In August 2018, Taiwanese writer Lung Ying-tai’s collection of essays – mostly about her love for her mother – was published in mainland China. It became a bestseller. Lung, who served as Taiwan’s minister of culture from 2012 to 2014, sold nearly 300,000 copies of her book in mainland China – an astonishing figure for … Read more
The People’s Daily published a commentary on Thursday that vowed to uproot the “historical narrative of Taiwan independence” – a narrative it said has been pushed by Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te. The warning came after Lai used the Friday anniversary of Taiwan’s return to China from imperial Japan after World War II to commemorate … Read more
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
Former Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen will leave on a trip to the Czech Republic and two other European countries this week as part of an eight-day visit to reinforce the island’s ties with Europe, despite likely objections from Beijing. Tsai will depart on Saturday for her first overseas trip since leaving office. The visit was … Read more
Congratulatory National Day messages from two Taiwanese stars famous for their past criticisms of Beijing’s policies have caused controversy on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Wu Kang-ren – who won best actor prize at last year’s Golden Horse film awards for his role in Abang Adik – marked the 75th anniversary of the People’s … Read more
The logo for the island’s official events and publicity materials is in red, white and blue, the colours of its flag, and features a red plum blossom, the symbol of the Republic of China (ROC), the island’s official title. Double Tenth Day, celebrated on October 10, commemorates the start of the 1911 revolution that led … Read more
Taiwan will receive the first batch of its long-awaited M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks from the United States by the end of this year, according to the island’s defence ministry. The initial batch of 108 battle tanks was approved for sale in 2019, as Taiwan sought to boost its ability to fend off a landing … Read more
Beijing’s top spy agency says it has identified a group of Taiwanese hackers it purports are backed by Taipei’s defence ministry and seek to defame mainland China’s political system by hacking websites on the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau. A hacker group called Anonymous64 is “a cyber army raised by the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces,” according … 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
Taiwanese prosecutors raided the home of leading opposition politician Ko Wen-je on Friday over accusations of corruption stemming from his time as mayor of Taipei. Ko, the leader of the opposition Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who ran against the island’s leader William Lai Ching-te in January’s election, was questioned by investigators from the Agency Against … Read more
