Each time the KMT chose to “talk things through” with the CCP, no such “thaw” occurred. The victims are not limited to the KMT — those closest to the CCP perhaps fared even worse. Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) openly reveres Mao and has undoubtedly inherited his ruthlessness. Yet, once this objective was achieved, Liu Yuan was promptly sidelined and politically frozen out. In terms of achievements and contributions, does she surpass Liu Yuan?

EDITORIAL: Taiwan and Japan need each otherTaipei and Tokyo must deepen cooperation on the economy and regional security, Japan’s representative to Taiwan said in an interview on Saturday. “From the perspective of economic security, it is vital to build supply chains and cooperate in cultivating talent from both sides, as well as from third countries,” he said. As Katayama said, the strengths of Taiwan and Japan are complementary: Japan excels in materials and equipment, while Taiwan leads in advanced chip manufacturing. The US would remain a vital economic partner for Taiwan, but Japan is also an industrial leader and a neighbor who shares Taiwan’s concerns about a belligerent China. Taiwan should seek to integrate its high-tech sectors with those of Japan and the US.

Sanitary pad scandal stirs anger in SenegalAFP, DAKARAnger is mounting in Senegal over the alleged use of expired materials in sanitary pads and diapers by a leading Chinese firm, which denies any wrongdoing or bribery. In west and central Africa, many women and girls struggle to access quality menstrual products. It has production and distribution centers in Kenya, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Uganda, Nigeria and Cameroon among others. Asked for comments, Softcare said the batch of materials involved in the scandal was never used “before or after” the controversy. Moussa Diallo, the official who led the Softcare inspection mission, and two other inspectors, rejected the Senegal pharmaceutical regulator’s U-turn.

Final batch of M1A2T tanks to be delivered soon, source saysThe manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion

Soldiers and residents gather to offer prayers for Liaquat Ali, a soldier of the Frontier Corps Balochistan, who was killed during deadly militant attacks in Balochistan, during his funeral in Lakki Marwat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on Monday. Police officials gave details of the situation on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. In the desert town of Nushki — home to about 50,000 people — the insurgents seized control of the police station and other security installations, triggering a three-day standoff. “Helicopters and drones were used against the militants.”The Pakistani Ministry of the Interior did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The response will be decisive, leading to serious capacity degradation of BLA,” he said, denying that the Pakistani military has used excessive force in Balochistan.

Pope warns of new arms race as New START set to expireAFP, VATICAN CITYPope Leo XIV yesterday warned of the risk of “a new arms race” as the last US-Russia nuclear treaty is set to expire. New START, the last nuclear treaty between Washington and Moscow after decades of agreements dating to the Cold War, is due to expire today, and with it restrictions on the two top nuclear powers. Photo: EPA“The current situation requires us to do everything possible to avert a new arms race, which further threatens peace between nations,” he said. The treaty, which included a monitoring mechanism, was signed in 2010 by then-Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and then-US president Barack Obama. In 2023, Russia froze its participation in New START, but it has continued to voluntarily adhere to the limits set in the treaty.

Taiwan first casualty if UN faltersBy Bonnie Yushih Liao 廖雨詩When tensions flare between US President Donald Trump and the UN, reactions in Taiwan are often marked by frustration, even indifference. If a world in which the UN no longer meaningfully functions becomes normal, Taiwan would not be insulated from the fallout. For Taiwan, this would not be an exception — it would be a precedent. Were Taiwan to be absorbed under conditions of international paralysis, the ripple effects would be immediate. Taiwan would not be the only victim of such a transformation, but it would be among the first, the clearest and the most consequential.

Zhang Youxia: veteran princeling caught in China’s military purgeZhang is just the latest in a slew of top military officials suspected of ‘serious violations of discipline’AFP, BEIJINGChina’s announcement its top general was under investigation stunned defense watchers, hollowing out the country’s top military body and confirming President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) far-reaching power. Zhang Youxia (張又俠), a vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), is targeted in a probe for serious violations of the law — a common euphemism for corruption. China’s vice chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China Zhang Youxia, center, in April 2024 arrives for a group photo before the opening ceremony of the 19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium in Qingdao, China’s Shandong province. In 2017, Zhang was promoted to one of the CMC’s vice chairman positions, also joining the Communist Party’s elite body, the Politburo. An earlier editorial, published a day after Beijing announced the probes, said their actions “seriously undermined and violated the system of responsibility of the CMC chairman,” Xi.

They were the first of many organized criminals who exploited the stateless international status of the island, a recurrent theme in Taiwan history. Photo: Wang Shu-hsiu, Taipei Times“From bases on Taiwan, Lin’s fleets sallied forth with the monsoons each year to plunder shipping across the entire South China Sea,” Antony writes. Tsai Chien (蔡牽), a pirate based in southern Fujian, gradually began to dominate the seas between the China coast and Taiwan between 1800 and 1804. In 1805 and 1806 he attacked Taiwan, intending to take over the island and use it as a base. For pirates, Taiwan was not just a base, but also a market.

It was hard to imagine much had been left uncovered by this book (reviewed in the Taipei Times, Feb. 27, 2025, and listed as a notable 2025 book about Taiwan in the Taipei Times, Jan. 2, 2026). Yet, this short monograph — magnanimously recommended to me by Tinn for taking “a different approach” — reimagines the story of Taiwan’s engineers through a lens that is both novel and instructive. Indeed, Lin’s book (reviewed in the Taipei Times, Aug. 14, 2025) is an excellent companion piece to Engineers and the Two Taiwans. Both highlight institutionalized inequality in career opportunities between “local” Taiwanese, or “islanders,” and “mainlanders,” or those who arrived from China after World War II. While berating local Taiwanese talent as underqualified and morally lacking, the KMT administration ironically perpetuated the divide with its own two-tier system.

Donovan’s Deep Dives : Macro political trends entering this election year in TaiwanBy Courtney Donovan Smith 石東文 / Staff ColumnistWhat are the factors to watch going forward this election year? In 2014, following the Sunflower movement, the political ground shifted, with the center of gravity moving closer to the pro-Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), pan-green camp. The KMT has favorables at 34.4 percent and unfavorables at 49.9 percent, while the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) sits at 30.8 percent and 51.8 percent, respectively. For a youth-led movement to arise, they are going to have to punch far above their weight and inspire other generations to back them, at which point would it still be a youth-led movement? Donovan’s Deep Dives is a regular column by Courtney Donovan Smith (石東文) who writes in-depth analysis on everything about Taiwan’s political scene and geopolitics.

CCP-KMT text unacceptable, minister says‘HOSTILITY’: China’s ‘one country, two systems’ formula for Taiwan is designed to eliminate the ROC, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said yesterdayBy Shih Hsiao-kuang, Chen Fu-yu and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writerMainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) yesterday said the government will not accept the “15 shared recommendations” by the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) think tanks. The text is full of condemnation of the government for “obstructing” cross-strait exchanges and hindering Chinese tourists, which completely reversed the cause and effect, he said. Chinese Nationalist Party Vice Chairman Hsiao Hsu-tsen, left, shakes hand with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning in Beijing yesterday. The “15 shared recommendations” are filled with condemnations of the current administration for obstructing cross-strait exchanges and blocking mainland tourists, he said. The KMT yesterday said that the MAC is shirking its duties of liaising between Taiwan and China, standing as the true blocking stone of cross-strait interaction and a “troublemaker” sabotaging cross-strait peace.

HK writer celebrates Taiwan linksBy Chao Yen-hsiang / CNA, with staff writerWhen mystery writer Mou Yip (冒業) takes the stage at the Taipei International Book Exhibition (TiBE) on Saturday, it would be more than just a book talk to the 34-year-old Hong Konger. Mou Yip, front right, poses with attendees at a seminar in Taipei on Sept. 9, 2023. Photo courtesy of Mou Yip, via CNAWhen it comes to mysteries, Hong Kong and Taiwan are intertwined, said Mou Yip, a software engineer by trade. “In this sense, mystery novels in Taiwan and Hong Kong essentially thrive hand in hand,” Mou Yip said. The imposition of Hong Kong’s National Security Law in 2020 triggered a wave of migration to Taiwan.

An AIT spokesperson made the remark in response to media inquiries about Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang’s (黃國昌) comments in an interview with the United Daily News on Tuesday. Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei TimesThe opposition has repeatedly blocked the Executive Yuan’s eight-year special defense budget. The US Department of State has said multiple times that it welcomes the NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.59 billion) special defense budget, the AIT said yesterday. Cutting their defense budget undermines investments in essential weapons systems as China’s threats are intensifying. The opposition’s claims that the defense budget is opaque have no basis, he said.

Miaoli man fatally shot by police after stabbing officerStaff writer, with CNAA 40-year-old man who threatened people with a knife at a traditional market in Miaoli yesterday morning was fatally shot by police after stabbing an officer in the head, local authorities said. Police investigate the scene of a stabbing incident yesterday at Nan Miao Market in Miaoli City. When Chung refused, an officer sprayed him with pepper spray, causing him to fly into a rage and run erratically around the market, he said. As bystanders came forward to separate the two, the other officer, surnamed Lee (李), fired two shots at Chung and restrained him on the ground. Miaoli Hospital in a statement said that Chu — the police officer — sustained stab wounds on his forehead and the top of his head.