Chinese president Xi Jinping met with former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou today. This was the first time that Xi and Ma have met since 2015, when Ma was still president. The two met in Singapore in 2015, while today’s meeting took place in Beijing at the Great Hall of the People...
For decades, Taiwan has lived under Beijing’s constant military threat of “reunification.” However, Taiwan is often portrayed by Chinese propagandists as a “troublemaker” capable of destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region or making China “upset about everything we [Taiwan] do, about our existence,” as Taiwan’s ex-ambassador to the United States Hsiao Bi-khim noted. Taiwan’s independence, be it a political appeal or an objective reality, is provocative to the CCP. The CCP’s mouthpieces have effectively convinced numerous international observers to discourage Taiwan’s quest for independence and characterized Taiwan’s autonomy as an affront to the Chinese people....
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...
Former president Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT set out for a twelve-day trip to China on Monday. This proves Ma’s first trip to China, though Ma previously met with Chinese president Xi Jinping in Singapore in November 2015...
Controversy–as well as mockery–has broken out after a purported Chinese spy balloon was detected over the US and then later shot down over the Atlantic Ocean last week...
China has again set records with drills directed at Taiwan, carrying out “strike drills” around Taiwan in the past week. This is in response to US president Joe Biden signing the Fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act into law. Part of the provisions of the law authorized 12 billion USD in loans for Taiwan to purchase arms across six years, between 2023 and 2027, with 2 billion USD per year...
The new Politburo standing committee of the Chinese Communist Party has been announced, following the CCP’s weeklong 20th National Congress. As was anticipated by many experts ahead of time, Chinese president Xi Jinping has been confirmed for an unprecedented third term in power, with the limits on the number of terms that a Chinese leader can serve having been undone at the 19th National Congress in October 2017. This was seen as potentially paving the way to lifetime rule by Xi...
Comments by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the start of the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress highlighted Taiwan as an issue that he intends to address, as part of his political mandate ahead of what is expected to be a third term in office. Xi is expected to be confirmed for an unprecedented third term at the 20th National Congress, with the limit on the number of term limits that a Chinese leader can serve having been undone at the 19th National Congress in 2018. The 20th National Congress began on Sunday and is expected to last for several days...
The Taiwan Policy Act cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. This clears the way for the bill to be discussed and voted upon by the US House of Representatives and Senate, with some warnings that China may take a strong response to the bill. The bill passed the committee by a vote of 17 to 5, with bipartisan support...
Earlier today, US president Joe Biden confused again with comments on CBS’ “60 Minutes” that suggested US commitment to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack. Subsequently, as with previous such incidents in which Biden indicated US commitment to defend Taiwan, these comments were quickly walked back by the White House, which stated that US policy on Taiwan had not changed...
