Cross Strait

China Sets New Record with Air Incursions

Brian Hioe
The People's Liberation Army set new records yesterday with the number of planes it deployed into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense announced that 103 warplanes were detected around Taiwan in a 24-hour period yesterday. The ADIZ is the airspace in which planes normally identify themselves for security purposes. Aircraft also maneuvered in airspace southeast and southwest of the island...
Cross StraitEnglishInternationalSeptember 20236 min read

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

Hou You-yi Emphasizes Opposition to Both “One Country, Two Systems”, Taiwanese Independence

Brian Hioe
In comments made earlier this week, New Taipei mayor Hou You-yi expressed opposition to both Taiwanese independence and Beijing’s “One Country, Two Systems.” This is among the clearest articulation of a cross-strait stance by the New Taipei mayor to date, with Hou angling for the presidential nomination of the KMT. Otherwise, Hou committed to the defense of the ROC, which includes Matsu, Kinmen, and Penghu...
Cross StraitEnglishInternationalMay 2023Politics5 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