TAIPEI: Taiwan President Lai Ching-te criticized strongmen personality cults and secret police networks on Wednesday, as Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted the leaders of Russia and North Korea at a military parade marking the end of World War Two. Democratically-governed Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory, has repeatedly lambasted China for what Taipei […]
Read MoreBy Lawrence Chung in Taipei Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te has suffered his sharpest political defeat yet, as two waves of recall votes against opposition lawmakers collapsed in a 31-0 shutout – leaving his government cornered, his party shaken and his energy policy under siege. The unprecedented recall campaign, launched by pro-government civic groups and […]
Read MoreBy Lawrence Chungin Taipei Taiwan is moving to buy nearly 50,000 drones over the next two years as it seeks to bolster its asymmetric combat capabilities against mounting military pressure from Beijing. The move comes as the island’s military prepares to classify unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as consumables to accelerate procurement – a policy that […]
Read MoreBy Lawrence Chungin Taipei An unprecedented wave of criticism from Japan’s major newspapers against William Lai Ching-te has sparked debate over whether Tokyo is losing trust in the popularly elected Taiwanese leader just over a year into his term. The “extraordinary” media backlash followed the failed July 26 mass recall vote targeting opposition lawmakers, which […]
Read MoreAuthorities in Taiwan were scrambling on Tuesday to evacuate hundreds ahead of a possible landfall by Typhoon Podul on the island’s southeastern coast, while nearby areas battle to recover from floods and record winds brought by previous storms. Taiwan is regularly hit by typhoons, generally along its mountainous, sparsely populated east coast facing the Pacific. […]
Read MoreBy Fan ChenandLaura Zhou Beijing has warned Manila to stop “playing with fire” after the Philippine president said on a trip to India that his country would “have to get involved” if a China-US conflict arose in the Taiwan Strait. In an interview with Indian media outlet Firstpost on Wednesday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr […]
Read MoreBy Lawrence Chung in Taipei Taiwanese and mainland coastguard vessels engaged in a tense 22-hour stand-off near the disputed Dongsha Islands in the South China Sea on the weekend, the latest in a series of incidents that Taipei sees as a deliberate test of its maritime response. According to Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration, the confrontation […]
Read MoreBy Vanessa Caiin Shanghai Beijing has pledged to punish those who enforce Taiwan’s residency restrictions for mainland Chinese spouses, with Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily slamming Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te’s recent remarks about “removing impurities” on the island. On Wednesday, Chen Binhua, a spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, described the island’s tightened residency […]
Read MoreTaiwan will simulate a Chinese blockade and invasion of the democratic island in its annual military and civil defence drills next week, as President Lai Ching-te warned on Tuesday the island was already facing China’s “war without gun smoke”. The annual Han Kuang exercises starting on July 9 will last for 10 days and mobilize […]
Read MoreBy Lawrence Chungin Taipei Israel’s sweeping intelligence operations against Iran have jolted Taiwan’s security community, raising concerns that Beijing could adopt similar tactics to cripple the island’s leadership or critical infrastructure. As assassinations and sabotage rattle Tehran, analysts in Taipei warn that Beijing’s infiltration of Taiwan is no longer a purely political threat, and it […]
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