Taiwan Tonight - Taiwan News | Jul. 13, 2026

On July 10th, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky wished US Senator Graham a happy belated birthday. Many found it hard to believe that this would be the Republican heavyweight's last public appearance. It's a brief and sudden illness. Graham became a senator back in 2003 and two decades later he served as one of Donald Trump's closest political allies. After turning 71 on July 9th, Graham ended up suddenly passing away just two days after his birthday. And a friend of mine for a long time, we don't always agree but that's okay too, but he's a great guy, great politician actually and a terrific person who loves the estate. One of the Republican presidential candidates for the 2016 election cycle, Graham exerted significant influence over his party. President Trump ordered flags nationwide to be flown at half-staff to honor the late US Senator Graham. President Lai Ching-da also posted a message on X that expressed he was deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Graham and the US Senator was a true friend of Taiwan. What would America do if the communist Chinese invaded Taiwan? We're here in this part of the world not to conquer but to be a good ally. If America abandons Taiwan, it will change the world fundamentally for the worse. Graham never wavered in his support for Taiwan. He visited Taiwan three times, including an April 2022 bipartisan congressional delegation he led that flew to Taiwan on a US military aircraft. Tsai Ing-wen was the president back during that visit and the delegation was the first item on Tsai's agenda after her home quarantine was finished. Graham introduced the Taiwan Policy Act of 2022 which was seen as a breakthrough for US-Taiwan relations as it involved arms sales from the US. I'm incredibly saddened to hear of his passing. Going forward, we'll need to continue working with a bipartisan approach that involves up-and-coming American members of Congress. By not differentiating between Democrats and Republicans, we'll be able to establish channels of communication that will ensure the efforts of those in the US Congress who support Taiwan will be able to continue to offer their support. Graham's office confirmed his cause of death was an aortic dissection. Graham had intended to run for a fifth term as senator which is a goal that, like Graham's sudden passing, ended on July 11th. A scooter driver was cruising down the road, nothing amiss, when out of nowhere huge sheets of metal came crashing down. One second later and it could have been the end for the motorist. A heart-stopping fright for sure. Terrifying. It might have been the typhoon. Maybe the metal sheets were old and the wind ripped them off. The near disaster happened on Zhongxing Road in Taoyuan's Yangmei District. Construction was underway on the rooftop of a building in the area. It is thought the materials were not properly secured and were blown loose by the strong winds. Thankfully, nobody was crushed by the metal. And it's not only metal falling from the sky. Over in New Taipei's Xinzhuang District, three huge brick ornaments on a building's facade were ripped off the wall and slammed onto several scooters parked below. I saw it when I was about to get on my scooter. Chunks of the facade came off and destroyed the headlights completely. The building management told me to leave my phone number but they haven't called me, not yesterday nor today. They hadn't even fenced the area off last night and they let people keep walking past. The crash site has since been cordoned off and warnings have been put up. But the scooter owner says the most infuriating thing is the response from management. On a social media post, he said, it was just a scooter this time. But what if it had crushed someone? It's not the first time that the facade crumbled. If this is their attitude when a vehicle gets damaged, what would it be if a person got hurt? In the case that tiles or other items fall off the facade and damage someone's property, the law presumes the committee to be negligent in its management duties if it cannot produce evidence that it fulfilled its maintenance responsibilities. If they fail to put up no parking signs, the committee would be held civilly liable for compensation. The scooter owner says he just hopes the building's management will take the matter seriously in order to prevent a potential tragedy. Jujube farmers in Miaoli are despairing after all their hard work this year was ruined due to Typhoon Bavi last week. Jujube trees are a key agricultural industry in their county. The sector got a nasty surprise just as the harvest was underway. The storm caused fruit to drop from trees and to crack, making it unsalvageable. The county commissioner joined agricultural officials to inspect the damage in Gongguan Township, where farmers estimate they've lost 50 percent of their crops. Let's hear more. Look at all this. Not one of them is good. They're all cracked. We hired three people to harvest them at 200 NT per hour. Only these few are salvageable. It's a total loss if you factor in labor costs. I'll talk with the council on behalf of our farmers to see whether our county can subsidize part of the harvesting labor costs. Production has been halved of the 50 tons we produced in all of Gongguan. Gongguan and the nearby Tonglu Township estimate that some 20 hectares of jujube orchards are affected. Estimated monetary losses total some 2.88 million NT. The area received more than 100 millimeters of rain in a span of 24 hours, which meets the central government's threshold to be considered a disaster for mature jujube trees. Farmers can apply for disaster relief of 80,000 NT per hectare. The county government says it will provide assistance with the process. After four straight years of rising prices for its advanced manufacturing processes, TSMC is now reportedly set to increase prices for its mature node wafer production as well. Market sources say many customers have already been notified with the new pricing expected to take effect in January next year, marking the first price hike for mature processes since the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysts say the move signals that the AI boom is no longer limited to GPUs and high-performance computing, but is now driving demand for a wider range of chips, including power management ICs and power devices. Let's hear more. TSMC adjusted its prices by less than 5% in the first quarter already. The adjustments affected everything from 8-inch wafers to the most advanced tech and mainly reflected higher production costs. Capacity utilization for 3-nanometer and 5-nanometer processes is above 100%. For mature node processes, it's close to full capacity at an average of almost 90%. Investors are closely watching TSMC ahead of its earnings conference on July 16th. Key issues include the rollout of its 2-nanometer process, progress at its overseas fabs, competition from Samsung and Intel, and rising manufacturing costs. Confidence remains strong, with six foreign brokerages already raising their target price for TSMC shares to above 3,000 NT. Now, the market is waiting to see what guidance the company will provide for the months ahead. When hunger or thirst calls, many prefer to not leave the house. But starting today, members of Uber's delivery service will need to pay even more to enjoy the convenience of at-home dining. Originally 120 NT a month, the cost of membership will now be 199 NT, an increase of 65.8%. Yearly memberships will see a similar hike, rising from 1,200 NT to 1,990 NT. Uber stated that those wanting to cancel their membership must do so at least 48 hours before the renewal date. Now that the yearly membership is 790 NT more expensive than before, many have expressed their anger online, saying it took them half the day to find where they could cancel their membership on Uber's website. Coinciding with this wave of cancellations is less work for delivery drivers, who notice today's orders are fewer than normal. Uber Eats' biggest competitor, Food Panda, has responded by slashing its rates for six-month memberships. The days of low-cost food delivery might be coming to an end, though, as the Delivery Workers' Rights Protection and Delivery Platform Management Act will go into effect on July 21st. As the semi-automatic wok turns, waves of a rich, crispy aroma permeate the air. This jerky and pork floss shop in Yuanling City and Zhanghua has been in business for 40 years and has strong appeal for customers spanning three generations. We've been eating this for three generations, from my father-in-law's generation to when I married into the family to our children and now our grandchildren. We all love these flavors, so now that we've finished it, we've come back to buy more. It's so convenient when we go outdoors. Kids love to eat it. For example, some jerky in other places is a gamey smell so our kids don't dare touch it, but theirs is just so delicious. Discerning customers can tell with one bite that the owner uses only fresh, warm pork to maintain its elasticity. Our pork comes from freshly slaughtered pork that is never chilled. It's processed immediately upon arrival, ensuring the meat is very fresh because only fresh meat has elasticity. When Zhang Youzhong, 37, was at university, his father suddenly passed away. He was unable to bear seeing his mother struggling alone. He decided to suspend his studies and take over the family business, the pork floss and jerky shop. It's about passing on the legacy. After all, it's the result of the meticulous work of my father and mother a generation ago. If we can continue it well, we'll feel a great sense of accomplishment. Their shop retains the warmth of traditional shop owners interacting with customers, and the family also embraces online marketing. They are not seeking great wealth, but rather a legacy of craftsmanship and delicious food. As far as the eye can see, every parking space under this bridge is taken. There isn't even a spot to park along the road. Even the paid parking lots are full. Drivers looking to stop in this drop-off space for a few minutes can understand if there are a few cars parked there, but the entire row? That's too much. It's long-term parking. Some people even park their scooters there to hold the space. We often see cars parked there for a long time that never move. It's ridiculous. Those are spaces set aside by the museum for people to drop off or pick up passengers. If you park there, people won't know where to catch their ride. This area is just outside the Regional Exploration Gallery of Geelong's National Museum of Marine Science and Technology. It's clearly meant for short-term pick-up and drop-off, but recently it's become a regular lot where people like to park long-term. Law-abiding drivers looking for a legitimate space have been left feeling like fools. They might as well just turn it into a paid parking area to make everyone pay. If they charge money, it will be fairer for everyone. They're abusing a loophole. It's not fair to everyone else, especially tourists. When it's like that, tourists have no idea what's going on. If your car is blocking the way, how are they supposed to know it's actually a drop-off zone? In response, the museum has asked for the relevant authorities to draft measures to prevent opportunistic drivers from continuing to take advantage of this parking loophole. A wok is heated until it glows red. Then comes the oil, quickly followed by eel stir-fried in the roaring flames and tossed with noodles. After mere seconds, this meal of Tainan eel noodles is ready to serve. Full of fresh shrimp, scallops and abalone, this seafood pot is tossed fresh in noodles for the most authentic southern flavor. Now the best of Tainan's cuisine can be enjoyed right in Taipei. This recipe was passed down to me by my grandmother. I hope to pass down this kind of rice cake through any means. We try to keep it as close to its authentic original taste as possible. Partnering with a hotel means they'll help us generate exposure, whether for our shop or for Tainan as a whole. This five-star hotel in Taipei invited famous restaurants in Tainan to bring their specialties up north. These gelatinous rice cakes are even served in traditional wooden barrels and bicycles from the Japanese era. The freshly steamed shrimp meatballs are delicious with a drizzle of sauce. And be sure to follow it up with a refreshing cup of Ami Mas tea. With the stock market hitting new highs, more people are willing to splurge on buffets than ever before. The stock market has given me more pocket money lately, so it makes you want to spend a bit more like on travel abroad or restaurants. I don't even look at the price so much. We brought in several legacy shops from Tainan to launch this Tainan Food Culture Festival. Driven by the stock market's performance, we've seen a noticeable increase in dining voucher sales and reservations, which have boosted revenue by 10 percent to 20 percent. The hotel is also offering more bang for your buck by giving out raffle tickets for traditional Tainan pudding and creative products, including a grand prize of a dining voucher of 20,000 NT. The owner of this pan-fried dumpling stand and her daughter bowed to the camera in apology, not because of any food safety scare, but because they have to raise prices by 3 NT due to rising costs. I don't think she needs to apologize. It's already a good price. Even at 18 NT, customers found the price to be reasonable. This stand in Taichung has been in business for years, selling scallion, pork and cabbage dumplings for 15 NT a piece. But with soaring inflation and the price of cabbage fluctuating wildly, the owner said she couldn't handle it any longer. I asked ChatGBT and it said that although 17 NT is the ideal number, we'd go out of business. Raising it to 18 NT would be a minor change that people could accept. If we raised it to 20 NT, we would make more, but people would hate us. Unwilling to anger their customers by hiking prices by 5 NT at once, the owner decided just to raise it by the minimum 3 NT. She was prepared to be criticized, but was pleasantly surprised to be met with praise instead. Over the past few days, they've even welcomed new customers looking to support them. This father and son pair found the buy 10 get 1 free deal to be a bargain. Their customers as a whole have found the price to be reasonable, and hope they can stay in business so everyone can enjoy this affordable treat.