Author: Eryk Michael Smith
Eryk Michael Smith
Eryk Michael Smith is a journalist with over a decade of experience working for local and international outlets. He is also the co-host of The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files, and co-founder of Plum Rain Press. The Kaohsiung Times is Smith's latest project, and aims to provide more southern Taiwan-centric news in English.
After authorities issued orders halting soil removal, the operation allegedly escalated rather than stopped. Instead of restoring the land with clean fill, suspects are accused of dumping construction waste — including bricks, concrete debris, plastic refuse, and even tires — into the pits, covering them with thin soil to conceal the contamination.
The contest for southern Taiwan’s largest city is widely seen as one of the most closely watched local races of 2026, with both camps testing whether long-standing political patterns in Kaohsiung will hold or are beginning to bend.
By Eryk Michael Smith A recent New York Times investigation has drawn attention to a quieter, less conventional way maritime power can be exercised, without warships ever leaving port. In early January 2026, thousands of Chinese fishing vessels assembled into tightly coordinated formations in the East China Sea, not to fish, but to hold position. Using ship-tracking data, researchers identified two separate operations involving roughly 1,400 and 2,000 vessels. Instead of spreading out, the boats formed dense, organized lines stretching hundreds of kilometers. Nearby cargo ships slowed, rerouted, or carefully threaded through gaps. The fleets remained in place for more…
The ruling reflects a broader legal transition in Taiwan: adultery is no longer treated as a matter for state punishment, but neither is it legally consequence-free.
“About That March: Things I Remember,” an exhibition at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, frames the gallery as a writer’s study, using art and literature to revisit March 1947.
By Eryk Michael Smith / Staff KAOHSIUNG — Ten years after surviving the 2016 TransAsia Airways Flight 235 crash, former flight attendant Huang Jing-ya (黃敬雅) has formally entered the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) primary race for Kaohsiung City Council, relaunching a bid to enter politics after losing in the 2022 election. The China Times reports Huang — currently an aide to DPP mayoral candidate Lai Jui-lung ( 賴瑞隆) — picked up her primary registration papers on February 4 at the DPP’s Kaohsiung City Party headquarters. Huang is seeking the seat representing the districts of Cianjhen (前鎮) and Siaogang (小港). Writing on social media, she…
In 2002, during the relocation of the 1941 Imperial Crown-style building to accommodate the new underground station, the Red Carp sculpture was moved into storage for safekeeping. It’s remained out of public display for nearly 24 years as the sprawling infrastructure project progressed.
From “Muddy Ditch” in Chiayi County, Lu Ch’ing-an (1944–2011) rose to national fame as Taiwan’s Father of Motorcycle Stunts. The story starts with an apprenticeship at a local scooter repair shop, where the mechanically gifted boy fell in love with motorbikes.
Police explained that riders at the intersection must follow the traffic signal positioned at the “11 o’clock direction,” rather than the signal directly ahead. Only then did she realize she had misread the lights. People are urging city authorities to review and improve the traffic light design.
Image shows section of Minzu Rd. that environmental groups say could lose tree coverage due to work on the MRT Yellow Line. The city says it’s aware of the issue and is addressing it.
