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A "presidential alert" message issued by the authorities to all phones across Taiwan is seen Tuesday after the government issued a national emergency alert following China's launch of a satellite.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 9, 2024

China satellite launch triggers Taiwan emergency phone alert

Chinese state media said that Beijing had successfully launched the "Einstein Probe satellite using the Long March-2C carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center."
Voters wait in line outside a polling station during the last presidential and legislative elections, in Taipei in January 2020. Taiwan is one of only 53 political systems that require in-person voting.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 10, 2024

To protect election from China, Taiwan disenfranchises thousands of voters

In-person voting is hard to infiltrate, but it also deprives those who can't leave their posts or overseas Taiwanese unable to return from casting ballots.
U.S. President Joe Biden gives a thumbs-up as he walks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at Filoli estate on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, in Woodside, California, on Nov. 15. Their meeting attempted to calm the waters and tried to convey a sense that the U.S. and China could effectively manage their differences.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 11, 2024

In 2024, U.S.-China ties likely to get worse before they get better

The trajectory of Washington and Beijing's relationship this year will have profound effects on Japan's own policies going forward.
Lai Ching-te, the presidential candidate of ruling Democratic Progressive Party, waves to supporters while riding in the back of a vehicle during a campaign event ahead of the elections in New Taipei City, Taiwan, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 12, 2024

Candidates make final pitches before voters head to polls in Taiwan

Many view the upcoming vote as one with potentially significant geopolitical consequences for both Taiwan and the region.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 13, 2024

China and Taiwan focus of top U.S. and Japanese diplomats' talks

Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken “stressed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."
Taiwan Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang speaks during a news conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 15, 2024

China steps up Taiwan isolation after election, peeling off ally Nauru

One of Taiwan’s last diplomatic allies severed relations with the island and switched its alliance to China, after Taipei elected a new leader Beijing views as "separatist.”
A vehicle carrying Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang arrives during an official visit in Kehrsatz, near Bern, in Switzerland, on Monday. Li is visiting Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 16, 2024

China set to woo global elites with large delegation at Davos forum

Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang will make a special address on Tuesday, and will be the most senior Chinese official to attend Davos since President Xi Jinping in 2017.
An empty flag pole where Nauru's flag used to fly at the Diplomatic Quarter, which houses embassies in Taipei, on Monday
WORLD / Politics
Jan 16, 2024

U.S. decries Nauru dropping Taiwan and warns on China's promises

U.S. officials have previously expressed concern at China whittling away at Taiwan's allies, especially in Central America.
A Chinese warship takes part in a military drill across from the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands in April 2023.  The Taiwanese defense ministry reported the presence of 24 Chinese air force planes carrying out "joint combat readiness patrols" with Chinese warships near the island  on Wednesday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 18, 2024

Taiwan reports first major Chinese military activity after polls

Warplanes and warships carried out "joint combat readiness patrols" near the island on Wednesday, the Taiwanese defense ministry said.
The Philippines and China have had numerous confrontations recently in certain disputed waters in the South China Sea, with both trading accusations of provoking conflict in the economic strategic waterway.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 18, 2024

China and Philippines seek better dialogue regarding South China Sea

In the talks, the two sides reaffirmed that the South China Sea dispute is "not the whole story of bilateral relations."
Left-wing activists take part in a rally in Dhaka on Jan. 3 to demand a new election under Bangladesh's caretaker government.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 18, 2024

Weeks into 2024 and the world seems on edge

The global system that emerged after World War II is giving way to a world without order.
Unfortunately, statistics are not favorable when it comes to mixed marriages. With the proper communication, however, no challenge is insurmountable.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 26, 2024

Know how to talk about divorce in case your relationship goes south

It's a sad fact that more than a few international relationships don't work out in Japan. Be armed with the proper vocabulary just in case.
To mitigate China’s growing tech influence and establish a foothold in the budding artificial intelligence ecosystem, Taiwan budgeted some 17.4 billion New Taiwan dollars ($555.6 million) through 2026 to develop expertise and tools in the industry.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 26, 2024

Taiwan builds own AI language model to counter China’s influence

Taiwan is spending $7.4 million for a tool free of China’s political influence
A man watches a news broadcast showing a fighter jet during joint military operations near Taiwan by the Chinese People's Liberation Army, at a shopping center in Beijing in August 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 27, 2024

Taiwan detects most Chinese military aircraft around island since election

China sent 33 military aircraft around Taiwan over a 24-hour period, Taipei said, the most since its Jan. 13 presidential poll.
The Galaxy Leader cargo ship is escorted by Houthi boats in the Red Sea in this photo released Nov. 20.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 28, 2024

U.S.-China talks fall short in nudging Beijing toward Red Sea breakthrough

Top officials wrapped up two days of meetings on managing the rivals' relationship, but saw little progress on addressing the crisis in the waterway.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen holds a welcome ceremony in September 2022 for then-Tuvaluan Prime Minister Kausea Natano in Taipei.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 7, 2024

Tuvalu could recognize China, but how much would it affect Taiwan?

Taipei might benefit from shifting its energy and resources away from competing with Beijing over formal recognition.
China announced on Sunday that its coast guard would begin regular patrols and set up law enforcement activity around the Taiwan-controlled islands of Kinmen.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 20, 2024

China coast guard 'triggers panic' by boarding Taiwanese tour boat

A Taipei minister said such vessels — both Chinese and Taiwanese — were not illegal and that they commonly enter the other side's waters by accident.
Taiwan's coast guard said it would continue to use radar, surveillance and patrols to ensure the "harmony and safety" of the waters near the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands, which are close to China's shores.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 21, 2024

Taiwan drives away Chinese coast guard boat as tensions rise

The Chinese coast guard vessel had entered Taiwan's waters near Kinmen a day after officers from the agency boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat.
After stints working in New Zealand and Germany, Yoshitada Katsuki opened his winery in his home prefecture of Miyazaki in order to work with grapes his own way.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 24, 2024

Despite ‘inhospitable’ Miyazaki, Katsuki Wines stays au naturel

For pest control, Yoshitada Katsuki applies to vines a solution of vinegar, sugar and local shōchū that he jokes “lets bugs get drunk before dying.”
Anti-landing barricades on a beach in Kinmen, Taiwan
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 25, 2024

China Coast Guard conducts patrols in waters near Taiwan's Kinmen Islands

The move comes amid rising tensions in the area just 5 kilometers from mainland China following a deadly incident earlier this month.
A China Coast Guard ship sails during a military drill near Fuzhou, in China's Fujian Province, near the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands that are close to the Chinese coast.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 11, 2024

China trying to 'normalize' military drills near Taiwan: top security official

China runs "joint combat readiness patrols" near the democratic island every 7-10 days on average, Taiwan's National Security Bureau chief said.
Smoke rises from Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, on March 17. Ending the wars in Gaza and Ukraine and deterring conflicts in the Indo-Pacific region is a key global goal.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Mar 31, 2024

How should Japan deal with Ukraine, Gaza and the Indo-Pacific region?

The power, institutions and values that underpin the international security order are being compromised worldwide.
Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen visits army bases ahead of the Lunar New Year in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Feb. 6. Over 400 stories portraying Taiwan's military exercises as rehearsals for its leadership to desert in the event of war have been uncovered by an NGO based on the island.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 1, 2024

Chinese state media stoked allegation Taiwan's president would flee war

They are among the many unsupported tales that have been fed into the island by Chinese state media outlets, according to an analysis by Taiwan-based NGO.
Taiwanese military personnel aide in rescue and relief efforts by searching for survivors in a damaged building in Hualien, Taiwan, after a major earthquake struck off the island's eastern coast.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 3, 2024

Taiwan rocked by most powerful earthquake in 25 years

At least nine people were killed and more than 900 injured Wednesday by a powerful earthquake in Taiwan that prompted tsunami warnings.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Woodside, California, on Nov. 15
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 3, 2024

Biden-Xi call highlights stabilizing ties, but also hints at lingering divide

The nearly two-hour telephone call saw the leaders of the world's two largest economies discuss a range of other issues, from TikTok to Taiwan.
People ride motorcycles near the site where a building collapsed, following the earthquake, in Hualien, Taiwan, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 4, 2024

Taiwan's strongest quake in 25 years kills at least nine, injures over 1,000

Scores of emergency workers were trying to shore up damaged buildings and demolish those deemed impossible to save.
Philippine Ambassador Mylene Garcia-Albano is interviewed at the country's embassy in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 4, 2024

Closer defense ties expected after first U.S.- Japan-Philippines summit, Manila's envoy says

The statement comes amid media reports that the three countries plan to launch joint naval patrols in the South China Sea later this year.
A demonstrator holds flags of Taiwan and the United States in support of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen during an stopover after her visit to Latin America, in Burlingame, California, in January 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 4, 2024

'Staunch friend' of Taiwan to become top U.S. envoy in Taipei: sources

Sources have said that Raymond Greene, currently deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, will take on the role.
Taiwan Air Force members at the Pingtung air base in Pingtung, Taiwan, on Jan. 30. Taiwan's president has promised to stick to the status quo concerning the island’s relations with China.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 9, 2024

How to stop the dominoes of war from falling in East Asia

Conflicts elsewhere have implications for East Asia's powder kegs — the Taiwan Strait and the Korean Peninsula.
The titular city in Haruki Murakami's most recent novel, "The City and Its Uncertain Walls," appears to exist in the protagonist's dream world.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 19, 2024

Before Murakami’s English release, try him in Japanese one more time

An English version of "The City and Its Uncertain Walls" won't come out till fall, so practice reading it in Japanese before checking the translation.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan