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Some time ago I posted the following sentence on an online forum:

Adam Smith, in his "Wealth of Nations", taught us that...

Now I am wondering whether I should have used the word 'teaches' rather than 'taught'. Although the author has passed away, we are still being taught by him in his book.

I also noticed that quite often reporters and writers use the present tense when describing what appears to be a past event, which somewhat confuses me. Eg.:

"Akane survives thriller against Se-young as Japan become champions again" -- The Star, https://www.thestar.com.my/sport/badminton/2020/02/17/akane-survives-thriller-against-se-young-as-japan-become-champions-again

"...The views of Aristotle on ethics represent, in the main, the prevailing opinions of educated and experienced men of his day...Aristotle says that Plato was right in dividing the soul into two parts..." -- History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell

Why has the past tense not been used in such cases?

Additionally, shouldn't it be 'becomes' in the first case?

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    Use either present or past. But be consistent. Do not switch back and forth. Also: "As Japan become ..." This is a UK custom, using plural for sports clubs, and other collections of people. "Manchester United are my favorite football club." In the US we would use singular verbs for this.
    – GEdgar
    Commented Mar 6, 2020 at 1:32
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    It's called the literary present (cf. narrative present, historic present). It's natural and a good device for reader engagement. Start at: literary present (verbs)
    – Tinfoil Hat
    Commented Mar 6, 2020 at 3:30

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