Qisda predicts profits to rebound from last yearBy Meryl Kao / Staff ReporterQisda Co (佳世達) yesterday said it expected revenue and profit this year to rebound from last year’s levels, supported by its long-term diversification across multiple business sectors. The company also plans to focus more on higher value-added businesses — particularly its medical and networking segments, as well as its artificial intelligence (AI) business, it said. From left, Qisda Corp president Cally Ko, chairman Peter Chen and chief financial officer Jasmin Hung gesture at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Qisda began investing in AI more than a decade ago through its business solutions group, which reported revenue of about NT$36 billion last year, he said. Qisda on Tuesday appointed Cally Ko (柯淑芬) as its new president to help oversee operations, the company said.

A map showing the Strait of Hormuz and Iran is seen behind a 3D printed oil pipeline in this illustration taken in June last year. KEY WATERWAYThe Strait of Hormuz is a bending waterway, about 33km wide at its narrowest point. The Strait of Hormuz through history has been important for trade, with ceramics, ivory, silk and textiles moving from China through the region. Trump said on social media that the US would dramatically increase attacks if Iran tried to close the Strait of Hormuz. Danish shipping company Maersk, the world’s biggest shipping company, said Sunday it is suspending all vessel crossings in the Strait of Hormuz until further notice.

US mulls regulatory framework for AI chip exportsRATIONING: The proposal would give the Trump administration ample leverage to negotiate investments in the US as it decides how many chips to give each country US officials are debating a new regulatory framework for exporting artificial intelligence (AI) chips and are considering requiring foreign nations to invest in US AI data centers or security guarantees as a condition for granting exports of 200,000 chips or more, according to a document seen by Reuters. The rules are not yet final and could change. They would be the first attempt to regulate the flow of AI chips to US allies and partners since US President Donald Trump’s administration said it rescinded its predecessor’s so-called AI diffusion rules. Those rules sought to keep a significant amount of AI

Which movie deserves an Oscar for best cat? So ahead of Sunday’s Oscars, Associated Press Film Writers Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle have selected their own awards, because while a movie year might be celebrated for its best film or best performances, dishing out honors for the best cat or funniest prop is just as important. The movie, in the spirit of Friday, takes place across a desperate day in Los Angeles, and Palmer carries it throughout. I refuse to say “fading” because Kay is a luminous other among mortals, the perfect use of a movie star as movie star. BEST PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCEThink of on-screen hallucinatory trips and you probably imagine something wild and colorful, something like Alice in Wonderland.

Tax revenue drops 9.7% as individual income tax fallsBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterTaiwan’s tax revenue last month totaled NT$92.2 billion (US$2.9 billion), down 9.7 percent from a year earlier, largely due to a drop in individual income tax collections associated with the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Individual income tax revenue fell 22.9 percent year-on-year and commodity tax revenue plunged 36.4 percent, as the Lunar New Year holiday fell in mid-February this year, postponing withholding taxes on year-end bonuses to later periods, the ministry’s statistician Liu Shun-rong (劉訓蓉) said. Photo: CNAIn contrast, securities transaction tax revenue continued to exhibit strong growth, reflecting heightened activity in the local stock market. Last month, securities transaction tax revenue reached NT$26.3 billion, up 41.2 percent from a year earlier and marking the seventh consecutive month of annual gains. “Despite February having seven fewer trading days than the previous year, exceptionally high daily volumes pushed securities transaction tax revenue to a monthly record,” Liu said.

Fans, minister welcome national baseball teamStaff writer, with CNAMembers of Taiwan’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) team were welcomed yesterday morning by Minister of Sports Lee Yang (李洋) and more than 300 fans at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport upon their return from Japan. From second left, CPBL commissioner Tsai Chi-chang, Taiwan national team manager Tseng Hao-jiu, veteran pitcher Chen Kuan-yu and Minister of Sports Lee Yang pose for a photograph as Yang welcomed team members at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday as they returned from the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo. Photo: CNAUpon arrival at the airport’s Terminal 2, pitcher Chen Kuan-yu and manager Tseng Hao-jiu accepted flowers from China Airlines ground crew on behalf of the team. Fans gather at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to greet Taiwan’s national baseball team upon their arrival from Tokyo yesterday. Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei TimesShe on Tuesday afternoon returned to Taiwan before heading to the airport at night to welcome the team.

Taiwan protests ex-coach’s removal from Women’s Asian Cup matchAFP, TAIPEITaiwan said Wednesday it has protested to organisers of the Women’s Asian Cup after a former Taiwanese coach was removed from a stadium in Australia for reportedly chanting “Go Taiwan”. Chen was chanting “Taiwan Jiayu”, or “Go Taiwan” in English, before he was escorted out of the stadium, Taipei’s Liberty Times newspaper and other media reported. Taiwan celebrate their win over India during the AFC Women Asian Cup Group C match between India and Taiwan in Sydney, Australia, 10 March 2026. Taiwan players celebrate their victory over India with fans after the AFC Women Asian Cup Australia 2026 match against India in Sydney on March 10, 2026. We continue to follow Taiwan’s football team’s journey to the World Cup,” said Chen, who previously played for Taiwan and later coached the men’s team for several years until 2016.

Speaker Han vows to back Li Zhenxiu’s status as legislatorBy Lee Wen-hsin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNAChinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) yesterday vowed to back the status of a lawmaker who allegedly failed to renounce her Chinese citizenship. Han read out a statement following the breakdown of interparty negotiations at the legislature, saying that the KMT would support Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Li Zhenxiu’s (李貞秀) right to take office. Legislative Yuan Speaker Han Kuo-yu presides over a cross-party meeting yesterday afternoon. Photo: Tu Chien-rong, Taipei TimesDuring negotiations earlier in the day, Executive Yuan officials said that Li failed to fulfill multiple qualifying conditions to become a lawmaker and take office. People from the Chinese area must continuously have a registered household in Taiwan for 10 years before registering to run for office, he said.

China scrambles to curb OpenClaw AI at agenciesBloombergChinese authorities have moved to restrict state-run enterprises and government agencies from running OpenClaw artificial intelligence (AI) apps on office computers, acting swiftly to defuse potential security risks after companies and consumers across China began experimenting with the agentic AI. Government agencies and state-owned enterprises, including the largest banks, have received notices over the past few days warning them against installing OpenClaw software on office devices for security reasons, people familiar with the matter said. Photo: ReutersCertain employees, including those at state-run banks and some government agencies, were banned from installing OpenClaw on office computers and personal phones using the company’s network, some of the people said. The warning underscores Beijing’s growing concern about OpenClaw, an agentic AI platform that requires unusually broad access to private data and can communicate externally, potentially exposing computers to external attack. Cybersecurity experts said the tool is risky because it has access to private data, can communicate externally and is exposed to untrusted content.

Photo: CNAIt would also authorize the US departments of commerce, defense, energy and state to promote US energy exports to Taiwan, and help Taiwan diversify and protect its energy infrastructure and supply. The bill would “harden a critical weak point in the Indo-Pacific balance of power: Taiwan’s energy dependence,” the statement said. Prioritizing US LNG exports to Taiwan would reduce hostile powers’ leverage over Taiwan’s energy supply, it said. Enhancing Taiwan-US cooperation on energy security would also help protect Taiwan’s energy grids and storage systems from different forms of attack, it added. Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) on Monday said that LNG supplies for this month and next month would require the equivalent of 22 shipments.

The Miami-based Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has been publishing an annual freedom of speech list, known as the Chapultepec index, since 2020. It evaluates how the US, Canada and Latin American countries do when it comes to protecting media freedoms. Attacks during coverage of procedures undertaken by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had raised concerns about journalistic freedoms, it said. The report said that 180 attacks against media workers were recorded in the Central American country between May and July last year. Haiti was included for the first time in the annual report and was ranked as one of the countries with the least press freedom in the Americas.

US aircraft transits Strait ahead of Trump’s China visitBy Ben Blanchard / Reuters, TAIPEIA US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft yesterday transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace, in a move the US Navy’s 7th Fleet said “demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”The transit comes ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned visit to China this month as Washington and Beijing look to stabilize ties marred by issues including Taiwan, trade disputes and technology curbs. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations,” the 7th Fleet said in a statement. A US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft is pictured in an undated photograph. China says it has jurisdiction over the Strait, claims that Taiwan and the US dispute, saying that the Strait is an international waterway. Last month, Australia’s HMAS Toowoomba, an Anzac-class frigate “conducted a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait” as part of a Regional Presence Deployment, an Australian government source said at the time.

SPEAK UP: World Baseball Classic (WBC) heats up as quarterfinals begin (1/2) WBC世界棒球經典賽火熱開打（上）A: Did you watch the preliminary games of the 2026 World Baseball Classic? Pool C included Australia, the Czech Republic, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. A: Japan and South Korea ultimately advanced to the quarterfinals, which are scheduled for March 14 and 15 in Miami. A: The semifinals are set for the 16 and 17, followed by the final match on the 18 in Miami. So the latest world baseball champion will soon be crowned next week.

Inside Japan’s oldest, defiant student dormAFP, KYOTOGraffiti defaces tattered clay walls and trash piles up in Japan’s oldest student dormitory, but Masako Ueda is savoring every last moment in the mice-infested building slated for temporary closure. Dormitory resident Harumitsu Harada poses inside the “mahjong room” at Kyoto University’s “Yoshida Dorm” in Kyoto, Japan, on Feb. 4. A person walks out of Kyoto University’s “Yoshida Dorm” in Kyoto, Japan, on Feb. 4. Former dormitory resident and science fiction writer Kenrei Miyanishi poses in the “manga room” of Kyoto University’s “Yoshida Dorm” in Kyoto, Japan, on Feb. 4. A dormitory resident burns garbage outside Kyoto University’s “Yoshida Dorm” in Kyoto, Japan, on Feb. 3.

US’ World Baseball Classic fate hanging after defeatAFP, HOUSTON, TexasThe surprising loss by the US to Italy in the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday night means that the US need help to advance to the quarter-finals. The 8-6 defeat left the team with a 3-1 record at the end of their pool schedule. If Mexico win then all three teams would move to 3-1 and 1-1 against each other and send it to a tiebreaker. US players look on from the dugout during their World Baseball Classic game against Italy on Tuesday. So, the US could also advance even if Mexico win if they score at least five runs.