The Hong Kong Alliance voted to disband weeks after its leaders were charged under the law. Thousands of people in June 2019 attend a candlelight vigil for victims of the Chinese government’s brutal military crackdown three decades ago on protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square at Victoria Park in Hong Kong. The crackdown has long been a taboo topic in mainland China, but for 30 years the alliance held annual vigils in Hong Kong. Some young people stayed away from the vigil during a rise in localism in the 2010s, deeming the alliance’s goal of building a democratic China irrelevant to Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Alliance came under increasing pressure in 2021 after police opened an investigation, saying they had reasonable grounds to believe the group was acting as a foreign agent.

Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun on Tuesday speaks at a press conference about US-Taiwan trade deal in Taipei. A general view in June last year of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s fabrication plant in Kaohsiung. A woman in July 2023 walks past a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company logo at the Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu. Critics have voiced concerns about Taiwan’s semiconductor industry being “hollowed out.” This is far less of a concern than it appears. China could not take over Taiwan’s semiconductor industry even if it invaded because it would be starved out of existence through sanctions, and they lack the know-how to operate it.

Taipei book exhibition to run from Feb. 3 to 8By Sam Garcia / Staff reporterAt the Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE) next month, books would grow into digital forests, turn into games and even be served like a balanced meal, organizers said at a preview yesterday. The ministry held a news conference in Taipei to introduce the pavilions and themed areas of the exhibition, to be held from Feb. 3 to 8 at the Taipei World Trade Center. Books that are to be featured at this year’s Taipei International Book Exhibition are pictured at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo courtesy of the Taipei Book Fair FoundationTIBE combines exhibits, sales and interactive events, showcasing Taiwan’s thriving publishing industry and featuring pavilions designed around contemporary issues, the ministry said. TIBE would also include rest areas where visitors can read, a book prize winners pavilion and an international book area, Taipei Book Fair Foundation CEO Hsu Wen-chen (徐文貞) said.

Easing healthcare staff’s burdenBy Yeh Yu-cheng 葉昱呈The staffing situation for nurses in acute care wards in Taiwan has long been stretched thin. Opening up pathways for foreign care workers to work in acute care wards must be accompanied by clear and controllable supporting measures and safeguards. First, the proportion of foreign care workers must remain lower than that of domestic staff, and their duties must be strictly limited to nonprofessional support tasks. Fourth, the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) and foreign labor regulations must be followed to clarify hospitals’ responsibilities for employment and management. Allowing foreign care workers into acute care wards is no silver bullet, but a reform that demands meticulous design.

Taiwanese sharpshooter traps goldStaff writer, with CNATaiwanese sharpshooter Liu Wan-yu on Tuesday won gold in the women’s trap event at the Asian Shotgun Championship in Qatar. She later claimed the silver medal with Olympian Lin I-chun and 22-year-old Yeh Mei-hsuan in the women’s team trap event. Taiwan’s Liu Wan-yu, center, poses with her gold medal after winning the women’s trap event at the Asian Shotgun Championship in Doha on Tuesday. Later in the individual trap competition, Liu, who ranked seventh in the preliminary round, advanced to the final and won gold after edging Kazakhstan’s Eleonora Ibragimova. She joked that her victory was just keeping alive a streak of Taiwanese athletes winning events early in the year.

Deigning to try and prevent a legislator from speaking Taiwanese, he is stuck in the Martial Law era. The incident has circulated online, evoking memories for many of being punished for “speaking dialects” in elementary school. My parents are Taiwanese, and Taiwanese is my mother tongue. I was often subject to the NT$1 fines for speaking in Taiwanese in school. The arrogance of this Chinese mindset is akin to what the Taiwanese phrase refers to when it talks of beggars moving into a temple and driving out the temple keepers.

An aerial photograph shows Kurmin Wali, Nigeria, on Tuesday, where churches were attacked by gunmen and people were kidnapped. Afiniki Moses, who escaped an attempted kidnapping while her husband was abducted during an attack by gunmen on a church, speaks to reporters in Kurmin Wali, Nigeria, on Tuesday. “Subsequent verification from operational units and intelligence sources has confirmed that the incident did occur.”A Christian grouping in northern Nigeria has submitted a list of people seized. Gangs — known in Nigeria as “bandits” — frequently carry out mass kidnappings for ransom and loot villages, mainly in the northern and central parts of Africa’s most populous country. Roughly evenly split between a mostly Christian south and Muslim-majority north, Nigeria is home to myriad conflicts, which experts say kill Christians and Muslims, often without distinction.

EDITORIAL: Promote traditional writingThe government cooperates with local education bureaus to help new immigrants adapt to using traditional Chinese characters, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said on Monday. In contrast, the KMT framed itself as the guardian of “orthodox Chinese culture” (正統中華文化) and retained the traditional Chinese writing system. Against this backdrop, Taiwan’s role in preserving traditional Chinese writing has become increasingly important — and the reasons for doing so are substantial. Traditional Chinese writing carries profound historical, cultural and aesthetic value. The government should promote the teaching and use of traditional Chinese characters in Mandarin education worldwide, ensuring that this heritage is not relegated to history books.

Train hits collapsed wall in Barcelona, killing oneAFP, BARCELONA, SpainA commuter train near Barcelona on Tuesday ploughed into the rubble of a collapsed wall, killing one and injuring dozens in Spain’s second deadly rail accident in days. On Tuesday, “a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks, causing an accident involving a passenger train” in the municipality of Gelida, about 40km west of Barcelona, the Catalonia region’s civil protection agency wrote on social media. Rescuers work at the site of a train crash in Barcelona, Spain, on Tuesday. Emergency workers used torches to survey the wreckage of the derailed train car, which had turned into a mass of crumpled metal. Spanish rail infrastructure operator Adif said a storm caused a wall to fall, creating the rubble that the train slammed into.

S Korean ex-PM sentenced over martial law roleTWENTY-THREE YEARS: A judge said that Han Duck-soo ‘played a significant role in the insurrectionary acts’ of former president Yoon Suk-yeol by ensuring complianceAFP, SEOULFormer South Korean prime minister Han Duck-soo yesterday was sentenced to 23 years in prison for aiding and abetting a declaration of martial law that briefly suspended civilian rule. Former South Korean prime minister Han Duck-soo arrives at the Seoul Central District Court yesterday. Yoon’s imposition of martial law saw armed troops deployed to the South Korean National Assembly and the National Election Commission before it was vetoed by the opposition-led National Assembly. During the course of the trial, Han denied wrongdoing, saying that he had never supported or helped the martial law declaration. The verdict comes after Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison for obstructing justice and other crimes linked to his martial law move.

Netanyahu to join Board of PeaceAP, JERUSALEMIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday said that he had agreed to join US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and US President Donald Trump walk into a building at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida, on Dec. 29. Photo: APIsraeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich has criticized the board and called for Israel to take unilateral responsibility for Gaza’s future. Others who have joined the board are the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Vietnam, Belarus, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Argentina. The White House also announced the members of another board, the Gaza Executive Board, which would be in charge of implementing the second phase of a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Andresen upstages sprint stars in Tour Down UnderAFP, ADELAIDE, AustraliaDenmark’s Tobias Lund Andresen yesterday upstaged a crack field of sprinters in a hectic finish to win the first stage of the Tour Down Under. Andresen, riding for Decathlon CMA CGM, surged to the front in the main street of Tanunda, near Adelaide. Decathlon CMA CGM rider Tobias Lund Andresen, front, celebrates winning stage one of the Tour Down Under in Adelaide, Australia, yesterday. Brennan, who enjoyed a stellar season last year, including stage wins in the Volta a Catalunya, Tour de Romandie and Tour of Poland, just edged out Welsford, who was bidding for his seventh stage win in the Tour Down Under. It is what it is.”Defending champion Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates), who won an early intermediate sprint, finished 26th.

Less than 15% of TSMC advanced processes in US by 2029: ExpertStaff writer, with CNALess than 15 percent of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) advanced manufacturing processes are expected to be relocated to the US by the end of US President Donald Trump’s second term in office, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research president Lien Hsien-ming (連 賢明) said yesterday. TSMC is investing US$65 billion to build three fabs in Arizona, with the first starting commercial production in the fourth quarter of 2024. The logo of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is pictured at its headquarters in Hsinchu Science Park on Nov. 21, 2024. The economist added that TSMC is not the only semiconductor company expanding advanced manufacturing in the US, noting that Intel Corp, Micron Technology Inc and Samsung Electronics Co are also stepping up their investments. Lien said the public should not be alarmed or discouraged by Lutnick’s remarks, stressing that Taiwan has committed only US$250 billion in direct investment, with the remaining US$250 billion consisting of credit guarantees.

Powerchip to issue GDRs, raise funds for operationsStaff writer, with CNAPowerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) plans sale of global depositary receipts (GDRs) to raise working capital for its operations as the company looks to cash in on the overall recovery of the global semiconductor sector. The company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that it would sell GDRs in a quantity equal to up to 420 million common shares. Signage of Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is pictured outside the company’s P5 fab in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township on July 16, 2024. Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei TimesPowerchip, which provides foundry services in advanced memory chips and logic chips, said it would issue new shares for the GDR sale. Under the LOI, Micron will set up a long-term foundry relationship with Powerchip on advanced DRAM packaging wafer manufacturing and help the company strengthen its specialty DRAM processes.

Micron to pay US$1.8bn for fab siteKEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to