be discerning of media, Union of Taiwanese Teachers vice president Pan Wei-you (潘威佑) said.

“It is vital that young people understand that it was not easy for Taiwan to gain its freedom and democracy,” Pan said.

National security expert Chen Wen-chia (陳文甲) said Lai’s plan to defend democracy would turn a strategic concept into action items, eliminating the “passive defense” mode.

Lai’s proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.8 billion) special defense budget bill to develop Taiwan’s capabilities in asymmetrical warfare and artificial intelligence-enhanced defense systems symbolizes the start of a new era of “defense of democracy combined with applied high-technology to safeguard Taiwan,” Chen said.

After the news conference, Lo led a march to the Mainland Affairs Council to demand punitive action against Chien Li (錢麗), a Chinese living in Taiwan who has publicly urged Beijing to forcefully unify with Taiwan.

“We must not have people colluding with the enemy state and calling for the destruction of Taiwan,” Lo said.

“The government must apply national security laws governing residency requirements for Chinese and not allow them to stay if they create societal strife,” he said.


content_text:
Taiwan’s ambassador to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has congratulated the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) for winning the election in the Caribbean country, a formal diplomatic ally of Taiwan.

The NDP has previously proposed severing relations with Taiwan, which Saint Vincent has held since 1981, in favor of greater proximity with China.

However, its election manifesto made no mention of ending ties with Taipei.

Taiwanese and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines flags fly in Taipei on Aug. 8, 2022. Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters

Only 12 countries have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, four of which are in the Caribbean.

Outgoing Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and his Unity Labour Party have long opposed ending relations with Taiwan.

In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that Ambassador to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Fiona Fan (范惠君) had “at the first moment” expressed Taiwan’s congratulations to Godwin, who is to become prime minister, and his party.

“Taiwan and Saint Vincent share universal values such as democracy, freedom and human rights,” the ministry said.

Over the past 44 years of diplomatic relations, cooperation has yielded “remarkable” results across agriculture, food security, infrastructure, healthcare and other areas, earning widespread recognition from all sectors in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, it said.

Elections in diplomatic allies are often nervous moments for Taiwan given the chance a new government could switch allegiances to China.

In 2023, a year after taking office, Honduran President Xiomara Castro severed relations with Taiwan in favor of China.

The most recent country to shift from Taiwan to China was the Pacific islands nation of Nauru last year, shortly after President William Lai’s (賴清德) win at the polls.

title: Taiwanese envoy congratulates St Vincent winner


content_text:
China’s campaign to deprive Taiwan of diplomatic recognition might have a rare reversal this month when voters in Honduras choose their next president.

The two front-runners in tomorrow’s election both pledge to sever ties with Beijing and re-establish them with Taipei.

The candidates, former Honduran vice president Salvador Nasralla and former Tegucigalpa mayor Nasry Asfura, also want to forge a closer relationship with the US, the nation’s top trading partner and main destination for migrants.

A combination photograph shows presidential candidates in Honduras’ election tomorrow. From left, Nasry Asfura of the National Party of Honduras attends a rally in Tegucigalpa on Nov. 8; Rixi Moncada of the Liberty and Refoundation Party attends a rally in Tegucigalpa on Oct. 31; and Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party attends a meeting in Tegucigalpa on Oct. 30. Photo: Reuters

Nasralla led a poll last month with Asfura in second ahead of tomorrow’s single-round vote.

US President Donald Trump called on Hondurans to back Asfura, saying in a post on social media that he was the only one of the trio with whom he could work.

Honduran President Xiomara Castro established diplomatic relations with Beijing in 2023, ending ties with Taiwan, saying that the change would bring trade and financing opportunities to the Central American nation of 11 million people.

Castro is not eligible for re-election, but her ally, ruling party candidate Rixi Moncada, would continue to recognize Beijing. She placed third in the poll.

The vote is the latest test of whether the region is aligning itself with Trump as he pressures trade partners to distance themselves from Beijing. On Sunday, Chileans sent conservative Jose Antonio Kast to a presidential runoff while, last month, pro-business senator Rodrigo Paz won Bolivia’s presidential runoff. Both candidates pledged to seek better relations with Washington.

Nasralla and Asfura blamed Castro’s decision for a decline in some exports. Taiwan used to be the biggest market for Honduran shrimp, but imports have slumped since diplomatic ties were cut.

They also say that Castro’s promises of Chinese investment boosting development failed to materialize.

The government in Beijing uses offers of loans, infrastructure investments and aid to induce the few remaining governments that still recognize Taipei to switch, while Taiwan uses similar methods to persuade them to stay. Over the past decade, Panama, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador have all recognized Beijing, but it is unusual for countries to switch allegiance in the opposite direction.

“Economically, the relationship with China has been a bad deal for Honduras despite the expectations, so it’s a pocket-book issue, but it’s also about signaling that we want to align ourselves with the West and the United States,” said Evan Ellis, a professor at the Pennsylvania-based Army War College specializing in Latin America. “If there’s one way to get on President Trump’s radar screen, and [US] Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio’s, in a very positive way, I think it’s that flip.”

The US remains by far the largest buyer of Honduran goods, while exports to China account for less than 1 percent of the total.

After a visit to Beijing in 2023, Castro said that China would finance infrastructure such as a hydroelectric dam and that both nations would sign a free-trade agreement.

However, the deals stalled.

“The decision to cut ties with Taiwan and establish them with China has not resulted in the flows of capital the government may have anticipated,” said Margaret Myers, director of the Asia and Latin America program at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue. “Projects have not come to pass.”

Nasralla and Asfura have also promised to cut ties with Venezuela if elected, saying they do not recognize Nicolas Maduro as president. Castro’s government has backed Maduro and criticized the US military buildup in the Caribbean.

The lead-up to tomorrow’s vote has been tense, which both sides accusing the other of planning fraud.

The ruling party accused the opposition of seeking to steal the election and has taken aim at electoral judges. They also installed a temporary congress of loyalists, while opposition lawmakers formed a separate legislative body.

The US and the Organization of American States expressed concern about the electoral process.

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said on X that the US would “respond swiftly and decisively to anyone who undermines the integrity of the democratic process in Honduras.”

Voting centers are scheduled to open at 7am and close at 5pm, with initial results expected after 8pm, the Honduran National Board of Elections said.

title: Taiwan eyes win over Beijing in Honduras


content_text: People hold flags at Kaohsiung Port as they watch Taiwan’s first indigenously developed submarine, the “Hai Kun,” or “Narwhal,” sail yesterday for its fifth sea acceptance test.

title: Sub watch


content_text: Pingtung County Commissioner Chou Chun-mi, front row, sixth left, poses with event guests after lighting the main feature of the Pingtung Christmas Festival last night at Jhongshan Park in Pingtung City.

title: Season’s spirit


content_text: Colorful parasols are pictured in front of blooming chrysanthemums at the Chiang Kai-shek Shilin Residence yesterday. The Shilin Residence Chrysanthemum Festival began yesterday and runs until Dec. 14, featuring 150 varieties of the flower and a special exhibition organized in partnership with Kasama, Japan.

title: Floral showcase


content_text:
RAPID GROWTH: Analysts said that the firm’s sales of tensor processing units used for AI functions would increase to US$4 billion from an earlier US$1.8 billion estimate

MediaTek Inc (聯發科) shares posted their best week since 2002, as artificial intelligence (AI) advances at its client Google help reshape the growth outlook for the Taiwanese chip designer.

The stock yesterday rose for a fifth-straight day in Taipei, taking its weekly gain to 22 percent, on investor enthusiasm over Google’s latest Gemini model and AI chip deals.

MediaTek has reportedly partnered with the Alphabet Inc unit on design of tensor processing units (TPUs), seen as a potential rival to Nvidia Corp chips in AI applications.

MediaTek Inc president Joe Chen speaks at a Semicon Taiwan forum in Taipei on Sept. 9. Photo: CNA

The stock price of MediaTek rallied 4.1 percent to NT$1,395 yesterday, ending the week 21.3 percent higher.

Known for its smartphone chips, MediaTek has suffered from a cloudy outlook for end-product demand, as well as margin pressure due to competition and high development costs.

The AI news has brought relief for the shares, which are still down about 2 percent on the year.

China business remains tough into next year, but “Google TPU upside should offset the smartphone headwind in the longer term,” Morgan Stanley analysts Charlie Chan (詹家鴻) and Daniel Yen (顏志天) said.

They upgraded the stock to overweight from equal-weight on Thursday.

The early days of AI centered on the training of large language models (LLM), which requires the massive computing power provided by graphic processing units such as those from Nvidia.

The shift in focus to inference — or how LLMs respond to user queries — is putting a spotlight on application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), such as TPUs.

UBS Group AG analysts led by Sunny Lin (林莉鈞) raised their estimate for MediaTek’s sales contribution from TPUs in 2027 to US$4 billion from US$1.8 billion.

The analysts see the chips accounting for 20 percent of the company’s operating profit by 2028, “depending on execution by MediaTek and Google,” they wrote in a note on Thursday.

Part of this week’s excitement was due to news that Meta Platforms Inc is in discussions to use Google TPUs in data centers in 2027.

UBS sees further potential upside for MediaTek from additional ASIC projects with Meta.

The sell-side overall is bullish on MediaTek, with 23 buy recommendations, 10 holds and no sells. The consensus price target projects a further 9 percent rise in the stock over the next year.

In terms of future AI stock investing, Macquarie Group Ltd analysts including Arthur Lai said they “lean more” toward MediaTek and other Google partners over the Nvidia supply chain.

“We view the current AI surge as less a speculative bubble, but rather a necessary, capital-intensive build-out of a new, foundational technology layer,” they wrote in a report this week.

title: MediaTek posts best week since 2002


title: Nvidia in a ‘unique’ market position: CEO Huang

people: 張忠謀 黃仁

companies: Google 台積電

content_text:
INTERGRATION: Jensen Huang said that every Nvidia department and function of the company should be using AI, after reportedly saying staff were ‘insane’ not to

Nvidia Corp is in a “unique” position in the market, despite facing intensifying competition, chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said during a brief visit to Taiwan yesterday amid a potentially growing challenge from Google for the artificial intelligence (AI) chip market.

Huang told reporters that the AI market is “extremely large” and that while there is a lot of competition, Nvidia’s “condition is very strong and our position is very unique.”

Huang, who arrived in Taipei on Thursday, was responding to questions about the possible threat posed by Google.

Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang, left, speaks to reporters after leaving Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) on Nov. 7. Photo: CNA

According to a report in The Information on Tuesday, Meta has been in talks to spend billions of US dollars to buy tensor processing units (TPUs) from Google, which would turn the search engine into a rival of Nvidia, currently the dominant global player in AI chips.

That report sent Nvidia shares plunging the same day, although they have since recovered.

TPUs, which are tailored chips, are highly efficient in AI applications and could give Google an edge over competitors such as Nvidia, as TPUs are cheaper than Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs), the report said.

“We just have to keep running very fast” to maintain Nvidia’s lead in the market in response to the competition, Huang said.

Huang also addressed a report in Business Insider on a meeting at Nvidia on Tuesday in which the CEO blasted some managers for telling their subordinates to use less AI.

The publication quoted Huang as asking them: “Are you insane?”

Huang yesterday said that every Nvidia engineer was using AI, and he reminded them that every department and function of the company should use AI.

No specific reason was given by the company for Huang’s stay in Taiwan, but Huang told reporters he visited Morris Chang (張忠謀), founder of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), on Thursday and said the 94-year-old Chang was in “terrific” shape.

Huang said he would leave Taipei for the US later yesterday and had no plans to meet with Taiwanese suppliers during the trip.

The latest visit marked Huang’s second trip to Taiwan this month.

On Nov. 7, he went to TSMC’s fab in the Southern Taiwan Science Park to survey the chipmaker’s 3-nanometer process production lines.


content_text:
Taiwan’s life insurers are issuing US dollar bonds at a record pace to build capital buffers and help them avoid adding to currency mismatch risks that have triggered billions in losses.

Taiwanese insurance companies have sold more than US$1.8 billion of subordinated debt in Taiwan and Singapore so far this year, closing in on last year’s record, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.

Despite it being costlier to raise funds in the greenback, the insurers are likely to step up the pace next year to comply with higher capital requirements, and better match duration and currency imbalances of assets and liabilities.

People walk past a sign displaying the logo of E.Sun Financial Holding Co outside the company’s headquarters in Taipei’s Songshan District on March 19. Photo: CNA

“There could be an increase in issuance next year compared to this year, as there may be some new names coming to the market,” said Nicholas Yap, head of Asia credit desk analysts at Nomura Holdings Inc in Singapore.

The dramatic spike of the New Taiwan dollar in May has drawn heightened scrutiny on insurers, who hold US$700 billion in foreign assets, as exchange rate volatility and rising hedging costs weigh on profitability, and raise concerns about their financial health.

This month, Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) approved up to US$1 billion in new debt to be issued in Singapore within a year. Taiwan Life Insurance Co (台灣人壽) completed setting up its offshore borrowing unit, while E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) said the insurer it is acquiring plans to issue at least US$100 million of dollar bonds next year.

Taiwan’s US$1 trillion insurance industry needs to build up assets ahead of a sectorwide shift to an accounting regime with stricter financial standards. The new rules are set to take effect in January.

“Beyond the major players, mid-sized insurers with stable earnings should also retain flexibility to raise funds via US dollar-denominated subordinated debt over the coming years,” said Terrence Wong (王長泰), a senior director covering Asia Pacific insurance ratings at Fitch Ratings in Hong Kong.

Taiwan’s regulator only opened the overseas fundraising channel for the insurers in March last year, and companies have since been working to establish the necessary processes to issue bonds abroad.

The vast majority of the insurers’ US dollar notes have been sold in Singapore to foreign buyers — including asset managers, pensions and retirement funds — through special-purpose vehicles.

“The bonds have attracted foreign investors with their reasonably attractive yields,” said Serene Hsieh (謝雅瑛), a credit analyst at Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評). “These are also relatively new names in the global bond market, offering additional diversification for investors.”

The US dollar bonds could in turn help Taiwan’s insurers broaden their investor mix — although at a cost. Since 2023, the benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield has consistently stood at least 2 percentage points above the comparable Taiwanese counterpart. In other words, borrowing in NT dollars is much cheaper.

Currency headwinds have also weighed on some of Taiwanese insurers’ US dollar bonds, particularly those issued by smaller and weaker firms, which are trading at relatively wider spreads, Yap said.

“In an environment where Asia credit spreads are trading quite tight, this stands out,” he said.

title: Insurers issue record US dollar bonds to curb risk


title: Castles targeting double-digit growth

content_text:
Electronic payment terminal maker Castles Technology Co (虹堡科技) yesterday said that it is targeting a double-digit percentage revenue growth next year, supported by new large-scale replacement demand for its mobile point-of-sale (POS) devices following a system renewal trend.

Revenue growth is expected to be driven by a shift from Linux, which has long dominated POS operating systems, to the more flexible Android platform, Castles Technology Co chairman Kevin Hsin (辛華熙) told an earnings conference.

The transition is expected to give a further boost to the company’s sales of Android-based payment terminals, integrated POS (iPOS) platforms and large-format all-in-one devices, which target applications in retail, catering and integrated counter-service settings, Hsin said.

Castles Technology Co chairman Kevin Hsin, front, and president Eddie Lin attend the company’s investor conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Meryl Kao, Taipei Times

Products equipped with Android systems now account for more than 80 percent of its total sales, while those with Linux represent about 20 percent, he said.

As the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council pushes a shift from the PCI 5.0 standard to versions 6.0 and 7.0, the company plans to roll out PCI 6.0 and 7.0-compliant Android terminals across its product lines to meet market demand, he added.

Next year’s performance would also be supported by major financial-sector clients, whose front-loaded orders for next year would be higher than this year, Hsin said.

Several bids are entering the final decision stage, including tenders from a major French bank and a major US financial institution, with Castles and one other competitor shortlisted for both, he said.

If the company wins the contracts, mass shipments could begin as early as the third quarter next year and provide a stable long-term revenue contribution, he added.

Overall, the US and European markets are likely to outperform other regions next year with better revenue growth, as the company has secured orders from major financial and channel clients in France, the UK, and northern and southern Europe.

Castles’ revenue in the first three quarters dropped 2 percent annually to NT$5.55 billion (US$176.7 million) as sales in the Asia-Pacific market declined, but was partly offset by high-margin products shipped to the US and European clients, the company said.

By region, Europe accounted for 52 percent of its total revenue during the nine-month period, followed by the US at 31 percent and the Asia-Pacific region at 17 percent, it said.

Demand in the Asian market has been weaker than expected this year, as shipments of some products have been postponed to the first quarter next year from this quarter, due to delays in government bidding, Hsin said.

Castles’ net profit fell 62.74 percent to NT$193.46 million in the first three quarters, from NT$519.2 million a year earlier. Earnings per share plummeted to NT$1.56 from NT$4.59.

Gross margin rose to 34.77 percent in the first three quarters, from 32.86 percent in the same period last year.


content_text:
Japan is set to spend roughly ￥252.5 billion (US$1.6 billion) in an extra budget to further support developments of artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors.

The sum is much smaller than the about ￥1.5 trillion allocation in last year’s supplementary budget, as the government is expected to start securing most of the additional funding for those sectors in regular budgets going forward, a ruling party lawmaker and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said.

That is expected to provide more stable funding to the sectors.

Rapidus Corp chairman Tetsuro Higashi poses for a photograph at the company’s headquarters in Tokyo on May 16 last year. Photo: AFP

After Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet signed off on it yesterday, the extra budget now needs approval in parliament. That passage is expected to go more smoothly, as Takaichi’s ruling coalition is reportedly set to secure a majority in the powerful lower house due to the addition of a small caucus.

So far, Japan has set aside about ￥5.7 trillion since it came up with a new strategy in 2021 to revive the nation’s semiconductor industry. The government has been allocating sums to specific projects such as Rapidus Corp, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) Kumamoto foundries and Micron Technology Inc’s Hiroshima factory.

In the extra budget, the METI has also requested ￥100 billion to invest in Nippon Export and Investment Insurance to strengthen the government-backed trade insurer’s financial foundation. The insurer is set to play a key role in implementing a US$550 billion investment program as part of the US-Japan trade deal.

The ministry also aims to secure ￥93.7 billion in the supplementary budget to help private companies secure rare earths and strengthen national stockpiles of the critical minerals. Japan has tried to reduce its reliance on China for rare earths for economic security reasons.

title: Japan to spend US$1.6bn on AI, semiconductors


content_text: A visitor looks at giant panda stuffed toys on sale at Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo yesterday. Japan could be left without any giant pandas for the first time in decades after the upcoming return to China of its last two specimens, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, amid bilateral tensions. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent comments about Taiwan cast doubt on the future of Beijing’s so-called “panda diplomacy” with its neighbor, which has built a lucrative business around these popular animals.

title: Panda pandemonium


content_text:
The Cabinet on Nov. 6 approved a NT$10 billion (US$318.4 million) four-year plan to build tourism infrastructure in mountainous areas and the south.

Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Tuesday announced that the Ministry of Transportation and Communications would offer weekday accommodation discounts, birthday specials and other domestic travel incentives beginning next March, aiming to encourage more travel outside the usual weekend and holiday peaks.

The government is right to focus on domestic tourism. Although the data appear encouraging on the surface — as total domestic trips are up compared with their pre-COVID-19 pandemic numbers — a closer look tells a different story.

Domestic tourism spending last year fell 6.2 percent from a year earlier. Overseas travel, on the other hand, is booming. Taiwanese spent roughly NT$1.019 trillion abroad last year, up 42 percent from 2023 — money that might have otherwise supported local economies.

It is clear that many see far more value in traveling to nearby countries than exploring Taiwan, and the government has started to take notice.

The high cost of domestic travel is a major factor behind Taiwan’s tourism deficit. Last year, the average hotel stay cost about NT$2,960 per night — higher than many budget accommodations in popular destinations such as Japan, China, South Korea and Vietnam.

Prices spike on weekends and holidays, the most popular times for overnight trips, creating bottlenecks that deter many potential travelers.

The government’s weekday accommodation program would offer vouchers of up to NT$2,000 per person for stays from Sunday to Thursday, which tend to be less expensive. It would also randomly select 1,000 people each month to receive NT$1,200 for travel on their birthday.

Unfortunately, these incentives fail to account for the basic realities that keep most people from traveling during the week. Domestic tourism is naturally concentrated on weekends and holidays because weekday trips require taking time off from work.

While the ministry encouraged employees to use paid leave for such trips, Taiwan’s mandatory paid leave is limited compared with many other developed countries.

Taking a weekday vacation would mean using one of the few leave days that could otherwise be reserved for rest, longer holidays or personal needs. Students and families with children need to work around school schedules or risk falling behind.

A NT$2,000 travel voucher would not even cover the average cost of a one-night hotel stay, let alone transportation, food and other costs that come with tourism. The proposed birthday specials are similarly limited.

Several attractions across Taiwan announced their own promotions to lure tourists, but isolated initiatives such as raffles or free museum entry, while helpful, are unlikely to draw travelers from across the country.

The government should consider broader, region-focused strategies. Subsidies and attraction-specific incentives could be combined with seasonal events that highlight the unique culture, cuisine, natural beauty and specialties of each area.

Kaohsiung is a strong example — its efforts to draw on its strengths and build an identity as a concert hub are paying off. Concerts by the K-pop group Twice generated more than NT$500 million in revenue last weekend, and the Kaohsiung National Stadium is already fully booked for next year.

The goal of domestic tourism plans should be long-term, sustainable growth — not a cycle of short-term subsidies when demand dips. To shrink the tourism deficit, travelers need to feel that the combined experience, cost and convenience of traveling within the country rivals what they could get from a trip overseas.

Achieving this means building destinations that can stand on their own, through coordinated efforts to create experiences compelling enough that travelers return because they want to — not because they received a voucher.

title: EDITORIAL: Fixing Taiwan’s tourism troubles


title: Tibet can only accept independence

content_text:
For more than seven decades, the Chinese Communist Party has claimed to govern Tibet with benevolence and progress. I have seen the truth behind the slogans. I have listened to the silences of monks forbidden to speak of the Dalai Lama, watched the erosion of our language in classrooms, and felt the quiet grief of a people whose prayers are monitored and whose culture is treated as a threat. That is why I will only accept complete independence for Tibet.

The so-called “autonomous region” is autonomous in name only. Decisions about religion, education and cultural preservation are made in Beijing, not Lhasa. Surveillance is omnipresent. Monasteries are forced to submit to party oversight. Children are taught to revere Mao Zedong (毛澤東) before they understand the teachings of the Buddha.

Some point to infrastructure and economic development as signs of progress, but what good is a highway if it leads to the erasure of your identity? Development without dignity is a hollow promise. Tibetans want the freedom to speak our language, to practice our faith and to honor our history without fear.

The yearning for freedom is not confined to exile. It lives in the hearts of Tibetans inside Tibet, who risk imprisonment to preserve our traditions. It lives in the quiet defiance of those who walk clockwise around sacred sites, who whisper prayers for the Dalai Lama, and who name their children after exiled leaders.

I once supported the Middle Way Approach, believing that genuine autonomy within China might offer a path forward. However, Beijing has responded to moderation with repression. The people of Tibet have waited long enough. They yearn for liberation, not compromise.

Independence is the only path that honors our history, protects our future and restores the dignity that Chinese rule has tried to extinguish. Tibet belongs to Tibetans — not as a province, not as a project, but as a nation.

We will not be silenced. We will not be assimilated. We will not surrender our birthright. The people of Tibet yearn for freedom, and I will stand with them until that freedom is won.

Khedroob Thondup is a former member of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile.


people: 蔡英文 賴清德

title: Unite to reject China’s distortion

content_text:
I recently watched a panel discussion on Taiwan Talks in which the host rightly asked a critical question: Why is the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) spearheading a robust global movement to reject China’s ongoing distortion of UN Resolution 2758?

While the discussion offered some context, a more penetrating analysis and urgent development was missed. The IPAC action is not merely a political gesture; it is an essential legal and diplomatic countermeasure to China’s escalating and fundamentally baseless campaign to manufacture a claim over Taiwan through the deliberate misinterpretation of a 1971 UN resolution.

Since the inauguration of Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as president in 2016, Taiwan has intensified its efforts for meaningful inclusion in global governance. The last time Taiwan attended the World Health Assembly (WHA) was in 2016 — an invitation narrowly secured just before Tsai took office on May 20 that year.

Since 2017, the strategic focus has been on participation in non-political, needs-based forums where “Taiwan can help”: primarily the WHO, but also the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for air safety and Interpol for transnational crime.

Democratic nations and Taiwan’s diplomatic allies have offered staunch, unified support, recognizing Taiwan’s crucial democratic experience and contributions. This advocacy has often been spearheaded by national parliamentarians, whose work — driven by the tireless diplomacy of Taiwan’s government and the global diaspora — has effectively compelled their respective executives to press for Taiwan’s inclusion within these international bodies.

However, because the WHO is a UN specialized agency, Taiwan’s attempts to regain observer status are consistently met with institutional obstruction. UN administrative units, acting on Beijing’s direction, routinely invoke UN Resolution 2758. This obstruction is comprehensive, even extending to barring journalists holding Taiwanese passports from entering the UN headquarters.

Every year, key democracies and diplomatic allies champion Taiwan at the May WHA and the September UN General Assembly, arguing that no population — especially one with Taiwan’s experience combating infectious diseases like SARS and COVID-19 — should be excluded. While full inclusion remains elusive, the international momentum for support continues to build inexorably.

The urgency driving the IPAC response stems directly from three highly consequential and recent actions where China has explicitly conflated the “one China” principle with UN Resolution 2758 to directly erode Taiwan’s international standing.

First, expulsion from the Central American Parliament: On Aug. 21, 2023, Beijing orchestrated Nicaragua’s successful proposal to expel Taiwan (which had been a permanent observer since 1999) from the parliament and replace it with China. For the first time since 1971, this regional body explicitly cited UN Resolution 2758 and the “one China” principle to justify the expulsion — a calculated, dangerous precedent.

Second, Nauru’s diplomatic switch: Following the election of President William Lai (賴清德), China immediately poached Nauru on Jan. 15 last year. Crucially, the communique announcing the switch was the first of its kind to specifically cite UN Resolution 2758 alongside the “one China” principle.

Third, the downgrade of the office in South Africa: In March, the South African government unilaterally sought to downgrade Taiwan’s representation by changing the name of the Taipei Liaison Office to the Taipei Commercial Office and reclassifying it as an “international organization stationed in South Africa,” rather than as a separate entity. This action was accompanied by renewed demands that Taiwan vacate the administrative capital, Pretoria, citing UN Resolution 2758 and the “one China” principle.

These events confirm that Beijing is aggressively attempting to manufacture a false legal equivalence between the “one China” principle and UN Resolution 2758. This conflation is utterly without merit: UN Resolution 2758 solely addressed the question of Chinese representation in the UN; it is silent on Taiwan’s sovereignty and provides no endorsement of the “one China” principle.

IPAC’s initiative constitutes the most strategically important counterdevelopment in this context. On July 30 last year, the IPAC Annual Meeting in Taipei passed a resolution rejecting China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758. This document is now the global legislative template.

Legislatures and inter-parliamentary bodies in the US, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Belgium, the UK, Australia, the EU, Canada and Sweden have subsequently passed resolutions aligning with the IPAC template, collectively refusing to accept Beijing’s manipulative interpretation.

However, a striking anomaly exists: While nine legislatures around the world have passed resolutions aligned with IPAC, the Legislative Yuan has yet to do so — an initial attempt by Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers in September last year was stalled due to the failure of the opposition to engage constructively. This urgency to address a global challenge that Taiwan’s own parliament has not yet fully embraced is precisely why I felt compelled to write.

The core issue is a focused defense of the international legal order. The most urgent priority is clear: Taiwan’s opposition majority bloc must end its obstruction and pass the IPAC-aligned resolution immediately. Globally, every democracy must join this legislative template to definitively reject China’s egregious distortion of UN Resolution 2758. The 1971 vote was unequivocally neither a vote for the “one China” principle, nor a mandate to determine Taiwan’s future. This distinction is fundamentally and strategically imperative.

Tseng Yueh-ying manages the Facebook page Translation Matters, which serves as a forum for discussions on language and Taiwanese politics.


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A tragic fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon at the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po District, a northern suburb near the border with the Chinese mainland.

Several of the buildings, which are more than 40 years old, were undergoing major exterior repairs, and the structures were wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and protective netting.

According to reports, the waterproof tarps and plastic sheeting reacted violently when exposed to flames, allowing the fire to break through the buildings’ fire protection zones and resulting in severe casualties. As of yesterday, at least 128 people had been confirmed dead and others were missing.

The primary task in the investigation into how the fire spread so rapidly should be a comprehensive review of the regulatory mechanism for construction and maintenance materials. Construction safety standards largely focus on preventing falls or ensuring structural integrity, while neglecting the fire resistance management of temporary coverings such as protective netting and tarps. Laws and regulations should be amended to mandate that the bamboo scaffolding, netting and dust-proof cloth used for exterior repairs on high-rise buildings must meet internationally certified flame-retardant standards.

Regulatory authorities should implement source control, requiring construction materials to be accompanied by third-party laboratory combustion test reports prior to entering a site and random inspections should be conducted throughout each phase of construction.

Given the cost-driven logic of most businesses, relying solely on contractors’ discipline or written guarantees would make it difficult to prevent the use of cheap, flammable substitutes. To ensure the effective enforcement of construction safety regulations, appropriate criminal penalties should be imposed on contractors whose contraventions result in disasters.

Repair work on high-rise buildings must incorporate mandatory vertical fire compartmentation in their designs. As demonstrated in the Wang Fuk Court case, continuous exterior scaffolding creates a massive chimney effect in a fire, rendering a building’s internal fire doors and sprinkler systems ineffective.

Construction and maintenance regulations should require that when scaffolding is erected, firebreaks or water curtain systems be installed to block the upward spread of flames.

For projects that involve wrapping the entire building, evacuation routes must be properly planned and carefully evaluated before construction begins.

If residents are to continue to live in a building that is being worked on, it is absolutely essential to first ensure that — in the event of an external fire — they still have safe escape routes and ventilation openings to prevent construction netting from trapping them in dense smoke and heat.

The Wang Fuk Court tragedy should serve as a warning for Asia’s dense cities, particularly amid an era of large-scale urban renewal.

As buildings age, exterior renovations would become more commonplace. If construction safety standards fail to keep pace with maintenance needs, the risk of disaster would be ever-present.

Governments must establish stricter disaster prevention standards applicable to situations where occupied buildings undergo construction at the institutional level, covering everything from material certification, to fire-resistant designs and legal accountability. No aspect can be overlooked.

Roger Lo is a freelancer.

Translated by Kyra Gustavsen

title: Lessons from the Hong Kong fire tragedy


title: [ LETTER ]

content_text:
Coding in an AI world

I resonated strongly with the recent article “AI is more likely to cause a labor shortage,” (Nov. 27, page 7) especially the part expressing concern that students would miss out on basic skills while educators are still unsure of how to teach in a world dominated by artificial intelligence (AI).

As a student majoring in computer science, I see the erosion of fundamentals every day. Seeing astonishing cases of “vibe coding” makes me worry: If AI can code faster and better, what is the point of learning to code?

I do see educators trying to adapt. In my department, Python is now a required class. Some professors have begun allowing AI, but only if students can explain the problems they encounter and how AI helped address it. This shows that universities are still searching for a balance between foundational skills and AI-assisted learning.

My own experience illustrates why basics still matter. When I lazily threw the entirety of a complex project at an AI tool and asked it to debug everything, the results were unhelpful. Then I traced the code with AI’s assistance, understood the logic myself, identified the possible source of the issue and asked AI for help. The solution became clear immediately.

AI can only amplify my understanding, not replace it. This is why I believe education should neither ban AI nor condone it. Instead, schools should continue enhancing students’ fundamental skills while training us to use AI critically and wisely. Only with these essential abilities can we recognize the mistakes AI inevitably makes and ensure that we remain the ones in control of our own thinking.

Chen Yu-ching

Hsinchu City


content_text:
Ryan Hass On Taiwan: America’s debates on Taiwan are interesting, Trump’s views are determinative

There has been much catastrophizing in Taiwan recently about America becoming more unreliable as a bulwark against Chinese pressure. Some of this has been sparked by debates in Washington about whether the United States should defend Taiwan in event of conflict. There also were understandable anxieties about whether President Trump would sacrifice Taiwan’s interests for a trade deal when he sat down with President Xi (習近平) in late October. On top of that, Taiwan’s opposition political leaders have sought to score political points by attacking the Lai (賴清德) administration for mishandling relations with the United States.Part of this budding anxiety

Tokyo-Beijing relations have been rapidly deteriorating over the past two weeks as China tries to punish Japan over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks about Taiwan earlier this month, and the off-ramp to this conflict is yet to be seen.Takaichi saying that a “Taiwan contingency” could cause a “situation threatening Japan’s survival” — which would allow Japan to act in self-defense — has drawn Beijing’s ire and sparked retaliatory measures. Her remark did not gain public attention until Chinese Consul General in Osaka Xue Jian (薛劍) made an apparent threat to behead her. The two sides lodged protests against each

The diplomatic dispute between China and Japan over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments in the Japanese Diet continues to escalate.In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, China’s UN Ambassador Fu Cong (傅聰) wrote that, “if Japan dares to attempt an armed intervention in the cross-Strait situation, it would be an act of aggression.” There was no indication that Fu was aware of the irony implicit in the complaint. Until this point, Beijing had limited its remonstrations to diplomatic summonses and weaponization of economic levers, such as banning Japanese seafood imports, discouraging Chinese from traveling to Japan or issuing

people: 習近平 賴清德

title: EDITORIAL CARTOON