title: 【循序漸進、厚積薄發、脫穎而出】張愷倢榮獲本屆國民中學英語文競賽「單字王」

taiwan-subdivisions: 左營 高雄 高雄市

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【記者 周志杰/高雄報導】

群英薈萃，一字一詞累積雙語實力

配合國家「2030 雙語政策」推動，高雄市政府教育局持續以制度化競賽檢視教學成效。114學年度第 8 屆「國民中學英語文競賽—英文單字競賽」12 月 10 日於樹德家商舉行決賽，自全市 71 校、約 400 名參賽學生中，歷經初賽與決賽層層選拔，最終產生前八名優勝學生。競賽不僅呈現學生英語基礎實力，也反映高雄長期推動英語教育向下扎根的累積成果。

《實至名歸》決賽鏖戰，一字不苟見真章

本屆競賽每校推派 4 名學生參與 12 月 9 日初賽，經四梯次電腦化測驗，取前 120 名晉級翌日決賽。決賽測驗時間逾 1 小時，題目範圍涵蓋全民英檢初級單字及大考中心英文參考詞彙第 3 至第 4 級，題型包含「看中拼英」、「文意字彙」及「看中選英」等，全面檢核學生字彙辨識、理解與應用能力。

經激烈競逐，最終由義大國際中小學國中部二年級學生張愷倢脫穎而出，榮獲本屆「單字王」；第 2 至第 8 名依序為高師大附中陳昱瑍、復華中學國中部佘亮萱、右昌國中郭嘉綸、左營國中黃嵩維、英明國中陳柏希、高師大附中洪啟睿、道明中學國中部朱宥愷。前八名學生在準確度與穩定度上表現亮眼，充分展現長期紮實累積的學習成果。

奪冠的張愷倢分享，自己從小對英文抱持高度興趣，透過閱讀英文文學作品與主動查詢單字用法，逐步擴充字彙量，也讓學習不再停留於考試，而成為日常習慣。

《制度扎根，跨校協力》形塑英語學習生態系

高雄市教育局指出，英文單字是英語聽、說、讀、寫的基礎，本項競賽即是以「穩扎穩打」為核心設計理念，藉由公開競賽激發學生學習動機。教育局長吳立森表示，每年穩定增加的參賽人數，顯示各校推動英語教育已見成效，透過比賽不僅能擴充學生字彙量，也有助營造高雄邁向雙語城市的校園環境。

承辦單位樹德家商多年來持續協助市級語文賽事，校長陳清美指出，英語是與世界接軌的重要工具，學校透過提供完善場地與行政支援，期待發揮拋磚引玉效果，推動全民英語學習風氣，也展現技職體系在公共教育服務上的現實行動力。此外，義大國際高中長期投入國際教育與全英語教學，相關教學成果亦成為國中端參照標竿。教育局說明，透過跨學制的理念分享與制度銜接，可協助學生提早理解語言學習的長程發展，建立明確而穩定的學習目標。

《整體檢視》以賽為鏡，厚植雙語城市根基

從初賽到決賽，本屆英文單字競賽兼顧公平性、專業性與教育引導功能。前八名優勝學生的脫穎而出，不僅是個人努力的成果，更是高雄市多年系統性推動英語教育的具體體現。教育局強調，未來仍將結合線上學習平台與多元評量方式，讓英語學習回歸理解與運用，逐步培養學生面向國際的語言素養，為高雄雙語城市願景奠定穩固的人才基礎。


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墨新聞｜記者游宏琦／高雄報導

高二監反詐課程：從「理所當然」到「我錯了」。三名詐欺收容人，課後坦承：從合理化犯罪到學會同理受害者 高二監「棄詐一六八」為全國監所教化，樹立了典範！

高二監典獄長陳憲章，下指令要求教化科設計一系列反詐騙教化課程，並且全力支持教化科，深耕教化 / 圖，典獄長開訓致詞。游宏琦 攝記者 游宏琦 高雄第二監獄 專題報導

在詐騙案件頻傳、社會對詐騙犯深惡痛絕的氛圍下，高雄第二監獄啟動「詐欺防治輔導處遇實施計畫」，以「棄詐一六八」為名，設計出一套專門面對詐欺犯的教化課程。這次共有三個班、約四十五名詐欺收容人參與，課後各班挑選一名學員，願意站到鏡頭前、談自己的犯案過程與心境轉折——這樣的畫面，在矯正機關是全國首創。

透過授課老師與教化科的安排，記者得以在課程結束後，分別訪問教化科科長梅英強，以及三名學員。從他們的故事，可以看見：這套課程並不是「洗白」詐騙犯，而是試圖拆掉「我只是在賺錢」這層合理化的保護殼，讓他們第一次真正看見被害人的傷口。

高二監反詐課程，上課情形/ 圖 游宏琦 攝高二監，一次共開三個班、60人：為詐欺犯量身打造的「棄詐一六八」

高二監這套「棄詐一六八」課程，分別針對已定讞與未定讞的詐欺案件收容人設計內容：

對已定讞者，以六個階段談「懵懂、覺察、內觀、轉換、工作、行動」，循序引導學員從認識「誰是受害者」走到「我是加害者」；對未定讞者，則以八大主題講解詐欺手法、法律責任與人生選擇，讓他們理解「錢來得快」背後的真實代價，與對社會的傷害。

課程結合心理輔導、法律說明與真實案例分享，還有如何回到正常工作；再加上矯正機關本身的管理與輔導量能，希望在有限時間內，至少種下幾顆關鍵種子：反思、同理與警覺。

梅英強：打破我缺錢「賺錢，理所當然」的自我安慰

高雄第二監獄教化科科長梅英強，是這套專案課程的主要規劃與承辦者。他受訪時坦言，多數詐欺犯剛進來時，都習慣用三句話替自己開脫：

「我家境不好，我也是被害人。」

「他們那麼有錢，被騙一點不會怎樣。」

「我只是跑腿、被利用而已。」

「這三句話，是他們用來蓋住罪惡感的保護色。」梅英強說，因此課程的第一步，不是講大道理，而是透過真實新聞與被害人案例，讓學員對照自己做過的事——有人因被騙幾十萬而想不開、有人拿退休金去投資、有人因此全家債務崩潰，「當他們發現被害人並不是想像中的『有錢人』，而是和自己父母、家人很像的人時，那個防衛才會慢慢鬆動。」

他強調，這門課是希望「至少在他們心裡放一個剎車的機制」：再怎麼缺錢，都不能再把犯罪合理化。

詐騙犯，車手頭；現身說法；告誡「法網恢恢、疏而不漏」/ 圖 高二監提供學員一：車手頭與收水頭—從賺快錢到看見「選擇」的代價

第一位學員，曾在詐騙集團裡擔任「車手頭」與「收水頭」，負責管理多名車手與集中款項，是被歸類為「小水頭」的角色。他說，自己接觸的是投資詐騙，一個月內幾乎天天在數鈔票，「一天收回一百多萬是常有的事」，最多曾同時管理四個車手。

起初，他只是想多賺錢、讓家人生活好一點，後來染上毒品，生活逐漸失控。「我一直對自己說，是環境逼我走上這條路。」

直到進入監所，參加詐欺防治專案課程，他才真正開始思考「選擇」這件事：

「老師說，每一個『去收錢』、『去指揮車手』的動作，都是我自己做的選擇，不是別人替我選的。」

在課堂裡，他聽到有被害人為了投資，把家裡唯一的存款拿出來，結果血本無歸；有人覺得對不起家人，壓力大到想不開。

「那時候我才懂，原來我不是在分人家的多餘的錢，我是在拆人家的未來。」

（專訪影片連結一：https://youtu.be/Q3VoTRl5QzY?si=whLewjx6EkSX2mZk）

學員二：26 歲提款車手—兩週 16 次領款，從「我只是被利用」到承認「我也是加害人」

第二位學員，今年 26 歲，被捕前擔任提款車手約兩週時間，負責拿被害人的提款卡到 ATM 提領。短短兩週內，他總共盜領 16 次，單次最高 10 萬元，總金額超過百萬，每次可拿到 1,000 至 3,000 元不等的報酬。

一開始，他並不完全明白這是詐騙，只覺得「領錢工作、錢來得快」；等到察覺不對，要抽身時，卻遭詐騙集團以「家人安危」威脅，只好硬著頭皮繼續做。

在「我是被害人還是加害人」這堂課上，老師提到一件讓他印象深刻的真實案例：有人因為損失幾十萬元，在壓力下選擇結束生命。

「那金額跟我提領的差不多。」

「我以前一直說自己沒錢、被威脅、也被抓，覺得自己很可憐。」

「但上完課才知道，真正失去最多的，是那些被我領走錢的人。」

他說，過去自己把重點放在「我也是受害人」，現在則被迫誠實面對另一半真相：

「在我明知道不對，卻還是走向提款機的那一刻，我就是加害人。」

訪談最後，他向還在外面當車手的人喊話：「好好找一份正當工作，錢賺得心安理得，比什麼都重要。」

（影片連結二：https://youtu.be/At0RFvfosJ0?si=ajqBNJsdDaT7DBf1 ）

我只是分一點錢，我只是跑腿而已⋯⋯/ 圖，高二監提供。學員三：收水角色—經手七八百萬，被害人全家自殺死亡案例成為他醒來的一拳

第三位學員，在集團中擔任「收水」角色，必須親自與被害人接觸、收取現金。他自述，親手收過約 200 多萬，總經手金額約七、八百萬元。

犯案時，他坦言幾乎沒有愧疚感：「那時候心裡都想，能拿出這些現金的人，應該都不是真的缺錢，反正他們有錢，被騙一點不會怎樣。」

直到課程中，老師說起一個讓他震撼的案例—一個家庭因為被騙了一筆看起來「不算太大」的金額，在絕望中做出「全家自殺死亡，含，年幼小孩」的悲劇選擇。

「我原本以為，要幾百萬、幾千萬才會出人命。」他說，「沒想到只是幾十萬，就可以把一個家逼到那種程度。」

上完課後，他第一次真心說出「對不起」，也承認：「如果不是被關起來被迫停下來，我可能一輩子都不會去想這些事情。」

（影片連結三：https://youtu.be/ElgCNxBV56o?si=kCcmxsi5ncaOp2uP ）

高二監教化科長，梅英強引進各種宗教課程，希望受刑人能夠，「潛移默化。」/ 圖 高二監提供三個警鐘：反詐課程不能保證一切，但至少不再認為，犯罪「理所當然」

在社會普遍要求「加重刑罰」的聲音中，這樣一門課程，能不能讓所有詐騙犯「徹底變好」？

高二監教化科並不做過度樂觀的保證。教化科科長，梅英強坦言，收容人出監後是否會再犯，還牽涉到家庭、工作、同儕、經濟壓力等多重因素，「沒有人可以用一門課保證他們一輩子不再犯。」

但他認為，至少可以為他們的未來行為，設下三個重要的「警鐘」：

不能再把犯罪合理化——再也不能用「我很可憐」「他們有錢」來替自己找藉口。開始對被害人產生同理心——知道自己拿走的不是冷冰冰的數字，而是別人的退休金、醫療費與一家人的希望。為未來的每一步行為留下提醒——當再度面臨誘惑時，腦中會浮現課堂上那些故事與畫面。

「我們無法替他們的人生下結論，但可以讓他們以後每一次想犯罪之前，心裡先響一聲警鈴。」梅英強說。

對這三名願意現身說法的學員而言，改變究竟能走多遠，沒有人知道；但至少，在高二監這間反詐教室裡，他們已經從那句熟悉的自憐——「我沒錢，所以也是被害人」，走到另一句更困難、也更誠實的告白：

「我實在不應該，以詐騙去騙人、去傷害人」

此篇文章最開始出處為: 「獨家」三位詐騙犯親自，現身說法；高二監「棄詐一六八」反詐課程成為全國監所之典範


title: Yilan bore shows electricity potential

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The first deep geothermal test well in Yilan County’s Yuanshan Township (員山) has confirmed a high-potential site after temperatures of nearly 150°C were recorded at a depth of nearly 4km, Academia Sinica said yesterday.

Academia Sinica and state-owned energy company CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) began drilling the well in October last year. An integrated geological and thermal analysis was conducted in August after drilling concluded.

Initial findings showed an upwelling source of heat beneath the northern Yilan Plain, indicating great development potential, Academia Sinica said in a statement.

Equipment is pictured at the site of a geothermal test well in Yilan County’s Yuanshan Township in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of Academia Sinica

Taiwan has many hot springs and fumaroles, which indicate potential geothermal energy sources. Experts say that Taiwan has geothermal power generation potential of 25 gigawatts to 32 gigawatts, enough to provide a sizeable chunk of the country’s power.

However, the nation has not had a breakthrough in developing geothermal energy for decades. Its first geothermal power plant was founded in 1981, but operations were suspended in 1993 because of inefficient power generation.

A new facility was opened in Yilan County’s Datong Township (大同) in 2023, but that provided only 0.003 percent of electricity generated in Taiwan in the first 10 months of this year, Energy Administration data showed.

Even the latest site initially caused some anxiety.

Lee Jian-cheng (李建成), who leads Taiwan’s national geothermal research program and is a research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Earth Sciences, said that the team became concerned when temperatures were below 100°C at about 3km deep.

However, the mercury rose rapidly beyond 3.5km into the bore — by about 90°C per kilometer — reaching about 150°C at the bottom, Lee said.

The data suggest that the site is close to a zone of high temperatures suitable for geothermal energy development at depths as shallow as 3km, he said.

For geothermal power generation to be economically viable, the temperature of hot water or steam at the wellhead needs to be at least 120°C, with higher temperatures and greater flow rates offering better efficiency, Ministry of Economic Affairs standards say.

Drilling data at the test site indicate that the geological formations at the site are suitable for a hydraulic stimulation method that improves hot-water flow paths and supports geothermal extraction while lowering induced seismic risks, Academia Sinica said.

Chen Yue-gau (陳于高), executive secretary of Academia Sinica’s Center for Sustainability Science, said international experience shows that three to five test wells are usually needed to develop a geothermal field.

The results from the Yuanshan well support further drilling to map the geothermal system’s 3D structure and guide engineering design, Chen said.

taiwan-subdivisions: 員山 大同


title: Thailand-Cambodia fighting displaces people from border

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Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters.

Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday.

About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military.

People yesterday rest at a gymnasium in Thailand’s Si Sa Ket Province after evacuating from the border amid clashes with Cambodia. Photo: EPA

Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said.

Thailand’s military announced that casualties this week include five soldiers killed and dozens wounded.

Cambodia said that seven civilians died and 20 others were wounded, although it had not updated the figures yesterday.

There is not yet a clear path to peace as Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul vowed to continue to fight and Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen promised a fierce response.

The new, widespread fighting followed a skirmish on Sunday that wounded two Thai soldiers and derailed a ceasefire pushed by US President Donald Trump that ended armed combat in July.

At a political event in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Trump said that he would use his influence to put a stop to the renewed combat.

“Tomorrow I’ll have to make a phone call,” he said. “Who else could say: ‘I’m going to make a phone call and stop a war between two very powerful countries, Thailand and Cambodia?’”


title: Machado misses Nobel ceremony

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Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado missed yesterday’s ceremony to award her the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute said.

Machado last appeared in public 11 months ago, although reports said that she was in Oslo yesterday.

Machado’s daughter accepted the prize on her behalf.

Ana Corina Sosa Machado, daughter of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, attends the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony on behalf of her mother at Oslo City Hall yesterday. Photo: AFP

“What we Venezuelans can offer the world is the lesson forged through this long and difficult journey: That to have democracy, we must be willing to fight for freedom,” Ana Corina Sosa Machado said as she accepted the award on behalf of her mother.

Ana Corina Sosa Machado said that 2,500 people had been “kidnapped, disappeared, tortured” under the rule of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

“These are crimes against humanity, documented by the United Nations. State terrorism, deployed to bury the will of the people,” she added.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters during a protest on the eve of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s inauguration on Jan. 9. Photo: AFP

Maria Corina Machado has been living in hiding and has not been seen in public since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in a protest in Caracas.

The 58-year-old’s win for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in her South American nation was announced on Oct. 10, and she was described as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”


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‘PROFESSIONALISM’: The eight diplomatic allies praised Taiwan’s policing performance, urging Interpol to end the nation’s exclusion from access to databases

Taiwan thanked eight of its formal diplomatic allies for supporting its aspirations to participate in the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) during the agency’s annual meeting in Morocco late last month.

Senior officials from eight diplomatic allies — the Marshall Islands, Belize, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Guatemala, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Paraguay and Eswatini — spoke up on Taiwan’s behalf at Interpol’s General Assembly from Nov. 24 to 27 or sent letters to Interpol, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Tuesday.

Despite their appeals, Taiwan was still left out of the proceedings, as has been the case since the 1980s.

From left, Interpol President Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, Moroccan National Security Director General Abdellatif Hammouchi and Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza attend the opening of the 93rd Interpol General Assembly in Marrakesh, Morocco, on Nov. 24. Photo: EPA

The ministry delayed publicly thanking the allies until now, as the assembly, which Taiwanese representatives could not attend, was held in a closed-door format, and it needed time to collect information on their respective addresses, the ministry said.

It eventually posted a video clip of representatives of six allies who spoke up for Taiwan’s inclusion during last month’s assembly.

In the two-minute-clip, Paraguayan Vice Minister of Internal Security Oscar Pereira, Saint Kitts and Nevis Police Commissioner James Sutton and Eswatini National Police Commissioner Manoma Vusi Masango said they backed Taiwan’s participation in the organization.

Pereira said Paraguay understood that “the best form of combating all kinds of crimes, domestic and transnational, is to combine forces and reinforce cooperative links.”

“In this sense, the Republic of Paraguay backs Taiwan’s request to be incorporated into the Interpol system,” he said.

Sutton praised Taiwan for demonstrating “professionalism, advanced investigative capabilities and a strong commitment to international security.”

“Their participation would make the global law enforcement network stronger, more complete and more effective,” he said.

Masango said Taiwan’s exclusion from Interpol has meant that it has no access to Interpol’s “critical databases due to political reasons, a gap that undermines global security.”

Others who spoke in the clip were Saint Lucian Minister of Home Affairs, Crime Prevention and Persons with Disabilities Jeremiah Norbert, Belizean Deputy Police Commissioner Bartholomew Jones, and Marshallese Minister of Justice Wisely Zackhras.

Taiwan was a member of Interpol from 1964 until 1984, when the organization terminated its membership to welcome the People’s Republic of China.

“As China is a member of Interpol, Interpol cannot grant Taiwan observer status in the General Assembly,” the Interpol General Secretariat said.

title: MOFA thanks allies for Interpol meeting support


title: Stipend bill hit by staffer backlash

content_text:
POWER GRAB: A petition by parliamentary staffers urged legislators to stand with their assistants, while one TPP lawmaker reportedly threatened hers not to sign

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Yu-jen’s (陳玉珍) bill to strip regulations governing lawmakers’ use of their stipends drew a backlash yesterday, as staffers from scores of legislators’ offices signed a petition condemning the move.

Chen’s proposed amendments to the Organic Act of the Legislative Yuan (立法院組織法) and the Regulations on Allowances for Elected Representatives and Subsidies for Chiefs of Village (地方民意代表費用支給及村里長事務補助費補助條例) would stipulate that legislators and local councilors may use their allowances without providing invoices for reimbursement.

On Tuesday, a legislative staffer launched a petition calling for the amendments to be withdrawn, citing harm to the rights of assistants at the Legislative Yuan, and at city and county government councils.

Legislative assistant recruitment ads are pictured on a bulletin board in the Legislative Yuan in an undated photograph. Photo: Taipei Times

The Alliance of Parliamentary Staffers in a statement yesterday said that 252 staffers from the offices of 44 Democratic Progressive Party, 24 KMT, and five Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers, as well as two party caucuses, had signed the petition as of midday.

The number of assistants supporting the petition would continue to grow despite inaction at the legislative staffers’ union, it said.

Legislators are urged to stand with their staffers in opposition to the regressive attack on labor rights posed by Chen’s bill, which must be withdrawn posthaste, the alliance said.

Commenting on condition of anonymity, a source with knowledge of the matter said that TPP Legislator Liu Shu-pin (劉書彬) ordered her staffers not to sign the petition and scolded an assistant over the matter.

The staffer was said to have run out of Liu’s office to ask the petition organizers to remove their signatures from the document, they said.

Liu denied the accusation, saying that the TPP caucus supports the current regulations, which were written to ensure legislators’ stipends are utilized only for official business.

Chen said she had no knowledge of any lawmakers pressuring their staffers over her proposed amendments and that there is “no need” for assistants to talk about the matter to the media or resort to political action.

Chen welcomes staffers to discuss their concerns through the staffers’ union, she said.

Additional reporting by Lin Che-yuan, Liu Wan-lin

and Lin Hsin-han


content_text:
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

“It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically advanced ones. And it traces a decades-long decline in America’s ability to win a long war with a major power,” the New York Times editorial said.

The Pentagon logo is pictured in the briefing room at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on Jan. 8, 2020. Photo: Reuters

The editorial said that US dominance in the Pacific two decades ago ensured its capability to defend Taiwan, as China had a small missile arsenal in 2005, which limited its threat to US forces.

Twenty years later, China boasts of missile capabilities that have the potential to destroy advanced US weapons before they come near Taiwan, the editorial said.

Newer forms of technology, doctrines and strategies show that they have become more effective against large conventional forces, with the editorial citing the Ukraine war, where Ukraine has used uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) to neutralize the Russian Black Sea Fleet, as well as the Ukrainian drone strikes damaging and destroying many of Russia’s heavy bomber fleet.

The editorial contrasted the costs of drone manufacturing in eastern Ukraine, “typically cost a few hundred dollars to make,” to the price to build the latest Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier at US$13 billion, and said that while aircraft carriers are superb against relatively weak countries such as Venezuela, they are vulnerable to other forms of attacks, such as hypersonic missiles.

Sweden’s Gotland-class diesel-powered submarine, in a 2005 war game, had landed multiple torpedo strikes against a US Nimitz-class carrier, which would have hypothetically sunk the carrier, the editorial said.

The editorial asked why successive US administrations adhered to the doctrine of relying on its fleet of super carriers and attendant carrier strike groups (CSGs), when drones, threats to undersea cables and Chinese malware seemed to define new ways of war.

Weapons procurement was limited to five major companies, the entrenched mindset of military commanders prevented innovation, and the prevailing view was that “bespoke, complex and wildly expensive” platforms were always superior, the editorial said.

Such a mentality meant the military was unable to obtain rapidly produced equipment in bulk, it said.

The US defense industry’s capability to produce artillery shells, ships, and aircraft at scale and speed has been lost, putting the US in danger of running out of essential munitions in a war against China, it added.

US defense spending should not focus on enormous new budgets, but instead should be more judicious in its investments, it said, warning that “traditional symbols of might risks shortchanging the true sources of American strength: relentless innovation, rapid adaptability and a willingness to discard old assumptions.”

The report was prepared by the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment and was delivered to top White House officials in the past year.

title: US military might ‘waning,’ editorial says


title: Taiwan almost super-aged, data show

content_text:
AGING SOCIETY:  People aged 65 or older comprise 19.99 percent of Taiwan’s population, very close to the WHO’s ‘super-aged society’ criterion of 20 percent

Taiwan has inched closer to becoming a super-aged society as nearly 20 percent of the population is 65 or older, Ministry of the Interior data showed.

The WHO defines a “super-aged society” as one in which 20 percent of the people are 65 or older.

As of last month, the nation had about 4.65 million people aged 65 or older, accounting for 19.99 percent of the population. Meanwhile, 68.48 percent of people were aged 15 to 64, while 11.53 were 14 or younger.

Two members of a senior daycare center play a game in New Taipei City in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City Social Welfare Department

Meanwhile, the number of elderly people in 14 administrative regions had exceeded 20 percent of the population, with the top five being Taipei (24.1 percent), Chiayi County (24.03 percent), Nantou County (22.6 percent), Keelung (22.18 percent) and Pingtung County (21.77 percent).

Administrative regions with the lowest elderly population proportions were: Hsinchu County (15.02 percent), Hsinchu City (16.10 percent), Taoyuan (16.64 percent), Lienchiang (Matsu) County (17.06 percent), Taichung (17.32 percent), Kinmen County (19.63 percent), Chiayi City (19.86 percent) and New Taipei City (19.87 percent).

The nation also saw a decline in total population and newborns, ministry data showed.

The total population was 23,306,085 as of last month, down from 23,402,765 in November last year, a decline of 264.96 people per day on average.

As of last month, the nation had 98,785 newborns this year, significantly fewer than the 134,856 reported for the whole of last year.

The number of newborns in the nation decreased consecutively from 2015 to last year.

Last month, 7,946 births were reported, bringing the crude birthrate to 4.15 per 1,000 population. It was also the third time this year that the number of monthly births fell to a historic low.

A total of 14,771 died last month, bringing the crude death rate 7.71 per 1,000.

The administrative regions with the highest crude birthrates were Yunlin County (6.25 per 1,000), Taitung County (5.08 per 1,000) and Hsinchu City (5 per 1,000).

In addition, the three lowest crude birthrates were reported in Lienchiang County (1.78 per 1,000), Keelung (2.84 per 1,000) and Chiayi County (3.13 per 1,000).

The nation’s population last month dropped by 6,825 from the previous month.

Meanwhile, 59,696 people were added to the household registration system last month, while 57,639 people were removed from the system, resulting in a net increase of 2,057.

The highest net migration increases were recorded in Taichung (1,135), Taoyuan (953) and New Taipei City (710).

The nation recorded a social increase — the number of people who moved to Taiwan minus the number of people who moved away — of 2,057 people.


title: Chinese official mum on Beijing’s restrictions

content_text:
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) yesterday struggled to provide a convincing explanation as to why Chinese still need to circumvent firewall to access Facebook, YouTube and Google, after it criticized the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s decision to restrict access to Chinese platform Xiaohongshu (小紅書, also known as RedNote in English) for one year as “undemocratic.”

TAO spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) in a news conference in Beijing said that Xiaohongshu is a popular social platform among Taiwanese youth, who use it to understand Chinese society.

The existence of such a platform is a thorn in the side of the DPP administration, as it exposed DPP’s “echo chamber” and disinformation campaign against Beijing, Chen said.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua speaks at a news conference in Beijing yesterday. Photo: CNA

About 60,000 fraudulent schemes were identified on Facebook last year, and more than 30,000 were found this year, far exceeding the number on Xiaohongshu that DPP claimed, he said.

“The ban on Xiaohongshu is really an antidemocratic move, even though the DPP administration called it a move to crack down scams. It deprives Taiwanese, particularly Taiwanese youth, of their right to know and their freedom to access the social platform. It also hurts the Taiwanese who try to make a living by building a business on Xiaohongshu,” Chen said.

A Central News Agency (CNA) journalist asked Chen whether Chinese Internet users, who must bypass China’s “great firewall” to access Facebook, Google and YouTube, would in the future be able to use Facebook to interact with their Taiwanese counterparts.

The journalist also asked the TAO’s position on Chinese using the US platforms, given that the office and other Chinese agencies have accounts on Facebook and X.

Chen paused for about five seconds before saying that the ban imposed by the Taiwanese government on Xiaohongshu — which he said has sparked strong opposition in Taiwanese society — would be very difficult to implement.

The DPP might have other motives for specifically targeting the Chinese social platform, he added.

“We support the use of all kinds of social media in accordance with laws and regulations. We would also consistently prioritize the people, lawfully combat telecom fraud and criminal activities, and actively safeguard the safety of people’s lives and properties, and their legal rights,” he said.

The CNA reporter also said that the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) has notified Xiaohongshu about the government’s new policy, but has yet to receive an official response. The journalist asked whether China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) would help in this matter.

Chen said that communication between the SEF and the ARATS has been suspended, as the DPP government does not acknowledge the so-called “1992 consensus.”

The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between KMT and Beijing that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation.

The MAC said that the temporary ban on Xiaohongshu targets fraud and is unrelated to cross-strait issues, adding that the measure is aimed at preventing scams and protecting the public.

Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said that Xiaohongshu has no presence in Taiwan and lacks contacts for law enforcement to reach.

After the platform ignored official requests, the government followed administrative procedures, issuing notices through the SEF to Xiaohongshu’s parent company in Shanghai, and subsequently ordered the app’s access to be blocked and its Internet resolution to be stopped, Liu said.

The Criminal Investigation Bureau said that it analyzed fraud patterns and data on Xiaohongshu, and found that 756 fraud cases were linked to it from January to last month.

The most common types were “installment cancelation scams targeting sellers,” “fake online shopping,” and “fake investment schemes,” with “fake online shopping” leading at 283 cases. By comparison, last year saw 950 fraud cases, with “installment cancelation scams targeting sellers” accounting for the highest number at 477 cases, it said.


content_text:
By Tsai Yun-jung and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The number of pedestrian deaths from January to September increased by 4 percent to 263 from the same period last year, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.

In the period, 2,084 people died in traffic accidents, down 83 people, or by 3.8 percent, the ministry said.

It said it is working to raise awareness of road-crossing safety for older adults, as elderly people accounted for more than half of pedestrian deaths at road sections.

Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Yen-po, second left, and ministry officials are pictured at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times

Kaohsiung recorded the highest number of deaths within 30 days of an incident at 228, up 78 from the same period last year.

A total of 1,284 people died in incidents involving scooters, and 883 of the deaths were elderly people.

Compared with the same period last year, pedestrian deaths increased by 10 people, or 4 percent, while deaths from other causes were down 3.1 percent to 11.3 percent, the ministry said.

Pingtung, Yunlin and Chiayi were the top three counties by total pedestrian deaths per 100,000 population, averaging 15.47 to 18 deaths, it said.

Commenting on the increase of pedestrian deaths this year, Department of Railways, Highways and Road Safety Division Director-General Wu Tung-ling (吳東凌) said overall, the number of deaths was on the decline, and the numbers this year were a short-term fluctuation.

The ministry continues to work toward its goal of reducing traffic accident deaths by 7 percent annually, Wu said.

Elderly people had the highest mortality rate for road section accidents, accounting for 55.6 percent, with the top three causes being failure to follow signage, inappropriate driving behavior, and being distracted or nervous, he said.

Separately, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Yen-po (陳彥伯) said the Highway Bureau is implementing a project to improve road lighting by adopting warmer yellow lights and brighter white lights at crossings and intersections.

The policy aims to help remind drivers to be more alert when approaching crossings, Chen said, adding that the ministry has completed renovations at 275 crossings as of the end of last month.

The ministry hopes to complete another 15 by the end of the year, with a target of 200 renovations by the end of next year, Chen added.

Average nighttime accident rates at the 177 crossings where renovations had been made have dropped from 1167 in 2023 to 8.87 per month from January to August, he added.

title: Number of pedestrian deaths increases by 4%


content_text:
More than 40 percent of legislative seats in Taiwan were held by women last year, the highest proportion of any country in Asia, the government said in its latest report on gender equality.

Taiwan also ranked sixth globally and first in Asia in 2023 in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI).

The Executive Yuan highlighted Taiwan’s gender-equality status in its fifth national report on the nation’s efforts to meet the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Cabinet’s Gender Equality Committee said in a statement yesterday.

The main chamber of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei is pictured in an undated photograph.  Photo: Taipei Times

The UN passed the CEDAW in 1979 and promulgated it in 1981, requiring signatory countries to enact legislation, and take measures to eliminate discrimination against women and ensure equal rights between genders.

Since 2009, Taiwan has published a national report on the CEDAW every four years to assess its progress on women’s rights and gender equality.

Although it is not a formal signatory to the agreement due to its exclusion from the UN, Taiwan in 2011 passed the Enforcement Act of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (消除對婦女一切形式歧視公約施行法), making it part of the nation’s legal framework.

The Executive Yuan’s Department of Gender Equality said Minister Without Portfolio Lin Ming-hsin (林明昕) on Nov. 25 chaired a meeting that approved the CEDAW report.

The report details Taiwan’s progress in promoting women’s rights and advancing gender equality, Lin said during his presentation.

It shows the world how the nation is moving closer to international human rights standards and working hard to ensure gender equality, he added.

The report covers Taiwan’s efforts from 2021 to last year to eliminate discrimination against women, improve their rights and work toward gender equality.

Taiwan was ranked sixth globally and first in Asia in the OECD’s 2023 SIGI, the report said.

Taiwan leads Asia in gender equality, having passed marriage equality in 2019, and expanded protections for transnational marriages and adoption rights in 2023, it said.

In addition, 41.6 percent of legislators last year were female, the highest ratio in Asia, it said.

Taiwan has also passed measures to support women who want to have children, and provide more resources to help raise them, foster family-friendly workplaces, eliminate gender stereotypes, promote gender equality in education, and improve women’s health services, the committee said.

Taiwan in 2021 enacted the Stalking Harassment and Prevention Act (跟蹤騷擾防制法) and amended gender equality, sexual harassment and domestic violence prevention laws in the past four years, strengthening its system for preventing gender-based violence, it said.

Taiwan is not a member of the UN, but its CEDAW review committee followed the UN’s procedures to ensure a fair assessment, it said.

The committee also announced that five international experts would travel to Taiwan in July to participate in the review of the report and offer advice, joined by Taiwanese experts and civil society groups.

title: Taiwan has highest share of female legislators in Asia


title: Temperatures expected to drop across the nation

content_text:
FORECAST:  Starting from Saturday afternoon, temperatures would begin to fall as a cold air system moves southward, a meteorologist said

Taiwan is expected to experience warm daytime temperatures and mostly cloudy or sunny skies today before a cold air system brings a noticeable chill starting Saturday afternoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.

The easing of seasonal northeasterly winds led to a rebound of temperatures during the day yesterday, although the western half of Taiwan continued to experience large day-night temperature differences, the agency said.

The lowest temperature recorded in any low-lying area early yesterday morning was 12.5°C in Guansi Township (關西) in Hsinchu County, CWA data showed.

Cloudy and sunny weather is forecast today for most areas in Taiwan as the northeasterly winds become stronger, making mornings and evenings cooler.

Localized showers are expected in northern, northeastern and eastern Taiwan during the day, while other areas should remain mostly cloudy to sunny.

Daytime highs nationwide are expected to range between 23°C and 29°C today and tomorrow, the CWA said.

Early-morning low visibility caused by fog or low clouds is expected in western Taiwan this morning, as well as in the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties today, and in central and southern Taiwan early tomorrow.

Starting Saturday afternoon, temperatures would begin to fall as the cold air moves southward, with increased cloud cover and a chance of scattered rain in northern and eastern Taiwan, independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said, citing European forecast models.

Dry and cold air would dominate from Sunday to Tuesday, bringing mostly sunny skies nationwide, Wu said.

The coldest air currents experienced so far this season in Taiwan are expected to arrive between Sunday night and early Tuesday, sending temperatures in low-lying areas to below 10°C, he said.

The cold air is forecast to weaken on Tuesday, allowing temperatures to gradually rebound, he added.


title: Phihong upbeat on demand for charging piles

content_text:
LOOKING UP:  The company said it expects total revenue from sales of products to the low Earth orbit satellite sector to rise to 10 percent next year from 5 percent

Power management solutions provider Phihong Technology Co (飛宏科技) yesterday said it is optimistic about its operating performance next year, as rising demand for charging piles is expected to boost its electric vehicle (EV)-related business.

Phihong — which also produces power supply products used in machine tools, networking equipment, low Earth orbit satellites, consumer electronics and smart appliances — reported that revenue in the first three quarters of this year decreased 5.8 percent year-on-year to NT$7.45 billion (US$238.72 million).

Power supply products accounted for 68.2 percent of its total sales, EV-related products made up 31.7 percent and other product made up 0.1 percent, the company said.

Phihong Technology Co’s logo is pictured at its headquarters in Taoyuan’s Gueishan District in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of Phihong Technology Co

Phihong reported a net loss of NT$414 million in the first three quarters, with losses per share of NT$0.97, compared with net income of NT$217 million for the same period last year, or earnings per share of NT$0.5.

The company’s gross margin decreased to 21 percent in the first three quarters, from 28 percent a year earlier, dented by large orders of low-margin power supply items for smartphones, Phihong president Vincent Lin (林冠宏) said, adding that the company aims to focus on higher-margin, high-power items in the product mix next year.

The company is a core supplier to a major US customer in the low Earth orbit satellite sector, with related products accounting for 5 percent of its total revenue this year, a figure that is expected to rise to 10 percent next year, he said.

The company is still in the development stage of power supply products for artificial intelligence (AI) servers and has been in contact with potential customers, Lin said.

The company might consider raising prices next year, given the rising prices of raw materials such as copper, gold and tin, he added.

However, increasing prices could raise costs for many consumer electronics, potentially affecting end-market demand and creating uncertainty for the company’s operations next year, Lin said.

Phihong operates its EV charging business through its subsidiary Zerova Technologies Taiwan Ltd (馳諾瓦科技), which expects sales to grow about 25 percent next year on customers’ renewed investment in charging-pile installations and by replacement needs for equipment that has been in use for four to five years, Zerova chief executive officer Jay Yang (楊維絜) said.


title: Monthly wages surge on booming demand for AI

content_text:
Taiwan’s average monthly wage surged in October as booming global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing products continued to drive exports and manufacturing activity, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.

The average monthly regular wage reached NT$48,252, rising 3.8 percent year-on-year — the fastest increase in 26 years — while total compensation, including bonuses and overtime pay, soared 7.38 percent to NT$57,223, aided by overtime and Mid-Autumn Festival bonuses, the statistics agency said.

Overtime hours in the electronic components sector jumped to 30.4 hours, the highest in 46 years, as manufacturers ramped up production to meet growing export orders, DGBAS Deputy Census Director Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲) said.

People cross a street in front of Taipei Railway Station on Monday last week. Photo: CNA

Manufacturing overtime has recorded 17 consecutive months of growth, with electronic components extending their streak to 28 months, Tan added.

Overall wage growth has also been supported by minimum wage adjustments, corporate pay raises and bonus payouts tied to AI-related business momentum, she said.

With inflation easing, real total wages for the January-to-October period rose 2.22 percent — the strongest increase for the same period in nearly a decade, she added.

Taiwan’s median regular wage — a more reliable gauge of typical income than the average, which can be skewed by extreme values — reached NT$38,743 in October, up 3.99 percent from a year earlier, marking a continued, but more moderate improvement.

Industry disparities remain apparent, the agency said.

Sectors with higher shares of nonstandard employment, such as accommodation and food services, as well as support services, recorded relatively low median regular wages of NT$31,566 and NT$32,721 respectively, it said.

By contrast, technology and finance-heavy sectors continued to outperform.

Electronic components manufacturing posted a median of NT$46,914, information and communications and publishing reached NT$53,400, and finance and insurance topped the chart at NT$57,861, it said.

In the first 10 months of this year, Taiwan’s labor market posted steady wage gains, with most major sectors reporting higher regular pay. Wholesale and retail sectors’ regular wages rose 3.68 percent, manufacturing sector’s wages increased 3.55 percent and healthcare sector’s pay was up 3.47 percent.

Total compensation revealed more: Manufacturing sector’s wages jumped 5.91 percent, boosted by year-end and performance payouts, and wages in the electronics components sector surged 8.84 percent on booming AI and high-performance computing demand.

Wages in transportation and warehousing also climbed 4.8 percent, the DGBAS said.

Age and education remained key determinants of median wages, it said.

Workers younger than 30 earned NT$31,740 on average per month, far below the NT$43,143 peak for those aged 50 to 64.

Graduate degree holders continued to command a strong premium, earning a median NT$66,548 and showing the fastest growth over the past five years, the agency said.


content_text:
ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動) and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) have asked Nvidia Corp about buying its powerful H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips after US President Donald Trump said he would allow it to be exported to China, four people briefed on the matter said.

The Chinese companies are keen to place large orders for Nvidia’s second most powerful AI graphics processing unit (GPU), should Beijing give them the green light, two of the people said.

However, they remain concerned about supply and are seeking clarity from Nvidia, one added.

The Nvidia Corp logo is displayed on a building in Taipei on April 16. Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters

Before Trump’s decision to allow Nvidia’s Taiwan-manufactured H200 to be exported to China, the most advanced AI chip that could legally be exported to China was the H20. The H200 is almost six times as powerful as the H20.

The Chinese government has yet to give a clear answer to Trump’s announcement on H200. In the past few months, it has barred government-funded data centers and Chinese tech companies from buying Nvidia’s AI GPUs.

The Information reported yesterday that Chinese regulators gathered representatives from companies including Alibaba, ByteDance and Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊) and asked them to assess their demand for the H200.

The officials told the companies they would be informed of Beijing’s decision soon, The Information said, citing sources.

Very limited quantities of H200 are in production, two other people familiar with Nvidia’s supply chain said, as the US chip giant has been focused instead on its most advanced Blackwell and upcoming Rubin lines.

Chinese companies are keen on the H200 as its ability to train AI models is unmatched by domestic equivalents which are more suitable for inference, the sources said.

Elite Chinese universities, data center firms and entities affiliated with China’s military have also sought to procure H200 GPUs through gray-market channels, according to a Reuters review of more than 100 tenders and academic papers.

Chinese companies anticipate authorities might need to review purchase requests and require them to provide use cases, the people said, as they consider the costs and benefits of allowing H200 imports at a time they want to encourage sales of AI chips manufactured in China by the likes of Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Cambricon Technologies Corp (寒武紀).

title: ByteDance, Alibaba keen to order Nvidia H200 chips


content_text:
The nation’s machine tool exports for the first 11 months fell 8.8 percent year-on-year to US$1.83 billion, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry said in a report released yesterday, with the pace of annual contraction worsening from 8.1 percent in the first 10 months.

Full-year exports are projected to reach about US$2 billion, marking a new low since the 2009 global financial crisis, the association said.

The machine tool industry continues to face external challenges, including from tariffs, unfavorable exchange rates and geopolitical conflicts.

A robotic arm is on display at the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show in Taipei on Aug. 20. Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA

Last month alone, exports reached only US$165 million, an annual decline of 14.8 percent, with shipments to China, including Hong Kong — the sector’s largest export destination — down by 12.6 percent and those to the US, the second-largest market, plummeting 27.7 percent, the report said.

Due to weak market demand and a relatively strong New Taiwan dollar compared with regional rivals’ currencies, machine tool makers are facing heavy pressure to secure orders, it said.

Although the NT dollar has depreciated slightly against the US dollar, its pace of weakening is still smaller than that of its regional competitors, the report said.

For example, with the yen, Taiwan’s price advantage — with machinery equipment priced 20 to 30 percent lower than Japanese products in the past — has effectively disappeared, as from 2021 to yesterday, the NT dollar had depreciated 9.8 percent, much less than the yen’s 52.2 percent plunge, it said.

However, the association emphasized that the overall machinery industry is slowly recovering, as total machinery exports grew 8.5 percent year-on-year to US$28.87 billion in the first 11 months of the year.

The association attributed the growth to increases in outbound shipments of inspection and testing equipment, and electronic equipment — benefiting from increasing demand for machinery goods related to artificial intelligence, high-performance computing and cloud computing products — offset the drop in machine tool sales.

Still, in NT dollar terms, total machinery exports were NT$897.37 billion in the first 11 months, up 5.3 percent from a year earlier, an indication that the NT dollar’s appreciation this year has eroded the real growth of export value, it said.

From January to last month, the US remained the largest buyer of Taiwanese machinery goods at US$7.52 billion, accounting for 26 percent of the nation’s total exports, the report showed.

China ranked second at US$6.58 billion and accounted for 22.8 percent of the total, followed by Japan at US$2.22 billion with a share of 7.7 percent, it found.

As shipments to the US and China both showed double-digit percentage growth in the past two months, along with the easing of global economic uncertainty, Taiwan’s full-year machinery exports are expected to increase by about 9 percent from last year, the association projected.

title: Machine tool exports fall 8.8 percent


content_text:
The Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation has demanded an apology from China Central Television (CCTV), accusing the Chinese state broadcaster of using “deceptive editing” and distorting the intent of a recent documentary on “comfort women.”

According to the foundation, the Ama Museum in Taipei granted CCTV limited permission to film on the condition that the footage be used solely for public education. Yet when the documentary aired, the museum was reportedly presented alongside commentary condemning Taiwan’s alleged “warmongering” and criticizing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s stance toward Japan. Instead of focusing on women’s rights or historical memory, the program appeared crafted to advance a political narrative favorable to Beijing.

This incident underscores a serious question: Should Chinese state media be permitted to operate in Taiwan?

CCTV is wholly controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its editorial line is not independent, and its reporters are expected to follow party directives. This means any reporting from Taiwan is either designed to serve the CCP’s cognitive-warfare efforts or to craft a distorted portrayal of Taiwan for Chinese domestic consumption.

Reciprocal media access would make sense only if both sides operated under comparable conditions. Yet Taiwan’s free-press environment has no equivalent in China. Reporting there is constrained by pervasive censorship and an unwavering requirement to toe the party line. Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) may report in China only when invited, and even then its activities are strictly monitored. Meanwhile, Chinese audiences cannot access unsanctioned Taiwanese reporting due to China’s “Great Firewall” and systematic suppression of outside information. A “reciprocal” arrangement in practice becomes one-sided.

Some argue that a democracy should not restrict journalists, even those from authoritarian states. This ignores the reality that CCTV journalists are not independent actors. They function as organs of the CCP. In an age when information is a key element of hybrid warfare, granting a hostile authoritarian regime unfettered access to film and gather material is not a gesture of openness — it is strategic negligence.

The CCTV documentary shows how easily footage collected in Taiwan can be repurposed to support false narratives. There are already precedents. During last year’s presidential election, a fabricated video circulated purporting to show then-candidate William Lai (賴清德) endorsing a political coalition he never supported. With generative artificial intelligence making fabrication easier and more convincing, raw footage captured by Chinese state media inside Taiwan becomes a powerful tool for disinformation campaigns.

Taiwan gains little from maintaining media access for Chinese outlets. CNA and other Taiwanese media can rely on wire services and international reporting for coverage of China, without placing their own journalists at risk of Chinese surveillance or manipulation. Meanwhile, China would continue to block Taiwanese reporting from reaching its citizens.

Critics claim that restricting Chinese state media violates free speech. Yet Taiwan already places reasonable limits on speech when national security or public order is at stake. The Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) penalizes the spreading of rumors that disrupt public peace. The Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) targets political influence operations directed by hostile foreign forces. 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) prohibits actions taken on behalf of the CCP that endanger national security. Under these laws alone, Taiwan has clear legal grounds to deny Chinese state media permission to operate.

There is also a moral dimension. Using the historical suffering of comfort women as a tool of political coercion is deeply disrespectful to the victims. Moreover, framing their experience to inflame anti-Japan sentiment serves Beijing’s geopolitical goals, not Taiwan’s national interests or historical understanding.

CCTV claimed its filming was part of a project marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Yet the CCP frequently presents its political initiatives as cultural or educational exchanges — a pattern seen in its outreach to Taiwanese youth and professional groups. Taiwanese must remember that for the CCP, everything involving Taiwan is political. It is impossible for Beijing to engage with Taiwan except in service of its unification agenda. There is no meaningful distinction between state and private media.

To safeguard national security and protect the interests of Taiwan, Chinese state-media journalists should not be permitted to report from Taiwan. Nor should other CCP-affiliated actors be granted operational space here. If institutions in China require non-sensitive information about Taiwan’s museums or public facilities, that information can be reviewed by national-security authorities and released as appropriate — without granting physical access or the opportunity to manufacture narratives harmful to Taiwan.

title: EDITORIAL: Beijing exploits Taiwan’s freedoms


title: Taiwan the winner in Honduras

content_text:
More than a week after Hondurans voted, the country still does not know who will be its next president. The Honduran National Electoral Council has not declared a winner, and the transmission of results has experienced repeated malfunctions that interrupted updates for almost 24 hours at times.

The delay has become the second-longest post-electoral silence since the election of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez of the National Party in 2017, which was tainted by accusations of fraud. Once again, this has raised concerns among observers, civil society groups and the international community.

The preliminary results remain close, but both the Liberty and Refoundation (Libre) party, and the Liberal Party of Salvador Nasralla have publicly accused the National Party of Nasry Asfura of attempting fraud once again, citing mismatches between their poll station copies and the data uploaded by the electoral authority.

The National Party has denied wrongdoing and has said that Libre was the party that attempted fraud. Both opposition parties have published images of their tally sheets across social media platforms, arguing that the discrepancies appear systematic rather than isolated.

They have also pointed to the sudden interruption of the transmission system as a reason for increased public suspicion. Supporters of Liberal and Libre parties have mobilized, demanding transparency and a definitive count. International attention has intensified. The Organization of American States and the EU have expressed concern, emphasizing the need for a transparent review of contested reports.

Yet despite the chaos, one geopolitical outcome has become clear. In an election where tensions have risen inside Honduras, the only unquestionable winner so far is Taiwan.

While Hondurans debate who would become president, the broader strategic landscape has revealed something that did not exist five years ago. Both major opposition forces want a return to diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The Libre party that switched recognition to China in 2023 was not competitive in this election, received negligible support and played no meaningful role in shaping the national conversation.

The National Party and the Liberal Party have expressed openness to restoring ties with Taipei as part of a wider foreign policy repositioning that includes strengthening democratic partnerships and rebuilding confidence with the US.

This situation means that regardless of who ultimately wins once the electoral authority certifies the result, Honduras is positioned for a diplomatic correction that favors Taiwan. Multiple national surveys conducted during the campaign showed declining confidence in the promises made by Beijing and rising public interest in re-engaging with Taiwan. Small business owners, farmers and scholarship recipients repeatedly expressed regret over the loss of Taiwanese programs that had been in place for decades.

That shift has regional implications. Central American experiments with recognition of China have been unstable, and Honduras might become the clearest example that the promised gains fail to materialize. Beijing’s economic commitments did not translate into sustained investment, and the loss of Taiwan’s development cooperation removed concrete programs that communities had relied upon for years.

If Honduras returns to Taiwan, it would be the first country in Central America to reverse a switch toward Beijing in the 21st century, marking a significant geopolitical moment.

Taiwan stands in a stronger position than before the vote. It has become a point of agreement inside a deeply polarized country. It has outlasted the temporary political tide that pushed Honduras toward Beijing. Most notably, it has gained bipartisan consensus without campaigning for it. Taiwanese policymakers would view this moment as evidence that long-term partnerships built on education, agricultural cooperation, medical brigades and institution-building create resilience even when governments change.

Taipei would also see an opportunity in the fact that the Honduran public debate has shifted away from ideology. During the campaign, neither opposition party treated relations with Taiwan as a symbol of national sovereignty or resistance to foreign influence. Instead, both framed the issue as a practical matter of national interest. That shift in tone could give Taiwan greater freedom to rebuild programs without being drawn into ideological battles.

For Beijing, the situation is more complicated. The election exposes a weakness in China’s diplomatic approach in the region, which has relied heavily on symbolic victories rather than on sustainable long-term engagement. A reversal by Honduras would raise questions about the durability of China’s influence in Central America and the reliability of its economic commitments.

The electoral dispute would continue as the National Electoral Council reviews contested reports and addresses irregularities. A final declaration might still take time — the 2017 election was not finalized until Dec. 17 of that year — but the geopolitical message has already been delivered. The Honduran people did not endorse the shift toward China. They did not support the party that championed that decision. They elevated political forces that have openly considered a return to Taiwan.

In an election defined by uncertainty, delays and malfunctions, Taiwan is the only actor that seems to have secured a strategic victory.

Juan Fernando Herrera Ramos is a Honduran journalist based in Taipei.


title: Fighting a war without gunpowder

content_text:
The government on Thursday last week finally imposed a one-year ban on the Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu (小紅書, also known as RedNote in English), with the justification being that the platform has no legal presence in Taiwan. When scammers exploit it, the government has no way to contact the company that owns the China-based app to address such issues — because it does not recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty in the first place.

During China’s Cultural Revolution, the term xiaohongshu — which directly translates to “little red book” in English — referred to a compilation of quotations from Mao Zedong (毛澤東). The pocket-sized book got its name because it was wrapped in a red plastic cover. Everyone owned a copy at the time, and each of the Chinese Red Guards carried one at all times — using it to cheer Mao or brandishing it as a weapon when fighting their enemies. Thus, when I saw that China had named a social media platform “Xiaohongshu,” I immediately understood the kind of message they were trying to sell.

During the years I spent in Hong Kong, my work centered on criticizing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Mao. I did not want young people to be deceived by the CCP the way I once was — only to look back and realize that decades had already gone by. Later, the situation was different. Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) crafted the ruse of “reform and opening up,” and at the time, we truly hoped that it could transform the CCP’s nature. It was not until after the Tiananmen Square Massacre that we gradually gave up hope.

Today, our relationship with the CCP is no longer the stark opposition and mutual estrangement of two political camps that existed previously — instead, it is a complex, intertwined relationship. The Internet has only further complicated the situation.

To protect the interests of its regime, the CCP is extremely sensitive about the Internet. In the late 20th century, Jiang Mianheng (江綿恆) — the son of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) — who had just entered the telecommunications sector, said that China must build an independent Internet system that does not rely on the outside world.

US media praised him at the time, and US tech companies such as Cisco Systems Inc and Intel Corp helped China build its own telecommunications network. Once the job was done, China gradually forced all of those US companies out. Platforms such as Facebook were never allowed to enter the Chinese market and Google was forced out — now, it is Microsoft’s turn.

Our social media platforms are meant for communication between people, but China bans them and only allows its own. Meanwhile, it has built platforms such as TikTok and Xiaohongshu to enter other countries and brainwash their citizens, pushing them to accept China’s positions and viewpoints. These tactics are not direct — they are packaged with entertainment, and political messaging is inserted only at critical moments so users end up subconsciously accepting it.

This is a war without gunpowder. By the time you notice it, all you can do is scramble to disinfect and patch the leaks. As some members of the public have already grown used to these platforms and believe they represent freedom of speech, it is impossible to shut things down directly as China does. We are on the defensive in this war, constantly taking hits with no way to counterattack — all while dressing it up as “democratic confidence.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has spoken of the “Four Confidences” in socialism, communism, the party monopoly and “socialist culture.” If he is so confident, why does he still need to block us, while we are barred from blocking them? If the reason is that China is an authoritarian state, then why should Taiwan ever unify with it?

When Western countries do business with China, they must use Chinese platforms, such as the networking app WeChat or Chinese e-mail services. Yet when Chinese people do business with foreign countries, they get to use those same Chinese platforms. Why has the Western world tolerated this asymmetry for so long? We remain so intoxicated by the superiority of democracy that when the time comes, we would not even realize what led to its demise.

In US President Donald Trump’s tariff war against China, should he establish equal footing in social media relations, or should he sacrifice his country’s Internet sovereignty for the sake of economic interests?

Paul Lin is a Taipei-based political commentator.

Translated by Kyra Gustavsen


title: Region must resist Chinese hegemony

content_text:
As Japan faces unprecedented harassment from China following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Nov. 7 remarks on potentially using its military to defend itself in a Chinese attack on Taiwan, it is evident that countries in the region must boost coordination in countering Chinese hegemony.

In addition to disinformation campaigns attacking Takaichi, false claims against Japanese sovereignty over Okinawa and economic coercion, Beijing on Saturday ramped up its intimidation when Chinese People’s Liberation Army J-15 fighters locked their radar onto Japanese F-15s on two separate occasions near Okinawa, not far from Taiwan.

Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi formally protested the act, saying it “exceeded the scope necessary for safe aircraft operations.”

De La Salle University Department of International Studies distinguished professor Renato Cruz de Castro said that the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s administration could be a game changer. In the event of a Chinese armed invasion of Taiwan, the strategy could fill in the gaps of the southern flank of the first island chain, securing islands around Taiwan, the northern Philippines and Okinawa — where China is building up its naval operations in hopes of eliminating US influence in the region.

The strategy aims to defend the Philippines’ 200 nautical mile (370km) exclusive economic zone south, which is not only in the interests of Manila, but also vital to Taipei and Tokyo in containing Chinese expansionism. However, for the concept to succeed, regional armed forces must work together.

That could be achieved through more joint military coordination and exercises.

Hudson Institute senior fellow Riley Walters said that what is needed is improved information sharing channels and scenario-based training among US partners and allies in the region.

Taiwan is already receiving more strategic training from the US. Inviting Taiwan to play a larger role in US-led joint military exercises in the region, such as Balikatan, would send a stronger deterrent signal to China.

Taiwan could even leverage the growing momentum around boosting military coordination and capabilities among US allies. Prospect Foundation president Lai I-chung (賴怡忠) said there is room for cooperation between Taiwan and other US allies, especially Japan. That comes amid increased discussion around long-range nuclear-powered submarines, especially with Tokyo considering developing such technology after receiving the green light from Washington. Australia also aims to boost its nuclear-powered submarine capabilities.

The US’ latest National Security Strategy, released last week, makes clear that US President Donald Trump’s administration aims to build up its military power to deter a conflict with Beijing over Taiwan. The report’s release provides an opportunity for Taiwan to work with US allies, especially Japan and the Philippines, and potentially Australia and New Zealand, which, while geographically distant, are critical parts of the Pacific island chains’ defense against Chinese encroachment. This comes as President William Lai (賴清德) announced increases to the country’s defense budget to 5 percent of GDP by 2030 and developing a “T-dome” as Taiwan continues to boost values-based partnerships in the region.

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


content_text: Chinese state-owned companies COSCO Shipping Corporation and China Merchants have a 30 percent stake in Kaohsiung Port’s Kao Ming Container Terminal (Terminal No. 6) and COSCO leases Berths 65 and 66. It is extremely dangerous to allow Chinese companies or state-owned companies to operate critical infrastructure.Deterrence theorists are familiar with the concepts of deterrence “by punishment” and “by denial.” Deterrence by punishment threatens an aggressor with prohibitive costs (like retaliation or sanctions) that outweigh the benefits of their action, while deterrence by denial aims to make an attack so difficult that it becomes pointless.Elbridge Colby, currently serving as the Under

title: EDITORIAL CARTOON


content_text:
Silenced by China, Hong Kong struggles to voice its grief over the Tai Po fire disasterHong Kong was once a city of lively, sometimes raucous, public debate; now those voices have fallen eerily silent

White flowers at makeshift shrines and messages of support posted in a public square. A rainbow of folded paper cranes. Boxes of donated goods for those in need. Hong Kongers’ responses to the Tai Po fire disaster — in which at least 160 people have died and 31 are still unaccounted for — have, on the surface, resembled similar community expressions of solidarity last seen during the 2019 protests. However, beneath the surface, Hong Kong civil society is struggling to respond to this latest collective trauma in a territory that has deeply changed in the past five years.

The cauterization of Hong Kong’s civil society that has occurred under Beijing’s national security crackdown has meant that the types of grassroots activism that would traditionally have occurred in response to such a tragedy — as they would in any other open society — are no longer possible.

In the past, pro-democracy legislators would have grilled government officials in the legislative council: But in 2021 that changed when 47 pro-democracy politicians proposing to run in elections were charged with subversion, and later jailed. Only Beijing-approved “patriots” are now permitted to run for office, and all of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy political parties have since dissolved.

Freewheeling independent media outlets, such as Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英) Apple Daily newspaper or online outlet Stand News, would have doggedly pursued investigative reporting to uncover corruption or mismanagement, and seek accountability for the fires. However, those independent media outlets were forced to close, and their editors charged with sedition.

An array of civil society groups would have offered assistance. The Progressive Lawyers Group, for example, would have volunteered legal aid for victims and their families, and provided objective analysis on legal questions such as the difference between a statutory commission of inquiry and the toothless “independent committee” proposed by the Hong Kong government to investigate the disaster. However, that group, and scores of other civil society groups, have either been forced to close by the authorities, or disbanded in fear.

Hong Kong’s creative community might have responded in works of art, film and literature, but artists have also been cowed. Those with a track record of activism or political activity are prevented from exhibiting. Theater groups find their venue bookings abruptly canceled. Films are censored such that the depiction — whether documentary or fictional — of any “sensitive” topic, including Hong Kong’s own protests broadcast widely in 2019, is effectively banned. A work of art on the Tai Po fires such as Steve McQueen’s haunting Grenfell could not be exhibited in today’s Hong Kong, and even making such a film would be considered an act of sedition.

Hong Kong was once a city of lively, sometimes raucous, public debate; now those voices have fallen eerily silent. However, this does not prevent the authorities from being nervous that — as has been the pattern elsewhere in China and globally — the tragedy would become a focal point for anti-government sentiment.

Reports of corruption or regulatory failures being a factor in the fires are one potential target for community anger. The extent to which this tragedy reveals a broken system, dominated by tycoon property developers, cronyism in the construction industry and a bureaucratic, but ineffective government, remains to be seen.

However, it is a somewhat unlikely source of outrage that might become even more potent: bamboo. Initial reports that the bamboo scaffolding covering the buildings had contributed to the fire quickly drew criticism. Subsequent investigations have come to focus on the flammable netting enveloping the scaffolding as well as Styrofoam boards used to cover the windows of the buildings while renovations were under way.

However, in the meantime some in Hong Kong have raised concerns that the tragedy would be used as an excuse to phase out local bamboo scaffolding in favor of mainland-manufactured steel scaffolding. This is not merely a question of fire safety. Bamboo scaffolding is regarded as an example of Hong Kong’s unique cultural heritage, and as such is a deeply political matter. Issues of Hong Kong culture and identity have been at the core of Hong Kong political protest movements, not just in 2019, but over the preceding decades. This makes bamboo capable of becoming a lightning-rod issue.

The authorities’ immediate heavy-handed response to the tragedy betrays their concern: In the first week after the disaster, a university student distributing flyers demanding accountability for the fire was detained, as were a former pro-democracy local councilor providing volunteer support and a lawyer who had been coordinating a news conference of civil society experts. The news conference was canceled.

A YouTuber who allegedly posted asinine and offensive — but not political — comments about the fire online was also arrested, marking the first time that Hong Kong’s national security laws have apparently been used to exercise mainland-style moral (as opposed to political) policing of online content.

However, one point of difference with the mainland has been an apparent contrast in the accountability of leadership. The lines of accountability for local officials in cases of similar disasters in the mainland can be brutal and short. For example, last year 55 officials, including the local mayor and party secretary were removed from their positions or punished after a fire in a Jiangxi commercial building killed 39 people.

One bold reporter was speaking the minds of many of his fellow Hong Kongers — and possibly many in the mainland as well — when he confronted Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) in a news conference earlier this week with the question: “Can you tell us why you deserve to keep your job?”

In any other Chinese city, heads would roll for the negligence and mismanagement that has caused so many deaths.

However, from Beijing’s point of view, there is only one measure that could determine whether Lee would keep his job: would he be able to prevent any protests and snuff out any signs of dissent? By that measure, his performance so far has been faultless.

Antony Dapiran is the author of two books on Hong Kong politics and protest.


title: Maria Corina Machado’s Catholic revolution

content_text:
US President Donald Trump’s airstrikes on boats off the Venezuelan coast have dominated news headlines since September, with the president recently declaring the country’s airspace “closed.” Venezuelans are desperately guessing about their future and wondering whether Trump would make good on his promises to evict their strongman ruler, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, from power. Who would take over, and on what constitutional grounds?

On Nov. 18, the Washington Post jumped headlong into this debate by giving the Venezuelan opposition leader and this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Maria Corina Machado, a platform to present her new “Freedom Manifesto.”

The accompanying editorial cast Machado as Venezuela’s latter-day cross between former US presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison: “America’s founding document,” the paper’s editorial board contends, “clearly inspired” this “precursor to a new Constitution.”

Machado has spent the past year in hiding, evading an arrest warrant issued by Maduro’s regime after its brazen falsification of the July 2024 presidential election results, while the real winner, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, fled into exile.

However, this autumn, Trump and the Norwegian Nobel Committee have unwittingly teamed up to elevate Machado’s profile. By cunningly dedicating her Nobel Prize to the obscenely vain Trump, Machado has deepened US support for the Venezuelan opposition’s cause. She now patiently awaits the outcome of Trump’s campaign to force Maduro out.

FALSE PORTRAYAL

However, the Washington Post’s attempt to drape Machado in the stars and stripes misses what the Venezuelan opposition is about. Associating her with the upcoming 250th anniversary of the US’ Declaration of Independence might well be an effective way to drum up US public support, but it elides Machado’s defining quality: She is a practicing Catholic whose faith shapes her political and economic views alike.

Neither “extremist neoliberal” nor “the smiling face of Washington’s regime-change machine,” Machado is the scion of a long line of Christian democrats in Latin America.

She might see an advantage in depicting Maduro’s overthrow as an “America first” cause, but her own “Freedom Manifesto” gives the lie to this conceit. In it, she hitches herself not to Jefferson or Madison, but to the founding father of Catholic thought, Thomas Aquinas.

The first core value she lists is not liberty but “Dignity: Our Guiding Principle.” For Christian democrats, “dignity” is shorthand for the image of God that can be found in each human being — understood as a person, not as some marginal unit of economic production. The Catholic concept of dignity passed from Aquinas’ own medieval Dominicans to the early Jesuits, and finally to the 19th-century “Thomist” renaissance launched by Pope Leo XIII (the current pope’s namesake), whose pathbreaking encyclical, Rerum Novarum (“Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor”), reconciled the Catholic Church to modernity.

DIGNITY

It was this tradition that lay behind the French philosopher Jacques Maritain’s concept of “human rights” in the 1940s, and nowhere was Maritain read more widely than in Spanish-language America. Among his most famous disciples was Rafael Caldera, a future president of Venezuela (1969 to 1974, and 1994 to 1999) and the founder of a Latin American political movement that served as a bridge for European and US-based anti-communists.

This was Cold War soft power at its most effective. For decades, Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, was known as the “Paris of South America” — long before Buenos Aires promoted itself as such. It held this status until oil prices tumbled in the 1980s, crashing the Venezuelan economy and endowing former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez’s rebel forces with popular legitimacy. Chavez’s death then brought Maduro’s succession and his dystopian regime.

In a pivotal clause of her manifesto, Machado’s Spanish word persona has been rendered in English as “individual,” but this is a mistranslation. The correct wording should be, “Let dignity serve as the driving force ... that fosters the complete development of each person.”

In Catholic political and social thought, a “person” is a dignity-endowed human being made in God’s image, while an “individual” is shorn of ties to community or nation.

This is not pedantic wordplay, but a fundamental philosophical difference. Machado might be proposing to privatize US$1.7 trillion in state-held Venezuelan assets, but her talk of property rights is a nod to Aquinas and Maritain, not to Friedrich von Hayek or Milton Friedman, let alone to Trump.

Machado’s manifesto uses precisely the same strategy that turned post-Nazi West Germany into a self-styled social market economy which married the market with locally rooted corporatism. Many of Germany’s post-World War II leaders called themselves “Christian democrats,” and the man in charge in Berlin today, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, leads a party called the Christian Democratic Union.

OPPORTUNITY

Given such deep political and philosophical commitments, Machado’s pandering to Trump should not remotely be seen as defining her.

In the 1960s, West Germany pumped enormous sums into Latin America in hopes of training a generation of anti-communist Catholic politicians who would oppose Soviet interests without surrendering to US foreign policy. Caldera’s tenure as a Christian democratic president almost fulfilled this dream in the 1970s, only to be reversed by his khaki-clad populist successor, Chavez.

Nonetheless, with oil prices declining again this year, the rosary-wearing Machado — if ultimately installed in power — could succeed where Caldera failed.

Her ascendency is a clear sign that Catholicism is regaining salience after decades of suppression by Chavez and Maduro. In October, Pope Leo XIV announced the canonization of the first-ever Venezuelan saints, sparking a national celebration for which Maduro cynically tried to take credit.

Across the US political spectrum, too few people understand how important Catholic thought has been in shaping the Latin American right. If she succeeds, the woman looking to reclaim the idea of a “people’s party” from the Venezuelan left might find closer ideological allies not in Washington, but in Berlin, Paris, Warsaw and Rome. Perhaps Pope Leo XIV already sees in her movement what Pope John Paul II saw in the Solidarity protests that brought down communist rule in Poland: a true revolution of personal dignity.

Piotr H. Kosicki is associate professor of history at the University of Maryland.

Copyright: Project Syndicate


title: Magic to face Knicks in NBA Cup semis

content_text:
‘WINNING TIME’: Orlando’s Desmond Bane scored 15 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter to deny the Heat any chance of a comeback and keep their Cup run alive

The Orlando Magic, sparked by 37 points from Desmond Bane, and the New York Knicks on Tuesday night advanced to an NBA Cup semi-final showdown with breakthrough triumphs.

Bane went 6-of-9 from three-point range and added six rebounds and five assists in Orlando’s 117-108 victory over the visiting Miami Heat.

Jalen Suggs added 20 points for the Magic, who despite lacking top scorer Franz Wagner due to a high ankle sprain, won for the 11th time in 15 games and improved to 5-0 in Cup play.

The Orlando Magic’s Desmond Bane, left, jumps for a layup as Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo defends during their NBA Cup quarter-final in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday. Photo: AP

“We need these reps. We need to play in these meaningful games,” Bane said. “We’re a young team trying to make something happen, like a run, so we need these moments.”

New York’s Jalen Brunson scored 35 points, 20 of them in the first quarter, to power the Knicks over host Toronto 117-101 in Tuesday’s other quarter-final.

Josh Hart added 21 points for the Knicks while Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points and 16 rebounds as New York won for the eighth time in nine games.

“We knew it was going to be a tough one,” Hart said. “We had to be ready. Defensively the second quarter was amazing. We only gave up 13 points and that’s where we were really able to build our lead and put the game away.”

“It’s about winning every game, winning every possession. If you do that, you’ll get to the end goal,” he added.

The Knicks, quarter-final losers the past two years, and Magic, on their best Cup run, would meet in a Saturday semi-final at Las Vegas, with the winner advancing to the Cup final on Tuesday next week.

At Orlando, Bane scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to deny Miami any chance of a comeback.

“Winning time,” Bane said. “That’s all I care about is winning.”

Paolo Banchero, who returned on Friday last week after missing 10 games with a groin strain, added 18 points for the Magic, who delivered Miami a fourth consecutive loss.

Norman Powell led Miami with 21 points, while Herro added 20.

At Toronto, Brunson hit 7-of-9 shots from the floor and 4-of-6 three-pointers in the first quarter to ignite an early New York surge.

The Knicks opened the second quarter with a 19-4 run to seize a 54-43 lead and stretched it to 69-52 at halftime. Toronto, led by Brandon Ingram’s 31 points, suffered a sixth defeat in seven games and a 10th consecutive loss to New York.

In the other quarter-finals, the Phoenix Suns were yesterday to face the Oklahoma City Thunder, while the San Antonio Spurs were to take on the Los Angeles Lakers.

Reigning NBA champions Oklahoma City would try to stretch their win streak to a club-record 16 games and overall record to 24-1, matching the Golden State Warriors in 2015 for the best 25-game start in NBA history.

San Antonio would be without Victor Wembanyama because of a left calf strain that has sidelined him for almost a month.


title: Phillies hold on to Schwarber in US$150m deal

content_text:
Kyle Schwarber is staying with the Philadelphia Phillies, agreeing on Tuesday to a US$150 million, five-year contract, while closer Edwin Diaz has agreed to a US$69 million, three-year contract with World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers, a person familiar with the negotiations said.

Schwarber set career bests this year with a National League-leading 56 homers and a major league-high 132 RBIs along with a .240 batting average and .928 OPS. He scored a career-high 111 runs as he led the club to its second straight National League East title.

Schwarber’s 23 homers against left-handed pitching set a major league record for a lefty batter, surpassing 22 by Stan Musial in 1949 and Matt Olson in 2021.

Then-New York Mets relief pitcher Edwin Diaz reacts at the end of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals in Washington on April 26. Photo: AP

“The body’s gotten better over time,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said earlier on Tuesday. “He’s in the best shape of his life right now, and I don’t think that that’s going to change. He’s so intelligent. He sees the game a little bit different than a lot of other guys, and he works at it, watches a lot of film.”

Schwarber won this year’s All-Star Game for the National League with three homers in a tiebreaking swing-off, and he finished second in National League Most Valuable Player voting behind Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani.

The 32-year-old Schwarber last month rejected a US$22,025,000 qualifying offer from Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber connects for a double during the first inning of Game 4 of the MLB’s National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles on Oct. 9. Photo: AP

The Phillies are also focused on retaining others among their players who became free agents, a group that includes catcher J.T. Realmuto, left-hander Ranger Suarez and outfielder Harrison Bader.

Meanwhile, New York Mets fans vented their anger after learning that All-Star closer Diaz had agreed to a deal with the Dodgers, who already owe US$1.051 billion in deferred pay to eight players from 2028-2046.

The deal, which would take the 31-year-old right-hander from Queens to the two-time defending World Series champions in Los Angeles, was widely seen by fans as a case of the big-spending Dodgers further consolidating their advantage.

Mets president of baseball operations “David Stearns should be fired over this, that’s how bad this is,” said Justin Morelli, a native New Yorker and host of the ShotClock Show.

He called the decision especially damaging given the Mets’ stated “win-now” posture after last year’s record 15-year, US$765-million contract for slugger Juan Soto and a narrow miss of the post-season.

“You collapse at the end of last year,” Morelli said. “You’re trying to bring hope to this franchise and their fans and make them think this year is going to be different, and you don’t re-sign the best closer in baseball for this contract? You let him walk out the door to the team that just won the World Series? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Additional reporting by Reuters


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Most of Bhavani Thekkada’s competitors grew up on skis. She grew up on a coffee farm — in southern India.

So as a cross-country skier, she is a little behind.

Thekkada has been hitting European tracks in the past few weeks trying to keep her Olympic dream alive. She is a longshot to qualify for the Milan Cortina Winter Games, but she is reaching some other goals along the way.

India’s Bhavani Thekkada, left, competes in the women’s cross-country 7.5km Interval Start Classic qualification race at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim, Norway, on Feb. 26. Photo: AP

“I will be really grateful and happy if even one person out there in India is inspired by my journey and wants to do skiing, which already people are — I’ve been getting a lot of messages,” the 30-year-old Thekkada said.

She is chronicling her journey on social media and making headlines back home. Her bronze medal in a 5km race in Chile in September, even though just a handful of athletes competed, was hailed as India’s first international medal in women’s cross-country skiing.

Last month’s 10km FIS Cross-Country World Cup race in Finland was a reality check. In an elite field, Thekkada finished last among 81 athletes, more than 16 minutes behind the winner, Frida Karlsson of Sweden. US star Jessie Diggins finished fifth.

“The top 80 girls who were competing with me had a whole team with them. They had coaches, they had wax technicians, they had managers,” said Thekkada, who has won several national titles in India. “I was standing there with a few years of skiing [experience and] ... a couple of hours of training with some coaches.”

As it is Olympic qualification season, eligibility is flexible enough that Thekkada could get on the start line. The goal is not beating opponents — rather it is closing the time gap to improve her score.

“I may not be the best in the world, but I’m really trying to be there,” she said. “I might be a couple of minutes behind the top athletes, but then I’m also a couple of years behind [in the] training they’ve had.”

Thekkada had a similar result at last week’s 10km World Cup race in Trondheim, Norway, which leaves the upcoming event in Davos, Switzerland, as her last chance to unlock an Olympic quota spot for India.

Largely self-funded, Thekkada operates mostly independently, so she was grateful when several national teams lent a hand in Trondheim.

The Canadians and Chileans helped with waxing and training, and the Italians transported her equipment — and during the race, she heard from Diggins, she said.

“Jessie was out there cheering the loudest for me during the race. It really meant a lot to me,” Thekkada said on Instagram.

Besides media coverage in India, a member of the Indian Parliament from her Karnataka region, Tejasvi Surya, wrote on X: “Her feats make her an inspiration for the young generation.”

Thekkada has used her growing public profile to nudge Indian leaders.

After her podium finish in Chile, she wrote on X: “I hope at least now the government starts noticing [and] supporting the winter sports athletes,” and tagged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Alpine skier Arif Khan was the only Indian to compete at the 2022 Beijing Games.

Only two Indian women — Shailaja Kumar and Neha Ahuja — have competed at the Winter Games, according to the Olympics’ Web site.

Thekkada did not see snow until she was 20.

She had become interested in mountaineering “after watching some Bollywood movies,” she said.

As a mountaineering instructor in the Himalayas, she also picked up Alpine skiing.

Then she watched the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, where Marit Bjorgen become the most-decorated Winter Olympian. The Norway great had given birth a couple of years before.

“Her journey fascinated me,” Thekkada said. “I’ve seen in the Indian community that ‘women can’t do that. Once you have a baby, once you are 30-plus, you can’t do this.’ It really motivated me so much.”

After Milan Cortina there is the 2030 French Alps Olympics.

“If not this year, then I want to push for the next four years,” Thekkada said.

title: Olympic hopeful tries to put India on winter sports map


content_text:
Egypt, Iran object to World Cup ‘Pride’ match in US

Egypt and Iran have complained to FIFA over a World Cup soccer match in Seattle that is expected to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.

Leaders in the nation’s soccer federations publicly rebuked the idea of playing the match on June 26 at Seattle Stadium, which local organizers say will include a “once-in-a-lifetime moment to showcase and celebrate LGBTQIA+ communities in Washington.”

Organizers in Seattle have promoted an art contest for the match, including one entry of a rainbow-flagged sun rising over Mount Rainier as a crab goalie goes for a soccer ball while holding a cup of coffee in its pinchers.

Fans watch the opening ceremony before a FIFA Club World Cup soccer match between Inter and River Plate at Lumen Field, also known as Seattle Stadium, in Seattle, Washington, on June 25. Photo: Imagn Images via Reuters

“With matches on Juneteenth and pride, we get to show the world that in Seattle, everyone is welcome,” Seattle Mayor-elect Kate Wilson wrote on social media. “What an incredible honor!”

A World Cup draw in Washington selected the teams and matches last week for the tournament’s first round, placing Iran and Egypt as the teams to compete in the game.

In Iran, where gays and lesbians can face the death penalty, Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj criticized scheduling the match during an interview aired on state television late on Monday.

“Both Egypt and we have objected, because this is an unreasonable and illogical move that essentially signals support for a particular group, and we must definitely address this point,” Mehdi Taj said.

State TV on Tuesday confirmed a complaint would be sent to FIFA.

The Egyptian Football Association said in a statement that it had sent a formal letter to FIFA secretary-general Mattias Grafstrom, rejecting “in absolute terms” any activities linked to LGBTQ support during the match.

It said that such initiatives would clash with “the cultural, religious and social values” of Egypt and urged FIFA to ensure the match would solely focus on soccer.

Homosexuality is not expressly outlawed in Egypt, but is often punished under loosely worded laws prohibiting “debauchery.”

Seattle’s organizing committee on Tuesday said it was “moving forward as planned with our community programming outside the stadium during Pride weekend and throughout the tournament.”

“The Pacific Northwest is home to one of the nation’s largest Iranian-American communities, a thriving Egyptian diaspora and rich communities representing all nations we’re hosting in Seattle,” spokeswoman Hana Tadesse said in a statement. “We’re committed to ensuring all residents and visitors experience the warmth, respect and dignity that defines our region.”

Additional reporting by AFP


title: SPORTS BRIEFS

content_text:
SEA GAMES

Cambodia withdraws team

Cambodia yesterday withdrew its team from the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand for safety reasons, as a border conflict between the two neighbors raged for a third day. In a letter to organizers, the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC) said it withdrew due to “serious concerns” and requests from families of athletes to allow them to return home. Fighting erupted between the countries on Monday, the second major flare-up between them this year. “NOCC must withdraw all of our delegation and arrange for their prompt return to Cambodia for safety reasons,” the committee said in the letter, released a day after the team attended the opening ceremony of the Games in Bangkok. “The decision was not made lightly,” it said.

Members of Cambodia’s delegation wave their country’s national flag as they march in the athletes’ parade during the opening ceremony of the Southeast Asian Games at Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

BASEBALL

Ohtani wins athlete of year

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani on Tuesday was named The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for a record-tying fourth time. Ohtani, who also earned the distinction in 2021, 2023 and last year, matched LeBron James, Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong for the most selections since the award was first presented in 1931. Ohtani had been tied for the second-most wins with Michael Jordan, who was honored in 1991, 1992 and 1993. “Receiving this award multiple times is something truly special,” Ohtani said in Japanese in an interview with the AP. The only other baseball player to claim the AP award more than once was another Dodgers ace, Sandy Koufax, in 1963 and 1965.

SOCCER

Norway PM promises booze

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere has promised to find a way for fans to enjoy a drink in the pub as they watch their team’s late-night matches in the nation’s first FIFA World Cup appearance in 28 years next summer. Under Norway’s strict rules, pubs screening matches from North America would have to stop serving alcohol long before the final whistle. With Norway kicking off two of their Group I games at midnight and 2am local time, Stoere said a way would be found to keep the fans, and the pubs, happy. “It is a tradition in Norway that people go to pubs to watch matches together and we believe they should be able to do that for the whole match,” he told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. “This is something we will find a solution to well before the World Cup starts.”

CHESS

Carlsen wins Tour title

Magnus Carlsen on Tuesday secured the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour title by reaching the semi-finals of the South Africa Finals, clinching the season championship and the US$100,000 bonus prize. The world No. 1, who has given up on becoming classical chess world champion again after relinquishing his crown, endured a bumpy route into the last four. He opened his quarter-final tie against American Fabiano Caruana with a loss after a costly blunder, leaving himself in a must-win situation with the black pieces. Carlsen forced tiebreaks, then won the first blitz game before closing out the match with a second victory. The winner of the final leg of the year would collect US$200,000 in prize money.


title: Duck, duck, goal!

content_text: The Anaheim Ducks’ Leo Carlsson, right, backhands a shot over the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Arturs Silovs for the game-winning shoot-out goal during their NHL game in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday. The Ducks’ Beckett Sennecke forced overtime after tying the game 3-3 with one-10th of a second remaining in the third period, one of the four game-tying goals made within the last 15 seconds of regulation play on the same day, a first in NHL history.