Former Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou will visit mainland China later this month, his third visit in the past two years, in another push to promote people-to-people exchanges amid elevated cross-strait tensions. Ma will lead a delegation of Taiwanese youth to visit the cities of Harbin in the northeast and Chengdu in the southwest on a … Read more
In a rare move, Taiwan’s military is using a Taipei university campus to train reservists to prepare for the possibility of urban warfare against the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), prompting concerns and criticism. Taiwan’s defence minister, however, defended the decision, emphasising the need to consider frontline conditions to deter PLA attacks. National Chengchi University (NCCU) … Read more
US president-elect Donald Trump made Taiwan a focal point of his 2024 campaign, advocating increased defence spending by the island and casting a critical eye on its semiconductor dominance. While some Taiwanese officials have dismissed these statements as campaign rhetoric, Trump’s repeated calls for Taiwan to pay “protection fees” and increase its defence spending to … Read more
Revelations that a US defence contractor overcharged Taiwan hundreds of millions of dollars sparked concerns that the island has been treated like a “sucker”, prompting Taipei, in turn, to decry what it says are efforts to manipulate anti-US scepticism. The price gouging came to light this year after a US federal audit of RTX, formerly … Read more
Taiwan’s only memorial to wartime “comfort women” has been removed after the land it stood on was sold at auction, according to Taiwanese media. The removal of the statue – which commemorated atrocities committed by the Japanese military during World War II – comes as the island’s leadership continues its drive to erase common historical … Read more
They give lawmakers greater oversight powers over the executive branch, similar to those of the US Congress. They also allow deputies to request information and documents from government agencies, the military, and other bodies and individuals. The legislation also requires the president to deliver an annual address on the state of the island and respond … Read more
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States, Taiwan’s top weapons supplier, do not recognise the island as an independent state. However, Washington is opposed to any attempt to take Taiwan by force and is committed to arming it. Fujian is located just … Read more
The opposition’s legislative package moves the Taiwanese legislature closer to holding an oversight role similar to the US Congress, with measures that include an expansion of lawmakers’ investigative powers. The new laws establish “contempt of the legislature” as an offence, with a maximum penalty of a NT$200,000 (US$6,170) fine. This will criminalise public officials and … Read more
It was all part of a concerted effort by the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) – which together form the legislative majority – to increase scrutiny of government agencies and officials. Since losing its legislative majority earlier this year, the independence-leaning DPP has faced successive setbacks in the advance … Read more
Beijing has named a handful of Taiwanese influencers to a list of people it plans to target with punitive measures, accusing them of “fabricating fake and negative information” about mainland China’s development and provoking cross-strait tensions. On Wednesday, Chen Binhua, a spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, listed five people, saying that a small number … Read more
