屏東聖誕節「中華一條街市集熱鬧登場　逛市集還能抽大獎

▼屏東聖誕節開幕週限定「中華一條街市集」，11月29日至30日連續兩天登場，匯集超過70個攤位。（圖／屏東縣政府）

【記者何勁陞／屏東報導】 2025屏東聖誕節開幕週限定「中華一條街市集」，11月29日至30日連續兩天登場，匯集超過70個攤位，囊括特色美食、異國小吃及文創手作，消費滿額還可抽好禮，縣長周春米(29)日到場共襄盛舉，沿途與攤商、民眾熱情互動，邀請大小朋友除了到屏東公園賞燈，還能到中華路段散步逛市集。

屏東聖誕節開幕第2日，因適逢周末，一到亮燈時間，人流持續湧入屏東公園與周邊街道，周縣長跟著人潮走進「中華一條街市集」，街道上懸掛銀白色的跨街燈飾與繽紛聖誕花圈，超過70家的攤位讓民眾好逛又好買，現場節慶氛圍濃厚。

縣長周春米表示，繼28日聖誕節點燈儀式後，今日的中華一條街市集備受矚目，現場每一攤都很有特色、也非常好吃，此外，本次市集也結合普發現金政策，只要在市集或合作店家消費滿100元即可集1點，集滿10點就能參加抽獎，有機會將iPad、廚餘機、掃地機器人等獎品帶回家，鼓勵民眾在享受美食與逛街樂趣之餘，也能支持在地商家。

縣府傳播暨國際事務處表示，今年中華一條街市集特別結合政府推動的 「全民 +1 政府相挺」政策，推出消費滿額集章抽獎活動期間，只要在市集及中華路合作店家消費滿 100 元，就能獲得 1 個章，集滿 10 個章就能參加抽獎，獎項有iPAD、廚餘機、掃地機器人等多項好禮。

屏東聖誕節一路亮燈至115年1月4日，下一場市集活動「聖誕市集村」將於12月20日至21日在田徑場前廣場登場，集結特色美食、異國風文創小物等；屏東公園並設有免費拍貼機及4間特色賣店，讓民眾感受濃厚的耶誕氛圍。


【記者何勁陞／屏東報導】 「2025屏東釀醬生活節」（29）日在勝利星村星星廣場熱鬧開幕，現場聚集超過50個釀醬品牌攤商，濃厚醬香風味與豐富活動內容吸引許多遊客共襄盛舉，縣長周春米出席並走訪釀醬攤位與職人交流，周縣長表示，屏東客家釀醬文化底蘊深厚，透過釀醬生活節，讓更多人看見客庄的飲食智慧與釀造技藝，歡迎大家前來遊玩屏東釀醬生活節。

縣長周春米表示，屏東擁有多元的釀醬傳統，包括醬油、醬料、醬菜、醃菜、豆豉、味噌、果醋等，本次活動特別匯集50個品牌、20家特色釀醬齊聚勝利星村，讓民眾感受屏東釀醬的力與美。除了市集展售，今年更邀請青年主廚團隊與五星級萬豪酒店主廚合作，運用在地釀醬研發六道創意料理，從風味搭配到視覺呈現都充滿驚喜。

周縣長說，屏東釀醬生活節不只釀醬市集，更是傳統與創新、青年與職人交會的舞台，透過主廚示範、攤商交流、市集分享，以及安排的八條客庄遊程，大家可以更深度認識客家釀醬文化。歡迎民眾把握週末到勝利星村走逛，體驗客庄風味、感受好客精神。

縣府客家事務處表示，今年活動內容包含主廚創意料理秀、舞台表演、趣味料理競賽與釀醬職人分享。料理競賽邀請兩位青年主廚——現任私廚Eason（藍亦辰）與摩摩咖哩創辦人華仔（羅俊華）進行現場廚藝PK，以屏東釀醬發揮創意呈現全新風味，並由民眾擔任試吃員，從香氣、口感到創意呈現票選出心中的最佳料理，現場加油聲與驚呼聲不斷，彷彿美食版的「料理對決秀」。

此外，喜愛深度體驗的遊客也可參加8梯次客家醬香主題遊程，走訪客庄與釀醬場域，探索釀造文化源頭，體驗最道地的客家醬香風味。

客務處說，「屏東釀醬生活節」以釀醬為媒介，連結家的味道、人情的溫暖與客庄文化，是一場從味蕾到心靈的文化盛宴。今年也特別設置吉祥物「醬寶」充氣打卡區，吸引許多親子與遊客排隊拍照，活動現場洋溢歡笑與活力。縣府邀請民眾把握週末前來走訪勝利星村，感受屏東客庄滿滿的好客精神與獨特醬香魅力。

體驗屏東釀醬生活　品味五星級創意醬香菜色50品牌×20釀醬×6道料理×8梯遊程


▼屏東縣政府社會處處長劉美淑於活動中特別感謝國際扶輪3510地區長期對屏東弱勢兒少的關心。（圖／屏東縣政府）

【記者何勁陞／屏東報導】 為關懷弱勢兒童及少年，屏東縣政府結合國際扶輪3510地區推動「扶輪之子兒少認養計畫」，今年合作已邁向第15年，共有108位學童受惠，認養經費更高達129萬6,000元。屏東縣政府於29日在縣府大禮堂舉行受贈典禮，各社認養人也特地抽空前來，與扶輪之子們相見歡及鼓勵打氣，並親自頒發獎助學金，屏東縣政府社會處處長劉美淑於活動中特別感謝國際扶輪3510地區長期對屏東弱勢兒少的關心，因著這份信念、對兒少的關愛，延續愛心15年來不曾中斷，而扶輪之子們也自製卡片向認養人表達感謝與祝福。

本次活動國際扶輪3510地區總監邱綉惠率領23個扶輪分社參與認養活動，總監邱綉惠說，今年度的扶輪主題是『團結行善』，扶輪社期許以實際行動為弱勢兒少在學習路上能減少負擔、擁有更安心的成長環境，透過善意的行動，讓他們感受到愛，並確實改變他們的生活。

扶輪之子代表紛紛上臺致感謝詞，感謝扶輪社不僅帶來經濟上的協助，更帶來心靈上的支持，讓學子們能專心向學，讓人生道路有不一樣的選擇，其中扶輪之子蓉蓉預計將補助金用來投資自己，支應英文補習課程精進自己的英文能力，有扶輪社的支持，引領扶輪之子們放心展翅高飛、勇敢追夢，並締造未來關廣人生，也期許自己未來能夠成為手心向下的人，成為有能力並為社會奉獻一份心力。

社會處表示，這次受贈典禮，由23個扶輪社共襄盛舉，展現出扶輪社永恆付出的愛，包含里港扶輪社、阿緱城扶輪社、屏東鳳凰扶輪社、屏東中正扶輪社、潮州扶輪社、屏東和平扶輪社、高雄欣欣扶輪社、高雄晨光扶輪社、高雄中興扶輪社、高雄南區扶輪社、高雄木棉扶輪社、高雄拱心扶輪社、高雄亞灣扶輪社、高雄中北扶輪社、高雄鐵人扶輪社、高雄南一扶輪社、高雄西北扶輪社、高雄濱海扶輪社、高雄卓越扶輪社、高雄大發扶輪社、大樹扶輪社、高科大扶輪社和鳳馨扶輪社，扶輪之子認養計畫集結眾人力量，展現『團結行善』的真實力量，撒下善的種子，攜手協助弱勢家庭生活所需，鼓勵學童安心就學，減輕家長負擔，期待這股愛的力量陪伴學童不畏困境，朝著目標勇敢邁進，並讓此善意在社區中持續擴散，形成永續的正向循環。

和平 大樹 潮州 南區 里港 高雄 中正 屏東縣

扶輪之子捐贈活動連續15年　114年共108位學童受益


▼目前屏東已有超過5萬1,000名志工，廣泛活躍在社區關懷、醫療陪伴、環境保育、防災救援等領域。（圖／屏東縣政府）

【記者何勁陞／屏東報導】 為響應12月5日國際志工日，屏東縣政府（29）日於屏東縣立體育場舉辦「114年度志工運動大會」，縣長周春米出席主持，與來自全縣58個志工團隊、逾1,300名志工共同熱力展開活動序幕，現場志工們加油聲此起彼落，運動場上活力十足、熱鬧非凡，周縣長表示，志工運動大會深受志工夥伴喜愛，不僅凝聚團隊向心力，更展現屏東志工的熱情與生命力。

縣長周春米表示，目前屏東已有超過5萬1,000名志工，廣泛活躍在社區關懷、醫療陪伴、環境保育、防災救援等領域，是支持縣政推動的重要力量，其中50歲以上志工比例更達68%，展現出屏東志工堅韌與溫暖的一面。

「政府力量有限，民間力量無窮」周縣長說，感謝每位志工在各個場域默默付出，成為縣府最堅實的後盾，並祝福所有志工國際志工日快樂，也期盼未來屏東志工人數能突破6萬人，讓更多人投入志願服務。

縣府社會處表示，本次志工運動大會規劃五大趣味競賽，包括「大家衣起來」、「屏東好物234」、「水球接力賽」、「挑擔競走」及最受矚目的「拔河比賽」。志工們在競賽中展現體力、默契與創意，彼此加油鼓勵，賽場上熱情滿滿、笑聲不斷，現場就像一場大型嘉年華。除了競賽，會場同步設置「志工博覽會」，由縣府13個局處設置15個攤位，內容涵蓋社區服務、環境保護、防詐宣導、動物保護、文化推廣等多元議題，吸引不少志工與民眾駐足參與，活動氛圍熱鬧且富教育意義。

縣府同時推出第二屆「志工月」系列講座，今年以「好屏志造所 × 志工心靈充電站」為主題，聚焦志工心靈成長，安排三場主題講座，分別邀請作家黃大米、單口喜劇演員瑞恩及作家吳若權分享生命與療癒故事。此外，社會處亦推出三支短影音，呈現推拿、海生館及林業保育志工的服務過程，展現志願服務的深度與多樣性。

社會處說，志願服務是城市中最溫暖的光，也是在地社會安全網的重要基礎。縣府將持續強化志工培力、跨局處合作與多元創新模式，讓志工精神在屏東持續綻放，邀請更多鄉親加入志工行列，攜手打造更幸福、更美好的屏東。

響應12月5日國際志工日　志工運動大會熱力登場


嘉義縣蚵產業技能訓練　助蚵農學習新技術及AI行銷技能

記者張辰卿/嘉義報導

嘉義縣政府近年積極推動蚵產業升級計畫，協助在地產業導入溯源制度、打造「東石蚵」品牌、推動食漁教育，並透過多元行銷活動提升產業能見度。同時縣府亦持續陪伴蚵農強化養殖技術與產業軟實力，期望為嘉義蚵產業開創更具競爭力的永續發展。

縣府趁著蚵盛產季後的農閒時節，於11/28日舉辦為時四小時的「牡蠣產業提升培訓課程」，共有 20 位蚵農全程參與。課程內容涵蓋最新養殖技術與 AI 行銷應用，學員們紛紛表示收穫豐富，不僅獲得實務技巧，也提升了品牌與行銷思維。

▲114年牡蠣產業提升培訓課程學習新技術。(圖/嘉義縣政府)

牡蠣產業提升培訓課程

農業處處長許彰敏出席勉勵表示，縣府將持續協助蚵農精進技術、提升產業競爭力，並鼓勵大家在既有基礎上不斷創新，攜手邁向永續生產與穩健經營，共同讓嘉義蚵產業再創成長動能。

此次培訓課程主題包括「牡蠣養殖技術發展與展望」及「AI 數位行銷經營」，以「技術＋品牌」雙軌為產業提升奠定關鍵基礎。課程從養殖現場實務切入，帶領學員掌握新型養殖模式、蟲害管理與環境變化因應策略，同時運用AI工具協助蚵農建立品牌形象、提升網路曝光與市場競爭力。

▲課程從養殖現場實務切入。(圖/嘉義縣政府)

「AI數位行銷經營」課程

「牡蠣養殖技術發展與展望」課程，由嘉義大學陳哲俊教授講授，陳教授長年從事水產養殖領域研究及實務，深受蚵農信賴，他以國內外牡蠣養殖技術及市場趨勢為基礎，解析單體牡蠣、牡蠣串、生蠔等不同類型的養殖方式及市場需求，並分享人工苗、三倍體牡蠣等趨勢，並與蚵農探討嘉義牡蠣未來可發展的方向。

「AI數位行銷經營」課程，由AI行銷講師朱訓麒老師講授，以簡單易懂的方式帶領蚵農接觸最實用的AI工具。從產品定位、品牌故事到包裝概念圖，並延伸至文案撰寫、社群貼文與影片腳本創作，朱老師示範如何用ChatGPT、Canva與AI圖像工具快速完成素材，大幅降低行銷門檻並提升自有品牌曝光能力。

▲(圖/嘉義縣政府)


Beijing building bases on coast: MAC

THREATS: Naval facilities have been built in Shanghai and Zhejiang, while airbases have been expanded in Xiamen, Fuzhou and Zhangpu, across the Strait from Taiwan

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is building large-scale military infrastructure at five sites along the eastern coast of China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a recent report.

The latest issue of the council’s Mainland China Situation Quarterly said satellite photos showed military infrastructure such as air force and naval bases being constructed along the eastern coast of China.

That means the CCP might be preparing for potential conflict in Taiwan, it said, adding that there are five such construction sites from north to south.

The skyline of Xiamen, China, is seen past anti-landing spikes placed along the coast of Lieyu Islet, Kinmen County, which lies just 3.2km away, on Aug. 10, 2022. Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP

A naval base has been built in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area, with underground oil storage tanks, railway branch lines and amphibious bases under construction over the past few years, it said.

More than 10 amphibious warships berthed at the naval base in May, including a Type 075 amphibious assault ship, with a combined personnel capacity of about 5,000, it said.

Naval facilities were also built at Zhejiang Province’s Yueqing Bay, including a large wharf that allows numerous vessels to berth and operate there, the council said.

Infrastructure has been added to Fuzhou Changle International Airport in recent years to provide more space for warplanes’ operations, such as frontline fuel stations or military logistics hubs, it said.

The Xiamen Xiangan International Airport on Dadeng Island — where the area of land reclamation has doubled in recent years — is under construction, with massive railway and highway systems linking to the air cargo hub, the council said.

The airport could be operated militarily when needed and is only 3.7km from Kinmen County, it said.

Helipads and maintenance hangars were added to the newly built helicopter base in Zhangpu County, which could pave the way to seize Penghu County, it said.

Data from the US Department of Defense showed that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force’s (PLARF) stockpile — including nuclear and conventional missiles — has increased by nearly 50 percent over the past four years to about 3,500 missiles, the MAC said, adding that it remained unclear regarding how many of the missiles are deployed along China’s eastern coast and aimed at Taiwan.

However, satellite photos showed that the PLARF has in recent years built larger military bases and more missile launchers along the eastern coast of China, the council said.

They also showed that soldiers engaged in missile-launching drills around farmlands, hidden valleys, high-speed highways and coastal convex banks facing Taiwan, it said.

The overwhelmingly large number of missiles possessed by the CCP is intended to send a political message that Taiwanese resistance is meaningless and that US intervention is impossible, it said, citing the researchers.

Information from multiple sources also showed that Moscow is assisting Beijing in enhancing airborne and special operation capabilities for seizing Taiwan and its outlying islands, the council said.

In related news, the Ministry of National Defense yesterday said its data showed 26 Chinese military aircraft and 10 vessels were detected around Taiwan between 6pm on Friday and 6am yesterday.

Twenty-three of the warplanes crossed the Taiwan Strait’s median line and entered Taiwan’s northern, central and southwestern air defense identification zones, the ministry said.

From 7:40am yesterday, 12 military aircraft were detected conducting operations at sea, crossing the median line, and entering the south and southeast of the air defense identification zone before heading to the western Pacific for “long-range offshore” training, it said.

The armed forces monitored the situation and employed aircraft, navy vessels and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities, it said.


President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said he is willing to report on government policies and the special national defense budget at the Legislative Yuan, if there is a consensus among the governing and opposition party caucuses and if it is in compliance with constitutional procedure.

Lai on Wednesday announced a bill for an additional eight-year NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.9 billion) national defense budget.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus deputy secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) on Friday said the legislature should invite Lai to present his policies to lawmakers.

President William Lai speaks to reproters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

According to the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法), the president can report major national policies to the Legislative Yuan if the proposal is endorsed by more than one-quarter of all legislators at the legislature’s plenary session and scheduled by the Procedure Committee; or the president can request to report to the Legislative Yuan with its approval.

In response to media queries, Lai yesterday said that if having him report at the legislature is a consensus among the governing and opposition party caucuses, and if it complies with constitutional procedure, then he is willing to report his government policies and the special defense budget to the public, and obtain the legislature’s support.

The Presidential Office on Friday also said it is willing to make efforts on any approach that can strengthen national defense, promote national solidarity, and facilitate dialogue between the ruling and opposition parties to ensure the people are safe from threats, especially in a time when neighboring countries are showing cross-party unity and commitment to boosting self-defense resilience.

Democratic Progressive Party caucus secretary-general Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) yesterday said that if the opposition parties sincerely invite the president to discuss the special defense budget, allowing the government to explain what it means for Taiwan to the Legislative Yuan, then her caucus would be glad to see it happen.

However, the Legislative Yuan must comply with the constitutional procedure, she said, adding that there is room for discussion and dialogue if the opposition is willing to support the budget.

Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday said he holds “no expectation at all” if Lai’s report to the legislature is only one-sided political propaganda without taking questions from lawmakers, adding that Lai had promised to do so during last year’s presidential election.

Additional reporting by Lee Wen-hsin

賴清德 黃國昌 陳培瑜 林沛祥

Lai says willing to share policies with legislature


Airlines briefly grounded by Airbus software issues

Airlines around the world canceled and delayed flights heading into the weekend to fix software on a widely used commercial aircraft, after an analysis found the computer code might have contributed to a sudden drop in the altitude of a JetBlue plane last month.

Airbus on Friday said that an examination of the JetBlue incident revealed that intense solar radiation might corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls on the A320 family of aircraft.

The US Federal Aviation Administration joined the EU Aviation Safety Agency in requiring airlines to address the issue with a new software update. More than 500 US-registered aircraft would be impacted.

A Tigerair Taiwan A320 is pictured at Taiwan Taoyuan Airport yesterday. Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times

The EU safety agency said it might cause “short-term disruption” to flight schedules.

The problem was introduced by a software update to the plane’s onboard computers, according to the EU agency.

In Japan, All Nippon Airways, which operates more than 30 planes of the family, canceled 65 domestic flights yesterday.

Additional cancelations are possible today, the airline said.

In Taipei, the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday instructed local airlines to complete repairs to A320 family jets affected by the emergency airworthiness directive before 8am today.

In a statement, the CAA said about two-thirds of the 67 A320 and A321 aircraft flown by China Airlines (中華航空), EVA Airways (長榮航空), Starlux Airlines (星宇航空) and Tigerair Taiwan (台灣虎航) must be checked under the directive.

China Airlines, Taiwan’s largest international carrier, said it would carry out the required software changes without disrupting its flight schedule.

EVA Air and Starlux said they do not expect any changes to their operations due to the repairs.

Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan said that the repairs would likely cause some disruption to its flight schedules, adding it would keep passengers informed.

Mike Stengel, a partner with the aerospace industry management consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory, said the fix could be addressed between flights or on overnight plane checks.

“Definitely not ideal for this to be happening on a very ubiquitous aircraft on a busy holiday weekend,” Stengel said, referring to the US’ Thanksgiving holiday. “Although again the silver lining being that it only should take a few hours to update the software.”

At least 15 JetBlue passengers were injured and taken to hospital after the Oct. 30 incident on board the flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey. The plane was diverted to Tampa, Florida.

Airbus, which is registered in the Netherlands, but has its main headquarters in France, is one of the world’s biggest airplane manufacturers, alongside Boeing.

The A320 is the primary competitor to Boeing’s 737, Stengel said.

The A320 is the world’s bestselling single-aisle aircraft family, according to Airbus’ Web site.

Additional reporting by CNA


Zelenskiy ally fired amid corruption probe, Kyiv attacks

Ukraine’s capital faced a night of attacks on Friday to yesterday, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy removed his chief of staff and top negotiator following a raid on Andriy Yermak’s house as part of a sweeping corruption probe.

Yermak’s removal dealt a serious blow to Zelenskiy, who faces a mounting Russian offensive in the east as Washington peddles a plan to end the war that Kyiv fears would hand big concessions to Moscow.

Ukrainian negotiators are expected in the US this weekend for talks on the US plan to end the war. Yermak, 54, was supposed to have negotiated on behalf of Ukraine at the talks and Zelenskiy said he would hold consultations yesterday over a replacement for him.

Then-Ukrainian Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak attends a press conference in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 14 last year. Photo: EPA

Russian drones struck Kyiv, killing at least two people, and causing damage and massive power cuts in the capital, officials said.

About a dozen people were wounded, as residential buildings were hit in several districts, they said.

Leading the talks this weekend is now Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, according to two senior Ukrainian officials, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Just last week, Zelenskiy had named Yermak as Ukraine’s top negotiator in a vote of confidence, despite growing pressure from opposition figures to remove the chief of staff.

On Friday, Zelenskiy announced in a video address: “The Office of the President of Ukraine will be reorganized. The head of the office, Andriy Yermak, has submitted his resignation.”

Minutes later, Zelenskiy signed a decree “to dismiss” Yermak.

On Friday, investigators from the Ukrainian National Anti-Corruption Agency (NABU) said it and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) had raided Yermak’s apartment as part of an investigation.

They did not say what it was about, and Yermak said he was cooperating fully.

Yermak has been accused of involvement in a US$100 million kickback scheme in the strategic energy sector, uncovered by investigators earlier this month.

The case triggered widespread public anger at a time when Russia is hammering Ukraine’s power grid, causing blackouts and threatening winter heating outages.

In the face of the scandal, Zelenskiy sought to rally the population on Friday.

“If we lose our unity, we risk losing everything: ourselves, Ukraine, our future,” he said in the address.

Yermak was Zelenskiy’s most important ally, but in Kyiv, his opponents say he has accumulated power, gate-keeps access to the president and ruthlessly sidelines critical voices.

A former film producer and copyright lawyer, he came into politics with Zelenskiy in 2019, having previously worked with the now-president during his time as a comedian.

Yermak was widely considered the second-most influential man in the country and even sometimes nicknamed “vice president.”

“Yermak doesn’t allow anyone to get to Zelenskiy except loyal people,” a former senior official who worked with Zelenskiy and Yermak told reporters, describing him as “super paranoid.”

“He definitely tries to influence almost every decision,” they added.

A senior source in Zelenskiy’s party said Yermak’s influence over the president was akin to “hypnosis.”

Speaking after the raid on Yermak, the EU backed the work of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies.

“We have a lot of respect for those investigations which show that the anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine are doing their work,” said European Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho.

Zelenskiy had in the summer tried to strip the independence of NABU and SPO, triggering rare wartime protests and forcing him to walk back the decision after criticism from the EU.


THINE OWN HAND:  The DPP bill would ease voting in registered area, while KMT and TPP bills seek to allow in-country — though no overseas — absentee voting   By Chen Cheng-yu, Lin Hsin-han and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is countering the opposition’s proposed legislation for absentee voting with a proposal for two consecutive days off around elections.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) caucuses have proposed separate versions of a draft absentee voting act, allowing those who are not at their registered residence to be eligible for a single transferable vote or to vote in designated areas.

According to the KMT caucus, nationwide long-term statistics show that as many as 2 million people work or study away from home and cannot return to vote, adding that indigenous voters in particular have a high need for absentee voting.

The KMT urged the DPP to be a responsible government and not to engage in smear campaigns or create conflict among the public, adding that its proposal sought to uphold the principle of equal rights for people by ensuring every citizen’s right to vote.

Saying that the DPP’s opposition to absentee voting stems from concerns that absentee voting in China could come under pressure from external forces and undermine voting fairness, the KMT caucus added its version excludes people “in foreign countries and China.”

There is no question of possible intervention from external forces, it said.

The TPP caucus has listed its proposed absentee voting bill as a priority for this legislative session. Its draft states that absentee voting would be carried out through transferred voting or voting at designated locations.

The TPP caucus likewise said that its version of absentee voting applies only to domestic transfer voting, limited to Taiwan proper, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, and does not extend overseas.

Under the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and the Referendum Act (公民投票法), election, recall, and referendum voting days are each designated as a one-day holiday.

The DPP caucus has drafted a “democratic voting promotion act,” which on Friday was forwarded to the legislature’s Interior Committee for review.

The DPP’s counterproposal states that the day of the vote and the day before elections, recalls, and referendums should be considered off days, and that local governments and corporations should encourage people to return to their registered residences to vote.

Local governments should establish regulations that allow citizens returning to their registered residence to vote from the location where they work, with transport subsidies or other assistance, the draft act says.

It states that national exams should not take place on voting day or the day prior, and that the central and local governments should assist people with physical or mental disabilities in exercising their voting rights.

Local governments should assist pregnant women, child carers, elderly people, those under guardianship or requiring assistance, and guardians or assistants as they vote, it says.

DPP caucus secretary-general Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) said yesterday that China has gone through great lengths to place agents in Taiwan whose job was to spread Chinese views.

Absentee voting is risky, as personal information could be leaked when ballots are moved or if voting booths are moved to other locations, she said, adding that if booths have only one voter, the secrecy of their vote cannot be guaranteed.

The DPP caucus has proposed an alternative that is both low-risk and promotes voting, aiming to make a tangible impact for the people, she said.

Additional reporting by Lin Che-yuan

DPP seeks 2-day voting to counter absentee vote act


HOW RUDE:  Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific defense chief condemned China’s response to Takaichi’s remarks as inappropriate and heavy-handed, while praising Japan’s nerve

A former US defense official under former US president Joe Biden has voiced support for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for her remarks suggesting that Japan could help defend Taiwan, while describing Beijing’s response as “inappropriate.”

Ely Ratner, who served as assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs from 2021 to this year, said in a CNA interview that Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan simply reflected Japan’s position and stance on Taiwan.

On Nov. 7, the Japanese prime minister commented in a parliamentary session that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute “a situation threatening Japan’s survival” that could trigger a military response.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a press conference at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo on Oct. 21. Photo: AP

Takaichi is thought to be the first Japanese leader in decades to publicly suggest that a Taiwan Strait crisis could lead to Japan’s military involvement.

Her comment angered China, which has taken a series of retaliatory measures aimed at hurting Japan’s economy, including issuing advisories against travel and study in Japan, and suspending the resumption of Japanese seafood imports. Xue Jian (薛劍), the Chinese consul general in Osaka, said in a since-deleted social media post that Takaichi should be “decapitated.”

“They reflected Japan’s policy and position on the issue,” Ratner said, referring to Takaichi’s remarks. “There was nothing controversial or incorrect about what she said.”

At the same time, Ratner, now at Washington-based think tank Marathon Initiative, said China’s reaction was “inappropriate.”

“I think Beijing’s response was completely inappropriate, even suggesting violence against her, and the actions that they’ve taken have been quite extreme,” Ratner said. “I’m very encouraged, actually, so far, to the degree to which the Japanese government has not backed down in the face of those threats.”

Amid growing tensions between Japan and China, US President Donald Trump called Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Takaichi. Japanese news media such as the Asahi Shimbun and the Kyodo news agency said the conversations aimed to prevent the Tokyo-Beijing unease from escalating.

Citing insider sources, a Wall Street Journal report said Trump suggested to Takaichi that she should not provoke Beijing on the Taiwan issue, but Trump’s tone was euphemistic and Trump never pressed the Japanese prime minister to walk back her comments.

However, Minoru Kihara, the top Japanese government spokesman, denied Trump had advised Takaichi to not provoke China.

For his part, Ratner said: “I would hope that the United States would offer full support for Prime Minister Takaichi during this period.”

Former US official slams Chinese tantrum


Representative to Finland Freddy Lim (林昶佐) built connections with local politicians and others through a heavy metal concert with Finnish bands in Helsinki on Thursday.

At “F:F:F-Formosa:Finland:Fest,” on Thursday at concert venue Tiivistamo, Lim, playing with Chthonic (閃靈) — including his wife, Doris Yeh (葉湘怡), leader and bassist of their band — were joined by fellow Taiwanese bands Crescent Lament (恆月三途) and Flesh Juicer (血肉果汁機), along with three Finnish acts: Korpiklaani, Lost Society and Olli Vanska.

Visual, fashion and culinary artists from Taiwan also took part, according to the festival Web site.

Representative to Finland Freddy Lim performs at the “F:F:F-Formosa:Finland:Fest” in his capacity as Chthonic’s lead singer in Helsinki on Thursday. Photo: CNA

Lim said the event drew unusually strong participation from Finnish politicians, many of whom had shown little interest in Taiwan’s activities before.

The representative office was surprised when many of those who had declined past invitations confirmed their attendance.

“Some even asked a week before the event if they could bring more friends,” Lim said.

Describing the concert as part of Taiwan’s evolving diplomatic strategy, Lim said it built a bridge connecting Taiwan and the world through sensibility rather than sense.

The event was organized by Taiwan’s General Association of Chinese Culture, with support from the foreign and culture ministries.

Lim served two terms as a lawmaker from 2016 to last year. He cofounded the New Power Party before joining the Democratic Progressive Party in November 2023. Before entering politics, he was known for being a member of Chthonic.

Lim said the representative office conducted detailed research on guests’ interests and tailored its invitations accordingly to broaden the event beyond traditional diplomacy.

Lim has faced questions about his lack of diplomatic experience and acknowledged he was nervous when he assumed the representative post in late July.

Lim said he has gradually found his rhythm, as local politicians have started inviting him to new heavy metal bars or sharing concert information with him.

In what he described as the “heavy metal capital of the world,” Lim said he found in music a natural expression of his diverse identities and leveraged it for diplomacy.

Heavy metal, a new tune for Taiwan diplomacy


Chinese baseball league announces Taiwanese picks

Prominent Taiwanese baseball figures have been named for the playing and coaching rosters for China’s new professional baseball league, prompting concerns that Beijing is using the sport to expand its political reach, as well as fears that Taiwan would lose a lot of talent across the Strait.

Chinese Professional Baseball (CPB) held its first player draft in Shenzhen on Wednesday. The five founding franchises selected 57 players for the inaugural season, which is opens on Jan. 1, the World Baseball Softball Confederation reported.

Former Fubon Guardians outfielder Wang Shih-tsung (王詩聰) was selected by the Hunan Province-based Changsha Want Want Happy club.

The logos for teams in China’s new professional baseball league are pictured in an undated photograph. Photo: Screen grab from the Chinese Professional Baseball’s Facebook page

CPB officials and club owners have reached out to active and former players from Taiwan’s CPBL, Taiwanese media reported.

Earlier in the week, the CPB announced that Lu Wen-sheng (呂文生) would be head coach for the Fujian Province-based Fuzhou Sea Knights.

Lu coached the Uni-President Lions to four CPBL championships from 2007 to 2009 and in 2011.

The CPB also confirmed Wu Chun-liang (吳俊良) as head coach for Want Want Happy. From 2009 to 2021, Wu was pitching coach for three CPBL clubs, the Lions, the Lamigo Monkeys and the Fubon Guardians.

The Fujian-based Xiamen Dolphins named Tsai Chung-kuang (蔡重光) as head coach, a lefty who played six seasons in the CPBL from 1997 to 2002 for the now-defunct China Times Eagles and the Sinon Bulls — a former name of the Guardians. Tsai was later a pitching coach for the Bulls.

The CPB is looking elsewhere for talent as well.

The Shanghai Dragons named South Korean Koo Dae-Sung as head coach. Koo is a former MLB pitcher, having played for the New York Mets. He also played in South Korea’s KBO for the Hanwha Eagles and the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball.

The Shenzhen Blue Sox named Chinese-American Ray Chang (張寶樹) as its manager as. Chang represented China at major international competitions.

The CPB earlier this month sparked controversy when it announced the league format and the names of the five clubs, which initially included the “Shanghai Brothers.” The logo for the team was primarily yellow and featured an elephant, sparking ire in Taiwan, as the branding was similar to the CPBL’s CTBC Brothers.

The CBL later denied that it had a team called the Shanghai Brothers.

A message announcing the team did not originate from the league, the Taipei-based Baseball Federation of Asia said on Nov. 11.

However, sports experts said that the CPB Brothers team was part of a “united front” strategy to lure Taiwanese players and coaches to China, including through higher wages, with the ultimate goal of supplanting the CPBL.

Deputy Minister of Sports Cheng Shih-chung (鄭世忠) at the time said: “Baseball is Taiwan’s national game, over its many decades of development, our citizens have forged a strong bond to the game.”

“Taiwanese should continue to support baseball here at the professional, amateur and school levels, to protect our cherished game, cultivate our young talent, and boost Taiwanese clubs and the national team,” Cheng added.

There are concerns that Taiwanese businesses would be enticed by China’s large market to invest in the CPB, commentators said.

The Changsha club is backed by the Want Want Group, a Taiwanese conglomerate headed by Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明).

Chinese media reported that the CPB’s inaugural season would start on Jan. 1 and end the following month, with a summer season planned to start in July.

The league hopes more investments would allow it to be fully professional in three years, reports said.


Starting next month, people who signed up for the TPass 2.0 program can receive a 15 percent rebate for trips on mid to long-distance freeway buses or on buses headed to the east coast twice every month, the Highway Bureau said.

Bureau Director-General Lin Fu-shan (林福山) said the government started TPass 2.0 to offer rebates to frequent riders of public transportation, or people who use city buses, highway buses, trains or MRTs at least 11 times per month.

As of Nov. 12, 265,000 people have registered for TPass 2.0, and about 16.56 million trips between February and September qualified for rebates, Lin said.

Highway Bureau Director-General Lin Fu-shan, left, and Transportation Division Director Liang Kuo-kuo hold placards promoting TPass2.0+ at a news conference in Taipei on Monday. Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times

TPass 2.0 mainly benefits commuters who use the MRT or city buses to travel to work or school. Passengers on mid and long-distance freeway buses are mainly homebound travelers, making it difficult for them to be qualify for frequent rider rebates.

The new incentive, called TPass 2.0+, would give rebates to freeway bus passengers traveling more than 70km along the west coast and those traveling to the east coast, Lin said.

The program covers 91 freeway bus routes, and TPass 2.0 holders would qualify for frequent rider rebates if they use those services at least twice per month, he said, adding that the rebates could reach 40 percent if they take such rides four times in a month.

People who travel during major national holidays, during which bus passengers are given a 40 percent discount on tickets, would enjoy an even bigger ticket discount if they are on the TPass 2.0+ program, the bureau said.

For example, a roundtrip ticket between Taipei and Kaohsiung costs NT$1,606 on regular days. The price for bus travelers during major holidays would be NT$964 and that would fall to NT$819 for those on TPass 2.0+, it said.

The ticket price would be NT$1,348 if there were two major holidays in one month, it added.

The rebates are only available for electronic ticket card users, including those using EasyCard, iPass and iCash 2.0, Lin said.

The maximum amount of rebates a card user could receive each month is capped at NT$2,500, starting next month.

TPass 2.0 users can collect their rebates on the 25th of the following month at convenience stores, MRT stations and their electronic card apps, the bureau said.

TPass 2.0 to offer 15% rebate for long-distance travel


The first human case of H5N5 avian flu appears to be an isolated case and is unlikely to spark wider transmission, Taiwanese experts said this week, after the US earlier this month reported a person died from the flu strain.

National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) Graduate Institute of Microbiology and Public Health professor Chao Day-yu (趙黛瑜) said the infection was likely the result of a spillover pathway from wild birds to poultry and finally to humans.

Such a single, sporadic event has a low probability of escalating into a pandemic, she added.

A woman feeds pigeons at the entrance to Liberty Square in Taipei in an undated photograph. Photo: CNA

US health authorities on Friday last week confirmed that a person had died of the H5N5 virus — a strain not previously known to infect humans.

Historically, only a few avian influenza subtypes have caused significant human infections, such as H5N1, which triggered an outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997, and H7N9, which has been confined to China, Chao said.

Other subtypes of the virus have occasionally been detected in people, but have shown no signs of human-to-human transmission, she added.

However, avian influenza viruses are increasingly spilling over into a wider range of animal hosts, including carnivorous and omnivorous wildlife, and even marine animals, Chao said, adding that it is a trend that warrants heightened vigilance and preventive action.

NCHU distinguished professor Chang Poa-chun (張伯俊) said seasonal human influenza viruses do not simply transform into avian influenza strains if passed on to birds.

Such a transformation would require long-term, multistep evolutionary processes, Chang added.

Avian influenza viruses fall under the category of influenza A, a designation that also includes other animal-originated influenza A viruses circulating in poultry and livestock such as cattle and pigs.

Any human infection with these non-seasonal strains is reported as a novel influenza A case, which is classified in Taiwan as a Category 5 notifiable infectious disease.

Fatal human H5N5 case an isolated event: experts


Water monitoring stations set up on Tamsui River

LESS POLLUTED: The water quality of the Tamsui River has improved by more than 50 percent since 2002 and nearby ecosystems are recovering, a deputy minister said

Eleven automatic detection stations have been set up around the Tamsui River (淡水河) to monitor water quality in real time, with the goal of promoting more water activities in the river, the Ministry of Environment said on Friday.

Deputy Minister of Environment Yeh Jiunn-horng (葉俊宏) said the river’s water quality has improved thanks to efforts made over the past three decades, including removing large piles of trash from the Dahan River (大漢溪) — the biggest branch of the Tamsui River — relocating pig farms around the riverbank and building a sewage piping system.

The construction project for the piping system began in the 1980s and has a sewer connection rate of more than 83 percent in Taipei, he said.

Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming speaks at an event in Taipei on Friday. Photo: Huang Yi-ching, Taipei Times

Interception stations were also set up in Taipei and New Taipei City to divert raw sewage in areas without sewers to nearby sewage treatment plants, Yeh said.

The wetlands along the Dahan River were built in the 2000s, when the New Taipei City Government’s Environment Protection Department was promoting on-site treatment of wastewater, he said.

These sites are not just for treating and discharging sewage into the Tamsui River system, they are also linked to wetlands in Taipei’s Guandu District (關渡), forming an ecological corridor, Yeh added.

He also called on people not to discard rubbish around rivers, especially near mangrove forests.

The garbage would drift into the river when the tide comes into the forest and is difficult to collect, as the land gets too muddy, Yeh said, adding that the government would try to resolve such issues through public-private cooperation.

The Tamsui River does not smell as bad as before, and the government would continue to improve the river’s water quality to achieve its next target: to allow people to engage in more water activities in the river, he said.

Water Quality Protection Department Diretor-General Wang Yue-bin (王嶽斌) said the overall quality of the Tamsui River has improved by more than 50 percent since 2002, with its average river pollution index decreasing from 4.4 that year to 2.1 last year.

Ecosystems near the Tamsui River’s branches have gradually recovered, including those of various big fishes and mitten crabs in the Sindian River (新店溪) and great cormorants around the Keelung River (基隆河), he said.

In related news, the ministry yesterday invited the European Economic and Trade Office (EETO) and the Ministry of Sports to participate in a mountain cleanup hike on New Taipei City’s Guanyin Mountain (觀音山).

Attendees included Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明), Minister of Sports Lee Yang (李洋), and more than 200 officials from nine EU member states’ representative offices in Taiwan and other governmental personnel.

Hsiao said in her address that people from Taiwan and the EU took part in the hike together to demonstrate the shared values of sustainability, health and environmental protection.

“Our common goal is to build a more sustainable Earth for future generations,” she said, expressing thanks to the EU for continuing to deepen bilateral ties through years of beach cleanup initiatives and this year’s mountain cleanup event.

EETO Director Lutz Gullner said the mountain cleanup aimed to send a signal to the world about the importance of environmental protection, with participants following the low-carbon, sustainable principle to finish the hike.

The EU and its member states have long been working closely with Taiwan in environmental protection, as both sides have common values and visions, he added.


Phoenix-themed MRT celebrates new direct flight

The Taoyuan Airport MRT has launched a themed train to celebrate China Airlines’ (CAL) direct flight service to Phoenix, Arizona.

The route, which is to begin services on Wednesday, marks the carrier’s latest expansion into the southwest region of the US.

To celebrate, CAL partnered with Taoyuan Metro — which operates the MRT line to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport — to introduce a themed train featuring Phoenix.

A Phoenix-themed Taoyuan Airport MRT train is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of the China Airlines

The train’s exterior features towering saguaro cacti, desert landscapes and a golden sunrise, the airline said, adding that the color scheme transitions from the first light of dawn to full daylight, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of the Phoenix skyline.

Both ends of the train are decorated with images of a cabin crew, and the desert aesthetic continues into the train’s interior, covering the ceiling, windows, doors and entrances, the airline said.

Phoenix-themed visuals have also been set up in MRT and Taiwan High Speed Rail stations, it said.

The Taipei-Phoenix route would be open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

The flight to Phoenix (CI036) is to depart from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 4:30pm and arrive in Phoenix at 1:35pm local time.

The return flight (CI035) leaves Phoenix at 4pm and arrives in Taipei at 10:20pm the following day.


MEDICINE

MedTex to open next week

The Asia Medical Technology Innovation Forum (MedTex 2025) — touted as Asia’s largest medical technology investment event — is to take place in Taipei on Wednesday, with the theme “Medical Innovation and Global Investment Strategies in the AI [artificial intelligence] Era.” The event aims to connect Taiwan’s capital and research teams with global industry leaders. It would bring together six major international venture capital firms from Europe, the US and Israel, as well as 10 emerging AI healthcare start-ups, and would cover areas such as new drugs, medical robotics and breakthrough therapies, the Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry said. Novo Holdings is among the major venture capitals to attend the event, it said. Other attendees would include Iambic, an AI drug company with funding from Nvidia and the Qatar Sovereign Fund that is developing new small-molecule anticancer drugs, and Swiss start-up Nanoflex Robotics, which has developed a magnetically controlled cardiovascular intervention robot that can remove blood clots remotely, it added.

HEALTH

Pork from Spain banned

Taiwan yesterday banned imports of Spanish pork products after African swine fever (ASF) was detected in two wild boars near Barcelona, the Central Emergency Operation Center for African swine fever said. The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said the carcasses, found earlier this week in the suburbs of the city, had tested positive for ASF — the country’s first confirmed case since it was declared free of the disease in 1983. Effective immediately, imports of fresh pork or pork products from Spain by sea or air are prohibited, the center said. People who contravene the rules will have the items confiscated. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency also added Spain to its list of ASF-affected countries, prompting tighter inspections at border quarantine points, the center said. Spain exported 25,452, 16,019 and 17,384 tonnes of pork products to Taiwan in 2023, last year and this year respectively, making it the nation’s second-largest source of pork imports after Canada. Although there are no direct flights between Spain and Taiwan, mail can be sent directly, so there is still a risk of ASF entering the country, the center said.

SOCIETY

Mystery meat suspects held

The Hsinchu County Government on Friday said it arrested two undocumented Vietnamese migrant workers for allegedly selling suspected dog meat. The Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office, together with authorities from the county’s Sanmin Police Station, on Thursday arrested two people who were selling unidentified meat in Jhubei City (竹北), it said. The two were found to be undocumented migrant workers from Vietnam, it added. They were in possession of 43kg of dissected animal meat of unknown origin, the local government said. The inspection office said that after an initial investigation, they suspected that 11.8kg was dog meat, 3.1kg was masked palm civets, 5.2kg was mountain boars and 3.1kg was meat from animals from the sheep or goat family. The rest of the meat was suspected to be offal of unknown animals, the office said, adding that detailed examinations would be conducted. Due to the immigration status of the two people who were arrested, they were taken into police custody and the Jhubei Precinct would refer the case to the Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office, it said.

Taiwan News Quick Take


Holy guest

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, center, helps carry the statue of the sea goddess Matsu outside Wanhua Station in Taipei yesterday. The statue, which arrived from Yunlin County’s Chaotian Temple, traveled to Taipei via train yestrday for a procession that includes a visit to Taipei’s Qingshan Temple.


Say cheese

President William Lai, center, poses for a selfie with students at a youth forum hosted by Business Today Magazine in Taipei yesterday.


Show of support

Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers Lai Jui-lung, left, and Chiu Yi-ying, right, and Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau Director-General Kao Min-lin, second left, attend Kaohsiung Pride yesterday. The event drew more than 35,000 people, event organizers said.


Bengaluru had the third-slowest traffic in the world last year,far worse than San Francisco or London

In India’s tech capital of Bengaluru, the morning “rush hour” lasts so long it devours half the workday, throttling productivity in a city often viewed as the poster child of a booming economy.

Entrepreneur R.K. Misra, cofounder of a multimillion-dollar start-up, avoids scheduling in-person meetings until nearly noon — then squeezes them in before gridlock returns.

The “situation is pretty bad. And it hurts by not being able to plan your day,” Misra said, describing his grueling 16km commute, which can take up to two hours at peak times.

“It also discourages people from doing anything other than work, because there’s no work-life balance any more,” he said.

Bengaluru, home to nearly 12 million people and state capital of Karnataka, is the “Silicon Valley” of the world’s fifth-biggest economy — hosting thousands of start-ups, outsourcing firms and global tech giants from Google to Microsoft.

Yet its flagship Outer Ring Road (ORR) business district is clogged with traffic, pocked with potholes and often flooded during the monsoon. Water shortages plague the summer months.

The roughly 20km ORR corridor, lined with swanky tech parks, hosts dozens of Fortune 500 offices and more than 1 million employees.

Frustration boiled over in September when Rajesh Yabaji, chief executive officer of digital trucking logistics platform BlackBuck, announced that he was moving his company out of the ORR.

Yabaji said he snapped after the “average commute for my colleagues shot up to 1.5+ hours” one way, he wrote on social media, adding that the roads were “full of potholes and dust, coupled with lowest intent to get them rectified.”

Pharma tycoon Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder of Biocon, chimed in.

“I had an overseas business visitor to Biocon Park who said: ‘Why are the roads so bad and why is there so much garbage around? Doesn’t the government want to support investment?’” Mazumdar-Shaw wrote on social media.

Bengaluru had the world’s third-slowest traffic last year, according to the TomTom Traffic Index — far worse than San Francisco or London.

Manas Das, of the Outer Ring Road Companies’ Association, works with city authorities to resolve infrastructure woes for global tech companies.

“Companies would like to get the basics right — and today those basics are getting compromised,” Das said.

B.S. Prahallad, technical director of the government-backed Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited, set up to manage major projects, said an average resident needed 90 to 100 minutes to cover 16km.

“Something has to be done, now or never,” Prahallad told reporters. “The next step is, we will decay.”

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar wrote on X last month that “10000+ potholes” had been identified, with half of them fixed so far.

“Instead of tearing Bengaluru down, let’s build it up — together,” Shivakumar said. “The world sees India through Bengaluru, and we owe it to our city to rise united!”

Borrowing a page from London’s playbook, authorities have split the municipal corporation into five smaller bodies and set up an overarching Greater Bengaluru Authority.

Shivakumar said that the move would “transform the way Bengaluru is planned and governed.”

The southern Indian city was not always an overrun metropolis. Once part of the erstwhile princely state of Mysore, it was known as “garden city” or a “pensioner’s paradise.”

India’s software boom began in the 1990s, with outsourcing companies striking gold.

Waves of investment since then from Silicon Valley companies and start-ups helped quadruple the state’s software exports from 2014 to last year to US$46 billion.

Venture capitalist T.V. Mohandas Pai, former chief financial officer of Indian IT giant Infosys, said that the city’s infrastructure was “possibly three to five years behind.”

Rapid expansion clogged waterways, cut trees and filled wetlands, straining the infrastructure, ecologist Harini Nagendra said.

“We have flooding because water has no place to go, drought because the water is not infiltrating into the ground,” Nagendra said.

“People are choking on pollution, choking on the concrete — and all the dust that comes with the construction, traffic, smog, heatwaves,” she said.

Nearly half the city depends on boreholes that run dry in summer, while the rest rely on costly water trucked in, according to the Water, Environment, Land and Livelihoods Labs research center.

Pai, 67, remains optimistic.

“The future is going to be bright, but there is going to be pain,” he said. “We are suffering the pangs of growth because India knows how to handle poverty, not prosperity.”

High-flying tech firms hit potholes in India’s Bengaluru


China and inflation could pop Japanese PM Takaichi’s bubble

Beijing might retaliate over Sanae Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan by restricting exports of rare earths or curbing Japanese imports, hurting its economy

Charming US President Donald Trump one week, angering China the next, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has had a busy start and is riding high in the polls, all on a few hours of sleep a night.

However, the honeymoon might end soon for the Margaret Thatcher-admiring leader if a spat with China escalates further and she fails to keep inflation in check.

“I believe Prime Minister Takaichi will surely do what she needs to do, so I trust her,” Kozue Otsuka, 50, told reporters at a festival this week for business owners seeking good fortune.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a debate at parliament in Tokyo on Wednesday. Photo: Bloomberg

While buying a lucky kumade rake featuring a smiling goddess of mirth, Otsuka, a housewife, added: “I hope that Japan-China relations will gradually move in a better direction.”

“What I am worried about, most of all, is the [prime] minister’s remarks. China got really agitated because of that,” echoed Shigeru Fujita, 78, who runs a gardening company.

Takaichi has admitted only sleeping two to four hours a night.

Trump arrived a week into her term and Takaichi won plaudits for pulling out all the stops to pacify the US president.

“I was very impressed and inspired by you,” Takaichi gushed, gifting him a golf club used by slain former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, a common friend.

Trump said that Takaichi would become “one of the greatest prime ministers.”

Days before Takaichi was at an ASEAN summit in Malaysia and then at an APEC gathering in South Korea, where she met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).

All seemed cordial, but Takaichi — long seen as a China hawk — kicked up a hornet’s nest a week later.

She told parliament — apparently in unplanned remarks — that a Taiwan “emergency” could threaten Japan’s existence, implying that Japan would intervene militarily.

With one diplomat threatening to sever Takaichi’s “dirty neck,” a livid Chinese government advised citizens to avoid Japan.

With big-spending Chinese tourists the biggest cohort, this was a blow. China then also reportedly reimposed a ban on Japanese seafood imports.

Margarita Estevez-Abe, an analyst at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School in New York, said that China still holds “so many economic cards to punish Japan, but Japan has none.”

These could include China restricting exports of rare earths to Japan or curbs on Japanese exports to China.

Takaichi’s appointment “was a very risky choice for the China-Japan relationship at a very delicate economic moment for Japan,” Estevez-Abe told reporters.

“Starting a fight against someone stronger with no prior planning is no leadership,” she said.

STIMULUS

Takaichi last week unveiled an economic stimulus package worth US$135 billion, including cash handouts to parents and energy subsidies.

She hopes to avoid the fate of her predecessor, former Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba, who suffered a string of election debacles in part because of anger over rising prices.

Despite the creation of a government cost-cutting initiative and promises of a “responsible” fiscal policy, concerns abound that the stimulus would add to Japan’s colossal debt.

This has contributed to a slide in the yen — which would increase Japan’s hefty import bill and push up inflation.

“Ordinary people are having it tough these days,” financial services employee Kazuo Kaitsuka, 75, told reporters.

“I worry future generations might have to deal with the consequences” of the debt, Kaitsuka said.

VIRAL HANDBAG

One Yomiuri survey this week gave Takaichi’s Cabinet an approval rating of 72 percent.

Even her handbag has gone viral, with its 145-year-old Japanese leather goods maker flooded with orders, reports said.

Takaichi’s popularity has raised speculation that she might even call snap elections.

However, Tobias Harris, an analyst at Washington-based Japan Foresight, told reported that he wonders how “durable” her ratings are.

A key factor could be how successful Takaichi is in halting a rise in backing for the Sanseito party.

Her “strong support has not necessarily translated into stronger support for the LDP itself,” Harris said, referring to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

“My sense has been that in the near term the tensions with China have helped her — or haven’t hurt — but I feel like there are signs that some in the LDP are wondering that if it drags on, it could weigh on her,” Harris said.


Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Tuesday rejected the idea of unification with China, saying it is “not an option” for Taiwan.

The Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency earlier reported that in a telephone call on Monday with US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) said that “reunification” was part of the post-World War II order.

Cho denied Xi’s claim, saying that Taiwan’s 23 million people would determine their own future, and maintaining the “status quo” is essential for regional security and global economic stability.

Separately, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said that Trump’s silence regarding whether Taiwan was discussed in the phone call suggested that the nation is not being used as a bargaining chip in US-China negotiations. His comments were well-intentioned, but they risk reinforcing a misconception: Neither the People’s Republic of China nor the US have administrative authority over Taiwan, so the nation could never be a bargaining chip at all.

As Cho said, only the people of Taiwan have the right to decide the nation’s future. The idea that Washington could negotiate on Taipei’s behalf reflects the same misunderstanding driving controversy over Trump’s remarks about possible talks with Russia on ending its war against Ukraine. No external power can legitimately determine the fate of a democratic society.

As stipulated in the Taiwan Relations Act, the US is legally obligated to help Taiwan maintain its self-defense capabilities and Taipei benefits from arms procurements, as they help to deter Chinese coercion. Although there is no mechanism to force Washington to uphold its commitments, it remains in its strategic interests to prevent a Chinese takeover of Taiwan.

Yet US support would mean little if Taiwanese are unwilling to resist. That is why public opinion on unification matters and why China invests heavily in cognitive warfare aimed at weakening public morale.

Polls have shown minimal public support for unification. National Chengchi University’s Election Study Center in 2023 found that only 7.4 percent favored unification. A Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation poll in December last year showed 13.3 percent support, while another foundation survey last month showed 13.9 percent support. Most Taiwanese prefer the “status quo” or eventual de jure independence.

Some observers have asked whether Taiwanese would resist in a conflict. However, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), in an interview with Canada’s CBC News, said the unity shown during flood relief efforts in Hualien County after Typhoon Ragasa demonstrated the public’s resilience. Social solidarity in crises often reflects how a society responds to external threats.

Concerns have also been raised about whether the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would support legislation needed to boost defense. While the KMT says there is only “one China,” many of its leaders have publicly rejected unification. Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) long adhered to his “three noes”: no unification, no independence and no use of force.

A potential wild card is KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), who has advocated closer ties with China and reduced reliance on US arms. She has also described people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait as “members of the same family,” raising questions about how the party would position itself on security matters.

China is unlikely to renounce the use of force against Taiwan. While US assistance remains important, it will ultimately be the will of Taiwanese that determines Taiwan’s future. The government must continue to counter cognitive warfare, promote unity, broaden defense partnerships, and make clear to China and the world that Taiwan is not a bargaining chip and would not capitulate in the face of coercion.

EDITORIAL: Xi, Trump: People set Taiwan’s path

蕭美琴 馬英九 習近平 卓榮泰 鄭麗文


Taiwan’s history is of independence

In A phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), Xi is reported to have stated that in his view, “Taiwan’s return to China” is to be considered an integral part of the post-World War II international order.

Never mind that China under Xi has been trying to undermine the liberal post-war international order by setting up alternative organizations and schemes that are detrimental to freedom and democracy around the world. Its own repression of Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong are vivid examples.

The “return to China” is the biggest misnomer: Taiwan has never ever been part of the People’s Republic of China, and until 1945 it was a Japanese colony for 50 years. Many in Taiwan view the Japanese period as benign and “strict but fair,” certainly in comparison with the corrupt and repressive Chinese Nationalist Part (KMT) rule of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who imposed martial law that lasted on the island until 1987, after which the Taiwanese were able to gain the freedom and democracy they presently enjoy.

It is true that before the Japanese period Taiwan was very briefly a “province of China,” but that only lasted eight years.

From 1683 until 1887, the island was formally administered as part of the province of Fukien, but in reality it was a wild and open frontier. More than 100 armed revolts took place during that period, prompting the observation that there was “an uprising every three years and a revolution every five years.”

The inhabitants viewed the Qing Dynasty as very much a foreign colonial regime and in no way saw themselves as “part of China.” During roughly the same period Britain ruled India as a colony. Nobody would argue that India should be returned to Britain.

From before 1683 there is even more evidence that Xi’s claim that “Taiwan has been part of China since ancient times” does not hold water.

Before 1624, Taiwan was inhabited by an indigenous population of Malay-Austronesians, who fought each other ferociously but kept outsiders at bay. Occasionally a Chinese expedition passed by the island, but there was never any official presence.

When the Dutch East India Company arrived in Anping (present-day Tainan) in 1624 to establish a trading post, they found no evidence of any Chinese officialdom in Taiwan, let alone any administrative control. It was certainly not part of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

In 1623, emissaries of Tianqi (天?帝), then-Ming Dynasty emperor, even told the Dutch — who were trying to take Macau from the Portuguese as they looked for a port through which they could trade with China — to go “beyond our territory.” They did not object when the Dutch went to Formosa, building Fort Zeelandia and establishing control as part of the Dutch East India Company, which lasted until 1662. It certainly was not “part of China” during those days.

In 1662, Dutch rule ended when Ming Dynasty loyalist and warlord Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功), known as Koxinga, was driven from China by the advancing Manchu armies, he took refuge on the island, and established the short-lived Kingdom of Tungning.

The Ming Dynasty itself was long gone by that time, and the Cheng family rule ended in 1683, when Koxinga’s grandson was defeated by the Manchu navy at the battle of the Pescadores.

In 1683, the new Manchu Qing emperor was initially not interested in the island at all. His main goal was to defeat the last remnants of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Kangxi (康熙帝) stated: “Taiwan is outside our empire and of no great consequence.” He offered to let the Dutch buy it back.

There is no historical basis for the Chinese claims to Taiwan. Of course, the main reason for the US and other friendly countries to push back hard against Xi’s claims is that the Taiwanese fought hard to attain their democracy and under the UN Charter have the right to determine their own future.

The only peaceful resolution could be achieved if China, the US and other countries accept Taiwan as a fully free, equal and democratic member of the international community.

Gerrit van der Wees is a former Dutch diplomat who teaches the history of Taiwan and US relations with East Asia at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.


Clinical phase needed for all doctors

Taiwan’s cosmetic medicine market has developed rapidly in recent years, but behind the glamorous packaging and commercial rhetoric lies a critical risk that is little known to the public — large numbers of “direct-entry” physicians, doctors who lack clinical training and emergency care experience, are entering the field.

This is not a normal flow of medical personnel, but the result of a major loophole that formed within Taiwan’s physician training system as a result of previous reforms to medical education. If the law is not amended in time to correct this, it would continue to endanger patient safety, erode medical professionalism and leave society to bear the costs.

In 2013, Taiwan’s seven-year undergraduate medical education program was shortened to six years, with the original seventh year clinical internship being replaced by the two-year post-graduate clinical training program, which had previously lasted for one year. However, because regulations at the time did not explicitly prohibit physicians who had not yet completed post-graduate training from performing medical procedures, anyone who obtained a medical license could be directly hired by medical institutions. Among the first cohort of six-year medical school graduates in 2019, some physicians who had never undergone post-graduate clinical training went straight into cosmetic medicine. This created the phenomenon of “direct entry” cosmetic surgeons.

The issue with these direct-entry cosmetic surgeons is that, up until graduation, they have never actually worked on the front lines of clinical care — they have not learned to identify danger signs in the emergency room, nor have they gained experience managing bleeding or infection, using anesthesia or responding to sudden complications. They have never trained in obstetrics or gynecology, pediatrics, surgery or internal medicine. They lack practical experience in the complexities of medical practice, yet they are nevertheless permitted to perform invasive medical procedures such as injections, liposuction and phototherapy — all of which could lead to shock or serious injury. This poses a significant risk to medical safety and quality.

An additional side effect of this is that these physicians are drawn to the high salaries offered by cosmetic clinics, which contributes to severe shortages in obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, internal medicine and rural healthcare. This creates an abnormal siphoning of medical personnel and undermines the overall medical ecosystem.

The direct-entry phenomenon is an abnormality in the medical system caused by an incomplete regulatory framework. In this context, the Ministry of Health and Welfare this month announced draft amendments to the Regulations for Using Specialized Equipment for Medical Examinations (特定醫療技術檢查檢驗醫療儀器施行或使用管理辦法). The revisions include different qualification criteria for physicians performing cosmetic surgery depending on risk, and would require new physicians to finish two years of post-graduate training to qualify as cosmetic surgeons. This is not some sort of punishment, but rather a correction of the loophole left over from earlier reforms to medical education.

Cosmetic medicine is a medical practice, and the gap between a doctor being able to perform a procedure and being able to take responsibility for it lies in the clinical competencies built through post-graduate training. Only by ensuring that every new physician entering the field of cosmetic medicine has completed full clinical training could Taiwan’s cosmetic medicine industry return to its medical foundations, rather than continuing to slide into a chaotic state characterized by high risks and commercialization. We support amending the law to seal this institutional loophole, as it is an essential step to protect patients, uphold medical professionalism and restore fairness in the medical system.

Huang Sue-ying is the founder of Taiwan Women’s Link.

Translated by Kyra Gustavsen


Place names often tell a story. The names of Taiwan’s cities reflect layers of history and movements of peoples. Taiwan itself is an ancient name, an indigenous name originally referring only to the Tainan area, where foreign settlers first put down roots, but has expanded to the whole nation.

Kaohsiung was not always Kaohsiung. It was once known as Takau to the indigenous Siraya people, from whom Hoklo settlers borrowed the name, using characters that phonetically sounded the same, but literally read “beat the dog.” Under Japanese colonial rule, the new administrators chose more “civilized” characters, renaming it Takao (高雄) in Japanese, mirroring an area of Kyoto.

When the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) arrived in 1945, it did not change the Japanese kanji; it started simply reading them in Mandarin Chinese pronunciation instead, giving us Kaohsiung. To this day, the name of Kaohsiung in Taiwan Sign Language reflects the older Hoklo reading, being literally “dog harbor.” One name tells a story of generations of change.

Many of Taiwan’s place names tell a story of colonization.

That is especially true since the arrival of the KMT. Many districts and townships around the nation were renamed by Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to reflect what he saw as the aspirational values of his Republic of China. The country is scattered with districts and townships named Xinyi (“honor,” 信義), Renai (“benevolence,” 仁愛) and Zhongzheng (“just,” or the name Chiang gave himself, 中正).

The township hit by a devastating flood in Hualien is often reported as Guangfu Township (光復), meaning “reclaim the mainland,” an extremely Chinese name for an area with a large indigenous population who have little to do with China. In fact, the local name in the indigenous Amis language is Fata’an, a much more fitting reference to the traditionally cultivated tree bean.

All across Taiwan, recognizing these original, indigenous names would be a gesture that would go a long way toward reconciliation and transitional justice with the nation’s original inhabitants.

This is being done in many other countries reckoning with their colonial past. In Australia, it is growing increasingly common to recognize and acknowledge precisely whose traditional land an event is taking place on, and growing numbers have embraced indigenous names for their cities, such as Naarm for Melbourne and Meanjin for Brisbane. The post office even accepts deliveries using these names. Uluru is an all but universal name for what was once known as “Ayer’s Rock.”

In New Zealand, it is hard to find a town that does not have two names, whether official or unofficial, recognizing a common colonial name, but embracing and accepting the traditional Maori name. Sometimes, the Maori name has grown more widely used than the colonial English name. Mount Cook is often referred to as simply Aoraki, its Maori name. Such a dual naming policy helps integration of the new name into the dominant non-indigenous society, and builds a distinct national identity that embraces its indigenous history.

Name rectification and dual naming policies recognize the heritage of a place at a low cost. They infer the indigenous sovereignty that is held by the people who have lived there for centuries. Such policies in Taiwan would grant great symbolic recognition to the oft-ignored indigenous population, especially where they continue to represent a majority, and boost indigenous identity, community and belonging on the land they have called home for millennia.

Perhaps it would allow other Taiwanese to appreciate the unique history of this land and its first people. Ketagalan Boulevard was renamed two decades ago. It is time to fix the rest.

Thomas Batchelor holds a doctorate in linguistics.

仁愛 高雄 中正 信義 光復

Names can tell us more of Taiwan’s whole story


Unity is the only way

The first thing that came to my mind after reading the news about the new special defense budget is that some Taiwanese are starting to argue that President William Lai (賴清德) has declared war on China or that “this brings us to a dangerous situation.”

I do not consider myself as having any particular political stance, but I care about most issues that concern Taiwan, and I really hate to see political parties and their supporters fight with one another.

It is only right that the opposition provides checks and balances on the ruling party, especially in a two-party system like ours. However, it seems that many Taiwanese support their party over policies, and any debate descends into personal attacks.

The phenomenon might discourage those who really want to discuss the policies, because no one wants to be called a “blue bird” or “little grass” when they are seriously talking about national issues.

Taiwanese should be more focused on what is being done, not who is doing it, and discuss any issues without preconceived ideas.

In these dangerous times, if Taiwanese keep attacking one another over our respective political stances, the situation will only get worse.

I believe that everyone’s original intention is to be concerned about Taiwan; that is why we should maintain a rational discussion. Unity is the best weapon and shield to protect ourselves, perhaps even more useful than the budget.

National fragmentation due to political differences is what our enemies want.

Zhao Jia-heng

Kaohsiung

[ LETTER ]


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

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

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

In Kaohsiung, you can find an old dojo built by the Japanese overlooking the seaside. There, a master of blade martial arts is the custodian of the sword of the legendary Japanese swordsman Musashi.The Japanese developed Kaohsiung. There was little to show before they arrived. The city does not define itself as a “Japanese” place, but it does not anchor its identity in anything that would oppose Japan, such as revanchism — a barbaric ideology that has only ever generated suffering — or national pride.The residents of Kaohsiung are too pragmatic for that. The city might have become a wonderful

By JulienOeuillet

EDITORIAL CARTOON


In music, as in other artistic pursuits, true freedom lies in controlling the fruit of one’s creation. AI could amplify this freedom if we act now, but as matters stand, the technology seems well on its way to doing the opposite

For a glimpse of what our artificial intelligence (AI)-driven future could be, consider what is happening in the music business. It was through music that the market for non-rare products and services began, where remuneration for the works of the mind was first imagined. Johann Sebastian Bach had to hold coffeehouse concerts to support his vast family, but with the Industrial Revolution, mass production and the extreme division of labor that it brought, much larger markets became available.

The digital economy took this further. Musicians who once relied on the lords who commissioned them, then on the bourgeois consumers who bought concert tickets and finally on the record companies that paid them royalties, today are remunerated by streaming services and other online platforms.

Now, AI is turning the industry on its head. Generative AI tools can produce music without human composers, using the immense catalog of existing works to train themselves. The virtual band The Velvet Sundown passed the 1 million mark in streams on Spotify in a matter of weeks, and Heart on My Sleeve, posted to TikTok by an anonymous user who “used AI to make a drake song ft. the weeknd,” has racked up millions of views.

One can also find artificial DJs capable of hosting a party like a human, complete with speeches and playlists, as well as AI-generated film soundtracks and voiceovers that imitate artists’ voices and styles. In each case, pretty much anyone can generate low-cost music and audio for use across a broad range of applications.

The evolution is dizzying.

The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) said it expects the market for music and audiovisual content created by generative AI to skyrocket, from about 3 billion euros (US$3.5 billion) currently to 64 billion euros by 2028, with generative AI music possibly accounting for about 20 percent of streaming platforms’ revenues.

Creators’ revenues are also at risk; for music, the total could fall by about 24 percent by 2028, the CISAC said.

To protect artists’ copyrighted material, policymakers in some jurisdictions are beginning to take legislative action. The European AI Act requires those who publish and distribute AI-generated material to be transparent about its sources. There are also several European projects exploring watermarking and blockchain-based solutions to identify source material and automatically pay out micro-royalties. However, such protections would likely prove illusory. The artists of tomorrow would have to be remunerated in other ways. The arrival of a new kind of economy means everything must change.

After all, anyone with a computer or mobile phone can create, arrange, mix, master and produce a music video, or adapt their own works for video games, interactive advertising, marketing campaigns and other uses. One possibility, then, is that generative AI would further enable some artists to forego arrangements with record companies and other traditional intermediaries. In doing so, they might try to maintain a personalized dialogue with their fans, whom they can offer customized experiences.

Sensing the changes that are coming, music distribution platforms are trying to get ahead of the game by allying themselves with legacy record companies, which are themselves in grave danger of extinction. For example, Spotify has signed an agreement with three major record companies promising to use AI with and for human artists, thus guaranteeing them transparency, consent, remuneration and protections against cloned voices. However, these legacy players would be unable to keep their promise, because the remuneration mechanisms provided for in these agreements would be largely illusory: too small and without real control.

Thus, if artists are not careful, the upheaval introduced by AI would amount to a change of master: after the feudal lord, the bourgeois and the all-powerful record company would come the triumph of the algorithm. Copyright protections would evaporate, and musicians would become mere employees of the algorithm, if not its slaves. The only way that artists can escape this fate is by becoming entrepreneurs of their own creations, harnessing AI’s formidable potential themselves and capitalizing on the irreplaceability, already visible and lasting, of the in-person concert performance.

Meanwhile, consumers, who could become passive subjects of algorithmic control, could assert themselves. They could become cocomposers, determining the form to be given to the work they listen to (by choosing the music style, the instruments and the singers) and, like the artist, privileging the actual, direct, living, irreplaceable exchange of the concert performance.

The only true freedom, in music as elsewhere, is to create and control the fruit of one’s creation. AI could amplify this freedom if we act now by focusing on the development of creativity at school and elsewhere. However, as matters stand, it seems well on its way to doing the opposite.

Jacques Attali, founding president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is a former special adviser to French President Francois Mitterrand and the author of 86 books.

Copyright: Project Syndicate

Serf music and its alternatives


China’s London mega-embassy was bulletproof

The end is in sight for the saga of China’s London “super embassy.” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government has let it be known that it would approve Europe’s largest diplomatic compound on the site of the former Royal Mint, jumping the gun ahead of a twice-delayed formal decision due next month.

The sensitivity of handing a complex of such size, strategic location and symbolic value to a communist superpower spurred a years-long campaign of opposition and has become the biggest obstacle to Starmer’s hopes of a reset in relations with China. He can thank the security services for lighting a path through.

Government approval is a formality after MI5 and MI6, the domestic and foreign intelligence agencies, gave the green light, according to The Times.

The leak surfaced shortly after MI5 issued an alert over Chinese espionage efforts targeted at parliamentarians and their staff, prompting British Minister of State for Security Dan Jarvis to say that the government would not tolerate such “covert and calculated” interference.

In response, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy called the accusations a “self-staged charade” and said the UK should “stop going further down the wrong path of undermining China-UK relations.”

This has the feel of a choreographed dance, giving both sides the chance to display some performative outrage before getting down to business. The need for the MI5 alert was questionable: Few could be unaware that China is targeting the British parliament, after the blizzard of publicity that surrounded the September collapse of a China spying case involving a former British House of Commons researcher (both defendants denied the charges).

It did provide some opportune cover for the embassy decision. The Royal Mint controversy has opened Starmer’s government to charges of placing economic advantage ahead of national security. However, who can object when the security service itself is relaxed about the project — while warning loudly of the risks of Chinese espionage elsewhere?

The mega-embassy has drawn many objections, chief among them being that the site — close to 10 times the gross floor area of China’s current London mission — would provide an enhanced base for the Chinese Communist Party’s expanding espionage and transnational repression operations.

Like all good spy dramas, there are probably a few red herrings present. Some China analysts with no illusions about the party nevertheless regard the embassy issue as overblown. Almost all diplomatic missions host spies, but they are visible places and unlikely to be the venue for the most sensitive activities.

Likewise, suspicions raised by redactions in the plans might be overstated. Such blanked-out areas are not unusual in embassy applications. Once approval is granted and the premises become inviolable, the UK would have little control over what China does with the space in any case — whatever the plans say.

The one concern that has resonated widely is the reported presence of fiber-optic cables running underneath (or close by) the site, opposite the Tower of London in the borough of Tower Hamlets. These carry sensitive data linking financial services firms in nearby London with Canary Wharf to the east. The risk that China could access these cables has elicited expressions of unease from governments and lawmakers in the US, the Netherlands and New Zealand. Again, MI5 and MI6 appear to believe that these risks can be managed. If the UK cannot trust its own security services on such an issue, then it has a much bigger problem than just where to place a foreign embassy.

There is no debate that China needs a bigger diplomatic base. In addition to its main premises in Portland Place in the West End, the embassy has sections spread across half a dozen other locations in London. Consolidating these (which should be a condition of any approval) would make China’s activities easier to monitor. The UK’s own embassy in Beijing is in sore need of a renovation, a project that Chinese authorities have held up pending signoff on their London plans.

I sympathize with nearby residents who view the site as unsuitable and blanch at the thought of living in the shadow of a one-party surveillance state. It is unfortunate that Royal Mint Court, centered on a 19th-century Georgian mansion and including the ruins of a 14th-century Cistercian abbey, was sold to China. The sale took place in 2018, under the conservative government of former British prime minister Boris Johnson, at the tail end of the “golden era” of UK-China relations. It was a different world, when Beijing had yet to crush Hong Kong’s freedoms or extend support to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Opponents made a compelling case that the plan would lead to traffic paralysis and that the site lacked the space to accommodate protests (Hong Kong exiles turned out in force to drive home the point). In the end, these local concerns did not count for much. The mega-embassy has proved impervious to everything thrown at it. The force majeure of national priorities meant this was always the likely destination.

The saga is not quite over. The Royal Mint Court Residents Association has sought two opinions from planning lawyer Charles Banner and is preparing to lodge a judicial review. Members, whose homes stand on land owned by China, are raising money to fund the action. At a minimum, that is likely to prolong the process by a few months — further irritating China, which has already railed at the British government’s delay in delivering. Few who remember the China’s unanimously rejected attempt to win local approval would lose sleep over that.

Whether the prospect of a legal challenge reflects the beauty of a democratic system with checks and balances or the decadence and sclerosis of a faded former imperial power is likely to depend on whether you sit in Beijing or Westminster. Or Tower Hamlets.

Matthew Brooker is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering business and infrastructure. Formerly, he was an editor for Bloomberg News and the South China Morning Post.


The US and China may have called a truce on trade, but Beijing has other levers to pull should febrile relations deteriorate again. That is a potential supply chain chokepoint that Washington has overlooked: its strategic rival’s tight grip on the raw materials needed to make an array of medicines.

The urgency of tackling pharmaceutical supplies lies at the heart of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission’s annual report, published last week. It proposed that the US Congress immediately amend a 2020 law to expand the authority of the US Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require pharmaceutical firms to report on the volume and origin of the building blocks of modern drugs. It also asked the regulator to encourage the use of supplies from non-China sources.

It was not the first time the body has brought up the issue. However, the speed with which the US essentially folded after Beijing expanded export controls on crucial rare earth minerals last month is a sign that this other glaring vulnerability can no longer be brushed aside.

The US and other countries rely heavily on China to make the foundational ingredients for their medicines. Because of its enormous and commoditized industry, which began in the 1950s, China plays an outsized role in the global drug supply chain. It is a significant producer of compounds called key starting materials, which are used to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Still, definitive data on the exact level of US dependence are hard to come by. Major drugmakers have little incentive to spell out just how deep that reliance runs. The best estimates come from the US Pharmacopeia, a non-profit that sets quality standards for medicines.

Looking into the drug master files that pharmaceutical manufacturers have submitted to the FDA, it found that China was not part of the landscape back in 1980. Twenty years later, it was submitting 5 percent of all files, outpaced by India at 19 percent. By last year, it had overtaken India with a 45 percent share of total filings. What complicates the picture is that the South Asian nation, the world’s top supplier of generic medicines, itself relies heavily on China for key starting materials, which is not reflected in the FDA filings.

What is more, the non-profit identified a key trend: Half of the active ingredients used in the US came from just one source. China is the exclusive supplier of at least one chemical used in nearly 700 crucial medicines. For example, at first blush, the antibiotic amoxicillin — used to treat everything from bronchitis to urinary tract infections — appears to have a diverse array of sources from Spain to Singapore, but its four key inputs come almost entirely from China.

As shortages of medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated, it is a bad idea for countries to be so dependent on any single source, much less, in the case of the US, a rival. It is worth noting that not once during the height of the trade war escalation did Beijing threaten to withhold medical exports. However, geopolitics is not the only risk factor. Another global virus outbreak could also shut down the supply chain.

US-China Economic and Security Review Commission Commissioner Leland Miller said Beijing controls a “scary chunk” of active drug ingredients.

Although the group does not have the authority to give orders to the US Congress, the ultimate goal would be to create a supply chain involving India and other allies that would be independent of China in specific areas, he said.

This would be a challenging enterprise, given the low margins and profits in making the starting compounds used to manufacture medicines. China began to liberalize production in the 1980s, along with the rest of the economy, with an emphasis on lowering costs for the local population.

One state media report cited an executive as saying costs for US firms would jump by 50 percent if they were to try to replicate the supply chain for raw ingredients.

That is exactly what Washington would have to try to do, at least on a limited or exceptional basis, for the most crucial medicines. There is already a blueprint in the form of the US’ agreement with MP Materials Corp, a rare earths producer with a mine in California. The deal includes a 10-year price floor, with the US Department of Defense promising to pay the the company the difference if the market value for their products goes below a certain amount.

The scenario for the pharmaceutical industry is likely to be similar. China controls the spigots in many pivotal sectors — but the US would have to decouple in the areas deemed by Washington to be of national security priority.

Juliana Liu is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion’s Asia team, covering corporate strategy and management in the region. She was previously CNN’s senior business editor for Asia, and a correspondent at BBC News and Reuters.

China holds all the cards in global pharmaceuticals


LEGACY:  A US Soccer official said that organizers have access to great people and infrastructure, which ‘if organized and supported, can do some incredible things’

The previous time the US hosted the FIFA World Cup, the US Soccer Federation built on the financial infusion and the public’s excitement to help launch Major League Soccer two years later.

Much has changed with next year’s World Cup. This time the tournament is hosted by three nations, with the US joined by Mexico and Canada. The financial windfall is to go to FIFA, which is running the tournament for the first time rather than a local organizing committee, such as the one in 1994 that used its US$40 million surplus to fund the US Soccer Foundation.

So what will the World Cup’s legacy be for US soccer’s governing body? The not-for-profit is undertaking ambitious and sprawling projects to boost the game from the youth ranks to the pros.

US Soccer chief executive officer J.T. Batson speaks during a news conference in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sept. 16, 2023. Photo: AP

US Soccer’s ultimate aim is to spread the sport at the youth level through school and community programs, expand fundraising efforts, and position the US professional leagues and national teams for success.

It is a tall order, US Soccer chief executive officer J.T. Batson said.

“We already have this massive engine that is people who love soccer in this country, and the infrastructure of our professional leagues and clubs, and all the youth soccer across the country,” Batson said. “That’s a really powerful group that if organized and supported, can do some pretty incredible things.”

Soccer Forward, the federation’s legacy project announced last year, has started to roll out. With the motto “Soccer Everywhere for Everyone,” it sells schools on expanded soccer programs, brings mini-fields into communities where soccer does not have a big footprint and supports community-led efforts to grow the game at a grassroots level. It includes everything from best practices for fundraising to securing grants for building soccer fields to tips for youth coaches.

US Soccer says such initiatives are sorely needed: One-in-four schools have no sports programs.

However, it goes beyond just the game, with elements of health and charity. Last month, the Kansas City Current partnered with Soccer Forward for an event at the Kansas City Girls Preparatory Academy. More than 100 girls took part in soccer games and programming focused on women’s health.

An emphasis on equity in the sport was aided by a US$25 million donation from Michele Kang, owner of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Washington Spirit, as well as OL Lyonnes and the London City Lionesses in Europe. The money would be used to grow the women’s game through research and innovation projects.

Batson said the goal is to ensure that “everyone who wants to play soccer can play, and that we have the right resources going to the right levels of the game to achieve the right resources.”

That means there is an opportunity not just to benefit the children who want to play recreationally, but to also bring future players into the game who might go on to academies, colleges or professional soccer careers.

“I think one of the big shifts for US Soccer is sort of articulating ourselves as being in service to soccer and we take that very seriously around our role of supporting those who are brining soccer to life in communities all across the country,” Batson said. “This is a huge flipping of how US Soccer sees itself and the role we play with our members and everyone else who loves soccer, and [we] are trying to do things every day to earn the trust of those folks to continue on that journey with us.”

Former Deloitte executive Dan Helfrich, hired as the foundation’s chief operating officer this month, would help oversee In Service to Soccer, the federation’s overarching strategy.

“It is our responsibility to drive lasting legacy from hosting the World Cup,” Helfrich said. “We take that responsibility very seriously and believe that we will have national holistic impact that comes from this World Cup, not just sporadic impact limited to a few communities or cities.”

To achieve the lofty goals, US Soccer needs funding. So the federation has also launched the Behind the Dream campaign, which aims to raise US$250 million — and also hopes to capitalize on the excitement of the World Cup.

In many countries, governments help fund sports federations. For example, the English Football Association gets funding from several government entities, including Sport England. Sports federations in the US are non-profit organizations.

US Soccer has put an emphasis on fundraising in the past two years. In 2023, its expenses exceeded its revenues. That has since flipped.

US Soccer took in US$257.4 million in revenue for the 2025 fiscal year, a 36 percent increase over the previous year, in part because of fundraising and sponsorship deals in anticipation of the World Cup.

“US Soccer is in a fortunate position by virtue of our financial growth to be able to invest in our soccer strategies at unimaginable levels, even five years ago,” Batson said. “And we also have been very intentional about learning from other very successful movements to say: ‘OK, how do we approach this in a way that leads to the outcomes that we care about.’”

US Soccer outlines its post-Cup plans