China Airlines, Starlux launch direct flights to Phoenix

China Airlines, Starlux launch direct flights to Phoenix

2025-08-06

With so many TSMC staff and suppliers moving into Phoenix, Arizona, a Taiwanese community is gradually forming. Shopping mall and entertainment developer TRK has opened up a batting cage in a local gaming arcade, with another one to open soon. Taiwan’s airlines are also sniffing business opportunities. Both China Airlines and Starlux will be launching new direct flights to Phoenix within five months. Let’s hear more.

TSMC’s large-scale investments in Phoenix are creating many business opportunities, attracting many Taiwanese businesses to the city.

With a large number of TSMC staff and suppliers travelling between Taiwan and Phoenix, the city’s mayor has revealed talks are underway to open up new routes and set up additional passenger gates at the local airport. Taiwan’s China Airlines will begin direct flights to Phoenix in December involving a stopover in Los Angeles on the return to Taiwan. Starlux Airlines will also commence direct flights to Phoenix next January, with three flights per week.

Tony Kao
Taiwanese business executive in Arizona
It’s been an overnight success and I’m extremely excited. It’s got to the point where TSMC and its related supply chains have led to nearly 175 people flying from Phoenix to Taiwan daily. This is not just promoting high-tech semiconductors but also cultural exchanges involving Taiwan.

Taiwanese expatriates who have lived in the area for 40 years are giving their full support. They see the direct flights as a chance for deeper exchanges between Taiwan and the US.

This indoor batting cage is packed. Taiwan’s TRK Corporation is expanding into the US market, including Phoenix. It is planning to open a second batting cage soon. Besides being a base for Major League Baseball spring training, Phoenix is also home to TSMC. A Taiwanese community is gradually taking shape.

Jerry Hsu
TRK Corporation spokesman
The MLB spring training base in the US has attracted the attention of many local Taiwanese expatriates and engineers assigned by TSMC to the area.

Real estate developers also say inquiries about Peoria, a city 15 minutes’ drive from TSMC’s fabs, have surged eightfold in the past four month and housing prices there have gone up 30%. Greater Phoenix has become a new Taiwanese investment hotspot.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#phoenix #arizona #tsmc #taiwan #expat #batting #sports #taroko

台積電帶動鳳凰城商機! 華航星宇直飛.大魯閣再開打擊場

2025-08-06

自從台積電進駐美國亞利桑那州後，大量員工和供應商進駐，台灣人逐漸在鳳凰城週邊形成聚落，也成為台商熱門投資據點。大魯閣在鳳凰城開了打擊場，馬上還有第二家店，另外，華航和星宇也看好往返台灣和鳳凰城的人越來越多，分別在今年12月和明年1月，開啟直飛航班。

亞利桑那州鳳凰城因為台積電大規模投資，創造大量商機，也吸引台商前往。

大量台積電和供應商人員往返兩地，鳳凰城市長早透露，與各大航空爭取航線，也希望機場增設登機口，超前部署。華航12月開始，直飛鳳凰城，回程中停洛杉磯，星宇明年一月來回都直飛，每週三班。

[[亞利桑那州台僑 Tony Kao]]
"一夜之間成功，非常的興奮。台積電跟它相關的產業鏈，我們已經達到了，每天有將近175位的，從鳳凰城飛到台灣的客人，促成了不僅僅是高科技半導體，還包括了台灣的文化（交流）。"

在當地住了40年的台僑，舉雙手贊成，更樂見兩地直航，促成更多台美交流。

室內打擊場裡，滿滿都是人，大魯閣前進美國市場，第二站就選在鳳凰城，馬上要再開一家。除了當地是大聯盟春訓基地，也是看中台積電進駐，台灣社群逐漸成形。

[[大魯閣發言人許俊麒]]
"美國MLB春訓的基地，也受到很多當地的台僑、台積電派駐到當地的，這些工程師他們的關注。"

也有房地產業者透露，距離台積電廠區開車15分鐘的城市Peoria，4個月以來，詢問度暴增8倍，房價年漲幅已突破30%，大鳳凰城已成為台商和台灣人新興投資熱點。

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Taiwan representative to Japan attends 80th Hiroshima anniversary

Taiwan was represented for the first time at Hiroshima’s annual peace ceremony. The event marked 80 years since the US dropped an atomic bomb on the southern Japanese city. The ceremony was attended by representatives from 120 countries and regions, a record high.

People close their eyes and clasp their hands together in silence. It’s 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6. At this exact moment 80 years ago, an atomic bomb codenamed Little Boy was dropped onto Hiroshima. In moments, the entire city was wiped out and around 140,000 civilians lost their lives. It was the first time that humanity witnessed the horror of nuclear weapons.

Atomic bombing survivor
Among our family of seven, six died. I’m the only survivor. I hope young people today won’t have to experience the same thing. I hope nuclear weapons can disappear from this world.

As the only country to experience nuclear warfare, Japan has long stood by the goal towards a nuclear-weapon-free world. This was reiterated by both Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and Hiroshima Mayor Matsui Kazumi.

Ishiba Shigeru
Japan Prime Minister
As the only country to be attacked by nuclear weapons, Japan’s mission is to stand by the Three Non-Nuclear Principles and lead international society towards a nuclear-weapon-free world.

Matsui Kazumi
Mayor of Hiroshima
“There’s nothing wrong with possessing nuclear weapons in order to protect one’s nation.”—the number of people who agree with this is increasing. If that’s the case, then it means international society has abandoned the lessons of our tragic history.

As many as 55,000 people attended the memorial event, including hibakusha—or atomic bombing survivors—and their families, as well as representatives of an unprecedented 120 countries and regions, including the European Union. Taiwan also attended for the first time, represented by the top envoy to Japan, Lee I-yang.

In a press conference after the memorial, Lee noted that many Taiwanese studying or working in Japan at the time, as subjects of the former Japanese Empire, were also victims of the bombing. Therefore, he said, Taiwan can truly empathize with Hiroshima, and is also fully behind Hiroshima’s mission of promoting denuclearization and realizing perpetual world peace. Lee also thanked the city of Hiroshima and co-organizers for allowing Taiwan a seat at the memorial, which signified how Taiwan is closely intertwined with the rest of the world.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#WWII #pacificwar #hiroshima #nuclearweaponfreeworld #japan

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Man trapped in balcony dies as apartment goes up in flames

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Scooter rider struck in head by beam from overloaded truck

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Health workers carry patient to lifesaving treatment after landslides block road

Southern Taiwan is continuing to be pummeled by rain. Many roads in Kaohsiung’s Namasia District have become impassable, and the village of Takanua has become a practical island. During a telemedicine checkup, a doctor determined that her patient in the village had a gastrointestinal emergency that needed immediate attention. But the roads were blocked, and with the rain showing no signs of abating, it was impossible to send a helicopter. All that was left was for Kaohsiung’s Veterans General Hospital to send a team to carry the patient to the ambulance.

A group of medical workers and helpers push a stretcher through the rain, relying on their own two feet to avoid fallen rocks and debris along a road in Kaohsiung’s Namasia District.

After days of torrential rain, the roads are impassable. Even Minsheng Bridge has been submerged by a swollen river, the road torn apart. A patient required urgent medical treatment, but the only solution was to go by foot, passing him along in a kind of relay.

Voice of Yang Li-chuan
Namasia health division director
There was a patient with acute appendicitis. We applied for an emergency airlift, but since the water level had risen above Minsheng Bridge, vehicles couldn’t pass, and the weather was too bad for a helicopter. It became like an isolated island.

A team from Kaohsiung’s Veterans General Hospital set out for Takanua Village, but after days of rain, the area had suddenly become like an island. The patient had been experiencing abdominal pain for days that didn’t respond to medication. After a telemedicine checkup, his doctor suspected it was acute appendicitis that required urgent medical attention. The team made their way up the mountain and brought the patient down on foot.

Voice of Yang Li-chuan
Namasia health division director
For a distance of about 50 meters, the stretcher was brought down from the ambulance and the patient was placed onto it. Four people pushed him over. There were rocks falling around them the entire time.

This entire operation demonstrates how to respond to a medical emergency in a remote area. Braving the elements, the medical team, local leaders, and police all worked side by side to bring the patient down the mountain and into the arms of lifesaving care.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#medicalemergency #remotehealthcare #telemedicine #Kaohsiung #lifesaving #ambulance #flooding

2025-08-06

Where is our luggage? Furious travelers call out Cathay Pacific

2025-08-06

As Taiwan’s housing prices increase, homes are also getting smaller

It’s a tough time for first-time home buyers. Not only are property prices rising, but homes for sale are getting smaller. According to projections from the Joint Credit Information Center, if you wait five years to buy, you will be paying NT$2.31 million more compared with current prices. That’s on top of losing more than 10 square meters of floorspace. Let’s hear more about Taiwan’s real estate dilemmas.

The longer you wait, the pricier it is. For first-time homebuyers prices are a huge consideration, alongside floorspace. But statistical projections show that if you wait five years, you’ll have to pay an extra NT$2.31 million, and you’ll lose an average of 10.25 square meters of space.

Member of the public
I think housing prices will be NT$2 million to NT$3 million more expensive. For example, I live in Linkou. I bought a three-bedroom apartment for over NT$13 million and now it will sell for over NT$19 million, almost NT$20 million. And that’s for a three-bedroom apartment. NT$13 million for a three-bedroom apartment was OK, but now I’m seeing two-bedroom apartments in Linkou going for NT$17 million. It’s terrifying.

Not only are houses getting more expensive, but they’re also getting smaller. According to the Joint Credit Information Center, the average value of a mortgage in the first quarter of this year across Taiwan reached NT$13.748 million, a 20.2% increase over the same period in 2021. Among the seven major metropolitan areas, Hsinchu County and Hsinchu City saw the highest increases in mortgage valuations over this period, increasing by NT$5.92 million and NT$8.89 million, respectively. The average area in a house or apartment shrank from 149.2 square meters to 138.8 square meters. Tainan and Kaohsiung saw the largest shrinkage of an average of 18.4 square meters and 17.9 square meters per home.

Lai Chih-chang
Great Home Realty researcher
The continuing rise in housing prices has forced a situation of people buying smaller and smaller homes. This is primarily due to rising construction costs. Furthermore, builders may have seen shifting market trends and so they are increasing the supply of smaller homes. These two factors have resulted in a continuous decline in the amount of square meters that people are purchasing.

Rising material costs and a declining birthrate have led to smaller homes becoming the norm. But good news is that all this has led to a decline in buying sentiment, causing sellers to be more flexible about their prices, giving buyers more room for negotiation.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

2025-08-06

Jenny Liao sends messages of love and hope with bold acrylic paintings

Today, we introduce to you award-winning Taiwanese artist Jenny Liao. Known for her vibrant acrylic paintings, Liao uses bold colors to convey messages of love, hope, and perseverance. FTV reporter Stephany Yang spoke with her to learn more about her artistic journey and creative vision.

This work was inspired by a girl and her personal journey. Through vivid hues and expressive strokes, Liao hopes to encourage viewers to persevere through life’s challenges.

Jenny Liao
Artist
This painting depicts a dancing girl, representing our inner battles. Life is filled with moments of joy, setbacks, and complex emotions that shape our experiences. This artwork invites viewers to rise above hardships, much like the dancing girl who soars through the sky, transforming negative feelings into beautiful things like clouds or blossoms.

A self-taught artist, Liao spent years working in the financial industry before discovering her passion for painting. Inspired by a profound experience, she left the finance industry and founded the Gloria Patri Gallery, aiming to share love and hope through her art.

Jenny Liao
Artist
I had been working in the financial industry for 20 years, primarily in project management. During that time, I had no exposure to art. By chance, as I was contemplating what to do after retirement, I decided to try spiritual drawing. However, after a period of doing it, I realized it wasn’t what I wanted—I didn’t enjoy painting. So, I put my art supplies away and stopped painting. Then something incredible happened. In 2014, as I was walking to work, I noticed how vividly the leaves on the trees stood out, almost as if they were waving at me. That extraordinary experience made me believe it was a sign from God. Two years later, at the end of 2015, I decided to resign from my job.

Liao’s artworks have won awards in international competitions, are exhibited globally, and are collected by art enthusiasts around the world.

Jenny Liao
Artist
The main theme of my creations revolves around the story of a person called the Dancing Girl—I know her well and know that she has been through a lot of hardships. I use colors to express the emotions and experiences she has faced. The original intention behind this piece is to portray her in a difficult state. It represents her hope amid a harsh winter. You can see grass here, but not in the vibrant hues in the spring. She has overcome hardships and is lifted up—to the sky, to a realm of dreams—carried by light. My artworks are deeply inspired by nature and plants.

As Liao continues her artistic journey, she remains dedicated to inspiring others through her work. Her next goal is to create a picture book to bring hope and encouragement to more people.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#Artistspotlight #artist #acrylic #painting #hope #love #藝術家 #廖文君

2025-08-06

Man on escalator caught upskirting unsuspecting woman

A man was recently caught taking an upskirt shot of an unsuspecting woman standing in front of him on an MRT escalator. He had his phone casually placed on his thigh which he lunged in front of him, while he aimed the lens up the woman’s skirt. Someone who witnessed the offense immediately reported him. When the police arrived, they found on his phone numerous upskirt photos of different women.

At the MRT station, a man is suspected of taking upskirt photos. He was caught red-handed and reported by another passenger, but still, the man denied having done so.

The man had no option but to comply with the police officer.

Chuang Li-cheng
FTV reporter
At the time of the incident, the man had placed his phone on his thigh, then put a leg forward in a lunge, presumably to upskirt the woman in front of him.

The incident took place right here, at MRT Taipei Main Station’s exit M8. It was on Saturday evening, which usually sees a large passenger volume. A passerby noticed the man’s suspicious activity after he made his way downstairs to the MRT station, and saw the incident take place on the upward-moving escalator. The offender suspiciously had his phone, which was attached onto a strap, placed on his thigh on the leg put forward in a lunge. The camera lens was aimed up the woman’s skirt. It was so obvious what he was up to, that the witness immediately reported him.

MRT passenger
Not involved in incident
I usually don’t take notice of what the person behind me is up to. If I’m wearing a skirt, then I might move my bag so it’s on the backside and then I’ll press it up against me so there’s no gap.

MRT passenger
Not involved in incident
I might ask the MRT station officers if there’s any way they could help.

Kuo Shu-chia
Taipei police Rapid Transit Division
We ordered the offending man not to leave, and accompanied the woman to standby and review surveillance footage and informed her of her rights. The woman has since gone on to file a report at the police station in her precinct.

When the police took a look at the suspect’s camera roll, they found upskirt photos of numerous victims. Even though the suspect claimed that the images were all downloaded from online sources, the police said they’ll continue to investigate the matter.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#MeToo #eww #Taipei #metro #publictransport

2025-08-06

‘National boyfriend’ Greg Hsu ready to retake spotlight after military service

Heartthrob actor Greg Hsu is ready to jump right back into new projects, now that he’s finally wrapped up his one year of military service. The celebrity was discharged on Wednesday noon, to the delight of dozens of fans that camped out outside his base to catch a glimpse of him. Taiwan’s “national boyfriend” says he’s learnt a lot during this past year, and that he was taken good care of by friendly locals. Moving forward, he’s got plenty of projects lined up, and he can’t wait to get back in the groove of it.

Taiwan’s national boyfriend, Greg Hsu, finally wrapped up his one-year military service at noon on Wednesday.

Greg Hsu
Actor
This past year has been fulfilling and healthy. I got to recharge, and pick up new things along the way. The locals here took great care of me, they’d even sneak me extra food! I took this year as a chance to slow down and clear my head. I’m pretty happy about it.

The heartthrob actor tried to keep things low-key when he was conscripted on Aug. 20 last year. One month later, he joined a goodwill ambassador team as part of his alternative military service. That marked the beginning of a dry spell of news and social media posts from the star.

Fans were desperate to see their star after one year out of the public eye. They camped out early in the morning, eager for his release. Among the sea of fans was a South Korean stan, who was in tears after she handed him a burger-shaped greeting card.

Fan
I just wanted to greet him and congratulate him for finishing his service. His new movie’s about to be released so I’m hoping it’s a smash hit at the box office.

Greg Hsu
Actor
Next up, I’ll be back on set to shoot some things, and attending some promo events. I hope I can get back into the groove of things. It’s been a whole year since I last worked, after all.

Greg Hsu’s schedule is jam-packed with new projects all the way through to next year. He’s confirmed he’s diving straight into filming after his discharge, and carrying with him all the energy from this past year. We’re all waiting to see what new projects he embarks on.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#greghsu #男神 #許光漢 #國民老公 #celebritynews #handsome #actor

2025-08-06