China revises law to regulate drones, tighten safety rules
China revises law to regulate drones, tighten safety rulesREUTERS, BEIJINGChina passed a revised law that for the first time formally regulates uncrewed aircraft, a move set to reshape the country’s fast-growing drone and low-altitude economy sectors, state media said yesterday. China has implemented “interim regulations” for uncrewed aircraft starting last year, which stipulate that civil uncrewed aircraft must be registered under real names. The regulations also specify that micro, light and small civil uncrewed aircraft do not require airworthiness certification, while medium and large ones must apply for airworthiness certification. As China’s drone market has rapidly expanded, oversight has lagged. E-commerce and food delivery leaders such as JD.com and Meituan have long talked about investing in drone logistics to improve supply chain efficiency.
Source:Taipei Times
December 27, 2025 17:13 UTC
How crane games conquered Japan’s arcades
The crown jewels of the arcade industry, they occupy the building’s first two floors, relegating video games to the basement and upper levels. Claw machines are displayed at the Amusement Expo in Tokyo on Nov. 14. Photo: AFP“Crane games are keeping the sector afloat,” said Morihiro Shigihara, an industry expert and former arcade manager. The real stroke of genius “was putting plush toys in the claw games,” Bottos said. The hegemony of claw machines has also gone hand in hand with a gradual transformation of urban hangouts.
Source:Taipei Times
December 27, 2025 17:12 UTC
Some choosing Chinese amid tech rivalry
Some choosing Chinese amid tech rivalryBy Thomas Urbain and Luna Lin / AFP, NEW YORKEven as the US is embarked on a bitter rivalry with China over the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI), Chinese technology is quietly making inroads into the US market. Despite considerable geopolitical tensions, Chinese open-source AI models are winning over a growing number of programmers and companies in the US. Photo: ReutersIn contrast, “open” models offered by many Chinese rivals, from Alibaba (阿里巴巴) to DeepSeek (深度求索), allow programmers to customize parts of the software to suit their needs. US chip titan Nvidia, AI firm Perplexity and California’s Stanford University are also using Qwen models in some of their work. Given the US administration’s stance on Chinese tech companies, risks remain, Barton said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 27, 2025 17:12 UTC
Cape Town’s housing crisis meets tourism-fired Airbnb boom
Cape Town’s housing crisis meets tourism-fired Airbnb boomBy Shakirah Thebus / AFP, CAPE TOWNThe laughter of children echoed against walls lined with dozens of mattresses in a large, dim room of an illegally occupied building in Cape Town’s bustling and touristy city center. The property is in the heart of Cape Town, where rental prices are soaring as tourism is booming. “My income doesn’t allow me to pay Cape Town’s exorbitant rent prices,” said one of the residents, Fundisa Loza, 46. A woman eats on a couch in a hall of an occupied building in Cape Town on Dec. 18. For city official Luthando Tyhalibongo, Cape Town’s “housing stress is not foreign-made, investor-made or Airbnb-made...
Source:Taipei Times
December 27, 2025 17:12 UTC
The Islamic State is not back, but its ideas endure
The Islamic State is not back, but its ideas endureBy Karishma Vaswani / Bloomberg OpinionThe deadliest domestic terror attack in Australia’s history is raising an uncomfortable question: Is there an Islamic State (IS) revival in Asia? A month later, Polish authorities arrested a law student suspected of plotting an IS-inspired attack at a Christmas market. “In Indonesia, Islamic State lost much of its appeal when it no longer became possible to go to Syria,” she said. It is not, but its ideology remains. Previously, she was the BBC’s lead Asia presenter and worked for the BBC across Asia and South Asia for two decades.
Source:Taipei Times
December 27, 2025 16:48 UTC
KMT blames Lai for budget
KMT blames Lai for budgetBy Liu Wan-lin / Staff reporterPresident William Lai (賴清德) should show more empathy, as he is the one causing an impasse in the legislative review of next year’s budget, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said yesterday, calling on Lai to have “three soft hearts” to resolve the deadlock. Photo: Taipei Times“We hope the legislature can support and assist the country’s progress by promptly reviewing the central government’s budget and the special defense budget,” Lai said. Lo said the difficulty in reviewing the general budget was that the budget the executiv branch submitted to the Legislative Yuan contains illegal omissions. Items that should have been included by law were not, resulting in the Legislative Yuan being unable to review it, he said. The KMT stands firm in defending national security and the welfare of military personnel, and has proposed a salary increase for soldiers, he said, adding that if the military salary increase budget is allocated, the Legislative Yuan would immediately review the general budget.
Source:Taipei Times
December 27, 2025 16:48 UTC
Train ridership up despite ticket price hike
Train ridership up despite ticket price hikeGRAPH GOES UP: Ridership and revenue are both up since the railway restructured from an agency to a state-owned company last year as it seeks to shrink its deficitStaff writer, with CNAState-owned Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) reported yesterday that average daily passenger volume increased about 1.4 percent from a year earlier during the period of June to this month, despite raising ticket prices in June. A Taiwan Railways Corp. train is pictured in an undated photograph. Following the fare hike and passenger volume increase, sales for this year would increase by NT$2.6 billion from a year earlier, with average daily passenger volume predicted to rise 2.9 percent to almost 670,000, the company said. TRC said it has kept working with the government to promote the regional TPass program, and average daily passenger volume under TPass rose 26.3 percent from a year earlier to 185,000 from Jan. 1 to Dec. 19. The company said that it has continued to improve safety, as well as its on-time rate and convenience for passengers.
Source:Taipei Times
December 27, 2025 16:48 UTC
Taipei delegation meets with Shanghai officials
Taipei delegation meets with Shanghai officialsStaff writer, with CNATaipei Deputy Mayor Lin Yi-hua (林奕華), who led a delegation to Shanghai yesterday for a bilateral city-level summit, said ahead of her departure that the two sides would exchange experience in urban governance. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) is only planning to attend the summit on its second and final day today. Taipei Deputy Mayor Lin Yi-hua, center, speaks to reporters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday. The delegation consists of 120 people, including the Taipei City Council speaker and 10 other councilors, as well as various city government officials, academics and experts, she said. The annual Taipei-Shanghai City Summit is the only platform for direct exchanges between officials on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Source:Taipei Times
December 27, 2025 16:48 UTC
Premier to sign, challenge new bills
Premier to sign, challenge new billsBy Fion Khan / Staff writer, with CNAThe Executive Yuan is to countersign bills passed earlier this month reversing cuts to civil servants’ pensions, after which it would immediately file a petition for a constitutional judgement, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. The legislature on Dec. 12 passed amendments suspending cuts to civil servants’ pensions, reversing fiscal reform that aimed to reduce the government deficit. Yesterday was the deadline for the president to promulgate the amendments to the Civil Servants Retirement, Discharge and Pensions Act (公務人員退休資遣撫卹法) and the Public School Employee Retirement, Discharge and Pensions Act (公立學校教職員退休資遣撫卹條例). Premier Cho Jung-tai, center, speaks to reporters in Taipei on Tuesday as Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee, left, and Executive Yuan Secretary-General Xavier Chang, right, look on. With the Constitutional Court resuming operations, the Executive Yuan would immediately seek a constitutional interpretation, Cho said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 20:23 UTC
Chinese villagers win battle against forced cremation
Chinese villagers win battle against forced cremationAFP, BEIJINGProtests in rural China have thwarted government attempts to enforce cremation in place of traditional burials, demonstrators say, as economic pressures fuel unrest in poor areas. Photo: ReutersThe Chinese government has promoted cremation for decades, saying it preserves land, reduces costs and represents “modern” funeral practice. Cremation is commonplace in cities, but many rural communities view burials as an essential rite for the dead. While exceptions exist for 10 mainly Muslim ethnic minorities, the state encourages cremation wherever local conditions allow. A 2018 campaign against burials in Jiangxi Province sparked an outcry, including from state media, after videos showed officials destroying coffins.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 18:44 UTC
Myanmar to hold first election in five years as criticism of junta rule grows
Myanmar to hold first election in five years as criticism of junta rule growsAP, BANGKOKMyanmar is tomorrow to hold the first phase of a general election, its first vote in five years and an exercise that critics said would neither restore the country’s fragile democracy undone by a 2021 army takeover, nor end a devastating civil war triggered by the nation’s harsh military rule. Supporters of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party attend the final day of campaign for the first phase of a general election in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, yesterday. Myanmar’s 80-year-old Suu Kyi and her party are not taking part in the election. Asian Network for Free Elections analyst Amael Vier said Myanmar’s political parties that won 90 percent of the seats in 2020 no longer exist today. An Election Protection Law with harsh penalties enacted this year put even more restrictions on political activity, effectively barring all public criticism of the polls.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 18:44 UTC
Donovan’s Deep Dives: Two glimmers of hope for solving the constitutional crises
Donovan’s Deep Dives: Two glimmers of hope for solving the constitutional crisesBy Courtney Donovan Smith 石東文 / Staff ColumnistFollowing the rollercoaster ride of 2025, next year is already shaping up to be dramatic. Cheng announced Wang as the party’s “supreme advisor,” which may see him as a potential negotiator to break the constitutional deadlocks. KMT legislative caucus convener Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) could theoretically also be a problem. After Wang, Ker is the most famous legislative insider and wheeler-dealer, and the two have a long history. Donovan’s Deep Dives is a regular column by Courtney Donovan Smith (石東文) who writes in-depth analysis on everything about Taiwan’s political scene and geopolitics.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 18:44 UTC
Hawaii bans feeding feral cats to protect native species
Hawaii bans feeding feral cats to protect native speciesAP, KAILUA-KONA, HawaiiThrongs of feral cats emerged from the shade of parked trucks and bushes as soon as the familiar Subaru Forester pulled into a dump on Hawaii’s Big Island. A Hawaii County law set to take effect at the start of the new year bans feeding feral animals on county property. It is an effort to protect native species, such as an endangered goose called the nene, from a super predator introduced to the islands by Europeans in the 18th century. “They’re both living creatures.”It is unclear how many feral cats — abandoned pets and their descendants — live on the Big Island. The cats threaten the native species directly — by killing them — and indirectly, biologists said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 18:44 UTC
Childcare workers urge rethink on camera rules
The bill says that the data must be uploaded to a government server to preserve evidence that would help establish facts in childcare abuse cases, as well as clarifying matters for parents and childcare service operators. People hold placards and dolls at a news conference outside the Legislaive Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei TimesIndustry representatives protested against the planned rules outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Legislation that deals with surveillance footage must guarantee the privacy of children, help establish a professional, respectful and friendly childcare industry, improve the internal management and professionalism of childcare facilities, and establish a bilateral agreement and a code of conduct regarding such footage, Chiang said. Representatives of New Taipei City facilities said that the municipal government employs a significant number of male childcare staff and parents of girls often ask that male staff be excluded from diaper-changing duties for their children.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 17:23 UTC
Legislature approves Youth Basic Act
Legislature approves Youth Basic ActBy Lee Wen-hsin / Staff reporterThe Legislative Yuan yesterday passed the Youth Basic Act (青年基本法), which defines youth as people between the ages of 18 and 35, and incorporates a legal recognition of the right to citizenship at the age of 18. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu bangs a gavel to pass the Youth Basic Act at the legislature in Taipei yesterday. Youth representatives should include people from diverse backgrounds, with at least half of the total members being youth representatives, and the representation of any gender must not be less than one-third. Regarding the establishment of a Youth Development Fund, the ruling and opposition parties did not reach a consensus during negotiations. Therefore, the Youth Basic Act stipulating that a Youth Development Fund “should” be established is not only legal, but also has both policy and fiscal legitimacy, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 26, 2025 17:22 UTC