China has moved its army, naval, air force and rocket force units to surround Taiwan for military drills, warning outside forces against supporting Taiwanese independence. The operation, dubbed “Just Mission 2025”, aims to test Beijing’s combat readiness, and will involve live-fire exercises on Tuesday. China’s Eastern Theatre Command said five zones surrounding Taiwan would be…
Even in these turbulent times, Hong Kong has reasons to count its blessings. I refer to the fundamentals of our global competitiveness, which will protect us from the fiercest storms of the current cycle of economic and geopolitical turmoil. We cannot be immune, given that many economies worldwide face challenges more severe than at any…
Taiwan can’t afford to hike its defence budget to more than three percent of GDP, the new leader of the democratic island’s biggest opposition party told AFP, which could derail the government’s spending plans. The Kuomintang party (KMT) controls parliament — and the government’s purse strings — with the help of the Taiwan People’s Party,…
TAIPEI (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize should he be able to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping to abandon the use of force against Taiwan, President Lai Ching-te told a conservative U.S. radio show and podcast in an interview. The United States is Chinese-claimed Taiwan’s most important international backer, despite…
TAIPEI (Reuters) -A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would also threaten U.S. homeland interests and would embolden Beijing to compete with Washington on the international stage, President Lai Ching-te told a conservative U.S. radio show and podcast in an interview. The United States is Chinese-claimed Taiwan’s most important international backer, despite the absence of formal ties,…
Trump and Xi are expected to meet at the Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea later this year. (Source: X) Chinese President Xi Jinping is preparing to press Donald Trump to change long-standing US policy on Taiwan during a planned series of meetings in the coming year, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal….
[Source] Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on Friday reinforced a call from Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng for citizens to reject participation in China’s commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, including a military parade in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square set on Sept. 3. Lai declared that “aggression only leads to…
Two gatherings in Beijing on Wednesday set the scene for China’s response to ongoing global economic disruptions. A meeting of the CPC’s Politburo pledged to maintain current macroeconomic policy, to “stabilize the fundamentals of foreign trade and investment,” and to support companies impacted by economic shocks. Chinese President Xi Jinping also led a gathering of non-Party…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Taiwanese government has called off a plan for its president to transit through the United States on his way to Latin America, The Associated Press has learned — a decision leading to conflicting accounts of the reason for the cancellation. Amid speculation that the Trump administration had opposed a proposed stopover…
Beijing has criticised Taiwan’s failed recall vote as a “political manipulation” that was “completely contrary” to the will of the people. In Saturday’s vote, all 24 lawmakers from the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) survived the recall attempt backed by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Chen Binhua, a spokesman for mainland China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, criticised…