Taiwan Tonight - Taiwan News | Sep. 1, 2026

Rescuers battle the roaring current wearing life jackets and helmets. After wading 800 meters upstream, they switch to an inflatable rescue boat. We're at the Zhuoshui River in Nantou, where a rafting accident was reported at two on Sunday afternoon. Of the five tourists who were on board the capsized boat, two managed to swim ashore, and three were left stranded on the opposite riverbank. Halfway through our trip, we reached the Kaohsiung River, which was muddy and had a strong current. The two of us went to ask for help. Fire and police rescuers conducted a two-day rescue operation. One person was rescued on the first attempt, but on the second attempt, two firefighters fell into the strong current after their vessel capsized. One was able to swim ashore, but another one, surname Wu, was swept away. We found Wu 700 to 800 meters upstream of the Shuanglong Bridge. He was rushed to a hospital, but was pronounced dead after resuscitation efforts failed. He's the first firefighter to die in the line of duty since the Nantou County Fire Department was established. The president and the premier have expressed their deepest condolences to the family of the firefighter, Mr. Wu. As a token of our respect, we will create a fund to cover his expenses until they graduate from university. In extreme weather, you should consider all factors when going hiking or boating. It would be extremely regrettable if something were to happen to our rescuers. Mr. Wu was a 50-year-old former military officer who later took an exam to transfer to the fire department. He was dispatched on many challenging missions, saving countless lives. An autopsy was conducted at the funeral home on Tuesday morning. Two tourists remain stranded, but with the difficult terrain and weather conditions, their rescue remains challenging. Supplies have been airdropped so they have sustenance, and once the weather clears, the two may be rescued by a helicopter. You can now get tea eggs for getting your sweat on in Taiwan. The Ministry of Sports has kicked off a program that rewards people for doing exercises. All it takes is registering online and completing weekly tasks that give you 50 NT towards buying healthy snacks at convenience stores. Sports activities that count include clocking in 8,000 steps in one day or exercising for 30 minutes. The program lasts 14 weeks, so there's a total of 700 NT up for grabs. Let's hear more. For some people, exercising feels like torture, but now it's another way to get a treat. Complete your weekly tasks and get cash to indulge in a healthy snack like tea eggs or milk. If there's no incentive or you don't have a goal, you'll just be like, nah, whatever, I'll skip the gym today. So you still need a little motivation. It's great. It's better than nothing anyway. Of course it's great that they launched a program like this. Fitness and exercise is trending. Judging from the sales we see in sports-related products, and especially for home workout equipment, dumbbells, yoga mats, foldable treadmills, and steppers have become really popular recently. A fitness craze is taking over Taiwan, and it could really work out for your wallet. An e-commerce platform is running with it, offering discounts of up to 999 NT on sports equipment. Convenience stores have launched offers in tandem with the government. At High Life, smoothies costing 79 NT and chicken breasts priced at 59 NT can be redeemed without any additional payment. 7-Eleven is also chipping in, adding 5 NT to the government's 50 NT gift. Ming Hua Family Mart is stretching the 50 NT by 6% for a grand total of 53 NT. This video posted online by a green grocer shows four ducklings making a run for it. But there's no need to waddle away from this produce store, because the boss isn't planning on turning them into duck stew. In addition to fruit and vegetables, the shop also sells balut eggs, a type of Southeast Asia street food staple in which the inside of a duck egg has a fertilized embryo. During the typhoon day on August 24th, the grocer went to check out his shop when he saw that the balut eggs had come alive. For the typhoon, we had two days off in a row. We came to the store the day before to check out, you know, everything that was inside. When we opened the door, we were surrounded by ducks. That's when I realized the eggs must have hatched. This green grocer in Kaohsiung's Gangshan district had perfect conditions to hatch a big batch of ducklings. The stretch of rain created humidity that turned muggy thanks to the building's metal structure. The result was ducklings popping out of balut eggs. The grocer is a man of many hats. On top of being a delivery nurse, he's also babysitting a great group of ducklings that are a result of a beautiful accident. It might be because of the egg producers who didn't do a good job of stopping the embryo's development, which led to them continuing to grow inside the shells. In general, we sell most of our balut eggs to Vietnamese customers. The eggs are a traditional delicacy over in Vietnam. Due to the grocer's caring heart, these little ducklings are growing up quickly, but finding future homes for 48 of them was no easy task, which is why he turned to the internet to find adoptive parents. Many people have come just to see the ducks. The last few days, whenever I pick up the phone, it's because people are calling to ask if the ducks are still here. This is why I'm thoroughly vetting the future owners before I let them adopt one. Except for two, which will remain at the shop. All the other accidental hatchlings have found their forever homes. The grocer hopes these miraculous ducklings can continue to have good luck growing up to live long, healthy lives. Taiwan's National Day on October 10th is right around the corner, and this year's key visual has been unveiled. Like last year, it features the three colors of the national flag, white, blue, and red. The colored squares come together to form two big characters representing the double 10. At the bottom, the Mandarin reads happy birthday ROC, while the English text says Taiwan, together as one. Organizers say this year's show will feature disaster prevention professionals to raise awareness on the matter. If you want to attend the main event, you can apply for a chance at being one of the 500 lucky participants that will be randomly chosen to join in. As a major player in the global AI craze, all eyes are on Taiwan at all times. IC design giant MediaTek and commanding chip maker NVIDIA made a bombshell announcement on Monday evening. The two companies are ready to take their 10-year relationship to the next level. NVIDIA is making its first major investment in MediaTek, totaling 110.6 billion NT. Let's hear more. Though NVIDIA is dominating the AI chip sector, there are still other competitors like AMD. With this strategy of binding customers, NVIDIA can secure a steady stream of orders and maintain its market share so that it's not overtaken. The two companies listed out three key areas of cooperation, AI infrastructure, edge AI, and AI-enabled platforms for software-defined vehicles. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has clarified that the massive US$3.5 billion investment is not circular financing. He stressed that each company ran its own business, stressing that MediaTek itself was incredibly profitable and successful. Over in the stock exchange, MediaTek shares soared throughout the day, quickly hitting the daily limit of 4,315 NT and staying there until close. In Kaohsiung, where rain is refusing to let up, this white car comes to a stop at the traffic light. The leaning roadside tree starts sagging even more, suddenly falling onto the car. The frightened scooter rider gets away from the tree, which didn't injure the driver inside the car. This close call happened a little after 6 a.m. on September 1st in Chenzhen District, at the intersection of Baotai Road and Gongzheng Road. The falling tree incident did have two inanimate victims. In addition to the car that had stopped at the red light, an SUV parked on the roadside had its hood crushed by the tree trunk. The constant rain during the last few days loosened the soil, which led to the tree toppling over. Day after day of pouring rain created a fierce waterfall on Shoushan. Part of a slope bordering Highway 20 came crumbling down onto the pavement. In Jiaxian, on September 1st, starting at 9 in the morning, this road was closed until the completion of repair work, which took over an hour. Torrential rain that started late at night soaked the hiking trail on Shoushan. From this angle, the water rushing down next to these steps looked like a surging stream. Some of the drainage system is clogged, causing yellowish muddy water that makes the already wet pavement even more slippery. People are wondering if the rainy weather is ever going to take a break. According to data from the Kaohsiung Weather Station, several monthly precipitation records were broken this August, such as there being 18 total days with rain. And starting on August 19th, there were 13 days of consecutive rain. In Augusts of the past, Kaohsiung averaged 450 millimeters of precipitation, but the total figure for this year's eighth month is almost quadruple the average. Annually, Kaohsiung receives 1,839 millimeters of rainfall on average, meaning the 1,712 millimeters in August is essentially enough rain for one year. The accumulated rain this August is the highest in a single month since 1931. The total rain this August may rival annual averages, yet unfortunately for Kaohsiung, September is here, but the rain hasn't gone away. So all people can do is hope that Mother Nature doesn't produce another disaster. Taiwan ICDF is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. To celebrate, the aid organization For the First Time is hosting an open selection to bring student ambassadors to Taiwan's allied nations. Recently, three college students visited St. Lucia to observe firsthand Taiwan's collaborative projects in the Caribbean nation. These projects greatly benefit agriculture, women's empowerment, education, and public health, for instance, by boosting local vegetable yields by an expected 25% by the end of the year. FTV got to hear directly from the students about their experiences. Halfway across the world, here in the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia, you can see Taiwan's flag painted along the street. Nearly 16,000 kilometers away, St. Lucia is home to hardworking diplomats as well as non-governmental personnel from Taiwan ICDF, extending Taiwan's presence here in the Caribbean. This Mandarin teacher has a close relationship with his students, who were happy to receive some small gifts from across the sea. After 30 years, Taiwan ICDF programs have expanded to encompass fields such as agriculture, women's empowerment, education, and public health. Every project delves deep into the local community. Whether in agriculture, ICT, public health, community development, or education, they all involve close interaction with residents. I believe people-to-people exchanges are an important element to further strengthening our bilateral relationship. Joining on the front lines this time were a few more young faces. For the first time, Taiwan ICDF hosted a special internship to celebrate its 30th anniversary, bringing students along on a five-day trip to the Caribbean allies. Through our perspective as young people, we can personally experience what it's like here in St. Lucia and hopefully bring the beauty of this allied nation back with us to share with young people in Taiwan. What impressed me the most was their technology center here. It helps reduce travel costs for people by letting them go there to use the computers. My favorite part was the visit to the embassy. Since it's my first time in St. Lucia, having a local ambassador greet us in person made me really happy. Taiwan's technology and talent have a strong presence in its allied nations. From agriculture and health care to education, Taiwan continues to help its allies enact meaningful change through long-term cooperation. Outdoor cafe in Switzerland suddenly erupts into a frenzy of activity after a man collapses. Someone called for help while another looked for a defibrillator. Another man rushed forward to perform CPR. The man performing chest compressions is Peter, a tourist from Taiwan who happened to be passing by this cafe in Zurich. When the man collapsed, he immediately rushed over to administer CPR as the other bystanders did everything they could to help. The man eventually regained consciousness and was taken to an ER for further treatment. Other witnesses praised Peter for his heroism. Even the police and paramedics commended him for his bravery. Peter, who works as a camper van importer, also serves as a volunteer firefighter in Taoyuan and is certified in CPR. Those three minutes might have saved the man's life. I saw him clutch his throat and fall over. I hesitated for a couple of seconds but then rushed over to help. I knew I needed to seize that four-minute golden window. There was no pulse and his eyes and complexion had turned yellow. Luckily, he came to just in time. After the video of the incident was posted online, commenters showered Peter with praise, saying that the man was destined to be saved by his guardian angel. In a post, Peter himself declared he's from Taiwan and said he was honored to help. This driver got 13 tickets in just 42 seconds on his way home, roughly one every three seconds. There were six for failing to use a turn signal and seven for crossing the double yellow line, totaling 13,800 NT in fines. I got the first one. I was going to pay it, but the next day, 12 more came. I was overwhelmed. One or two is fine, but when so many came the next day, I realized something was wrong. He was driving here on Jingzhou Road and crossed the double yellow line to avoid cars parked on either side of the road, resulting in the tickets. As Jingzhou Road in Taichung's Wufeng District is only eight meters wide, drivers often cross the double yellow line to avoid vehicles parked on either side. The driver has driven on this road many times, but has never been issued repeated violations. This time, he feels the tickets were unfair. Almost every car will cross the center line on this road because it's so narrow and there are illegally parked cars and motorcycles. Repeat fines can be issued if a violation lasts more than six minutes or the vehicle passes through at least one intersection. But Li said he passed through the entrance to an alley, not a full intersection. Taichung Police said they would ask the National Police Agency. As the location in question is an alley entrance, police will seek clarification from the National Police Agency on whether it qualifies as a legally defined intersection. On roads less than 10 meters wide, drivers who violate traffic rules to avoid illegally parked vehicles may be exempt from tickets. Li filed an appeal and is waiting for the verdict. Staff working to rehabilitate Formosan landlocked salmon traverse a mountainside, climbing across craggy cliffs to reach their natural habitat, Qijiawan Creek. They then strap on their snorkeling gear and dip into the water to search for fish. The divers shout out numbers for the people on shore to record. Fish counting is best between June and September when the water temperature in Qijiawan Creek hovers around 15 to 18 degrees. The snorkelers crawl along the riverbed, holding on tight with both hands in an intense display of physical stamina. We do a visual snorkeling survey for the annual population count. For this, three people go out together, two snorkeling in the water to tally the small, medium and large salmon and ascertain their health, who then call out the data to a counter on the shore. But as the water flows around them and fish swim by, how do they get an accurate count? These deep pools are actually prime hotspots for salmon, allowing us to calculate the numbers very accurately. Working in teams of three, the group chooses deeper pools where the fish tend to gather to ensure a more accurate count. Beyond understanding fish behavior, there's another trick to counting. They can avoid missing or double-counting fish by moving upstream rather than downstream. Going from near extinction with only a couple hundred fish to today's 16,000 is a hard-won achievement. To ensure continued success, the center also called on farmers to use less pesticides and fertilizer to help protect the country's precious endemic species.