Cross Strait

Reports Of Taiwan Affairs Office Merger Denied By China, But Raise Questions About Taiwan Policy

Brian Hioe
Reports of a planned merger of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office with its Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Offices to form the “Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council” were later denied by China. But, either way, this does gesture towards recent acts by China which make it appear as though China seeks to streamline and make uniform its policies towards Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau...
Cross StraitEnglishInternationalMarch 20186 min read

Comments By Wang Ping-Chung In Global Times Provoke Outrage

Brian Hioe
Comments by Wang Ping-Chung of the New Party in an op-ed submitted by Wang to a Chinese state-run media outlet, the Global Times, have provoked outrage, due to Wang stating outright in the op-ed that “China cannot wait for unification". Wang, a prominent figure of the New Party, is currently under scrutiny due to charges that he operated a news outlet for China aimed at pro-unification views in Taiwan, with the aim of eventually developing an espionage network for China...
Cross StraitEnglishInternationalJanuary 20189 min read

China Steps Up Attempts To Intimidate Taiwan Militarily

Brian Hioe
Recent moves by China suggest that China is stepping up military action aimed at intimidating Taiwan. This includes frequent incidents in which Chinese fighter planes have entered into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone, the unilateral declaration by China of the M503 civilian flight route which would pass along the center of the Taiwan Straits, and sailing China’s sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, through the Taiwan Straits...
Cross StraitEnglishInternationalJanuary 20186 min read

Attempts By China To Engineer New Pro-Unification Figures In The Media Spotlight

Brian Hioe
A new trend can be discerned in recent news coverage of Taiwan by pro-China media and pro-China commentators that act as the unofficial spokespersons of the Chinese state. This would be to claim in some way that the rising tide of pro-independence views in Taiwan and the growing strength of independent Taiwanese identity has reversed itself, pointing to exciting new figures taking the political scene by storm who are staunchly unification...
Cross StraitEnglishInternationalNovember 20175 min read

Trump’s Asia Trip So Far Inconclusive

Brian Hioe
Evaluations of Trump’s Asia trip remain ambiguous, with Trump’s unorthodox means of conducting diplomacy leading to difficulties evaluating whether his trip advanced or compromised American interests in the Asia Pacific. However, an early evaluation suggests that while no fundamental shift in the status quo of the Asia Pacific has yet occurred following Trump’s trip, China’s position has been strengthened due to the image that the irregularities of Trump’s actions present to the international world...
Cross StraitEnglishInternationalNovember 20175 min read