Good Morning World: President Nominates Chen Yung-hsing to Head Control Yuan, Wang Jung-chang as Deputy

Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim announced on the 11th that President Lai Ching-te will nominate former Taiwan Association for Human Rights president Chen Yung-hsing to serve as the President of the Control Yuan, and current Control Yuan member Wang Jung-chang as Vice President. Additionally, 27 individuals, including Liao Wan-ju, chairperson of the Pingtung Urban and Rural Development Cultural and Educational Foundation, will be nominated as Control Yuan members. The nomination papers will be sent to the Legislative Yuan. Control Yuan President nominee Chen Yung-hsing stated that if the ruling and opposition parties reach a consensus in the future, the five-power constitution could be amended to a three-power system, giving the parliament powers of investigation and impeachment. Regarding the nomination list, the KMT and TPP legislative caucuses criticized the contradiction of nominating someone who advocates for abolishing the Control Yuan, while the DPP caucus affirmed Chen Yung-hsing's non-partisanship.

The Executive Yuan passed an amendment to Article 185-3 of the Criminal Code and other related bills on the 11th, comprehensively increasing penalties for drug-impaired driving. In the future, the sentence for drug-impaired driving will be increased to up to 5 years in prison, causing serious injury will be punishable by 3 to 10 years, and causing death will be punishable by 5 to 12 years. A repeat offense within 10 years that results in death could lead to life imprisonment or a sentence of 7 years or more. Furthermore, the draft bill stipulates that vehicles will be confiscated in all cases of fatal or serious injury accidents caused by either drunk or drugged driving, and if confiscation is not possible, their value will be pursued.

The Ministry of Finance announced on the 11th that national tax revenue in May was NT$577.0 billion, an 84% year-on-year increase. The securities transaction tax, an indicator of stock market activity, saw a realized collection of NT$70.4 billion in May, a 2.9-fold year-on-year increase, reflecting the hot stock market and marking the 10th consecutive month of positive growth. Forbes' 2026 list of Taiwan's top 50 richest people saw brothers Pierre Chen and Hong-Jen Chen of ASE Technology Holding Co. take the top spot for the first time. Driven by AI, the total assets of the top 50 richest individuals increased by 56% from last year, reaching a new high of approximately NT$9.7 trillion.

The Coast Guard Administration's Nansha Command detected the Chinese-flagged "Sansha Zhifa 301" and "Sansha 2" sailing together near the waters of Taiping Island on the morning of the 11th. The Nansha squadron's "CP-1039" and "CP-1083" boats were dispatched to conduct parallel monitoring and issue broadcast warnings to drive them away. During this time, the two Chinese official vessels made two large-angle turns, disregarding navigational safety, and were eventually expelled from the restricted waters. This marks the first time Chinese official vessels have intruded into the prohibited waters of Taiping Island, an incident that lasted 15 minutes. The Coast Guard Administration strongly condemned China for escalating gray-zone harassment, creating a false impression of jurisdiction, violating international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and challenging the international order.

Japan's cross-party parliamentary friendship group for Taiwan, the "Japan-ROC Diet Members' Consultative Council," held a general meeting on the 11th and formally resolved to change its name to the "Japan-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship League," replacing "ROC" with "Taiwan." Chairman Keiji Furuya stated that the Japanese government had already renamed its official representative office in Taiwan to the "Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association" in 2017, and the parliamentary league had been carefully considering when to change its name and what would be the appropriate time. After the inauguration of the new government in Taiwan, the members felt the time was right and decided to push for the name change. Furuya emphasized that this was a completely logical and natural development.

The United States launched attacks on Iran for the second consecutive day, with the US military conducting "additional self-defense strikes" against multiple targets in Iran on the afternoon of the 10th, citing Tehran's "unreasonable and continuous aggression." After President Trump complained that Tehran's negotiators were "playing us for fools," Secretary of War Hegseth said the airstrikes would continue for a third night and stated the action was intended to force Iran to reach a deal to end the conflict. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps fired 12 ballistic missiles at the US command center in Azraq, Jordan on the afternoon of the 11th, prompting the US embassy to issue a security alert for American citizens in Jordan. After the US Central Command denied that the Strait of Hormuz was closed, emphasizing that commercial vessels could still pass, Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority announced on the 11th that the strategic waterway would be completely closed until further notice. US President Trump announced on the 11th the cancellation of an attack on Iran that he had publicly previewed hours earlier, as the "final points" of a US-Iran deal had been approved, with the two sides expected to sign the agreement in Europe. Iran responded that it had not yet made a final decision on any deal.

After regaining its status as a country free from foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever, and classical swine fever in April, Taiwan has re-entered the international market. T-Ham Co. held a container sealing ceremony in Pingtung on the 11th for its first export shipment. The initial batch of 500 boxes of sausages will be available at Sheng Siong supermarkets in Singapore on the 25th. Tu Wen-jane, Administrative Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, stated that for Taiwan to once again be free of all three diseases after the African swine fever incident last October is a rare success story in the world. She said that after Taiwan was reclassified as a disease-free zone, Singapore and the Philippines trusted that the products met their standards without sending inspectors, which demonstrates Taiwan's capabilities.

The results for the 115th academic year university application-based admissions were released on the 11th, with an admission rate of 56.31%, the highest in four years, and 7,823 vacancies, the lowest in five years. The top three universities with the most vacancies were Tamkang University (446), Ming Chuan University (421), and National Chiayi University (325). The foreign languages discipline had the lowest quota utilization rate. Among them, 11 medical schools nationwide had 137 vacancies, and 7 dental schools had 35 vacancies, a five-year high. Experts pointed out that the main reason was candidates being admitted to multiple schools. National Taiwan University discovered three major violations this year: one case where a candidate used AI glasses during the second-stage written exam, resulting in a score of 0 for that subject; and two other candidates whose application materials were found to have significant discrepancies with the facts, deemed to be misleading the review, and were also given a score of 0.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, kicked off on the 12th. In the opening match between Mexico and South Africa, Mexico secured the first victory with a 2-0 score. The number of participating countries in this tournament has expanded from the previous 32 to 48, with a total of 104 matches. Where can fans watch live streams and check scores? The Central News Agency has compiled relevant information and will provide daily updates on the schedule, standings, and matchups to help readers keep up with all the World Cup action.

Nippon-Ham Fighters' 21-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Sun Yi-lei made his first start of the season on the 11th against the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, retiring the first 12 batters he faced. He ultimately pitched 6 scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts, setting personal records for innings pitched and strikeouts. The Fighters won the game 3-0, and Sun Yi-lei successfully earned his first career win as a starter in Japan's top league. Compared to last year's post-game hero interviews, where he mostly spoke Japanese, Sun's use of mostly Chinese on the 11th sparked curiosity. He laughed and said he was a bit nervous and "forgot the Japanese I knew," but later thanked the fans in Japanese.