King Liu, founder of Taiwan's leading bicycle maker Giant Group, died early
today at the age of 93.

In a statement, Giant said Liu, who founded the company in 1972, was not only
its founder but also a guiding leader who steered the organization forward
while remaining attentive to those around him.

Giant said Liu was widely respected as a lifelong advocate of cycling culture
and remained a deeply influential figure to colleagues, partners and riders
across generations."

(CNA -NS)

Starting March 2nd, passengers on the Taiwan Railway will be able to pay for
fare upgrades and ticket adjustments using credit cards and mobile payments
at all stations.

The new service aims to make travel more convenient for passengers who need
to change their travel plans but may not have enough cash on hand.

The Taiwan Railway Corporation announced today that its ticket supplement
counters will expand payment options beyond traditional cash.

The update allows for faster transactions for travelers who need to pay fare
differences or change their itineraries mid-trip.



The system will support a wide range of digital payment methods.

TRC officials say the change is a major step in improving the passenger
experience by providing modern and flexible payment solutions across the
entire rail network.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications says traffic on national
highways remained mostly normal today as families traveled for Lunar New
Year’s Eve.

Despite a minor collision on National Highway 1, authorities report that
overall traffic volume is staying within expected levels.

The National Freeway Bureau says total traffic reached over 27 million
vehicle-kilometers by 11 a.m. today.

Officials expect the total volume for the day to hit 92 million
vehicle-kilometers.





Looking ahead to this afternoon, officials identified three areas likely to
see heavy congestion...

That's

National Highway 5 heading south from Nangang to Toucheng



National Highway 6 heading west from East Caotun to the Wufeng System.



And National Highway 10 heading west from Renwu to Zuoying.


(NS)

The Ministry of Education is encouraging families to visit environmental
education centers during the Lunar New Year holiday to stay active and learn
about nature.

The ministry says most centers across the country remain open during the
break, offering a healthy alternative to sitting for long periods or playing
on mobile phones.

Officials say Shei-Pa National Park is currently promoting climate change
awareness through interactive card games and science lessons.

In Taipei, the Wild Bird Society has designed courses for elementary students
covering topics like wetlands and the water cycle.

The ministry is also reminding the public to stay moving, recommending 30
minutes of physical activity every day, or a total of 150 minutes per week.

(NS)

Garbage and recycling schedules will vary over the Lunar New Year holiday,
with collection services remaining normal for Taipei today.

But there will be no collection services from the 17th to the 19th, while
there will be extra pick up services on the 20th.

Regular services resume on the 21st.

---

New Taipei and Taoyuan will see adjusted collection times today -- where
garbage collection will begin in the morning and end at 6 p.m.

There will be no collection from the 17 to the 19, and regular service
resumes: Feb. 20.

Do note that in New Taipei and on the days that there will be no collection
garbage can be dropped off at 70 designated locations across the area from
Feb. 17-19.

---

If you're in Taichung there will be adjusted daytime collection times today.

Rubbish will be collected at designated areas on the 17th and 19th ... there
will be no collection service on the 18th... and regular services resume on
the 20th.

---

In Tainan and Kaohsiung... there will be extra collection services today...
No services from the 17th to the 19th... extra collection services on the
20th... with regular services resuming on the 21st.

The Highway Bureau is offering major discounts on public transportation to
reduce traffic jams on national highways during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Standard tickets for these routes are discounted to 60 percent of their
original price.

That's for 88 different bus routes, including medium and long-distance
national highway trips, as well as shorter routes like those between Taipei
and Yilan or Taipei and Hsinchu.

Travelers who use electronic tickets or mobile payment apps can save even
more.

Those who register their TPASS 2.0 can receive a total discount of up to 58
percent off the original fare.

Passengers who transfer to a local bus after riding a national highway bus,
the Taiwan Railway, or the High Speed Rail will also receive a discount.

TSG Hawks pitcher Huang Tzu-hao returned to his hometown in Penghu for the
Lunar New Year and donated funds to support his former elementary school’s
baseball team.

The professional athlete joined more than 40 other alumni at Shiquan
Elementary School on February 15-th for a special alumni game.

Huang shared his professional experience and technical skills with current
student-athletes and says the donation will go towards the school's baseball
development fund to help pay for new equipment and future tournaments.

Huang says he wanted to give back to the school that first introduced him to
baseball and expressed hope that his younger schoolmates will have better
training conditions to keep the team’s momentum going.

(NS)

The Financial Supervisory Commission is warning the public to stay alert
against credit card fraud during the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday.

Officials say scam groups often use phishing websites and fake advertisements
to steal card details and one-time passwords to make unauthorized purchases.

The commission highlighted common tactics used by scammers, including sending
text messages with suspicious links or using one-page advertisements to trick
people into entering their card numbers and expiration dates.

The FSC is reminding the public to avoid clicking unknown links, never enter
credit card information on unfamiliar websites, and check records often.

The commission says the public can call their bank or the National Police
Agency’s 165 anti-fraud hotline to verify the information and protect
property.

(NS)

Nineteen-year-old figure skater Li Yu-hsiang has made history for Taiwan at
the Winter Olympics in Milan after finishing 23rd in the men's competition.

Li is the first Taiwan figure skater to qualify for and compete in the Winter
Olympics in 28 years.

He finished 23rd out of 24 in the men's singles category, with a combined
score of 214.33.

Li is also the first figure skater to have qualifies for the Winter Olympics
since David Liu in 1998.

Unlike Liu, who was born in Taiwan before moving to the United States at the
age of six and training there, Li is the first figure skater based and
trained in Taiwan to qualify for the Winter Games.

Taiwan is represented by a record 10 athletes across seven sports at the
Winter Games in Milan.

Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung says China is the real threat to security and
is hypocritically claiming to uphold the United Nations' principles of peace.

The statement is in response to a comments by China's Foreign Minister Wang
Yi at the Munich Security Conference.

Wang addressing the annual security conference on Saturday ...saying some
countries were "trying to split Taiwan from China," blamed Japan for tensions
over the island and underscored the importance of upholding the United
Nations Charter.

According to Lin, China views Taiwan as its own territory, a view the
government in Taipei rejects - as only Taiwan's people can decide their
future ..

.. and Taiwan's sovereignty has never belonged to the People's Republic of
China - whether viewed from historical facts, objective reality or under
international law.

And,

Kaohsiung's Shou Shan Zoo has announced the death of one of its
longest-tenured residents -- African elephant Ali.

Ali was found dead on Saturday.

She was 52.

The zoo says although she as was relatively old, the elephant had not shown
any abnormal conditions before her sudden passing.

According to the zoo, it has asked the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital
at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology to conduct an
autopsy to determine the cause of Ali's death.

Ali joined the zoo after being transported from the U-S when she was only
five years old in 1978, the same year the zoo was founded.

Since then, Ali has been the zoo's most iconic animal and she accompanied the
zoo when it relocated to its current location in 1986.

re-Lunar New Year remarks

President Lai Ching-te says his administration will continue strengthening
national defense, advancing economic development and expanding social welfare
programs.

Lai delivered his pre-Lunar New Year remarks last night at the Xiao-Xue-shan
Radar Station in Taichung.

According to Lai, his administration will boost development across central
and southern Taiwan to achieve what he described as "his government's goal of
a balanced nation."

Lai said government will continue to advance social investment and welfare
programs to support disadvantaged groups.

He thanked troops and coast guard personnel for their "around-the-clock
efforts to protect" Taiwan ...

.. and he also expressed his appreciation to police, firefighters, healthcare
workers, customs and immigration agents and public transport workers for
"keeping society running smoothly" during the holiday.

The Freeway Bureau says overall traffic remained within expectations on
Sunday -- the second day of the Lunar New Year holiday.

According to the bureau, as of 5PM yesterday, traffic volume had reached
70.2-million vehicle-kilometers.

Total traffic for the day was projected at 102-million vehicle-kilometers.

Traffic on provincial highways was also mostly smooth Sunday and only brief
congestion reported on several sections linking to national freeways.

The Freeway Bureau is warning that heaviest southbound traffic is expected
today - Lunar New Year's Eve - particularly between 8AM and noon.

Vice Premier Zheng Li-Jun says the Taiwan-U.S. Agreement on Reciprocal Trade,
or A-R-T, text includes a line on Taiwan keeping defense spending above
3-percent of GDP.

She says the clause records a policy President Lai Ching-te announced in
March last year, before the trade talks began.

Zheng spoke in Washington after Taiwan and the U.S. reached consensus and
signed the agreement after 10 months of negotiations.

Reporters asked how the clause was negotiated and whether a trade pact can
mention budget spending.

Zheng says Taiwan made the pledge on its own to show resolve to defend the
country and has submitted arms budgets to the legislature.

In Taipei, Lai says the 3-percent pledge is unrelated to the A-R-T talks and
came before the U.S. announced reciprocal tariffs.

He says Taiwan's 2026 defense budget already exceeds 3-percent of GDP, so
there should be no implementation problem.

(PB)

Some 40-percent Taiwan's mahi-mahi is exported to the Unites States, and
fishermen say the U.S. tariff on the fish will now match that of competing
countries.

This means the product will remain competitive in the U.S. market as long as
quality is maintained and government support continues.

The newly-signed Taiwan-U.S. trade deal grants exemptions for more than
2-thousand export items, and if those exemptions are applied, the average
tariff on Taiwan’s exports to America is expected to fall to 12.3 percent.



Fisheries Agency data shows that Taiwan’s average annual mahi-mahi
production between 2021 and 2023 reached 3,400 metric tons, with around 40-
percent shipped to the U.S.

Fishermen say confirmation that the U.S. tariff will be 15 percent, matching
competitors such as Ecuador, has eased concerns.

They also said long-term influence remains to be seen.

(JL)

Health officials in Miaoli County have confirmed that four pigs found dead at
a local livestock farm did not have African Swine Fever.

The deaths occurred at a farm in Houlong Township, and county officials say
test results came back negative for all major animal diseases, after a report
of the deaths caused public concern.

The county says the pigs died from stress and crowding during the process of
being loaded onto a truck for transport.

Officials also visited four nearby farms and found no other unusual deaths.

Disinfection efforts were increased throughout the surrounding area as a
precaution.

(NS)

Taiwan's hog farmers have said they're not concerned about tariff reductions
on U.S. pork as long as country-of-origin labeling is strictly enforced,

The R-O-C Swine Association chair Pan Lian-zhou (潘連周) is also calling for
legislation to ensure proper labeling.

According to the tariff deal that Taiwan signed with the U.S. today, tariffs
on American pork and offal will remain in place but will be reduced, with
U.S. pork granted a three-year transition period for adjustments.

Current import duties stand at 12.5 percent for chilled and frozen pork and
15 percent for pork feet and offal.

Under the new pact, pork tariffs will eventually be lowered to between 6.3
percent and 10 percent, and pork offal, to 7.5 percent.

Pan said labeling requirements should also clearly apply to processed meat
products, noting that some processors import fatty pork belly from the United
States and mix it with lean Taiwanese pork to produce processed foods, and
label the final products as from Taiwan.

He said the proportion of U.S. and Taiwanese pork used should be clearly
indicated so consumers can make informed choices.



(JL)

Weather officials say Taiwan will enjoy spring-like warmth until the day
before Lunar New Year’s Eve, followed by a wet and cool shift for the north
and east during the holiday.

The CWA says a weather front and northeast monsoon will move in, bringing
rain to the north and east on Lunar New Year’s Eve and the first day of the
Lunar New Year, with temepratures in those regiosn expected to drop by 2 to 6
degrees Celsius.

Central and southern Taiwan will remain partly cloudy to sunny, though
temperatures there will also dip slightly by 2 to 4 degrees.

Forecasters say the weather is expected to warm up again starting on the
third day of the Lunar New Year as the monsoon weakens, but the public should
be ready for large temperature swings between day and night.

(NS)

Taiwan shares are higher while other Asian markets are mostly lower after a
tech sell-off on Wall Street over investor concerns on AI disruptions.

The benchmark TaiEx ended up 532 points to close the session at
33-thousand-605

The turnover reached 674 billion NT.

The government has insisted that even with tariffs on U.S.-made imported
vehicles reduced to zero, domestically made cars can still retain some
competitive advantages.

The Economy Minister estimated earlier that under the newly-signed
Taiwan-U.S. trade deal, tariff reductions on U.S. vehicles could affect
domestic automotive output by nearly 2 percent, or roughly $4 billion NT.

But Minister Gong Ming-xin said the impact should not directly undermine the
domestic car market; instead, increased imports of U.S. cars are more likely
to intensify competition with European and Japanese brands.

Under Taiwan’s current tax system, imported vehicles with engine
displacement above 2-thousand cc will still be subject to combined commodity
tax and value-added tax of some 35-percent.

Vehicles priced at $3 million NT or more will face an overall tax burden of
about 45 percent after the luxury tax is added.

Taiwan’s auto market recorded sales of 414-thousand vehicles last yar, with
Taiwan-made vehicles accounting for 51-percent, and imported vehicles , 49%.

(JL).

Following the signing of the Taiwan-U.S. Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, both
sides have reached a consensus on labor rights protections.

The Ministry of Labor said Taiwan will ban the import of products made with
forced labor and prohibit recruitment fees for migrant workers in the
manufacturing and fishing sectors within three years.

The M-O-L will also lower the threshold for workers in small and medium-sized
enterprises to form labor unions in the coming 5 years, and establish clearer
mechanisms for choosing or dissolving unions.

Regarding the opening of the automotive market, Labor officials have promised
to help local automakers lower manufacturing costs and stabilize employment
for frontline workers, and propose a $3 billion-NT dedicated fund for the
auto industry linked to labor-rights protections.

The Ministry also allocate additional funding for project-based programs to
support workers and strengthen labor-rights safeguards in the automotive
sector.

(JL)

In news from and about Taiwan this morning,

The Cabinet has announced that Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun has signed the
Agreement on Reciprocal Trade with the U-S.

Cheng flew to the U-S earlier this week to finalize the agreement after
preliminary consensus was reached in Washington in mid-January following a
final round of trade talks between the two sides.

The final agreement confirms a 15-per cent U-S tariff rate for imports from
Taiwan.

The deal will immediately eliminate Taiwan's tariffs of up to 26-per cent or
lowering tariffs on nearly all American goods - including beef, dairy, corn,
wheat, medical products and automobiles.

Under the terms of the deal unveiled in Washington, Taiwan has pledged to
purchase more than 44-billion U-S dollars worth of liquefied natural gas and
crude oil from America and open the island's market further to American
goods.

Taiwan is also committing to buy around 15-billion U-S dollars in American
civil aircraft and parts and invest roughly 25-billion dollars in
power-generation equipment by 2029.

U-S Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says the agreement builds on
America's longstanding economic and trade relationship with Taiwan ...

..... and will significantly enhance the resilience of supply chains,
particularly in high-tech sectors.

The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office has indicted 10 lawmakers from for
causing bodily injury and other offenses during physical altercations inside
the legislative chamber and a committee room between 2024 and 2025.

Those indicted include seven K-M-T lawmakers and three D-P-P lawmakers.

They are facing charges of causing bodily injury or of negligence leading to
injury,

Four other lawmakers named in the complaints were not charged due to
insufficient evidence.

According to prosecutors, several of the lawmakers argued that their actions
fell within the speech immunity granted to lawmakers under Constitutional
Court Interpretation No. 435 during the investigation.

However, the prosecutors' office says it decided that such deliberate
physical actions were unrelated to the exercise of official powers, and were
therefore not subject to constitutional protections.

Under the Criminal Code, causing bodily injury is punishable by up to five
years in prison, or a fine of up to 500,000 N-T, while negligence leading to
injury is punishable by a maximum of one year imprisonment or a fine of up to
100,000 N-T.

The Centers for Disease Control is reporting Taiwan's first measles case of
this year.

According to the C-D-C, the case involves an eight-month-old baby boy who
lives in northern Taiwan, who traveled with his family to Vietnam and
returned in late January.

The boy developed a fever, a persistent cough and other symptoms in early
February and was hospitalized last Friday after developing a rash.

The C-D-C says the infant's family members and 395 others suspected contacts
are now being monitored.

They will continue to be monitored until February 28.

The C-D-C has issued measles travel alerts for Vietnam, Indonesia, India,
Angora, Mexico, Yemen and Pakistan, and placed 30 other countries on its
watch list.

Health authorities are advising parents to ensure their young children
receive their measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

President Lai Ching-te has approved a special pardon exempting a woman in her
80s, who was convicted of killing her profoundly disabled son from serving
any prison time.

Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo says Lai granted a pardon that
exempts Lin Liu Lung-tzu from serving her sentence while acknowledging her
conviction, after carefully reviewing the case and citing the enduring
circumstances she faced.

According to Kuo, Lin Liu spent more than 50 years caring for her son.

She was diagnosed with COVID-19 in April of 2023, which caused her physical
and mental health to deteriorate rapidly and felt she was unable to care for
her severely disabled son.

Police say an investigation found that the woman covered her son's mouth and
nose with tape, resulting in his death in May of 2023.

The Taipei District Court sentenced her to two years and six months in prison
on January 16 of this year.

The Presidential Office spokeswoman says the case drew significant public
attention and several legislators recommend the president consider a pardon.

disruptions

The Kaohsiung District Court has sentenced a woman to three months in prison
for using a megaphone to blast profanities at her neighbors late at night or
very early in the morning.

The court ruled that the woman set out to deliberately disturb her neighbors.

She was found guilty of frequently disturbing her neighbors on multiple
occasions between May of 2023 to February of last year.

According to the court, the woman's actions disturbed the peace and sleep of
not only residents on Mingfeng 6th Street, but also neighbors in the
surrounding area.

The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office says the woman denied any
wrongdoing during her initial interrogation and claimed the neighbors
disturbed her first.

However, she changed her plea during the trial and admitted wrongdoing.

The court found her guilty of violating the personal rights provisions of the
Criminal Code, stating that her disruptive acts infringed on the rights and
health of the community where she lived.

And finally,

The Central Weather Administration says we can expect to see slightly hot
weather across much of the island through the weekend - when daytime highs in
the west will approaching 30 degrees.

The warm conditions are forecast to persist through Sunday.

However, wetter and cooler conditions will begin to effect the island from
Lunar New Year's Eve on Monday.

That will be followed by strengthening northeasterly winds that will bring
increased moisture and a gradual drop in temperature, particularly in the
north through next Thursday.

The northeasterly wind system is forecast to weaken on February 20 and
relatively stable weather conditions are expected through February 22.

President Lai Ching-te says if China were to take Taiwan, its neighbors will
be next.

In an interview with French news agency AFP, Lai said "if Taiwan were
annexed by China, China's expansionist ambitions would not stop there" and if
Taiwan falls, it will embolden Beijing to take more aggressive action.

The president identified the next countries under threat as Japan, the
Philippines, and others in the Indo-Pacific region... with repercussions that
would eventually reach the Americas and Europe.

Lai further repeated a previous comment that Taiwan-United States relations
remain "rock solid" during the interview and said he's confident that the U-S
does not need to use Taiwan as a "bargaining chip" in talks with China.

The president also outlined his vision for the global semiconductor supply
chain ..

.. saying while production is taking place in Europe, Japan and the U-S,
where Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing operations have expanded, Taiwan
will retain its lead in the sector by keeping "the most advanced
manufacturing processes."

The Ministry of the Interior says it has requested that Taiwan People's Party
lawmaker Li Zhen-xiu submit proof that she has applied to applied to renounce
her Chinese citizenship.

The statement comes after Li claimed to have persistently traveled back to
her hometown on China to submit the application, but it had not been
accepted.

Li was sworn-in as the T-P-P lawmaker on February 3 based on the party's
two-year term.

She has been living in Taiwan for more than three decades and has a Taiwan
I-D card and passport.

Li's eligibility to assume public office has been questioned after it was
reported she didn't begin the process of renouncing her Chinese citizenship
until March of last year.

Under the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and
the Mainland Area, Chinese nationals are eligible to run for public office
after they have become a naturalized Taiwanese citizen for 10 years.

The Nationality Act further states that elected officials renounce non-R-O-C
citizenships within one year of being elected.

Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology and American
defense company Shield A-I have signed a contract to advance the development
of AI-piloted unmanned systems.

The systems are reportedly capable of continuing operations in compromised
communications environments.

Shield AI President Brandon Tseng said the partnership will enable drones
that are produced in Taiwan to include AI pilots that will operate while
G-P-S and communications are jammed.

The Shield AI says the cooperation will cover both software development and
operational deployment... as part of the collaboration, Shield AI's Hivemind
autonomous software platform will be integrated into Taiwan's unmanned
systems.

That software platform enables drones to independently perceive their
surroundings, make decisions and carry out missions.

Shield AI last year announced a teaming agreement with Taiwan's state-backed
Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation and opened a new office at the
Taipei 101.

The High Court has overturned a lower court ruling and found two people
guilty of arranging Beijing-subsidized trips to China for local ward chiefs
and their relatives.

The court has sentenced both John Yao, a ward chief in New Taipei's Tucheng
District, and Ann Jien, the head of a New Taipei-based organization that
promotes cross-strait youth cultural and arts exchanges, to prison terms for
election bribery offenses.

The High Court sentenced Yao to two years and six months in prison and Jien
to four years and eight months.

The ruling may still be appealed.

Prosecutors say Jien accepted funding from the Nanjing Municipal Taiwan
Affairs Office in September 2023 and asked Yao to recruit five ward chiefs
and nine relatives for a group trip to China in November that year.

Prosecutors say the participants received free accommodation and meals while
in China, but were required to pay 16,500 N-T for their airfares.

The New Taipei District Court initially acquitted Yao and Jien - ruling that
there was insufficient evidence to show the trips constituted bribery aimed
at influencing voting behavior.

The Supreme Court has upheld prison sentences of more than 10 years to two
New Taipei junior high school students convicted of murder.

The identities of those involved, including the victim and the school, have
not been disclosed in accordance with the Juvenile Justice Act.

The case stem from an incident in December of 2023, when a girl reportedly
went to another classroom during the lunch break to chat but was asked to
leave by a boy.

She then called a male student she knew to confront that boy, and he fatally
stabbed the victim with a spring-loaded knife.

The New Taipei Juvenile Court found the two students guilty of murder in
September 2024,

The court citing a legal provision that allows reduced sentences for
offenders aged 14 to under 18 and sentenced the boy to nine years in prison
and the girl to eight years.

The victim's parents slammed that ruling - arguing that it overly protected
offenders.

The High Court increased the sentences to 12 years for the boy and 11 years
for the girl after prosecutors appealed the original verdict - arguing the
juvenile court failed to fully consider medical assessments, the boy's risk
of reoffending, and other relevant factors.

The Supreme Court said it found no errors in the High Court's ruling and
upheld the increased sentences.

The Taipei City Government's Environmental Protection Department says it will
schedule more inspections at a Zhongshan District stinky tofu shop that has
already been fined half-a-million N-T for odor violations.

The statement comes after a social media user claimed the smell has been
affecting her mental health.

In the Threads, the user said the smell from the Yuli Qiaotou stinky tofu
shop, near the M-R-T's Jiannan Road Station had been causing her "severe
anxiety."

The user claimed she had pulled out much of her hair due to the distress and
included photos of her mostly bald scalp and what appeared to be a pile of
lost hair and ointments prescribed by a doctor.

The city's Environmental Protection Department says it has made multiple
visits to the restaurant in response to public complaints dating back to
December 2024.

The department issued the restaurant a fine of 585,000 N-T for the severe
violation under the Air Pollution Control Act, but complaints about the
restaurant are continuing to flood social media.

And,

Award-winning cellist Fan Tsung-pei has died.

He was 65.

Fan died of a heart attack at Taipei Veterans General Hospital.

He was known as the "genius of dubbing" and earned multiple Golden Melody,
Golden Bell and Golden Horse Awards for his work in music and film.

Fan graduated from the National Taiwan Academy of Arts and served as lead
cellist of the National Concert Hall Symphony Orchestra for nine years before
leaving to focus on composing scores for TV programs and movies.

He won the Golden Horse Award for Best Original Film Score for "Super Citizen
Ko"in 1995.

The cellist also received the Golden Melody Award for Best Pop Music Playing
Album twice - for "The Sound of Amorous" 1997 and for 2004's "Crystal Boys."