TSMC nets nearly 70% of 2025 foundry marketStaff writer, with CNATaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) share of the global foundry market rose to almost 70 percent last year amid booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI), market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Thursday. The contract chipmaker posted US$122.54 billion in revenue, up 36.1 percent from a year earlier, accounting for 69.9 percent of the global market, TrendForce said. A man walks past the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co logo outside one of the firm’s buildings in Hsinchu on Feb. 10. The global foundry market’s 10 largest firms generated US$169.47 billion in combined sales last year, up 26.3 percent from a year earlier. Rounding out the top 10 were: Israel’s Tower Semiconductor Ltd (US$1.57 billion, 0.89 percent), Taiwan’s Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進, US$1.56 billion, 0.89 percent), China’s NexChip Co (合晶集成, US$1.51 billion, 0.86 percent), and Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電, US$1.40 billion, 0.80 percent).

Legislative unity, erasing differenceBy Khedroob ThondupChina’s latest draft law on “promoting ethnic unity and progress” is presented as a benign effort to improve cohesion among its 56 recognized ethnic groups. This shift has profound implications — not only for minority rights within China, but for the international system that Beijing increasingly seeks to reshape. What was once framed as “unity in diversity” is recast as “unity through uniformity.”In practice, this legal framework legitimizes restrictions on minority-language education, religious practice and cultural expression. China is a signatory to international treaties that protect minority rights, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The new law directly conflicts with these obligations, signaling Beijing’s willingness to prioritize sovereignty and “national unity” over international norms.

Taiwan fans roar for their team at WBCLOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with

Blast rocks Tehran as Israel targets Quds Day rallyAP, DUBAI, United Arab EmiratesA large explosion yesterday rocked an area of Iran’s capital where thousands were gathered for the annual state-organized Quds Day to support the Palestinians and call for Israel’s demise. Israel had earlier warned that it would target the area in central Tehran. Iranian women walk across posters depicting images of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Quds Day rally in Tehran yesterday. Israel did not say what it was targeting, but Iranian leaders often attend the annual rallies. Iranian authorities say that more than 1,300 people have been killed there, and Israel has reported 12 deaths.

Lawmakers pass motion allowing signing of LOAWEAPONS TIME FRAME: The motion also directed the Executive Yuan to brief the legislature on the estimated delivery dates of the US weapons systemsStaff writer, with CNAThe Legislative Yuan yesterday passed a motion authorizing the Cabinet to sign letters of acceptance (LOA) for four weapons systems approved for sale by the US that were set to expire this month. The motion was passed by the legislature in line with the conclusion reached following cross-caucus talks a day earlier. The four systems — M109A7 self-propelled howitzers, Javelin anti-armor missiles, TOW 2B missiles and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) — form the bulk of a US$11.1 billion arms package the US announced in December last year. Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFEThey would be funded through a special defense budget being reviewed by the legislature. The LOA for the HIMARS system was set to expire on March 26, and those for the other three weapons systems were to expire tomorrow.

Bureau arrests 26 in crackdown on investment fraudBy Jason Pan / Staff reporter, with CNAPolice on Thursday said they have arrested 26 people and shut down an investment fraud operation that collaborated with a scam center in Cambodia to swindle more than 40 victims. Criminal Investigation Bureau Ninth Investigation Corps Deputy Captain Lee Chi-hsun speaks to reporters in Taipei on Thursday. “Through this method, they lured victims into downloading fraudulent investment apps, and then instructed them to transfer large sums of money into dummy accounts, which were laundered by gang members,” Lee said. The CIB has gathered sufficient evidence including testimony from the money mules and gang members, as well as photos and a paper trail of dummy accounts and money transfers, Lee said. Hsu and the 26 gang members are facing charges of fraud, breaching the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), and other offenses, with 14 being held in pretrial detention.

After Taipei City, New Taipei City mayor is a top jumping-off point for a presidential run, or future premiership. Candidate for New Taipei City mayor Hammer Lee. Lee’s Facebook description reads: “Road leveling, streetlights, sewage system, step by step working pragmatically, as Taipei City deputy mayor. HUANG KUO-CHANGCandidate for New Taipei City mayor Su Chiao-hui, a legislator and the daughter of heavyweight politician Su Tseng-chang. After gaining experience as a deputy mayor of Taipei County (then New Taipei City) he was sent to Kaohsiung to serve under newly elected Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), and finally under Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安).

Genomic toolkit aids plant identificationBREAKTHROUGH: The genomic toolkit overcomes the limitations of DNA barcoding and advanced plant species identification to the genomic level, local researchers saidBy Esme Yeh / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Biodiversity Research Institute, in collaboration with National Taiwan Normal University, has developed a genomic toolkit that helps identify plant varieties with subtly different genomic characteristics. To overcome such limitations, the institute said it integrated its past studies to produce a strategic framework for plant species identification in collaboration with the university. The framework — which it called a “genomic toolkit” — lays out different identification techniques and their applicable contexts, the institute said. Species identification is not only an academic challenge, but also relevant to national biosafety and conservation, the institute said. The genomic toolkit is a significant breakthrough, as it overcomes the limitations of DNA barcoding and advanced plant species identification to the genomic level, it said.

NASA ‘on track’ for April 1 ‘Artemis 2’ launchAFP, CAPE CANAVERALNASA on Thursday said that the long-delayed launch of Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the moon in more than 50 years, could come as soon as April 1. “We are on track for a launch as early as April 1, and we are working toward that date,” Lori Glaze, a senior NASA official, told a news conference, after technical difficulties delayed a launch originally expected last month. Photo: APThe US space agency last month announced a sudden revamp of the Artemis program, including the addition of a test mission before an eventual lunar landing. The Artemis 2 mission is meant to be the first flyby of the moon in more than half a century. After launch, NASA diagrams indicate Artemis 2 would circumnavigate Earth before leaving orbit to travel to the moon, without landing, for a lunar flyby before returning to Earth and splashing down in the ocean.

EDITORIAL: Lawmakers should listen to surveyA survey released this week by Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies offered further insight into how Taiwanese view the nation’s security environment and their own role in defending it. The “American Portrait” survey is a Taiwan-based telephone questionnaire survey conducted annually with the goal of understanding the public’s perception of the US and China as well as their support for US policies toward Taiwan. Polls in the US consistently show that a majority of Americans support aiding Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack. Although the survey’s results revealed growing ambivalence toward a major democratic partner, it also showed clear public support for bolstering national defense. Lawmakers should take note: The public understands the importance of reinforcing Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities amid an increasingly volatile environment, and it is time legislators do the same.

Rights groups blast the harassment of Tibetan supportersBy Esme Yeh / Staff reporterHuman rights groups yesterday condemned the harassment of people who rallied to support the religious freedom of Tibetans, saying that it was typical transnational repression by China, not a mere disturbance or criminal case. Supporters of Tibet and activists hold a candlelight vigil at Taipei’s Liberty Square on Tuesday. The Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan, along with 15 other human rights groups in Taiwan, yesterday issued a joint statement deploring such coercive actions. The Taipei Police Department’s Zhongzheng First Precinct yesterday confirmed that the two men, surnamed Lin (林), were brothers and Taiwanese. The man who threw firecrackers was 21 years old and said he did it “just for fun,” it said.

China’s ‘hidden’ military spending a grave threatBy Fang Wei-li and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerChina’s “hidden” military spending is a grave threat to Taiwan’s national security that could trigger an arms race in the Indo-Pacific region, Taiwanese researchers said on Thursday. The 7 percent growth in military spending announced by Beijing last week is deceptively low, the researchers said. This is because large swathes of China’s military budget are hidden in allocations for technological research and development, and paramilitary organizations, including the Chinese maritime militia and armed police, he said. However, China’s military expenditure is not enough for a Taiwan invasion and defeating intervening US forces, Chen added. In-house projections suggest that China’s back-to-back military exercises came at a high fiscal cost, group chairman Yang Tai-yuan (楊太源) said.

China University of Science and Technology vice president Lee Li-chung (李禮仲), Fooyin University professor Su Jia-hong (蘇嘉宏) and Soochow University professor Su Tzu-chiao (蘇子喬) were also approved as CEC members. Staffers count confirmation ballots for Central Election Commission nominees at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. The CEC had been unable to convene or pass resolutions as it only had four commissioners — one short of the quorum required by law. Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said DPP lawmakers voted in favor of three nominees that the opposition backed, but did not see their goodwill reciprocated. You’s appointment as CEC chairman puts the veteran pollster in the spotlight for several high-profile matters the body is expected to deal with in the immediate future.

The office of US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer initiated the probe under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act into forced-labor practices in 60 economies. Taiwan, Canada, China, the EU, India, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and the UK are among the targets of the inquiry. Trump’s replacement levies, which fall under Section 122 of the Trade Act, expire in July. Section 301 tariffs are more durable and legally tested than other authorities Trump has leaned toward, but are more time-consuming. China yesterday rebuked a US trade investigation into alleged overcapacity and said it reserved the right to take countermeasures, clouding the outlook for a new round of trade talks that is set to begin this weekend.

Rubio to join Trump on China trip: reportBy Fion Khan / Staff writerUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to visit China with US President Donald Trump later this month after appearing to show little interest in previous invitations from Beijing, the South China Morning Post reported today. Rubio, the first sitting US secretary of state to be sanctioned by China, had been invited to visit but had not been “receptive” until recently, the Hong Kong-based newspaper said, citing anonymous sources. Rubio’s attendance could smooth over some of the issues surrounding Trump’s visit to China, the report said, adding that frustration has been mounting in Beijing because of the lack of preparation for the trip. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is seen in an undated photograph. Sources believed that Rubio’s hesitation stemmed from his long-term stance toward China, as he might not want to be seen as softening his attitude, the report said.