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.

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.

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.

‘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.

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.

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.

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

Yen rises as Japan mulls joint intervention with USReuters, TOKYOThe yen yesterday rose against the US dollar after Japanese Minister of Finance Satsuki Katayama said Tokyo would not rule out any options to counter weakness in the local currency, including coordinated intervention with the US. The yen slid to a year-and-a-half low earlier in the week. A photograph taken on March 19 last year shows an illustration of yen and US dollar banknotes. Some Bank of Japan policymakers see scope to raise interest rates sooner than markets expect to contend with the weak yen, sources said. “Lower house dissolution reports are fuelling JPY [Japanese yen] depreciation pressure and we have further extended our long USD/JPY target, but potential intervention risk could cap the upside,” said Shinichiro Kadota, head of Japan forex and rates strategy at Barclays Tokyo.

TSMC record profit drives TAIEX’s 1.9 percent riseStaff writer, with CNAThe TAIEX yesterday surged almost 2 percent and smashed closing records, as investors were pleasantly surprised by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) fourth-quarter results and strong growth prospects this year, analysts said. The weighted index closed up 598.12 points, or 1.94 percent, at 31,408.70 on turnover of NT$823.36 billion (US$26.08 billion). A man walks pass stock electronic boards at Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNAFor this year, it forecast that revenue would surge almost 30 percent, while capital expenditure would rise to a record US$52 billion to US$56 billion. Foreign institutional investors yesterday net bought NT$39.92 billion in shares, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.

As Taiwan does not have a free-trade agreement with the US, its tariff structure has long been at a disadvantage, while Japan and South Korea have largely enjoyed zero-tariff treatment, Kung said. Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin answers questions from members of the media regarding the Taiwan-US trade deal in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Ann Wang, ReutersThe deal places Taiwan on par with Japan and South Korea, as all three are now subject to a 15 percent tariff, he said. The outcome also helped stabilize industry expectations regarding the results of the US’ Section 232 investigation, Kung said. Meanwhile, US companies are also expected to expand investment in Taiwan, targeting defense, drones, smart robots, quantum technology and biotechnology, in addition to chips and AI, Kung said.

The trade negotiations, which concluded on Thursday, included commitments to expand supply chain investment cooperation and deepen Taiwan-US collaboration on artificial intelligence (AI), the Cabinet said. The new tariff rate matches US rates on goods from major trade partners such as Japan, South Korea and the EU. Taiwan is the first country to secure the most-favorable treatment for its semiconductor and related product suppliers, which should significantly ease uncertainties in the local semiconductor industry, the Cabinet said. The consensus was reached on Thursday, and a memorandum of understanding was signed with the US Department of Commerce, it added. A more formal trade pact would be signed in the coming weeks, said Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who led Taiwan’s trade negotiation team.

Japan, US agree to more cooperationAFP, TOKYOTokyo and Washington yesterday agreed to boost joint production of defense equipment, including missiles, and expand their military presence in waters southwest of Japan, as China ramps up pressure on its Asian neighbor. The agreement came after Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi met US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in Washington, where they also pledged further cooperation on supply chains including critical minerals. Japan is embroiled in a heated diplomatic spat with China, triggered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s suggestion last year that Japan could intervene militarily if China attacks Taiwan. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, welcomes Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi in Washington on Thursday. Photo: APChina reacted angrily, blocking exports to Japan of “dual-use” items with potential military applications, fueling worries in Tokyo that Beijing could choke supplies of much-needed rare earths.

Business groups welcome tariff pact with USBy Crystal Hsu and Lisa Wang / Staff reportersTaiwanese business groups yesterday welcomed the outcome of the trade talks with the US, saying the agreement injects much-needed certainty into corporate planning even as risks persist from Washington’s evolving tariff and technology policies. Another business group, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (台灣機械公會), agreed, saying the tariff deal would help boost local machinery exports to the US. Consultancy firm PwC Taiwan said that the agreement effectively locks in tariff treatment for Taiwanese exports to the US, giving companies greater certainty when planning operations and investment. Deloitte & Touche Taiwan warned that while the agreement has eased some of the tariff pressure facing Taiwanese companies, US trade policy remains fluid. Semiconductor companies will need to closely monitor policy developments, the pace of Taiwanese investments in the US and the buildout of US semiconductor clusters, Deloitte said.

US okays US$2.3bn bill for Taiwan military financingINSIGHTS: The approval showed supporting Taiwan was a bipartisan consensus and the funding for the Philippines highlights first island chain security concerns, experts saidStaff writer, with CNAThe US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill to provide Taiwan with US$300 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF), and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees to bolster deterrence in the Taiwan Strait. The measures are part of the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2026, which the House approved by a 341-79 vote. Photo: EPA-EFEFMF, a US Department of State program, helps allies and partner countries acquire US military equipment, services and training through US-funded aid. “In the past month, the free people of Taiwan have endured cyberattacks and aggressive PLA [People’s Liberation Army] military exercises. Chen Shih-min (陳世民), an associate professor of political science at National Taiwan University, said that although Taiwan accounts for only part of the bill, members of the US Congress had to actively support the provisions to vote in favor.

Handheld festival lanterns to be handed out March 3-15Staff writer, with CNAHandheld paper lanterns featuring the OhBear mascot riding a rocking horse are to be handed out during this year's Taiwan Lantern Festival in Chiayi County starting at 3pm daily from March 3 to 15, the Chiayi County Government announced yesterday. The festival is to take place at the plaza in front of Chiayi County Hall. Handheld lanterns for the Taiwan Lantern Festival in Chiayi County are pictured in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of the Chiayi County GovernmentThe lanterns combine Taiwan's tourism mascot with the Chinese zodiac sign of the horse. Chiayi County Commissioner Weng Chang-liang (翁章梁) said that a total of 280,000 lanterns have been prepared by the Tourism Administration and the county government.