Tainan mayor William Lai ended his 234-day boycott of the Tainan City Council to give policy remarks as the city addresses a dengue fever outbreak that has sickened 2,500 people and killed four. Lai, who belongs to the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), had boycotted the council meetings to protest what he deemed the mishandling…
People First Party (PFP) chairman and veteran politician James Soong threw his hat into the presidential race as a third-party candidate, vowing to end decades of bitter partisanship that has divided the nation. “Collaboration instead of endless confrontation is our only way out of this mess,” he was quoted as telling the media, adding that…
KMT presidential nominee Hung Hsiu-chu continued to face questions over whether she will continue to run in the race or step down in favor of a stronger candidate. Reports continue to circulate that the KMT is dissatisfied with her candidacy, and some pundits have speculated that she might be asked to accept the party nomination…
Formosa Plastics Corp.’s president Lin Chen-jung resigned on July 27 in the wake of a bribery scandal that caused another 24 executives at the firm to be fired and subject to criminal investigation. The allegations span seven years and involve kickbacks paid by suppliers. Formosa Plastics Corp. is the flagship company of the sprawling Formosa…
Despite resistance from China in the field of display technology, Taiwan has agreed to take part in the new ITA-2 free trade pact. Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) announced from Geneva, Switzerland, that it has ended its resistance to finalizing a deal for the updated Information Technology Agreement (ITA) global trade pact, known as…
A 27-year-old man went on a stabbing spree in Taipei’s metro system, injuring four people in an attack that brought to mind last year’s MRT attack that left four dead and 24 wounded. The suspect, Hsu Li-min, was apprehended at the scene and explained that his actions resulted from his chronic joblessness and “bad mood.”…
The Legislative Yuan in June froze the budget for Taipower’s pilot project to send nuclear waste abroad for reprocessing to give lawmakers time to review the plan. Under the NT$11.25 billion plan, 1,200 spent fuel rod bundles – 8% of the total spent fuel currently stored in cooling ponds at Taiwan’s three active nuclear power…
According to local media reports, the Executive Yuan has proposed amendments to the national Electricity Act that would divide the state-owned Taiwan Power Co., generally known as Taipower, into two separate firms – one a power generator, the other a power distribution network. The amendments would further deregulate the power industry to provide more room…
Miaoli County’s debt problems came to a head in June, with the county facing a NT$10 billion budget deficit that prevented the county government from paying not only its creditors, but also its employees. Payroll checks were finally distributed during the third week of July after the central government provided NT$800 million in funds to…
Senior high-school students opposed to the allegedly “China-centric” new curriculum guidelines developed by the Ministry of Education (MOE), as well as the non-transparent way that the guidelines were established, have staged a series of rallies and protests. On July 23, a late night attempt by protestors to storm the MOE headquarters was met with resistance…
