Author: Eryk Michael Smith

Deliver more, drive less. Kaohsiung-based startup RideFair is developing software to help smaller transport fleets cut wasted trips, reduce waiting time and make better use of their vehicles. Founder Richard Wiltgen explains the idea, from coordinating deliveries today to a future where vehicles share information and work together.

Kaohsiung and Pingtung (plus much of the rest of Taiwan) have suspended work and classes Friday as Typhoon Champi approaches. Thursday’s forecast placed the storm’s closest approach late Friday night into Saturday morning, with landfall still possible.

Can Kaohsiung’s economic transformation give young people a reason to stay? In an exclusive KHT interview, City Councilor Lin Chih-hung discusses jobs, wages, financial services and his vision for a more international city — and why he believes investment will eventually reverse its population decline.

Meet “Taiwan 22” author Tyrel Cameron Eskelson at The Hub on Oct. 17 for books, travel stories and conversation with John Ross and Eryk Smith.

Renwu and Ciaotou led district population gains over the past year as Kaohsiung lost more than 16,000 registered residents. Only five of the city’s 38 districts grew.

One year in, the Kaohsiung Times’ purpose remains reporting stories about Southern Taiwan in English. We have not done everything perfectly, and one year is far too early to declare victory. But we have published hundreds of stories, built relationships throughout the region, and established something that did not exist in quite this form before. To everyone who has read, written, commented, shared, contributed, criticized, encouraged, or quietly returned to the site: thank you.

On March 23, 1996, with two US carrier groups sent to the region and ROC soldiers on alert, more than ten million Taiwanese went to the polls. The leading candidates were incumbent KMT president Lee Teng-hui and the DPP’s Peng Ming-min, a veteran democracy activist and former political exile.

Taiwan-based lawyer and political analyst Ross Feingold (方恩格) observed to Kaohsiung Times that “The length of time this case has taken to make its way through the litigation process is normal in Taiwan for a case that involves dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries, and that involves a dispute over whether corporates or local/central government agencies also might bear responsibility due to negligence in public works or regulatory oversight of the companies involved. Often, both the criminal and civil side of these matters can take this long.”

Once a magnet for young shoppers, Kaohsiung’s Yu-Chu district has spent years in decline. Lower rents and a wave of bars, music events and independent shops have brought people back at night, but the city still needs a credible plan to make the area work in daylight too.

Officials say the government is considering adding provisions specifically designed to strengthen Taiwan’s startup ecosystem. The proposals follow calls from startup representatives for regulatory sandboxes, tax reforms and better support for entrepreneurs recovering from failed ventures.