cross-strait relations

China’s Group Tourism Remains in Place for Taiwan, as Moves Continue to Influence Taiwan Via Trade

Brian Hioe
The Chinese government recently announced a list of 78 countries in which tour groups will now be allowed to travel to. This includes a number of frequent travel destinations for Chinese tourists that China is otherwise geopolitically at odds with, such as the US, South Korea, Japan, and the UK. Notably, in response to the announcement, stocks for travel companies in these countries immediately rose, a sign of how Chinese tourists are considered big spenders in a number of sectors...
August 2023Cross StraitEnglishInternationalPolitics6 min read

“Anti-War Working Group” Reproduces US-Centrism of Western Left, Fails to Consider Multipolar World

Brian Hioe
A recent press conference held by a number of senior left-wing scholars, calling for an “anti-war” stance for Taiwan, proved an exercise in not only naivete about China but profound US-centrism–that is, a preoccupation with the US and western powers and failure to see the world outside of a Euro-American framework...
EnglishInternationalMarch 2023Regional Tensions10 min read

Proposal of Chinese “Kill List” of Taiwanese Independence Advocates Meant to Intimidate

Brian Hioe
Chinese nationalist essayist and blogger Zhou Xiaoping recently proposed a resolution at a session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for China to draw up a list of “Taiwanese separatists” to be killed during a “Special Military Operation” to take Taiwan. Zhou later claimed that the resolution had been adopted, though this could have been a way for Zhou to claim his own political relevance...
Cross StraitEnglishInternationalMarch 20238 min read

Kinmen Soldier’s Disappearance and Reappearance in China Leads to Questions

Brian Hioe
Reports indicate that a Taiwanese soldier stationed in Kinmen who disappeared from his post is in China. On Saturday, Next Apple reported that the soldier had been found in China and had been rescued by the Chinese Coast Guard after swimming there, while the Ministry of National Defense’s official stance was that the soldier’s location was unclear...
Cross StraitEnglishInternationalMarch 20236 min read