Taiwan Tonight - Formosa English News | Nov. 4, 2026

Arriving at the Legislative Yuan, the DPP's candidate for Taipei Mayor, Puma Shen, is wearing a tie. He is invited to a fashion and beauty event on Wednesday, which explains his outfit switch-up. This is a program that is focused on dressing well, but I honestly don't know how to be stylish like that, so I just wore a tie so it looks a bit more formal. Shen has become a huge source for online traffic, causing programs to rush to interview him. As his campaign grows steadily, he plans to publish the third issue of his campaign newsletter next week. At the same time, his opponent, Mayor Jiang, also released a brochure, Wan'an Alarm, which details a policy comparison with Shen. He came under fire for plagiarizing this. Normally, when you hear an alarm, you should hide, so I think the name is quite interesting. I am now in Chaoxi. I am currently plagiarizing Puma Shen. Why? Because I am breathing. I am wearing glasses, so I'm also copying him. I am wearing a suit jacket, so this is also plagiarism. I am wearing shoes, which are also plagiarizing him. Is having longer hair also plagiarizing him? Puma Shen is really the center of the universe. I offer you my worship and respect. I've heard that he's a... I heard they printed a million copies. Wow, what a huge accomplishment. I am also a Taipei citizen. I will go home today and check my mailbox to see if I received the Wan'an Alarm newsletter. Once I see the contents, I can share my thoughts. Since she hadn't seen Mayor Jiang's new publication, a reporter on site provided a new copy of the Wan'an Alarm for Rosalia Wu to see. There are a lot of lectures in here. There are so many photos of Mayor Jiang. You can count it too. How many are there? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. There are 9 photos of Mayor Jiang. Comparing the campaign newsletters, one is more like a newspaper with six pages, the other is more of a single sheet flyer. Whether citizens opt for the blue or green product remains a small indicator of the election result. A man with a big duffel bag and a satchel is escorted by Coast Guard officials for a search. He's smuggling something, but that something is not in his bag. It's on his body. This is for you. A black package was found in his groin. This is for you. After ripping off layer upon layer of packaging, officers found eight turtles tightly wrapped in stockings. They were all endangered black-breasted leaf turtles, a class 2 protected species in China. Smugglers stood to make a tidy profit from the turtles, which can be purchased for just 200 NT in China, and sold in the black market in Taiwan for as much as 30,000 NT. If the sellers manage to pass them off as rare Japanese ground tortoises, which look similar, they can each fetch more than 75,000 NT. Is it moving or moving, moving, moving? And it didn't stop there. The man also had a white package taped to his body. Officials removed it and opened it up to reveal a 30-centimetre marmot. The mammal had been drugged to sleep and later tied to the smuggler's body. Fortunately, it was discovered just in time. Due to the recent situation in the Kinmen region, There has recently been a string of cases of travellers smuggling live animals to Kinmen. The suspect in the latest case was a man surnamed Qiu who arrived from Quanzhou in China. The case has been referred to the Kinmen District Prosecutor's Office for investigation for violations of the Act on Wildlife Conservation and the Act on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Animals Diseases. The smuggler is 55-year-old Mr. Chou, with household registration in Kaohsiung. He tried to smuggle animals from China into Taiwan via Jinmen, harming the animals and potentially bringing in foreign diseases. The Coast Guard administration urges the public to not buy animals of unknown origin. That's especially the case of marmots, which can carry the pneumonic plague, which has a mortality rate of almost 100%. Another Chinese exile has come to Taiwan to seek refuge. This time, it's Chen Wanzheng, who was a talk show host on China's state television channel CCTV. He previously served six years in prison in China after he was reported for saying that Chinese leader Xi Jinping would be China's downfall. Chen initially moved to Thailand. But after China's demands to Thailand to repatriate dissidents, he flew to Taiwan to seek temporary asylum. Let's hear more. I'm Chen Huanjun, now Taipei Taoyuan... Hello everyone, I am Chen Wanjun. I am now at Taipei's Taoyuan Airport, publicly appealing for help. I myself spent six years in prison. To avoid being politically persecuted by the CCP a second time, I have had to move to Taiwan to seek short-term humanitarian protection. So that for the rest of my life, I can keep writing, and speak freely, and do my part to end, as soon as possible, the man-made disaster of dictatorship in China. In China, China is a country severely lacking human rights. From a humanitarian standpoint, and from the standpoint of human rights, he deserves better treatment. We don't have it right now We don't have any laws that can be applied to his situation. We only have the Cross-Trade Act. So, I think referring him to a third country would be the best solution. If he goes to a friendly third country, he'll be able to travel all over the world in the future, while his personal safety is guaranteed. The 58-year-old Cheng was released from prison last year. However, after publishing works he had written behind bars, he was forced into exile. While in Thailand, he feared deportation and recently sought help from the United Nations, but his request was rejected. He then made the decisive move to fly to Taiwan, hoping to obtain temporary political asylum. assistance with resettlement in a third country. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council has said it could not verify the evidence supporting his claims and noted that he was still able to freely enter and leave China under existing protocol. The government can therefore only send Zheng back to Thailand. Surveillance footage captured four individuals entering the front yard of a local residence. They split up and placed campaign flyers all over. Three of them wore bright pink volunteer vests and the candidate wore a black vest herself. Seeing that no one came out of the residence, disregarding whether anyone was home or not, the candidate opened the door and carefully placed a flyer on the table before leaving. The incident happened in Nantou's Puli Township. A resident left their home in the afternoon to rush to pick up their child from school. Thinking they would return soon, they didn't lock the door. They didn't think that when they returned, a candidate's card and merch would have appeared on their table. Angrily, they posted about it on social media. This is not very appropriate. This is inappropriate. What if they went in and something went missing? This would be more controversial. It's better to just stick the flyers on the door. In the homeowner's social media post, they found that Twice now, the borough warden and candidates had entered their home to leave flyers. Their passionate campaigning seemed to cross many boundaries. The candidate then stepped in to explain and apologize. She said, is anyone home? He said he's taking a shower. At the time, I asked, is there anyone home? Their son said, I'm showering. I said, okay, I'm campaigning and I will put the flyer on the table. Then I turned around and left and didn't want to inconvenience anyone. I will do better in the future. If I have caused offense, I will improve and just put the flyers outside. I can take feedback. I know I was wrong. The candidate confirmed that at the time there was someone home, showering, adding that she left quickly after dropping off the materials. Campaigns can be stressful, but candidates need to be mindful and not take things too far in the spirit of getting votes. A Yunling resident made a shocking post on social media on Tuesday saying that a 100,000 NT had mysteriously disappeared from his bank account. The account was with Bank Sinopac and the money was gone after an unauthorized transfer. It turns out it was not an isolated incident. The Financial Supervisory Commission has since confirmed that 419 customers of the bank had been affected, with more than 40 million NT stolen in total. Let's hear from the bank's chairman. We feel very regretful and sorry about this incident. We are here with our clients and We find this incident extremely regrettable. We are sorry it happened. On behalf of the bank, I would like to apologize if our customers and other people felt upset or uneasy. We are proactively investigating the matter and exploring improvements. The money had been transferred to one account at Taipei Fubon Bank. The receiving account has been temporarily frozen and the transferred amount was returned in full by the end of Tuesday afternoon. Bank Sinopac says that hackers had exploited security settings in one of its vendor systems to carry out the unauthorized transfers. The bank immediately notified the relevant regulatory authorities and police. It also brought in an independent cybersecurity team to quickly identify the vulnerability, isolate potential threats, and verify that its online banking services and other systems remain secure and operational. Can you look at a car's license plate and tell whether it's a fake? Well, a shoddy counterfeit is really easy to spot. A car in Yilan was recently seen on the streets with a glaringly fake license plate, CBA 4589. One dead giveaway was the number 4, which has not been featured on license numbers since 2012. Due to the number's similar pronunciation to the word for death in Mandarin and Taiwanese. Let's hear more. It looks like his license plate is 3 in front and 4 in back The layout for the CBA4589 has three digits at the front and four numbers at the back. This 3 plus 4 layout is the new number plate format, which started in 2012. In the new format, number plates do not feature the number 4, so it is immediately clear that it was a fake. Police have locked onto the vehicle's route. We identified the route and notified available officers to strengthen search and interception efforts to apprehend the suspect soon. The number four does still feature on some license plates, but only in the old format containing just six digits. What's more, there are also certain letter combinations that have been banned. That includes CBA, which also happens to be the initials for the Chinese Baseball Association. Riding a vehicle with a fake license plate carries fines of up to 72,000 NT and the confiscation of the vehicle. The phones at Oolong Farm are ringing non-stop. Guests are calling with questions about bookings for the upcoming cherry blossom season after the rooms sold out after only four minutes. Wulin Farm, year 116 Control measures for the 2027 Oolong Farm cherry blossom season will run for 17 days, from February 13th to March 1st. When February reservations opened at 8.30 a.m., all 1,972 available rooms completely sold out within four minutes. When the cherry blossoms are blooming, it turns the entire farm into a sea of pink and fuchsia, like you've instantly stepped across the sea into a Japanese fairy tale. The immensely popular rooms sell out in a matter of minutes every year. But those who missed out shouldn't despair. There are other ways to enjoy the scenery. If any guests fail to pay the deposit to finalize their booking, the rooms will be released intermittently on our online booking system. Alternatively, campsite reservations will open at 8 a.m. on December 1st. Guests who don't plan to stay overnight can also opt for a single-day tour offered by the farm, with bookings to open at 9 a.m. on November 10th. There will also be shuttle buses for day trippers. With so many options to choose from, travelers will have every opportunity to enjoy this year's sakura season. At the sound of the horn, riders step on their pedals and head out on a grand journey around Taiwan. But these aren't any ordinary cyclists. These 45 participants are all cancer survivors and their family members, embarking on a 10-day, 1,100-kilometer journey around the island. Three, four, come on! Now in its 14th year, the Riding for Life cycling event presents a formidable physical challenge for anyone, let alone a cancer patient who's endured the far more grueling journey of treatment. We at the Taiwan Anti-Cancer Association have been organizing this event for 14 years. Our mission is, first and foremost, to help these patients step out of their isolated worlds. Second, we hope they can inspire more patients like them. And of course, during the journey, we hope to spread the love wherever we go. Like Deng Yushan. When climbing Yushan, for instance, you realize just how extraordinarily beautiful everything is along the way. You realize that life doesn't stop with treatment or in the hospital room. Getting outside feels wonderful. It completely transforms your outlook. From battling disease to summiting Taiwan's highest peak and now cycling around the island, riders like Wang are proving there are no limits, bringing courage to her fellow cancer survivors. A crowd of fans snap pictures of this unique train as it pulls into the station. Its colorful exterior features Migan, a now famous cat who is affectionately known as a station master on the Kaohsiung MRT, joined by the globally popular Hello Kitty. A station master Migan mascot even hopped on board for a ride. The bulbous mascot has to shuffle slowly to get off the train, melting countless hearts of fans who rushed over to get a look. Look. I came to ride the first Mikan Hello Kitty train. There are so many images around and the mascot was there too. I'm from South Carolina. We rode from Xiaogang station. The designs are super cute. My daughter really loves Mikan. Fans also rushed to buy Mikan Hello Kitty co-branded merchandise, often buying multiple items at once. This is the first time in its 18 years that the Kaohsiung MRT wrapped an entire train, outside and inside, in a high-quality design. Today I am here to visit Hong Kong. My main reason for coming here today is to see Migan and Hello Kitty, the Migan train, as well as the Hello Kitty co-branded train. As expected with these two beloved figures joining forces, fans came out in force to celebrate the launch of the co-branded train, unable to stop gushing over the adorable design. Chefs roll out dough and wrap dumplings by hand, preparing them fresh to order. These steaming soup dumplings, or xiaolongbao, are filled with juicy pork. They're fresh, delicious, and affordable, with each one costing only NT$10. They've made the restaurant into a popular breakfast spot. I feel like there are so many of them. I think it's really soupy and a good deal. Each one is big, plus it's delicious for just NT$10. It's very economical. I often see him in line. I've known him since I was a kid. He's quite a big guy. I only bought a few days after he opened. This restaurant in Taoyuan's Guishan district has been making dumplings by hand for 12 years. The rent for a space this large starts around 40,000 NT and employs 11 people. Considering the costs of rent, labor, and ingredients, people wonder how it stays in business. I have 9 or 10 employees, all part-time. They're mostly students or homemakers who work on the weekends for 1 to 3 hours a day. At first, each dumpling was 7 NT, then 8, then 9, and now 10 NT. It's low profit, but high volume. The shop keeps prices low by focusing on sales. They close around noon every day. Another breakfast shop in Guishan sells xiao bing, youtiao, and soup dumplings for just 10 NT each, as well as hot dogs for 5 NT. They sell out after about two and a half hours each day, closing around 8.30 a.m. It's become a popular spot for its generous prices.