KMT demands review of signed tariff agreements
KMT demands review of signed tariff agreementsBy Shih Hsiao-kuang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday demanded that the government submit signed agreements with the US from its tariff negotiations to the legislature for review. Taiwan also agreed to provide an additional US$250 billion in credit guarantees for further investment in the US semiconductor supply chain. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesman Niu Hsu-ting, left, and KMT Culture and Communications Committee head Wu Tsung-hsien hold placards at a press conference at the party headquarters in Taipei yesterday. KMT spokesman Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) also voiced doubts about whether the negotiated tariff rates were truly beneficial for Taiwan. According to Niu, the potential outflow of semiconductor-related supply chains would have a heavier impact on Taiwan than US-imposed tariffs.
Source:Taipei Times
January 16, 2026 17:12 UTC
Opposition votes to split up budget
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers hold placards stating their stance on general budget at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers hold placards stating their stance on general budget at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. The opposition hopes the legislature would first approve funding for these projects, TPP caucus deputy whip Chang Chi-kai (張?楷) said. It is regrettable that the matter was not handled by the Executive Yuan, as it could have sought legislative approval to release funds for these initiatives, he said. The Legislative Yuan usually refers the central government budget to committees for item-by-item scrutiny before second and third readings in plenary, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 16, 2026 17:12 UTC
MOHW eyes less crowded emergency rooms
The situation is also exacerbated by fewer primary care clinics operating. Customers are pictured at the counter at a drug store in Taipei in an undated photograph. They are to operate on the other seven days to provide services in internal medicine, general surgery, pediatrics and orthopedics. Emergency responsibility hospitals are facilities designated under a tiered emergency medical system to provide round-the-clock emergency care in their service areas, with 204 nationwide as of September last year. Extra precautions would also be taken to prevent transmission of the flu, which could be exacerbated by holiday travel, Centers for Disease Control Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 16, 2026 17:12 UTC
Diplomatic delights
Taiwan eases work, residency restrictions for foreign professionalsNew measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
Source:Taipei Times
January 16, 2026 17:12 UTC
KMT, TPP vote to bar PTS board from longer terms
KMT, TPP vote to bar PTS board from longer termsStaff writer, with CNAThe legislature has passed amendments that abolish provisions allowing Public Television Service (PTS) board members to remain in office after their terms expire. The amendments cleared the Legislative Yuan yesterday in a 59-49 vote, with lawmakers from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) using their numerical advantage to delete the so-called “indefinite extension” clause from the Public Television Act (公共電視法). Under the previous law, board members whose terms had ended could continue serving until new appointees formally took office, a mechanism critics said enabled prolonged extensions and weakened governance. The Public Television Service headquarters in Taipei are pictured in an undated photograph. During the floor debate, TPP Legislator Liu Shu-bin (劉書彬) said abolishing the rule would prevent “perpetual board members” and help safeguard the broadcaster’s independence.
Source:Taipei Times
January 16, 2026 17:12 UTC
Tariff agreement good for industry: Lai
Tariff agreement good for industry: Lai‘LEVELING THE FIELD’: The tariff would be dropped to 15 percent, down from the previous 20 percent, matching rates imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EUStaff writer, with CNAAn agreement reached on Thursday between Taiwan and the US to lower tariffs on Taiwanese goods would benefit local non-tech industries by “leveling the playing field” with major trade competitors, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. “Japan and South Korea had free trade agreements or quasi-free trade agreements with the US, giving Japanese and South Korean goods an advantage over Taiwanese goods,” Lai told reporters in Taichung. Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei TimesNo formal trade deal has yet been signed, with Taiwanese officials hoping it will be concluded in the coming weeks. “Not only will there be a ‘Taiwanese national team’ for US investment, there will also be a ‘US national team’ investing in Taiwan,” Lai said, referring to the MOU. The legislature can then retain or revise the clauses, in which case the treaty must be renegotiated with the other signatory.
Source:Taipei Times
January 16, 2026 17:12 UTC
Open Indo-Pacific group launched in Legislative Yuan
Open Indo-Pacific group launched in Legislative YuanBy Fang Wei-li / Staff reporterThe first meeting of the Legislative Yuan Free and Open Indo-Pacific Promotion Association was held yesterday in a bid to boost exchanges between Taiwan and like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific region. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉), who initiated the association, said that the meeting marked the first time the legislature has launched an initiative in response to the “free and open Indo-Pacific” vision advocated by late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei, center, second row, gestures along with fellow lawmakers and guests at the founding of the Legislative Yuan Free and Open Indo-Pacific Promotion Association in Taipei yesterday. Second, to promote Taiwan’s substantive participation in the Indo-Pacific region on issues such as security, economic resilience, supply chain cooperation and democratic governance. Third, to hold public hearings and seminars to boost interactions with parliaments and administrative agencies of Indo-Pacific countries.
Source:Taipei Times
January 16, 2026 17:12 UTC
China protests over the Philippine coast guard’s Xi cartoons
China protests over the Philippine coast guard’s Xi cartoonsAFP, MANILAThe Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday said it has filed a diplomatic protest against a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman over a social media post that included cartoonish images of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela and an embassy official had been trading barbs since last week over issues concerning the disputed South China Sea. The crucial waterway, which Beijing claims historic rights to despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, has been the site of repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels. A China Coast Guard ship, right, shoots a water cannon at a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries vessel in disputed waters of the South China Sea on Oct. 12 last year. “If the Chinese Embassy objects to images or expressions that highlight these violations — often through legitimate public discourse or even satire — it only underscores discomfort with the truth being exposed,” Tarriela said, calling the response an “effort to intimidate.”
Source:Taipei Times
January 16, 2026 17:00 UTC
Stars of K-pop must be allowed to fall in love
Stars of K-pop must be allowed to fall in loveBy Juliana Liu / Bloomberg OpinionK-pop’s biggest-ever comeback tour, the return of the super boyband BTS, has been hijacked by a dating scandal. Just to be clear: Nobody is accused of any actual wrongdoing, but to some fervent devotees, dating is a crime. Superfans’ reactions to “betrayal” by their favorite artists is rooted in the business model of K-pop, which emerged in the 1990s in South Korea. The return of BTS on the back of a US$1 billion tour could push K-pop toward an inflection point in the original business model. Dogged by whispers of dating a rapper, singer Manon was allowed to cleverly end the speculation in her own voice.
Source:Taipei Times
January 16, 2026 17:00 UTC
Which way, Taiwan’s view of civilization?
Which way, Taiwan’s view of civilization? By Joshua Tin 田台仁The turbulence reshaping global politics today can no longer be explained by traditional notions of power balancing or geopolitical rivalry. The US represents an institutional civilization. This approach helped stabilize the postwar order and made institutional civilization a defining feature of modernity. Taiwan’s real challenge is not a matter of political labels but of civilizational alignment: whether to uphold institutional civilization or retreat into a system defined by ethnicity and power.
Source:Taipei Times
January 16, 2026 17:00 UTC
Japan is right to rethink its immigration approach
Japan is right to rethink its immigration approachBy Gearoid Reidy / Bloomberg OpinionThe world cannot get enough of Japan. Japan has an image as a place that is nigh on impossible to move to, but in reality, its approach is often incredibly lax. The slowly-does-it approach has allowed Japan to observe the mistakes of other nations that flew headlong into mass migration and are now having to reverse course. A decade ago, Japan was frequently criticized for “pulling up the drawbridge” by declining to accept large numbers of asylum seekers. The prime minister has a chance to reshape policies to avoid a whiplash of an overly loose approach followed by a stringent crackdown.
Source:Taipei Times
January 16, 2026 17:00 UTC
‘Hobbit houses’ might just save a village in Moldova
‘Hobbit houses’ might just save a village in MoldovaAFP, ROGOJENI, MoldovaThey call Moldova’s Rogojeni the “hobbit village,” and its little half-buried houses, built to resist Moldova’s cold winters and hot summers, do look like something from The Lord of the Rings. The traditional dugout houses have put the shrinking settlement on the tourist map and locals hope they might also help to save it. “We do fear that the village could disappear, considering that there are so few people left,” Rogojeni Mayor Ruslan Groza said, adding that only 30 people were left in a hamlet that once had a population of 200. Resident Maria Ardeleanu, 86, sits inside a “basca” museum-house in Rogojeni village, Moldova, on Jan. 4. Photo: AFP“My goal is to develop this locality, build roads, repair where possible the houses that can be preserved and develop tourism,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 16, 2026 17:00 UTC
Quanta sees robust AI demand
Quanta’s order visibility extends into next year on the back of strong AI demand, said Yang, who is also the president of the firm’s server manufacturing arm Quanta Cloud Technology Inc (雲達). Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times“It is clear that there is no such thing as an AI bubble,” Yang said. Over the next one to three years, AI would not only continue to grow rapidly, but enter a “blooming era,” Quanta chairman Barry Lam (林百里) said, adding that Quanta has secured a competitive edge by successfully transitioning from air-cooled AI servers to liquid-cooled supercomputers. AI server revenue is on track to post triple-digit growth this year, while general-purpose servers should post a solid performance, he said. Overall this year, AI servers are expected to account for about 80 percent of the company’s total server revenue, Yang said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 16, 2026 16:14 UTC
Ex-South Korean president gets five-year prison term
Ex-South Korean president gets five-year prison termAP, SEOULA South Korean court yesterday sentenced former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol to five years in prison in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations. Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster. The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion. Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol arrives at a court to attend a hearing to review his arrest warrant requested by special prosecutors in Seoul on July 9 last year. The court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him and fabricating the martial law proclamation.
Source:Taipei Times
January 16, 2026 16:14 UTC
Call to chow
Interview: Trumpf expanding its Taiwan facilitiesSEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,By Lisa Wang
Source:Taipei Times
January 16, 2026 16:14 UTC