Taiwanese

Mainland China ramps up integration push with local Taiwan affairs offices in Fujian

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Mainland China ramps up integration push with local Taiwan affairs offices in Fujian

Several counties in Fujian province have established Taiwan affairs offices, signalling more intense efforts by Beijing to integrate the island with mainland China. “[We] have established separate Taiwan affairs offices in all counties with significant Taiwan-related responsibilities,” said Zhou Qingsong, director of the organisation office of the Fujian provincial committee of the Communist Party. While … Read more

Beijing’s pilot zone for economic integration with Taiwan running out of steam

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Beijing’s pilot zone for economic integration with Taiwan running out of steam

Fujian province has become a test bed for mainland China’s push for economic, social and political integration with Taiwan. In this story – third in a four-part on-the-ground series – Amber Wang examines the rise and fall of the Pingtan economic pilot zone that was once a major draw for Taiwanese businesses, workers and investment. … Read more

Why mainland China’s Taiwan integration experiment in Fujian is starting to fizzle

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Why mainland China’s Taiwan integration experiment in Fujian is starting to fizzle

Fujian province has become a test bed for mainland China’s push for economic, social and political integration with Taiwan. In this story – the first in a four-part on-the-ground series – Amber Wang details the 15-year integration drive in Fujian’s Pingtan county, which appears to be losing steam as the mainland economy falters, military tensions … Read more

Taiwan monitoring PLA warplanes and ships after William Lai’s stopovers

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Taiwan monitoring PLA warplanes and ships after William Lai’s stopovers

The defence ministry said it had detected 47 mainland Chinese warplanes near Taiwan in the 24 hours to 6am on Tuesday – the largest number since the PLA simulated a blockade of the island on October 14 in an exercise dubbed Joint Sword-2024B. The PLA sent 153 warplanes for that drill. In the latest exercise, … Read more

Beijing hails cross-strait policies as Taiwanese visitor numbers, residence bids surge

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Beijing hails cross-strait policies as Taiwanese visitor numbers, residence bids surge

Close to 300 million Taiwanese have travelled to mainland China for tourism, studies and jobs this year, according to official data from Beijing. Analysts said the surge was driven by a combination of favourable policies and economic opportunities aimed at fostering deeper ties across the Taiwan Strait. Nearly 994,000 Taiwan compatriot permits – or Mainland … Read more

Opinion | Storm in a bubble tea cup? Marvel star calls cultural appropriation on Canadian brand

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Opinion | Storm in a bubble tea cup? Marvel star calls cultural appropriation on Canadian brand

Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu, best known for playing the Marvel character Shang Chi, has just shown that not all superheroes wear capes. Liu recently appeared on the Canadian reality show Dragon’s Den, a competition where entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to investors known as the Dragons (there is a similar show called Shark Tank). For Sebastien … Read more

China’s foreign joint venture universities feel chill as political controls tighten

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China’s foreign joint venture universities feel chill as political controls tighten

In the second of a four-part series on China’s universities and campus life, Alcott Wei looks into the effects of geopolitical tensions in the country’s joint venture campuses with overseas institutions. Richard Li, president of a Japanese culture club at a university in China, was pulled aside after a club meeting by a faculty supervisor. … Read more

Taiwan firms less worried about possible US-China war compared with 2022

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Taiwan firms less worried about possible US-China war compared with 2022

Taiwanese companies are continuing to do business with mainland China and appear to be less concerned about a possible war compared with two years ago, a new survey has found. Instead companies are adopting a variety of strategies to hedge risks, according to the report by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based … Read more

Beijing’s spy agency ‘destroyed large number’ of Taiwan intelligence networks

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Beijing’s spy agency ‘destroyed large number’ of Taiwan intelligence networks

“[We have] severely punished spies who carried out intelligence theft, infiltration and sabotage activities, in accordance with the law, effectively safeguarding the security of our country’s core secrets,” the ministry said in the post. It made specific mention of the arrest of Taiwanese political activist Yang Chih-yuan, which it called “an innovation in the law … Read more

Who is Rosamund Kwan? Hong Kong actress co-starred with actors such as Jet Li, Jackie Chan

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Who is Rosamund Kwan? Hong Kong actress co-starred with actors such as Jet Li, Jackie Chan

When she did begin acting in the early 1980s, at the age of 18, unlike many second-generation actresses she did it to support her family, she revealed in a 2016 interview with Phoenix TV. Kwan pictured in 1993. Her breakout role came in 1984 in the romantic comedy Challenge on Chasing Girls. Photo: SCMP “I … Read more