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VOOZH | about |
Polling data often confirms what we expect, but sometimes it throws up surprises. When examined over time, some patterns appear that speak to something bigger going on. In this column, whenever possible, Formosa’s polls are used. Despite the sometimes cringeworthy antics of Formosa’s Chairman, Wu Tz
It’s only half the size of its more famous counterpart in Taipei, but the Botanical Garden of the National Museum of Nature Science (NMNS, 國立自然科學博物館植物園) is surely one of urban Taiwan’s most inviting green spaces. Covering 4.5 hectares immediately northeast of the government-run museum in Taichung’s
If you’re looking for some killer real estate, might we suggest The Virgil, an exclusive, well-appointed building in New York City? It’s one of those century-old hotel-condos with great bones and spacious apartments, fully furnished. One drawback they might not mention on Zillow is all the murderous
Sergei Loznitsa’s Two Prosecutors is a nightmare of government corruption so perfectly composed that, by the time it reaches its chilling conclusion, you feel nearly as entrapped as its young protagonist.Alexander Kornyev (Aleksandr Kuznetsov) is a fresh-faced prosecutor who arrives at the Soviet pr
Last week saw Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), former Taipei mayor and founder of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), receive a 17-year sentence for crimes involving political corruption. This was only the opening round: the case is likely to drag on for several more years in appeals.Both the TPP and the Chinese Natio
On Monday morning, in quick succession, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) released statements announcing “that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平) have invited KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) to lead a
They’re missing a trick here, I thought, when the staff brought out the Minced Century Egg with Tender Tofu (馬告松花皮蛋豆腐, NT$360). Then I said it out loud. Unlike the original bill of fare, Chiou Hwa Restaurant’s English-language menu — which otherwise can’t be faulted — fails to mention the dish’s mos
In the classic history of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) covert military operations in Thailand, Laos and Burma (now Myanmar) during the Cold War, The Secret Army, authors Richard Gibson and Wen H. Chen (陳文華) include an anecdote on KMT intelligence operative Yang Eng-tsai. Yang started out in
The scene is right out of the 1950s with students pecking away at manual typewriters, the machines dinging at the end of each line.Once each semester, Grit Matthias Phelps, a German language instructor at Cornell University, introduces her students to the raw feeling of typing without online assista
Russia’s main security agency is expanding its sweeping surveillance powers, deepening the state’s reach into economic and social life to suppress any risk of dissent to President Vladimir Putin.The Federal Security Service, or FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, is getting wide-ranging a
Nuclear power is getting a second look in Southeast Asia as countries prepare to meet surging energy demand as they vie for artificial intelligence-focused data centers.Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region c
The tiny Caribbean island of Terre-de-Haut boasts pristine turquoise waters and deserted coves. It also has goats, hundreds of them.There are as many goats as humans on the island and, while they charm the tourists as they roam on the beaches and graze in the gardens, there is a darker side to this
The Portuguese never established a presence on Taiwan, but they must have traded with the indigenous people because later traders reported that the locals referred to parts of deer using Portuguese words. What goods might the Portuguese have offered their indigenous trade partners? Among them must h
March 30 to April 5 The discovery of 32 charred bodies on a smoldering ferry in China’s Qiandao Lake shocked the nation, as 24 were Taiwanese tourists. For over two weeks, Chinese authorities insisted that the blaze was an accident and kept silent about the details, igniting outrage in Taiwan over t
Jason Han says that the e-arrival card spat between South Korea and Taiwan shows that Seoul is signaling adherence to its “one-China” policy, while Taiwan’s response reflects a reciprocal approach.“Attempts to alter the diplomatic status quo often lead to tit-for-tat responses,” the analyst on inter
On Thursday, former Taipei mayor and founder of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Seven others related to the case were also handed prison sentences, wh
Just after 6am, I walked up to the ticket gate at Taipei Main Station and entered the Taiwan Railway platform without scanning any ticket; instead, I flashed the Sanrio Fun Rail pass on my phone to the gate worker and was admitted. I found my train and prepared to board. My destination? This very sa
All seven members log onto a livestream, broadcast from a beach. A few years ago, it was a common image. But after the K-pop boy band BTS pressed pause on their full-band duties for nearly four years, it was revelatory.That’s the scene that begins BTS: The Return, a new Netflix documentary from dire
The assignment involves no laptop, no chatbot and no technology of any kind. In fact, there’s no pen or paper, either.Instead, students in Chris Schaffer’s biomedical engineering class at Cornell University are required to speak directly to an instructor in what he calls an “oral defense.”It’s a tes
Big news this last week as President William Lai (賴清德) came out in support of restarting at least two of the nation’s mothballed nuclear plants. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has long advocated a “nuclear-free” homeland. This possibility had been building since 2023 during the run-up to the
