Tensions in the Taiwan Strait have escalated sharply as China has deployed 19 warships and over 50 fighter jets in a military exercise encircling the self-ruled island of Taiwan. The exercise, which involves joint operations by the army, navy, and rocket forces, is being framed by China as a “stern warning” to the island’s leadership….
China launched military exercises pressing in on Taiwan on Tuesday, in what Beijing said was a warning to the island-democracy’s president, Lai Ching-te, after he called China a “foreign hostile force.” Chinese land, navy, air and missile forces would “approach close” to Taiwan and practice “seizure of overall control, strikes on sea and land targets,…
By Ann Wang and Annabelle Chih TAINAN, Taiwan (Reuters) – Taiwan President Lai Ching-te oversaw on Thursday the first civil defence drills under his newly created social resilience committee simulating how to respond to a large-scale disaster like a tsunami or attacks on critical infrastructure. The drill, in the southern city of Tainan, was held…
After Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, launched a broad drive this month against what he warned was expanding Chinese subversion and spying, the backlash was swift. Across the Taiwan Strait, Beijing hit back, sending a surge of military planes and ships near the island and warning that he was “playing with fire.” In Taiwan, Mr. Lai’s…
BEIJING/TAIPEI -Chinese military exercises near Taiwan on Monday were punishment for Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s continued promotion of “separatism”, according to a stern statement out of Beijing, as Taiwan hit back by calling China a troublemaker. China says military exercises near Taiwan punishment for ‘separatism’ China, which has never renounced the use of force to…
The Chinese military remains on high alert – “ready to fight at all times and able to fight at any time” – to thwart any attempt at Taiwan independence, according to the commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) unit overseeing the Taiwan Strait. The warning from Lin Xiangyang, who heads the PLA’s Eastern Theatre…
At least four people were killed and 26 others injured in a suspected gas explosion in the food court of a Taiwan shopping mall on Thursday morning, according to Taiwan’s state-owned news outlet. The explosion occurred in the city of Taichung, about 100 miles southwest of Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, local officials said. The fire department…
Not so long ago, Taiwan basked in seemingly boundless, bipartisan support in Washington, where the island has long been regarded as a valiant democratic partner against China. Now, a few weeks into President Donald J. Trump’s second term, Taiwan is adjusting to a shift in its relationship with the United States, its primary backer —…
Bonnie Glaser has spent decades working on issues related to Asia-Pacific geopolitics and US policy. She is managing director of the German Marshall Fund’s Indo-Pacific programme, a non-resident fellow with the Lowy Institute, a senior associate with the Pacific Forum, and co-author of US-Taiwan Relations: Will China’s Challenge Lead to a Crisis? This interview first…
Former Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou will visit mainland China later this month, his third visit in the past two years, in another push to promote people-to-people exchanges amid elevated cross-strait tensions. Ma will lead a delegation of Taiwanese youth to visit the cities of Harbin in the northeast and Chengdu in the southwest on a…