Legislative Yuan passes bill targeting fraud
Legislative Yuan passes bill targeting fraudStaff writer, with CNAThe legislature yesterday passed amendments to increase penalties for fraud while offering sentence reductions for offenders who surrender and fully compensate victims. The amendments also lower the threshold for high-value fraud to NT$1 million (US$31,819) from NT$5 million. Photo: Taipei TimesFraud involving NT$1 million or more carries prison terms of three to 10 years and fines of up to NT$30 million, according to the amendments. The amendments also introduce a “luxury ban” clause targeting high-profile fraud cases. Courts may take into account extravagant or wasteful spending, such as purchasing luxury homes or vehicles, if it occurs before victims are fully compensated or settlement amounts are paid.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2025 17:13 UTC
Syphilis cases among Taiwan youth up 9%, CDC plans screening expansion
Syphilis cases among Taiwan youth up 9%, CDC plans screening expansionStaff Writer, with CNATaiwan saw declines in HIV and gonorrhea cases this year, but syphilis infections rose, with the sharpest increase among people aged 15-24, the country’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said at a press conference on Tuesday. From January to November, syphilis cases among those aged 15-24 increased 9 percent year-on-year, prompting the CDC to expand free screening services for young people starting next year. Centers for Disease Control officials hold a press conference in Taipei on Tuesday. In contrast, syphilis cases rose 2 percent to 9,072 nationwide. Among those aged 15-24, new cases increased from 1,587 to 1,722 over the same period, marking a 9 percent rise, the CDC said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2025 17:13 UTC
PLA fired 27 rockets: defense ministry
Seventeen missiles were fired from Pingtan from 9am, all of which fell into the sea off northern Taiwan in a PLA-designated drill zone, outside the contiguous zone, Hsieh said. A Mirage 2000 fighter lands at Hsinchu Air Base amid Chinese military exercises around Taiwan on Monday. That was the closest that PLA rockets have ever come to Taiwan proper in recent live-fire exercises, he added. Of the 71 aircraft, 35 crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, he said. Glaser and Shattuck said that the PLA needs to conduct exercises in preparation for a potential invasion of Taiwan.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2025 17:13 UTC
Chinese watch missiles fly from Fujian’s Pingtan
Chinese watch missiles fly from Fujian’s PingtanAFP, PINGTAN, ChinaChinese tourists were milling around a small temple overlooking the glittering sea on an island near Taiwan yesterday when they heard thunderous booms from an islet in the distance. Rockets streaked across the clear blue sky over Pingtan, just 130km from Taiwan and near ongoing Chinese military drills around the nation. Chinese People’s Liberation Army rockets are launched from Pingtan island in China’s Fujian Province yesterday. “Looking from here, even if we can’t see it, it feels like we are really close,” said a woman surnamed Zhang, 59. Reporters saw two China Coast Guard ships in the waters near Pingtan yesterday, as well as two fighter jets and a military vessel the previous day.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2025 17:13 UTC
Ministry awaits scheduled visit by European group
Ministry awaits scheduled visit by European groupBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it welcomes a planned visit from Sunday to Friday next week of a delegation from the European Parliament. Eleven members of the European Parliament, led by Michael Gahler, chairman of the European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group, would be the first delegation from the parliament to visit Taiwan next year, Department of European Affairs Director Eric Huang (黃鈞耀) said. Member of the European Parliament Michael Gahler, chairman of the European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group, speaks at a news conference in Islamabad on July 28, 2018. “Serving as the chair of the European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group and cochair of the Formosa Club in Europe since the previous European Parliament term [2019 to last year], Gahler has been a long-standing supporter of Taiwan,” Huang said. Gahler has been dedicated to promoting parliamentary exchanges between Taiwan and the EU, and assisting Taiwan to expand its network of supporters within the European Parliament, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2025 17:13 UTC
Taiwan’s military highlights Chinese disinformation during large-scale drill
Taiwan’s military highlights Chinese disinformation during large-scale drillStaff Writer, with CNATaiwan’s military on Tuesday warned the public about a wave of Chinese disinformation circulating online amid Beijing’s ongoing large-scale military exercise around the island, urging people not to fall for false claims aimed at undermining public morale. The MND has been monitoring Chinese disinformation and issuing clarifications where necessary, Chu said. Although drone activity was detected during the exercise, none entered Taiwan’s contiguous zone, which extends 24 nautical miles (44.4 kilometers) from the coastline, Hsieh said. Earlier in the day, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) urged the public in a social media post to be mindful of disinformation accompanying the exercise. “At this critical moment, unity between the military and civilians in countering misinformation and disinformation constitutes the strongest defense of our democratic homeland,” Lai wrote.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2025 17:12 UTC
Exercises force the cancelation of 36 domestic flights
Exercises force the cancelation of 36 domestic flightsBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterChina’s military exercises in the Taiwan Strait forced 36 domestic flights to be canceled, while some international flights could not transit in Taiwan, the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. People at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport walk under a board showing flight details amid Chinese military drills around Taiwan yesterday. As of midday yesterday, no international flights had been canceled, although some canceled stopovers in Taiwan, CAA data showed. It coordinated with airlines to add 10 extra flights on the Kinmen route after the drills ends, including originally scheduled flights that were delayed, it said. As a result, 26 delayed flights on the Kinmen route would take off after the exercises conclude, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2025 17:12 UTC
Labor law changes passed
Labor law changes passedBy Lee Ching-hui and Fion Khan / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNAThe Legislative Yuan yesterday passed the third reading of proposed amendments to the Labor Insurance Act (勞工保險條例) to institutionalize government funding support. Lawmakers hold placards to mark the passage of amendments to the Labor Insurance Act at the legislature in Taipei yesterday. The central government is required to allocate annual budgetary appropriations based on its fiscal capacity and the financial status of labor insurance, the proposed changes say. The Bureau of Labor Insurance may temporarily withhold benefits in such cases until all outstanding fees are settled, the proposed amendments say. The revisions stabilize the labor insurance fund from three directions to safeguard insured workers’ rights, Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2025 17:12 UTC
Building character in children through good works
Building character in children through good worksVolunteering with children can instill confidence in youngsters, teach social and problem-solving skills and provide unique ways for families to bondBy Cathy Bussewitz / AP, NEW YORKWhen Cami Teacoach’s son turned three she set out to find volunteer opportunities they could do together. Photo: APCONFIDENCE BOOSTERVolunteering with children can instill confidence in youngsters, teach social and problem-solving skills and provide unique ways for families to bond. Finding volunteer work to do as a family with young children can be challenging, but there are opportunities, if you persist. She also turned half of her son’s graduation party into a volunteer project assembling kits of bean soup. You get quality time, you’re raising your children with what feels like good values, and people benefit,” she said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2025 17:12 UTC
Micron Memory granted NT$4.7bn subsidy: ministry
Micron Memory granted NT$4.7bn subsidy: ministryBy Meryl Kao / Staff reporterMicron Memory Taiwan Co, a subsidiary of US memorychip maker Micron Technology Inc, has been granted a NT$4.7 billion (US$149.5 million) subsidy under the Ministry of Economic Affairs A+ Corporate Innovation and R&D Enhancement program, the ministry said yesterday. The US memorychip maker’s program aims to back the development of high-performance and high-bandwidth memory chips with a total budget of NT$11.75 billion, the ministry said. Aside from the government funding, Micron is to inject the remaining investment of NT$7.06 billion as the company applied to participate the government’s Global Innovation Partnership Program to deepen technology cooperation, a ministry official told the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday. The Micron Technology Inc offices in San Jose, California, are pictured on Dec. 16. The project is to run until October 2028 and the ministry hopes to strengthen Taiwan’s technological capabilities in advanced memory through large-scale research and development investment, the official said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2025 16:58 UTC
Game helps Filipinos prepare for worst
Game helps Filipinos prepare for worstAFP, MANILAIn a library in the Philippines, a dice rattled on the surface of a board before coming to a stop, putting one of its players straight into the path of a powerful typhoon. The teenagers huddled around the table leapt into action, shouting instructions and acting out the correct strategies for just one of the potential catastrophes laid out in the board game Master of Disaster. People play Master of Disaster, a board game about disaster preparedness in Valenzuela, Philippines, on Monday. More than 10,000 editions of the game, aimed at players as young as nine years old, have been distributed across the archipelago nation. While conceding the evidence was so far anecdotal, Macatulad said he believed the game was bringing a “significant” improvement in its players’ disaster preparedness knowledge.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2025 16:56 UTC
MSI eyeing double-digit growth
MSI eyeing double-digit growthLOCAL ADVANTAGES: Micro-Star International Co is confident it would expand its share to 10 percent of Taiwan’s charging pile market next year from 7 to 8 percentBy Meryl Kao / Staff reporterMicro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星科技) yesterday said it is targeting a double-digit percentage revenue growth in its electric vehicle (EV) charging pile business next year, driven by the launch of new products and the rollout of its sales channel strategy over the past six months. The new product and the introduction of charging pile software developed by MSI and after-sales services are to be the main driving forces next year, Yeh said. The company entered the North American charging pile market in September with its previous wall-mounted EV charging pile model, the EV Premium, through Amazon.com Inc and Best Buy Co Inc sales channels, Yeh said. Aside from wall-mounted charging piles, MSI also launched a portable EV charger in April that is waterproof and dustproof, with the response proving positive, Yeh said. The wall-mounted and portable charging piles are expected to each account for about 50 percent of total charging pile revenue next year, she added.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2025 16:56 UTC
Anthony Joshua ‘stable’ after fatal accident in Nigeria
Anthony Joshua ‘stable’ after fatal accident in NigeriaAFP, SAGAMU, NigeriaFormer world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua was in a “stable condition” in hospital after a car accident in Nigeria that killed two close friends and associates, his promoter announced on Monday. Anthony Joshua celebrates winning his bout against Andy Ruiz Jr in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, on Dec. 7, 2019. Sharing a photograph of himself with Joshua on social media, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu wrote: “As a sportsman, you have always shown courage, discipline, and unwavering love for our country.”Tinubu later said on social media that he had spoken with “AJ” and the boxer’s mother. I am praying for the lost lives, AJ and anyone impacted by today’s unfortunate accident,” Paul said on social media. Former Olympic champion Joshua has since been linked with a fight against compatriot and fellow former world champion Tyson Fury.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2025 16:56 UTC
Credit card spending rises 6.65% to NT$4.14 trillion
Cumulative credit card spending reached NT$4.14 trillion (US$131.7 billion) in the first 10 months of the year, marking a 6.65 percent increase from the same period last year, Financial Supervisory Commission data showed. Photo: Lee Chin-hui, Taipei TimesCathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) reported double-digit growth in overseas spending and transactions via online travel agencies, while Taishin International Bank (台新銀行) saw overseas card spending surge 22 percent year-on-year. Demographically, consumers aged 30 to 49 accounted for more than half of total spending at Cathay United Bank, while Taipei Fubon Bank said its core spending cohort was aged 40 to 49. Looking ahead, the banks expect credit card spending to post double-digit percentage growth next year, supported by sustained demand for overseas travel, experiential consumption and the continued expansion of digital payment ecosystems. These moves set the stage for an increasingly competitive credit card market, as issuers vie for consumers drawn to convenience, rewards and a seamless digital payment experience.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2025 16:56 UTC
Vehicle unveiled
Nvidia reaches tech deal with GroqAI TALENT: No financial details were released about the deal, in which top Groq executives, including its CEO, would join Nvidia to help advance the technology Nvidia Corp has agreed to a licensing deal with artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Groq, furthering its investments in companies connected to the AI boom and gaining the right to add a new type of technology to its products. The world’s largest publicly traded company has paid for the right to use Groq’s technology and is to integrate its chip design into future products. Some of the start-up’s executives are leaving to join Nvidia to help with that effort, the companies said. Groq would continue as an independent company with a new chief executive, it said on Wednesday in a post on its Web
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2025 16:56 UTC