Many people may turn to chicken-soup-for-the-soul kind of books for guidance and inspiration when they feel lost. In China, many are now looking to Confucianism — which the country shunned as toxic and reactionary to its communist cause decades ago — as the “chicken soup” to remedy their “sick” society.

Two Air Force pilots from the 499th Tactical Fighter Wing based in Hsinchu, Northern Taiwan ejected to safety Monday when their Mirage jet crashed off the western coast shortly after takeoff.

Remember the Maine Incident of 1898? The USS Maine sank off Havana after an explosion and two crew members were killed. An anti-Spanish press enflamed American public opinion to a war-fevered pitch. Congress clamored for action. President William McKinley reluctantly succumbed and asked Congress to declare war. Congress did, of course. The Spanish-American War was brief, and the U.S. acquired the Philippines as a colony, which it called a territory. Is there a parallel to Taiwan now?

“This is not the first time girls have been burned alive in the city. Every week I must learn of the untimely death of one of my sister workers.

Even before the fishing vessel shooting incident, the Taiwanese blogosphere was abuzz with a discussion over the meaning of “international perspective.”

In the six hours from Wednesday's 1 a.m. joint conference between Foreign Minister David Lin and Philippine representative Antonio Basilio to the 7 a.m. convening of the national security meeting hosted by President Ma Ying-jeou, the government went from sounding like it had reached a tentative agreement to launching full-scale sanctions.

The recent killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by the Philippine Coast Guard has led to diplomatic tensions between Taiwan and Philippines, spawning a series of sanctions levied on the Philippine government by Taiwan.

Food safety has again become a major concern after chemical-tainted starch was found in a wide range of food products. It is likely not an accident that the starch was tainted with maleic acid, but yet another alleged case of rogue businesses adding toxic stuff to their products in order to lower costs.

Fishermen burned the Philippine flag outside the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in downtown Taipei on Monday, calling for an apology over the shooting of an unarmed Taiwanese fisherman by Philippine coast guards.

Taiwan seems to have turned jingoistic all of a sudden. This follows the shooting of a fisherman from Siaoliouciou or Little Ryukyu by a Philippine coast guard last Thursday. The fisherman died. His small tuna-fishing boat, the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28, was operating in an overlapping exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between the two countries.