At least eight people killed in India train crashAFP, KOLKATA, IndiaAt least eight people were killed in India yesterday when a goods train driver missed a signal and slammed into an express passenger train from behind, police and railway officials said. People gather at the site of a collision between an express passenger train and a goods train in Nirmaljote, India, yesterday. “A goods train disregarded the signal and hit the train from behind,” Sinha said. Sinha said the casualties could have been worse, but a guard wagon and two others carrying post that were attached to the back of the passenger train took the brunt of the crash. In that crash, a packed passenger train was mistakenly diverted onto a loop line and slammed into a stationary goods train loaded with iron ore.

The forced assimilation of TibetBy Khedroob ThondupThe situation in Tibet is complex and sensitive, with reports saying the Chinese government is attempting to assimilate Tibetan culture into the Han culture. China’s approach to education in Tibet has raised significant concerns regarding the forced assimilation of Tibetan children. The educational content of the schools revolve around the Han culture, with Mandarin as the medium of instruction. The system is seen as a large-scale program intended to assimilate Tibetans into Han culture. The measures are part of what some experts describe as a policy of forced assimilation, which runs contrary to international human rights standards for education, linguistic and cultural rights, and freedom of religion or belief.

Brahma Chellaney On Taiwan: Is US prepared for a Taiwan invasion? There are ominous signs that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is preparing his country for a war over Taiwan. In fact, US President Joe Biden recently plunged the US deeper into the Ukraine war by permitting Kyiv to use American-donated weapons to strike inside Russia. More fundamentally, the drawn-out Ukraine war is crimping America’s China policy and weakening its deterrent posture in the Indo-Pacific, thereby making a Taiwan Strait crisis more likely. Indeed, the last thing Xi wants is an end to the Ukraine war because that would leave the US free to pivot to Asia.

US to step in if PLA strikes: ex-Japan officerBy Wu Che-yu and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe US would intervene militarily if China attacked Taiwan, retired Japanese lieutenant general Hirotaka Yamashita said. Yamashita made the remarks in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) on Friday. He is in Taiwan to promote his book on Taiwan Strait security. Retired Japanese lieutenant general Hirotaka Yamashita gestures in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) in Taipei on Friday. To invade Taiwan, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) must deploy a massive number of troops across the Taiwan Strait, exposing vulnerable troop transport ships to smaller asymmetric weapons systems, he said.

Anyone who tried to separate Taiwan from China would be “crushed to pieces,” he said during the premier defense summit. Past Chinese defense ministers have made similar threats to those of Dong. However, the US has made its intentions clear regarding this “offshore battle” — it aims to deter China from launching a sudden attack. Once all hell breaks loose in the Taiwan Strait, China worries that others would follow suit. Given the low morale of the Chinese military, can the armed forces really afford to battle on four different fronts simultaneously?

Taiwan deepens ties to deter a Chinese invasionPREPARATION IS KEY: Although it is uncertain whether Beijing will act, Taipei is getting ready with the help of ‘many friends, including the US,’ Alexander Yui saidBloombergTaiwan is deepening economic integration with other democracies and working with partners, including the US, to deter Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) from ordering an invasion of the nation, Taipei’s envoy to Washington said. We don’t know,” Representative to the US Alexander Yui (俞大?) Such a law could usher in more investment from smaller companies that work with large firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, he added. “It’s Beijing who is sending the ships, it’s Beijing who is sending fighters around Taiwan — it’s them who are creating all the tensions in the Taiwan Strait,” Yui said. “Negotiating in an election year, the nearer we come to November, the more difficult it will become,” he said.

Taiwanese tennis players confirm Olympics partnersStaff writer, with CNATwo of Taiwan’s tennis stars have chosen their partners for the women’s doubles at the Paris Olympics, the national tennis association (CTTA) said this week. 2 in the women’s doubles, picked 20-year-old Tsao Chia-yi, ranked No. 153, to partner with her at the Summer Olympics in Paris, CTTA secretary-general Jimmy Wang told reporters later that day. Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei reacts during the women’s doubles final at the French Open in Paris on June 11 last year. Olympic tennis regulations say that each nation may send up to two teams to the men’s and women’s doubles events.

KMT advances proposal to ease assets restrictionsLACKEY? The KMT proposed amending articles 4 and 34 of the Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例). DPP caucus deputy chief executive Michelle Lin (林楚茵) wrote on Facebook that the KMT’s first move after expanding the powers of the Legislative Yuan was to attempt to reclaim party assets. DPP Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷) wrote on Threads that the KMT was the “greatest robber baron in the nation.”The KMT attempted to reclaim about 20,000 hectares of land and NT$1.63 billion (US$50.39 million) that the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee in 2016 ruled was illegally obtained. DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) posted photographs on Facebook showing TPP Legislator Wu Chun-cheng (吳春城) smoking during the vote, alleging that Wu had skipped it.

Lawmakers would then vote on Friday morning to decide whether the legislature should uphold the passage of the amendments. People protest against a set of legislative reform bills outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei on May 28. Photo: Taipei TimesMeanwhile, political parties and civil society groups have launched campaigns to garner public support ahead of the vote. According to the Constitution, lawmakers must vote on whether to uphold the amendments’ passage no later than June 25. Civil society groups have also launched a similar campaign featuring talks and workshops in the lead-up to the vote.

Nvidia’s Jensen Huang clarifies ‘country’ remarkNvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday said that he was not making a geopolitical comment after a Chinese state-backed online media firm criticized him for calling Taiwan a country. Since Huang arrived in Taiwan on May 26, the Tainan native has been surrounded by fans and media whenever he has been in public. Reuters reported that some Taiwanese have begun referring to his popularity as “Jensanity.” At a night market on May 29, Huang told reporters that “Taiwan is one of the most important countries in the world. It is at the center of the electronics industry.

EU elections a boon for TaiwanBy Nicola CasariniCitizens of the 27 member states of the EU have elected a new European Parliament amid economic and security concerns related to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and fears that China could be doing the same by invading Taiwan. The European Parliament has veto power regarding some key foreign policy decisions, including the adoption of a free-trade agreement or a bilateral investment treaty. This gives the EU legislature the power to influence the direction of European relations with the world. The main loser in the EU elections is Macron, whose party did not even win 15 percent of the votes. Among the various winners of the EU elections is definitively — albeit inadvertently — Taiwan.

Nvidia’s Jensen Huang clarifies ‘country’ remarkNvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday said that he was not making a geopolitical comment after a Chinese state-backed online media firm criticized him for calling Taiwan a country. Since Huang arrived in Taiwan on May 26, the Tainan native has been surrounded by fans and media whenever he has been in public. Reuters reported that some Taiwanese have begun referring to his popularity as “Jensanity.” At a night market on May 29, Huang told reporters that “Taiwan is one of the most important countries in the world. It is at the center of the electronics industry.

Volvo shifts EV lines to EU from ChinaDISAGREEMENT: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spoken out against the tariffs, as it would affect his country’s auto industry, which benefits from business in China Volvo Car AB has started to shift manufacturing of Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) to Belgium as the EU prepares to impose tariffs on China-made EVs, the Times reported. On top of transferring production of Volvo’s EX30 and EX90 models to Belgium, the automaker might also move assembly of some Volvo models bound for the UK, the report said, citing unidentified people. Volvo, which is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co (吉利控股集團), is seen as the most exposed among western automakers to the potential tariffs, the Times said. Trade frictions between the EU and China have led to a barrage of anti-dumping probes

Intel suspends expansion of factory plan in IsraelAFP, NEW YORKIntel Corp is halting the expansion of a major factory project in Israel, which was going to pump an extra US$15 billion into a chip plant. The chip giant in December last year said it was going to expand a US$10 billion plan at the Kiryat Gat site, in the south of the country, which is currently under construction. Intel on Monday gave no reason for the pause and made no link to Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza. The semiconductor giant has had a presence in Israel for 50 years, since the opening of a research center in Haifa. Intel floated part of Mobileye’s capital on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2022, but retains control of the company.

Indian prime minister to unveil coalition governmentAFP, NEW DELHIIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday readied to unveil his coalition government after a surprise election setback lost his Hindu-nationalist party an overall majority. Modi’s decade as prime minister has seen him cultivate an image as an aggressive champion of the nation’s majority Hindu faith, worrying minorities, including the country’s 200-million-plus Muslim community. Indian Prime Minister India Narendra Modi, center, stands with the president, vice president and Cabinet ministers after Modi’s inauguration ceremony at the presidential palace in New Delhi on Sunday. Two-thirds of India’s 1.4 billion people draw their livelihood from agriculture, which accounts for nearly one-fifth of the nation’s GDP. Two posts were handed to each of the largest coalition members, the Telugu Desam Party, from Andhra Pradesh, and the Janata Dal (United) party of Bihar.