Tag - taiwan

 
 

TAIWAN

Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-wen, leads a political rally in New Taipei City, Taiwan, on Nov. 4.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2023
How Tsai Ing-wen aligned Taiwan with the free world
The question now is to what extent Tsai’s foreign policy legacy will endure after Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election on Jan. 13.
Worshipers pray to the sea goddess Mazu at the Dajia Jenn Lann Temple in Taichung, Taiwan, on Nov. 9.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 21, 2023
China finds sudden faith in 'peace goddess' ahead of Taiwan vote
China sees faith in a sea goddess with origins in Fujian province as the "axis" of its influence operations, according to an intelligence analysis.
Taiwan's vice president and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's presidential candidate Lai Ching-te. China has rebuked Lai as a dangerous separatist.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 21, 2023
To China, all candidates are separatists, says Taiwan front-runner
The Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary elections will define Chinese-claimed Taiwan's ties with Beijing.
Foreign tourists take pictures of an Enoshima Electric Railway train near a railroad crossing in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, in October.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2023
Visitors to Japan in January-November period pass 20 million
The number of foreign visitors, mainly from South Korea, Taiwan and the United States, is steadily recovering on the back of a cheap yen.
A suspected Chinese spy balloon is shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4. Taiwan is on high alert for Chinese activities, both military and political, ahead of Jan. 13 elections, and such balloons factor into its defense plan.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 20, 2023
Taiwan to 'handle' Chinese balloons based on threat level
The potential for China to use balloons for spying became an issue in February when the U.S. shot down what it said was a Chinese surveillance balloon.
Buildings in Xiamen on mainland China across the Taiwan Strait from anti-landing barriers on a beach in Kinmen, Taiwan.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 20, 2023
Taiwan’s ability to defend against Chinese invasion questioned
For all the support given by Washington, the reality is that when it comes to both civil and military defense, Taiwan still has a lot to do.
A contingency in the event that China invades Taiwan is emerging as a key focus in Japan’s new defense policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 17, 2023
Will Japan intervene in a Taiwan contingency? It depends.
If Taiwan puts up a fight against a Chinese invasion, it would likely engender a U.S. intervention that would not be possible without Japan’s assistance.
Kubura fishing port and Kubura district on the island of Yonaguni, Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2023
Frontier islanders decry lack of plan to aid fleeing Taiwanese
Concerned about the potential for a China-Taiwan conflict, Japan has embarked on its biggest defense buildup since World War II.
A group of 79 soldiers at the U.S. Army’s jungle training school prepare to enter a river on the Hawaiian island of Oahu on Nov. 29. Far from the deserts of the Middle East, the Army is instructing troops in Hawaii on the skills needed for a potential clash with China.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 16, 2023
U.S. military returns to the jungle, training for future threats
Far from the deserts of the Middle East, the Army is instructing troops in Hawaii on the skills needed for a potential clash with China.
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen attends the National Day celebration ceremony in Taipei, Taiwan, on Oct. 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 14, 2023
U.S. and Taiwan officials discuss Taipei's role in world forums
Any matter related to Taiwan is politically delicate and very often a source of friction between Washington and Beijing.
Wang Chih-chuan, 93, a Korean war prisoner who came to Taiwan and eventually fought in Kinmen, joined the Chinese army when he was 13, which he said was a result of press-ganging.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 14, 2023
Taiwan's last generation to fight China
Veterans' vivid memories of war make them more likely to cling to their Chinese identity to avert another conflict, unlike most of Taiwanese society.
An undated file photo shows Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos archipelago and site of a major United States military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean, leased from Britain in 1966.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 14, 2023
Indian Ocean could become China's Achilles' heel in war on Taiwan
A struggle to protect energy lifelines even as demands increase could make a protracted war over Taiwan difficult for Beijing to sustain.
Taiwan officials have repeatedly warned that China is trying to sway voters toward candidates seeking closer ties with Beijing, whose government has framed the Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary elections as a choice between "peace and war."
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 13, 2023
Chinese forces neared Taiwan to 'intimidate' voters before elections
Taiwan's military drove away four attempts by Chinese forces to approach the island's sensitive contiguous zone last month, Taiwan security officials said, in what they see as a ramped-up Chinese campaign to "intimidate" voters before key elections.
Cybersecurity is a growing concern in Taiwan as the island sits at the center of U.S.-China tensions and has a critical presidential election in January.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 12, 2023
Taiwan taps experts and U.S. to prepare banks for cyberattacks
Officials in Taipei are consulting security experts from the U.S. Treasury Department and American cybersecurity specialists to simulate attacks.
The Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 10, 2023
China 'not fearful' of war over Senkakus, senior military officer says
A former vice president of the PLA's Academy of Military Sciences indicated the possibility that China will target the Senkakus if it invades Taiwan.
Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng (center) speaks to the media on Friday, a day after a Chinese balloon was spotted crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
WORLD
Dec 8, 2023
Chinese balloon spotted crossing Taiwan Strait ahead of election
Taiwan Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said Friday that it may have been a weather monitoring balloon.
Taiwan officials have warned that Beijing is trying to nudge voters toward candidates who seek closer ties with China in the island's Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 8, 2023
Taiwan intelligence says China leadership met on election interference
Taiwan officials have warned that Beijing is trying to nudge voters toward candidates who seek closer ties with China.
A protest against the visit by then-U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in August 2022
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2023
The truth about ‘America skepticism’ in Taiwan
Distrust of the U.S. among Taiwanese people stems more from Washington’s policies than propaganda or misinformation.
Taiwan's Chief trade negotiator John Deng. Taipei is seeking to expand U.S. trade talks, as the island faces challenges from China in its effort to join the CPTPP.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 6, 2023
Taiwan looks to expand U.S. trade deal to counter isolation
The island’s trade officials are talking with their U.S. counterparts about broadening the scope of their current arrangement, reached earlier this year.
Pedestrians cross a street in the Zhongshan district of Taipei. Many voters on the island, especially those in their 20s and 30s, say they are weary of geopolitics and yearn for a campaign more focused on their needs at home.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 5, 2023
The wild card in Taiwan’s election: Frustrated young voters
Beyond geopolitics, they yearn for more focus on bread-and-butter issues such as rising housing costs, slow income growth and narrowing career prospects.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals