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★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Mocrosoft Bing, 2026-6-15, 2026-6-6, 2026-5-13, 2026-5-1, 2026-4-23,  2026-4-11, 2026-3-14, 2026-3-9, 2026-2-23, 2026-2-14, 2026-2-4, 2026-1-26, 2026-1-18, 2026-1-12, 2026-1-9, 2025-12-31, 2025-12-24, 2025-12-20, 2025-12-1, 2025-11-29, 2025-11-23, 2025-11-11, 2025-11-1, 2025-10-30, 2025-10-21, 2025-10-10, 2025-10-1, 2025-9-21, 2025-9-1, 2025-8-17, 2025-8-9, 2025-7-28, 2025-7-18, 2025-7-9,  2025-7-1, 2025-6-9, 2025-5-20, 2025-4-27, 2025-4-1, 2025-3-19, 2025-3-3, 2025-2-28, 2025-2-16, 2025-1-25, 2025-1-1, 2024-12-30, 2024-12-25, 2024-12-24, 2024-12-7, 2024-10-10, 2024-9-11, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024- 7-24, 2024-5-1, 2024-4-19, 2024-2-28, 2024-1-23, 2023-11-11, 2023-11-1, 2023-10-10, 2023-9-18, 2023-9-11, 2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-4, 2023-6-28, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-31, 2023-5-1, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-31, 2023-3-23, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-6, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-14, 2023-1-1, 2022-12-12, 2022-10-10, 2022-9-20,  2022-9-11, 2022-9-5, 2022-8-23, 2022-8-14, 2022-8-6, 2022-7-29, 2022-7-18, 2022-7-7, 2022-7-1, 2022-6-24, 2022-6-18, 2022-6-10, 2022-6-8, 2022-5-30, 2022-5-16, 2022-5-6

　

　

★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Bing, 2026-6-10, 2026-5-23, 2026-5-1, 2026-4-18, 2026-4-7, 2026-3-24, 2026-3-12, 2026-3-4, 2026-2-26, 2026-2-21, 2026-2-11, 2026-2-8, 2026-2-1, 2026-1-31, 2025-1-22, 2026-1-15, 2026-1-1, 2025-12-24,  2024-12-24, 2023-11-11, 2022-10-10


　

　


  pic.:  The web-sites group ranks No.1 "comment Taiwan" on Yandex of Russia , 2026-6-10, 2026-6-6, 2026-5-13, 2026-5-1, 2026-4-23, 2026-4-11, 2026-4-7, 2026-3-24, 2026-3-14, 2026-3-9, 2026-3-4, 2026-2-26, 2026-2-21, 2026-2-14, 2026-2-11, 2026-2-8, 2026-2-1, 2026-1-26, 2026-1-15, 2026-1-9, 2026-1-1, 2025-12-24, 2025-12-1, 2025-11-22, 2025-11-1, 2025-10-30, 2025-10-10, 2025-10-1, 2025-9-21, 2025-9-1, 2025-8-17, 2025-8-9, 2025-7-28, 2025-7-18, 2025-7-9, 2025-7-1, 2025-6-9, 2025-5-20, 2025-4-27, 2025-4-1, 2025-3-19, 2025-3-3, 2025-2-22, 2025-1-1, 2024-12-25, 2024-12-24, 2024-12-12, 2024-10-10, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-7-24, 2024-4-19, 2024-2-28, 2024-1-23, 2024-1-1, 2023-11-11, 2023-11-1, 2023-10-10, 2023-9-11, 2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-4, 2023-6-28, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-31, 2023-5-1, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-31, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-6, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-1, 2022-12-12, 2022-10-13, 2022-9-23, 2022-9-12, 2022-9-5, 2022-8-20, 2022-8-13,  2022-8-7, 2022-7-18, 2022-7-7, 2022-7-1, 2022-6-25, 2022-6-10, 2022-6-7, 2022-6-1, 2022-5-23, 2022-4-16, 2022-3-20, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-1, 2022-1-30, 2022-1-25, 2022-1-11, 2022-1-1, 2021-11-21, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-20, 2021-10-3, 2021-6-27, 8-13-2020, 8-5-2020, 6-12-2020,  5-21-2020, 2-28-2020, 1-17-2020, 1-11-2020, 12-18-2019,  12-1-2019, 11-26-2019, 11-7-2019; No.3 at 2023-3-23
　

　

   
★  No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on DuckDuckGo , 2026-6-15, 2026-6-10, 2026-3-14, 2026-3-9, 2026-2-14, 2026-2-11, 2026-2-8, 2026-2-4, 2026-1-26, 2026-1-22, 2026-1-18, 2026-1-15, 2025-12-24, 2025-11-1, 2025-10-10, 2025-10-1, 2025-9-21, 2025-9-1, 2025-8-17, 2025-8-9, 2025-7-28, 2025-7-18, 2025-7-9, 2025-7-1, 2025-6-9, 2025-5-20, 2025-4-27, 2025-4-1, 2025-3-3, 2025-2-23, 2025-2-16, 2025-1-1, 2024-12-25, 2024-12-24, 2024-12-7, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-8-2, 2024-7-24, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-1, 2023-1-21, 2022-5-16, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-10, 2022-4-8, 2022-4-3, 2022-3-23, 2022-3-20, 2022-3-12, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-6, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-14, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-11, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27; 
No. 2  "comment Taiwan" on DuckDuckGo , 2026-3-24, 2026-3-4, 2022-9-11 ; No. 3  "comment Taiwan" on DuckDuckGo , 2026-5-1

　

　

 

★  pic.: No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2026-6-15, 2026-6-10, 2026-3-24, 2026-3-14, 2026-3-9, 2026-2-14, 2026-2-11,  2026-1-26, 2026-1-18, 2025-12-24, 2025-11-1, 2025-10-10, 2025-10-1, 2025-9-21, 2025-9-1, 2025-8-17, 2025-8-9, 2025-7-28, 2025-7-18, 2025-7-9, 2025-7-1, 2025-6-9, 2025-5-20, 2025-4-27, 2025-4-1, 2025-3-19, 2025-3-3
No.2 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2026-3-4

　

　

　


　

pic.:  No.1 "comment Taiwan" on AOL, 2026-6-15, 2026-6-10, 2026-3-24, 2026-3-14, 2026-3-9, 2026-2-14, 2026-2-8, 2026-2-4, 2026-1-26, 2026-1-22, 2026-1-18, 2025-12-24, 2025-11-1, 2025-10-10, 2025-10-1, 2025-9-21, 2025-9-1, 2025-8-17, 2025-8-9, 2025-7-28, 2025-7-18, 2025-7-1, 2025-5-20, 2025-4-27, 2025-4-1, 2025-3-3, 2025-2-22, 2025-2-16, 2025-1-1, 2024-12-25, 2023-7-4, 2023-6-28, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-31, 2023-5-1, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-31, 2023-3-23, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-6, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-14,
No.1 "comment Taiwan" on Aolsearch, 2025-7-28, 2025-7-18, 2025-7-9, 2025-7-1, 2025-6-9;   No.1 or top "comment Taiwan" on AOL, 2022-12-12, 2022-9-11, 2022-8-13, 2022-8-7, 2022-5-23, 2022-5-16, 2022-5-7, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-10, 2022-4-8, 2022-4-3, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-22, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-6, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-8, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-6-27, 2021-5-1, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021,1-18-2020,  12-05-2019; No.3 at 2022-7-19,  top 3 on US Yahoo, 2022-7-29, 2022-7-19

　

　

★  pic.: No.1 "comment Taiwan" on Baidu, 2026-5-13, 2026-5-1, 2026-3-12, 2026-3-8, 2026-3-4, 2026-2-26, 2026-2-23, 2026-2-11; No.2 at 2026-6-10, No.3 at 2026-6-6

　

　

★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Yahoo (Taiwan), 2026-3-14, 2026-3-9, 2026-2-26, 2026-2-21, 2026-2-14, 2026-2-8, 2026-2-4, 2026-2-1,  2025-1-1,  2024-1-1, 2023-11-11, 2023-11-1, 2023-1-1, 2022-7-1; No.2 comment Taiwan on Yahoo, 2026-6-15, 2026-5-4

　

　

　

★  pic.: No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2026-2-8, 2026-1-22, 2025-12-24

　

　

★  pic.: No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2026-1-26, 2025-12-24, 2025-9-30, 2025-8-16, 2025-7-27, 2025-7-17, 2025-7-8, 2025-6-30, 2025-2-28, 2025-2-16, 2025-1-25, 2025-1-1, 2024-12-30, 2024-12-25, 2024-12-24, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-8-2, 2024-7-24, 2024-5-1, 2024-4-19, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-4, 2023-6-28, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-31, 2023-5-1, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-31, 2023-3-23, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-6, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-14, Top or No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2022-12-12, 2022-10-10, 2022-9-11, 2022-9-5, 2022-8-13, 2022-8-7, 2022-6-25, 2022-5-25

　

　

★ ★★

　

　

    
　

　

 
★  pic.: No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo,  2025-2-28, 2025-2-22, 2025-1-1, 2024-12-24, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-8-2, 2024-7-24, 2024-5-1, 2024-4-19, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-4, 2023-6-28, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-31, 2023-5-1, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-31, 2023-3-23, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-6, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-14, Top or No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2022-12-12, 2022-10-10, 2022-9-11, 2022-9-5, 2022-8-13, 2022-8-7, 2022-6-25, 2022-5-25 ; No.2 on Yahoo Taiwan, 2025-12-1

　

　

 

　

　

    

★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Yahoo (Taiwan), 2026-1-26

　

 

　

　


★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Yahoo (Taiwan), 2026-1-22, 2026-1-18, 2026-1-15, 2025-11-1, 2025-10-30, 2025-10-1, 2025-9-21, 2025-9-1, 2025-8-9, 2025-7-28, 2025-7-1, 2025-5-20, 2025-4-27, 2025-4-1, 2025-3-3, 2025-2-16, 2025-1-1, 2024-12-25, 2024-12-24, 2024-12-7, 2024-10-10, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-8-2, 2024-7-24, 2024-5-1, 2024-4-19, 2024-2-28, 2024-1-23, 2024-1-1, 2023-11-11, 2023-11-1, 2023-10-10,  2023-9-11,2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-4, 2023-6-28, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-31, 2023-5-1, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-31, 2023-3-23, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-6, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-1, 2022-12-12, 2022-10-10, 2022-9-20, 2022-9-11, 2022-9-4, 2022-8-22, 2022-8-14, 2022-8-7, 2022-7-29, 2022-7-18, 2022-7-7, 2022-7-1, 2022-6-25, 2022-6-18, 2022-6-9  ★  pic.  : No.1 "comment Taiwan" (Chinese version) on Yahoo Taiwan , 2024-4-19, 2024-1-1, 2023-8-8, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-23, 2023-2-20, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-1, 2022-12-6, 2022-10-10, 2022-9-20  

　

 

　

  

★  No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on DuckDuckGo , 2026-1-22, 2026-1-15, 2025-10-10, 2025-8-19, 2024-8-8, 2023-5-1, 2022-2-28, 2021-6-27

　

　

　

           

★  pic.: No.1 "comment Taiwan" on MetaGER.de of Germany, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-8-2, 2024-7-24, 2024-5-1, 2024-4-19, 2024-2-28, 2023-11-1, 2023-9-11, 2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-4  

　

　

　

★  pic.: No.3 "comment Taiwan" on Baidu, 2026-1-12

　


　

Xinhua, 2026-3-8

　

　

★  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 2022-1-31, 2021-10-11, 2021-10-8, 2021-9-23, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-31, 2021-8-23, 2020-1-11, 2020-1-10, 2019-11-11

　

　

　

　


  ♣ ♣ ♣ China-Taiwan war  ♣♣ ♣ ♣mysterious lull in Chinese military flights near Taiwan ♣♣ ♣ ♣Japan defying China♣♣♣ ♣ ♣Taiwan's division ♣♣ ♣ ♣Taiwan should worry about Trump    ♦ ♣ ♣ China's "coercion without violence" ♣ ♣ ♣ Trump's new tariffs & trade war   ♣ ♣   Taiwan lost its China spy war♣  ♣ ♣ ♣Taiwan's tougher stance on china♣ ♣ ♣Trump's defense policy  ♣ ♣ ♣world backs Beijing's claim  ♣ ♣ ♣  more topics   ♣    ◆ source  

　

China ─ Taiwan War
◆ Foreign Affairs, 2026-6-15 Trump's NDS jettisoned all talk of considering China a “pacing threat,” a departure from both the National Defense Strategies of the first Trump and the Biden administrations. the administration's actions have been accommodating of Beijing.
◆ Bloomberg, 2026-6-15 Xi Swaps Fighter Jets for Diplomatic Hardball to Squeeze Taiwan.
◆ NEWS Australia, 2026-6-15 A landmark military expert's dire warning: Australia would be hit by cripping cyber attacks before being pounded by new Chinese long-range missiles if a conflict broke out over Taiwan.
◆ Sydney Morning Herald, 2026-6-14 The ultimate victory for Xi, would be to convince the Taiwanese to submit without the Chinese military having to fire a shot.  Taiwan's top official: “We always say that there are two scenarios: one is a D-Day scenario, the other one is a day-to-day scenario. So we have to deal with both.”
◆ i-International Relations, 2026-6-14 All the three sides—China, the United States, and Taiwan— are currently trapped in a vicious cycle: They seem to believe that military power can solve the ultimate conflict. They will escalate tensions instead of solving the potential Taiwan Strait crisis.
◆ USNI News,  2026-6-9 Report to Congress on Defense of Taiwan: For more than 75 years, the U.S. government has sought to strengthen Taiwan's and its own ability to deter PRC military aggression. The PRC, for its part, has claimed the US uses Taiwan as a “pawn” to “contain” China. Some observers assess that the PLA is, or soon will be, able to execute military campaigns ranging from missile strikes, small island seizures, and blockades, to an amphibious invasion and takeover of Taiwan's main island.
◆ Brookings, 2026-6-9 Any shift in posture by Washington may push away Taiwan and alter the delicate equilibrium.
◆ USNI News,  2026-6-8 Chinese Flotilla Surges East of Taiwan Amid Spat with the Philippines, Japan. For Taiwan, that normalizes a Chinese state presence in exactly the waters it relies on for its eastern sea lanes and that a contingency would be contested first.
◆ Associated Press,  2026-6-9 Taiwan's army conducted live-fire beach drills Tuesday simulating a Chinese amphibious invasion, as the island strengthens its defenses amid military pressure from China.
◆ US Naval Institute, June 2026 Vol. 152/6/1,480 Close study of D-Day suggests China is likely capable of launching a large-scale amphibious invasion across the Taiwan Strait. Just as the immense weight of force and firepower carried the day at Normandy decisively for the Allies, the overwhelming mass of the PLA could do the same for China.
◆ Politico, 2026-6-6 Taiwan's top diplomat in the U.S:  From President Trump on down — from Secretary Rubio, U.N. representative Mike Waltz, different cabinet members, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer — when asked about Taiwan, they all say there's been no change in U.S. policy on Taiwan.
◆ Asia Times, 2026-6-6 Smith and Cohen:  it may take 2~3 years to replenish Patriot and other interceptor stocks, creating a window of vulnerability for a potential conflict in the Western Pacific. That vulnerability may also have factored into the Trump's calculus regarding Taiwan.
◆ Foreign Affairs, 2026-6-5 U.S. plans for the defense of Taiwan hinge on wartime access to bases in Australia and Japan (potentially the Philippines and South Korea). They will need to consider how allowing the U.S. Air Force to fly from runways within their borders could tempt the China to rain missiles on their military infrastructure.
◆ SCMP, 2026-6-6 KMT leader says Taiwan can preserve peace by avoiding 'de jure independence'.
◆ Reuters, 2026-6-5 Taiwan, China coast guards in renewed standoff at top of South China Sea.
◆ War on the Rocks, 2026-6-5 China is sprinting toward nuclear parity with the United States — and it is already winning.
◆ Reuters, 2026-6-5 the hardest problem for Beijing is not in taking Taiwan but in governing it. Whether the Chinese Communist Party can reconcile the demands of control with the need for legitimacy.
◆ Axios, 2026-6-5 Chinese space aggression is on Taiwan's mind. Space and satellites are critical to military operations, enabling long-range strikes and surveillance.
◆ Reuters, 2026-6-4 Taiwan beefs up anti-ship missile arsenal;  By early 2029, U.S.-supplied Harpoon missiles and domestically produced Hsiung Feng missiles will be about 1,850.
◆ Responsible Statecraft, 2026-6-3 concerning contention regards Washington's capacity to fight and win a war against China right now in Beijing's back yard. Hegseth's comment last year that Team Blue loses in Pentagon simulations of such a conflict “every time”...
◆ War on the Rocks, 2026-6-2 The opposition's critique on defense budget emphasized secret, runaway spending, leveraging deep-seated skepticism to frame the proposal as a “blank check.”
◆ Asia Times, 2026-6-2 China hardening nuclear forces for a Taiwan war.
◆ Reuters, 2026-6-1 When asked about arms sales to Taiwan, "Those decisions will depend ​on the president and the nature of that relationship," Hegseth said. "There's been no change in our status."
◆ Nikkei Asia, 2026-6-2 Trump  implied that the U.S., especially amid the ongoing war against Iran, might not be in a strong position to help defend Taiwan. Trump's comments reconfirm that he is unreliable when it comes to defending Taiwan.
◆ The Hill, 2026-6-1 the US unwittingly shifted Taiwan's timeline. Taiwan is riskily transforming from a non-negotiable geopolitical red line into a flexible variable within a broader trade and security ledger.
◆ New York Times, 2026-5-31 Taiwan gov.: there is a small minority of mainland spouses who may come here with specific assignments.   The scrutiny has unnerved some of Taiwan's community of 261,000 Chinese migrants, who are mostly women. In interviews, several women said that they were being unfairly cast as agents of Beijing.
◆ CBS, 2026-5-30 Hegseth tones down warnings about China: "We respect their ambitions," but "position hasn't changed on Taiwan".
◆ Mainichi Shimbun , Asia Times 2026-5-31 There is no doubt that Taiwan ranks number one among all the potential flashpoints capable of causing a catastrophic conflict between the world’s nuclear superpowers and of creating an economic crisis.
◆ Reuters, 2026-5-26 Chinese ​warships equipped with cruise missiles are being deployed as close as 24 nautical miles from Taiwan's shores...ship-launched, sea-skimming missiles are harder to detect and could hit targets just three minutes after being launched.
◆ Asia Times, 2026-5-25 Many  experts  estimate  Taiwan  could not hold out against a determined Chinese invasion attempt for more than a couple of months without US military intervention. Taiwan would also likely eventually succumb to a Chinese blockade without robust and sustained external military assistance.
◆ The Independent, 2026-5-24 Trump suggested that enabling the defence of Taiwan was no longer a priority.
◆ Foreign Affairs, 2026-5-22 Hormuz could encourage similar tactics e.g., a Chinese blockade of the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan lacks a geographical bypass: its major ports are concentrated along its west coast, facing the strait, and its mountainous interior complicates east–west transport.
◆ Real Clear Polling, 2026-5-22 According to the latest Economist/YouGov poll, less than 40% support using U.S. military force to protect Taiwan or selling weapons to Taiwan. A quarter of Americans surveyed agreed that China is likely to invade Taiwan during the next 12 months. A similar number (19%) said that it was unlikely.
◆ Semafor, 2026-5-22 Some of Trump's advisers came away from last week's Trump-Xi summit  “thinking a Chinese move on Taiwan was growing more likely,” Axios reported.
◆ Newsweek, 2026-5-21 Trump said he had discussed the deal with China’s leader, and stressed his priority was avoiding another war.
◆ Axios, 2026-5-20 Some Trump advisers left the summit thinking a Chinese move on Taiwan was growing more likely. But in Taipei there was no panic, at least on the surface.
◆ Axios, 2026-5-17 Some close advisers to Trump fear the biggest substantive result of the China summit is heightened danger that Xi will invade Taiwan in the next five years; "This trip signaled a much higher likelihood that Taiwan will be on the table in the next five years"
◆ Asia Times, 2026-5-15 a Pew Research poll from January, which showed that just 28% of Americans viewed China as an “enemy” compared with 42% who saw it that way in 2024. According to a survey by the Institute for Global Affairs in November, just 35% of Americans said they'd support the US sending troops to defend Taiwan if it were to be attacked by China.
◆ CNN, 2026-5-16 Trump:“ I'm not looking to have somebody go independent, and you know we're supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I'm not looking for that. I want them to cool down."
The Chinese leader Xi didn't mention Taiwan but subtly drew a parallel between Trump's “Make America Great Again” ethos and his own vision of a “great rejuvenation.”.
◆ Brookings, 2026-5-16 Trump questioned whether it made sense for American forces to “travel 9,500 miles to fight a war.” And Trump considered a pending $14 billion American arms sales package to Taiwan as leverage in his dealings with Xi.  
◆ New York Times, 2026-5-16 Trump's account of his conversations with Xi suggested that he took onboard China's argument that Taiwan bore a big part of the blame for the tensions. China has cast Lai trying to drag the US into a bruising war. “They're going independent because they want to get into a war, and they want to, they figure they have the US behind them.”
◆ CNBC, 2026-5-16 Trump steers the U.S. away from Taiwan again. "I will say this: I'm not looking to have somebody go independent, and you know, we're supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war",“I'm not looking for that. "
◆ Axios 2026-5-15 Hawks on Capitol Hill think the way to deter a Chinese move on the self-governing island is to offer Taiwan more muscular support, though some analysts argue that U.S. pledges of weapons and political support for Taiwan will only make Beijing more likely to use force.
◆ Wall Street Journal, 2026-5-15  a clarifying reminder that the result in Iran matters to a larger U.S. contest with China. That contest is now focused on a stretch of water where the waves can reach 50 feet in the winter: the Taiwan Strait. 
◆CNBC, 2026-5-15 Trump told Xi ‘I don't talk about’ whether U.S. would defend Taiwan from China. CSIS: “The Iran war has once again highlighted deficiencies in the U.S. defense industrial base. If the United States does not move quickly this time, it may have to learn this lesson — the hard way — against China"
◆New York Times, 2026-5-14 Xi: If Chinese concerns over Taiwan were “handled well,” he added, relations between Beijing and Washington could remain stable. If handled poorly, the two countries will collide or even clash, putting the entire U.S.-China relationship in an extremely dangerous situation.
◆CBS, 2026-5-14 Xi talks tough on Taiwan during Beijing meeting with Trump... experts argue the U.S.' focus on the Middle East — including the munitions it has used in Iran — could make it more difficult to prepare for a potential confrontation with China.
◆CNN, 2026-5-14 Taiwan remains in the "most important" category from China's perspective. Leaders from US adversaries and allies alike are flocking to Beijing to strengthen or mend ties with China, while opinions around the world,  even Americans' – warm up to Xi's China.
◆New York Times, 2026-5-14 expectations for the summit remain low.  It's unlikely to lead to a significant change in a relationship that has long been on the rocks. Nearly everything the Trump administration is doing has put the two countries on the path toward a worse relationship.
◆New York Times, 2026-5-12 Chinese top officials have indicated that they also expect the two presidents to discuss Taiwan, the issue that could most likely ignite a war between their countries.
◆Reuters, 2026-5-12 Trump repeated his doubt that tension over Taiwan would erupt during his presidency. " I have a very good relationship ​with President Xi.
◆Associated Press, abc news, 2026-5-11  the U.S. has repeatedly reiterated, through both public and private channels, that its policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged...The key question, China experts say, is just how far Xi will try to go in his effort to prod Trump closer to Beijing's view.
◆BBC, 2026-5-12 Trump-Xi summit could set the groundwork for future cooperation – or conflict – in the years ahead.
◆The Conversation, 2026-5-11 Xi would rather find peaceful means to unite with Taiwan;  China has seemingly concentrated its efforts on influencing the upcoming 2028 Taiwan presidential election.
◆The Hill, 2026-5-11 Suppose at some stage the KMT comes to power and agrees to some form of integration with China. Since U.S. foreign policy strategies are based on the defense of Taiwan, that would lead to the prospect for a fundamental reorientation.
◆Fox News, 2026-5-10 Rubio: Taiwan will be a topic in Trump-Xi summit ... could be a priority topic. China's Foreign Ministry: To uphold cross-Strait peace and stability, it is necessary to unequivocally oppose Taiwan secession.
◆CNN, 2026-5-10 Taiwan's opposition leader says island can embrace both powers, weapons alone will not keep Taiwan safe. She openly embraces the “One China” framework, "it is critical that we find a common foundation. I believe this is the only way where we can avoid war."
◆CNN, 2026-5-10 Chinese civilian manufacturers have the capacity to retool in under a year to turn out one billion weaponized drones annually.   Taiwan isn't ready to face those kinds of numbers. The US has recognition that in a conflict in the Pacific, it may find itself as the defender, not the attacker.
◆New York Times, 2026-5-8 Beijing is unlikely to expedite plans to invade Taiwan, such plan would be based primarily on “political factors” like a sudden move to declare formal independence.
◆New York Post, 2026-5-7 Xi wants to redefine Taiwan's legal status and demand the US stop supporting Taiwan independence. In his New Year's speech, he vowed to take the island and called reunification “unstoppable.”
◆Foundation for Defense of Democracies, 2026-5-7 Taiwan's opposition KMT is poised to pass a defense budget that falls short of the lessons wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have made unmistakably clear on drones, layered air defense, and offensive deterrence.
◆The Guardian, 2026-5-3 Analysts believe that China is highly unlikely to take a military path in the next couple of years.
◆PunchBowl News, 2026-5-3 A slight majority of senior Hill staffers say the U.S. military's actions in Iran and Venezuela make it more likely that China will invade Taiwan, according to our recent Canvass survey.
◆The Telegraph, 2026-5-3 Xi might like what he sees. The Gulf war may divert America's attention, money and resources away from the Pacific. It may strain alliances in which Taiwan has put faith.
◆Foreign Affairs, 2026-4-29 US integrated strategy to deter China 1. political: Washington must deepen its engagement with Taiwan; 2. military:  prioritize asymmetric capabilities; 3. strategic: must keep modernizing its nuclear forces and delivery systems; 4. economic deterrence.
◆Reuters, 2026-4-29 Taiwan's economy will see unprecedented opportunities should it agree to union with China, Beijing said as it continues to try ‌to persuade Taipei to accept its rule, which Lai Ching-te's government has repeatedly ‌rejected.
◆The Hill, 2026-4-29 By hardening its defenses and investing in asymmetric warfare, Taipei is actively working to blunt a Chinese offensive and provide the U.S. with the valuable time required for a coordinated reaction.
◆New York Times, 2026-4-29 Taiwan has sustained its relationship with Paraguay, essentially through freebies: a presidential jet, paid to build Paraguay's congressional building, etc.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/world/paraguay-taiwan-china-pena.html
◆Bloomberg, 2026-4-29 Germany and the Czech Republic denied transit requests for Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, blocking his attempt to bypass a China-backed blockade during his diplomatic trip to Africa.
◆National Review, 2026-4-29 major diplomatic setback for Taiwan —— Lai's trip to Eswatini was canceled. Taipei reportedly sought assistance...Whether Washington declined to intervene or was simply unable to persuade the African countries remains unclear. nationalreview.com/2026/04/humiliation-and-handshakes-beijings-play-for-taiwan-becomes-clearer/
◆USNI News, 2026-4-29 U.S. missiles deploy near Taiwan during Balikatan exercise, Chinese action group operates nearby.
◆The Hill, 2026-4-24 The New York Times reported, the U.S. military has used 1,100 long-range stealth cruise missiles — nearly all of the total number left in Washington's stockpile, etc, which undermines plans to defend Taiwan.
◆United Press International, 2026-4-23 As tensions simmer across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan is quietly accelerating a shift toward drone-centric defense. the goal is not to defeat China outright, but to make any invasion "extremely costly and uncertain"
◆DW (Germany), 2026-4-22 Taiwan's president canceled a planned trip to Eswatini after three African countries revoked permission for his plane to fly through their airspace. China: "Relevant countries maintained support for the one-China principle".  "This is not ​diplomacy; it is economic pressure..." the US House Select Committee on China wrote.
◆New York Times, 2026-4-17 Iran maximized deception and concealment, stored weapons in underground bunkers to increase survivability and relied on mobile systems that could be quickly rolled out, launched and rolled back into bunkers. Taiwan needs to prepare similar moves to survive.
◆TIME, 2026-4-17 Beijing no longer believes invasion is necessary.  Consider the following scenario. Beijing declares legal jurisdiction over the waters surrounding Taiwan. the insurance markets would respond precisely as they have in the Strait of Hormuz.
◆Reuters, 2026-4-17 China imports the public statements of KMT and other opposition figures that are critical of the Taiwan government and pumps them out in a ‌torrent of anti-DPP messaging in Chinese state media and on social media platforms including Facebook, TikTok and YouTube;  the information warfare is part of Beijing's strategy of wearing down Taiwan without resorting to force.
◆Reuters, 2026-4-17 Beijing refocuses its Taiwan narrative on Kuomintang (KMT) and 2028 election─a Kuomintang victory would avert conflict and offer much ​closer relations.
◆Fox News, 2026-4-14 Hormuz chaos sparks warning: Beijing could apply a similar strategy to Taiwan, the world's most critical hub for advanced semiconductors.
◆Reuters, 2026-4-15 China calls US claims of military pressure on Taiwan a 'distortion'
　

Xi hosts Taiwan opposition leader Cheng to draw island closer to China
◆Wall Street Journal, 2026-4-10 Xi is presenting himself as a  force for stability  who can be entrusted with ensuring peace, in the hopes of convincing Trump that expressing openness to peaceful unification or holding off on arms sales to Taiwan for longer will be conducive to managing tensions.
◆CNN, 2026-4-10 Cheng said she hoped that “ the Taiwan Strait will no longer be a focal point of potential conflict, nor will it become a chessboard for external intervention.” Analysts say Beijing is pushing to capitalize on fears among some in Taiwan that Trump sees the island as little more than a pawn in the wider US-China spat and is not interested in its long-term future.
◆New York Times, 2026-4-10 to cast Beijing as a peacemaker and squeeze the island's president. Xi wants to cast doubt in Taiwan over the Lai Ching-te administration's focus on self-defense by showing the benefits of a more conciliatory stance toward China.
◆CNBC, 2026-4-10 “The message reduces the risk of military conflict across the Taiwan Strait and is beneficial for both mainland China and Taiwan,” it signaled Beijing's preference for a peaceful approach to cross-strait relations.
◆XinHua, 2026-4-10 Xi stressed that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait hope for peace and tranquility, improved cross-Strait relations, and better lives. "This is a responsibility that the CPC and the KMT cannot shirk, and also a driving force for the two parties to work together"
◆The Guardian, 2026-4-10 In hosting Cheng, Beijing “seeks to cast doubt in Taiwan over the Lai administration’s focus on self-defence and to strengthen voices in Taiwan calling for closer cross-strait ties. Beijing seeks to keep Taiwan divided over the question of how best to secure its future”
◆Associated Press, 2026-4-10 Both call for peace. Both sides said they would uphold the 1992 Consensus and opposed Taiwan's independence. Cheng said: “We will seek systemic solutions to prevent and avoid war.”
◆Reuters, 2026-4-10 Xi: today's world is not entirely at peace, and peace is precious;  independence for Taiwan, is the chief culprit in undermining peace in the Taiwan Strait.
◆AFP, 2026-4-10 Xi said he had "full confidence" that Taiwanese and Chinese people would be united. Cheng echoed Xi's stance, telling a press conference after their meeting that by "opposing Taiwan independence, we can avoid war"
◆Telegraph, 2026-4-10 "We are all Chinese," Xi tells Taiwan's opposition leader; 'China would “absolutely not” accept Taiwanese independence'.   China had deployed nearly 100 naval and coast guard vessels across the South and East China seas this week, roughly double the usual figure
◆Nikkei Asia, 2026-4-10 US and Japan watch Xi-Cheng meeting. Beijing has sought to use the publicity of Cheng's trip to signal to Washington and foreign capitals that Taiwan is divided on defense and that Beijing retains leverage ahead of Xi's expected summit with Trump in mid-May.
◆BBC, 2026-4-10  Cheng said the "rejuvenation of the Chinese people is a shared aspiration of the people on both sides of the Strait". She added that it would be a "positive contribution to world peace and human progress".

　

China-Taiwan War
◆The Atlantic, 2026-4-9 The war in Iran has flipped this argument "silicon shield"? A Pew poll (about Iran War) found that gas prices were the biggest concern, well above the chance of “large numbers of U.S. military casualties.”China's a partial blockade of Taiwan, much like the one Iran imposed on the strait. The resulting shock to the global economy would be far worse.
◆Fortune, 2026-4-9 First, Iran and Hormuz, second, China and Taiwan? The dangerous implications of a tollbooth has led to immediate shortages in energy-dependent countries.
◆New York Times, 2026-4-5 A cease-fire with Iran would not completely solve the interceptor shortage. Countries like Taiwan, South Korea and Japan are relying on missile batteries to deter potential aggression.
◆Reuters, 2026-4-6 Taiwan opposition leader Cheng to visit China as Beijing ramps up 'reunification' push.   Cheng said: "peace cannot possibly be achieved through defence capabilities alone" and political efforts were equally indispensable.
◆Washington Post, 2026-4-5 Taiwan produces about 90 percent of the world’s most advanced computer chips. A supply disruption caused by an invasion would make the economic shock from Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz look trivial.
◆Wall Street Journal, 2026-4-5 China has taken the unusual step of reserving swaths of offshore airspace SFC-UNL without explanation for a period of 40 days.   China looks to deter U.S. allies and erode American military influence in the Indo-Pacific region, Taiwanese official said.
◆Jerusalem Post, 2026-4-5 Taiwan has demonstrated swift support for Operation Roaring Lion. The goal is clear: Taiwan wants to learn from Israel's national security policy and to align itself with the United States.
◆Nikkei Asia, 2026-4-3 Taiwan vows $2bn coast guard reinforcement as Hormuz highlights strait risk.  Chinese maritime pressure already a 'war without gunpowder,' minister says
◆Reuters, 2026-4-2 Taiwan will strengthen its defences of the Pratas as China steps up its activities around the islands.
◆Newsweek, 2026-4-1  The real American objective, if war comes, would not be some glorious dogfight over mainland China. It would be to cut sortie rates, slow the conveyor belt and break the kill chain.
◆The WEEK, 2026-4-1 There are “growing fears that the war in the Middle East – and its consequences for American politics and military power” might make Chinese President Xi Jinping “more likely to strike Taiwan later this decade or early next”.
◆Brookings, 2026-3-30 Taiwan's defense spending has long been politically contentious, caught up in partisan politics between the two main political parties, as well as societal pressure to prioritize spending on social programs rather than the military and imported weapon systems.
◆The Telegraph, 2026-3-28 the depletion of JASSMs and ship-launched Tomahawk missiles, has been of particular concern to Asian allies and partners, especially in Taiwan. 
◆War on the Rocks, 2026-3-27 Taiwan has accepted the logic of asymmetric defense in theory, but has failed to follow through in practice.  Taiwan continues to spend billions on prestige platforms, e.g., diesel submarines, or F-16. Many of these would be quickly eliminated by China.
◆Reuters, 2026-3-27 China stationed obsolete supersonic fighters converted to attack drones at six air bases close to Taiwan.  Beijing's expanding mix of airpower weapons, include bombers with stand-off missiles, modern fighters, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and swarms of modern UAVs.
◆New York Times, 2026-3-23 Taiwan debates military spending as choices over U.S. and China.  Legislators are under pressure from Washington to raise military spending. But it could slow or even derail a deal, which could dent the Trump administration's willingness to back Taiwan.
◆Japan Times, 2026-3-22 Trump Is Showing China How to Seize Taiwan.  Trump has exploited that vulnerability by imposing a complete blockade on fuel deliveries.  ─  China could declare a maritime quarantine or customs-inspection regime around the island...
◆Foreign Affairs, 2026-3-20 In a July survey, respondents ranked avoiding a military conflict with China as the most important priority for the U.S.-Chinese relationship.  In a November survey, a growing number of Americans appear more resigned to China's rise than in a mood to fight it.
◆  Newsweek, 2026-3-19 China does not currently ​plan to invade ‌Taiwan in 2027, nor do they have a fixed timeline for achieving unification, the U.S. intelligence community said in its annual threat assessment.
◆  CNBC, 2026-3-19

China said that peaceful reunification with Taiwan would benefit the island, including improving the security of Taiwan's energy resources, "backed by a strong motherland."

This comes as Lai Ching-te sought to ease concerns over its energy stockpile.
◆  Associated Press, 2026-3-18 A delay in the state visit (Trump-Xi summit) could also mean a delay in any arms sales to the self-governing island of Taiwan to deter attacks from Beijing.
◆  Reuters, 2026-3-18 China offered what it said would be energy stability to Taiwan if it agreed to Beijing's rule, part of a campaign ‌by China to convince the island of the benefits of "reunification".
◆  Eurasian Times, 2026-3-16 Taiwan appears on track to have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the coming years. 
China has a massive inventory of anti-ship missiles, including land-based coastal cruise missiles, ASBMs , and air-launched anti-ship missiles.  Taiwan trails China in both the sheer volume of anti-ship missiles and in their speed, range, and overall lethality
◆  Global Times, 2026-3-16, 3-15 Takaichi hypes security environment ahead of US visit; move to seek US support for Tokyo’s military shift.   Japan and the US will also hold consultations on the Taiwan question, seeking to keep the attention of the US focused on the East Asian region. Through close "diplomatic" and military coordination with the island of Taiwan and the Philippines, Japan is effectively extending its strategic depth into the Taiwan Straits and the South China Sea. In peacetime, the coordination acts as a check or deterrent; in wartime, Japan would become a military partner fighting alongside them.
◆  AFP, 2026-3-13 Thousands of Chinese fishing boats have been massing in geometric formations in the East China Sea, in coordinated actions, raising questions
◆  Daily Express, 2026-3-10 China is in a position of quantity over quality... If CCP thinks the US has run down munitions and will need time to build them back up, it may seize the opportunity on Taiwan. To be clear, without Taiwan the CCP cannot break through the 'first island chain'.
◆  TIME, 2026-3-6 “Will Xi be tempted to take advantage of U.S. potentially exhausting smart munitions and attack Taiwan...?”"Possible.”“It will be reckless for Xi to order an invasion unless he is absolutely sure the U.S. cannot interfere and victory is assured and at relatively low costs,”“He has not been reckless in the last 13 years.”
◆  Reuters, 2026-3-5 Chinese military flights around Taiwan fall, Trump-Xi meeting may be factor.
◆  AFP, 2026-3-5 China boosts military spending with eyes on US, Taiwan.  The balance would be radically different closer to China's shores if the US Navy were to intervene militarily.  "Most critically, neither side could 'win' meaningfully".
◆  ABC (Australia), 2026-3-5 China could benefit from US distraction.  US diplomats have even questioned whether China would use the opportunity to seize the island.  An enduring Iran fight will keep the focus off China's rapidly growing global ambitions and give it another arrow to fire into America's languishing global image.
◆  TIME, 2026-3-5 Iran war draining US weapons stockpiles, raising fears from Ukraine to Taiwan. “My main concern is not that we don't have enough munitions to prosecute this conflict with Iran, it’s about the day after and being able to deter China,”an expert at Foundation for Defense of Democracies said.
◆  Reuters, 2026-3-4 Trump's Asian allies fear Iran war will sap defences against China. How would the region respond to a hole left ‌in its defences if Washington diverted ships and missiles it now uses to deter China?
◆  Foreign Affairs, 2026-3-3 KMT chair: some of Taiwan's official actions and discourse have raised tensions unnecessarily. These include increasingly confrontational rhetoric...; the suspension of semiofficial communication mechanisms since 2016; and symbolic political gestures that suggest that Taiwan could be moving toward de jure independence.
◆  Financial Review, 2026-3-4 The more used in shooting down Iranian ballistic missiles,... the fewer they have available for... US-China conflict over something like Taiwan.” In any conflict over Taiwan, America's ability to defend forward bases in Guam or Okinawa from Chinese ballistic missile attack would be central to the outcome.
◆  Associated Press, 2026-3-3 China's military has grown rapidly; It has conducted military drills with Iran. But its overwhelming focus is defending its interests in Asia, from Taiwan to the South China Sea.  It is possible that Beijing could postpone the Trump visit.
◆  Newsweek, 2026-3-1 Trump's Iran strike was  the second  by the U.S. in three months  against an  oil-rich Chinese ally,  to choke out the primary source of cheap oil to China; and to get partners of Beijing and Moscow to change their tune and to get them to become at least neutral if not pro-Western.
◆  Global Times, 2026-2-28 US administration reportedly delays announcing arms sales to Taiwan; move a slap in face of DPP, and sends a clear signal that Taiwan is a tradable chess piece for the US, experts said that simply delaying the arms sales would not be enough given the seriousness of the issue.
◆   Univ. of Nottingham TaiwanInsight.org, 2026-2-27 Trump clearly has no objection to using Taiwan as a chess piece to be traded off in negotiations with Xi. There have long been concerns that Trump would potentially trade off Taiwan in trade negotiations with Xi.
◆   Breaking Defense, 2026-2-27 CNAS: Taiwan's implementation of its porcupine strategy has so far fallen short, Trump admin. has accused Taiwan of displaying “an alarming lack of urgency” and not spending anywhere near enough despite recent increases in defense budgets. the conservative Taiwanese military, which already suffers from personnel shortages and insufficient training, has not invested enough...
◆  Washington Examiner, 2026-2-28 Trump's Iran strike, at last, may have destroyed China's highly sophisticated system of globally cheap oil supply, and thus obstruct the Communist Party's ability to invade Taiwan.
◆  The Des Moines Register, 2026-2-28 While America is tied up in a costly protracted Middle East war, China would be tempted to attack Taiwan. China's President Xi Jinping has said that China will be ready for a Taiwan conflict next year.
◆  China Leadership Monitor, 2026-3-1 China's “overall strategy” will continue to prioritize domestic economic development over resolution of the Taiwan issue; but  an individual act initially...necessary and unlikely to escalate to a dangerous crisis may produce precisely the dreaded outcome.
◆  New York Times, 2026-2-27 The Trump administration has delayed announcing a package of arms sales to Taiwan to avoid upsetting Xi Jinping.  Mr. Trump has been dismissive of Taiwan in private, By contrast, Mr. Trump has consistently expressed admiration for Mr. Xi.
◆  BBC, 2026-2-25 Japan's Yonaguni unit will be equipped with medium-range surface-to-air missiles able to intercept incoming aircraft and missiles by 2031.  Beijing has been piling on the pressure in a wide range of ways - sending warships, throttling rare earth exports, curbing Chinese tourism...
◆  The Guardian, 2026-2-25 Japan announced plans to bolster defences on remote western islands in 2022, as it shifted its security focus from threats from Russia in the north to countering Chinese military activity in the East China Sea. 
◆  New York Times, 2026-2-24 Those eliminated represented about half of the military's senior leadership. In the near term, given the significant vacancies, it would be incredibly difficult for China to launch large military campaigns against Taiwan; So far, the tempo of China's military modernization does not appear slowed by the purges.
◆ The Hill, 2026-2-22 many aspects of the U.S. security cooperation with Taiwan have continued during the Trump administration but not been discussed in public. Beijing objects most strongly to U.S. arm sales to Taiwan because they are public.  
◆ Defense Priority, 2026-2-20 Taiwan is very vulnerable to a blockade.   the PLA has been extremely effective in mountain warfare.  Taiwan has resisted total militarization,  Taipei's leaders seem to hope that, China would not dare attack, and the US would “send in the cavalry” as necessary. Neither assumption is justified. 
◆ The American Conservative, 2026-2-22 “president Lai has lurched toward formal independence  with a succession  of  speeches  making the  case  for Taiwanese nationhood.” Currently, Lai's level of domestic support has dropped amid mounting evidence of DPP corruption and authoritarian tendencies at home. 
◆ Foreign Policy, 2026-2-20 a narrative of the island as a “strategic liability” has come to the surface among certain administration officials in Washington, “To protect its interests, the United States must also update its own story about why Taiwan matters and what Washington aims to achieve in cross-Strait relations ”.
◆ Washington Examiner , 2026-2-20 There's no question that Taiwan is vulnerable.   Approving the U.S. weapons sale would help to bolster Taiwan's defense and signal American support of that interest.  But, American cost-of-living issues will likely be the main voting concern. The last thing the Trump administration wants is more economic instability with China.
◆ Brookings, 2026-2-18 Taiwan is increasingly coming to be discussed by Trump-supportive voices as a liability on America's strategic balance sheet that needs to be moved off its books as soon as possible. Taipei cannot afford to ignore this emerging narrative of Taiwan as a liability.
◆ Foundation Pour la Recherche Strategique, 2026-2-17 Taiwan's current air defense suffers from several notable flaws: a fragmented architecture, high interception costs, systems that lack mobility and agility, and capability gaps in specific layers or geographic areas. Taiwan would need more than 2,000 Patriot 3 missiles, which would be financially “almost impossible” to acquire.
◆ Bloomberg, 2026-2-15 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi  at the Munich Security Conference warned Takaichi's support for Taiwan was “a very dangerous development” for Asia.
◆ CNN, 2026-2-15 Chinese FM: If the US seeks decoupling, opposes China in a “knee-jerk way” and steps on China's “red lines,” including on Taiwan,  would likely "push China and the US toward conflict". 
◆ Daily Sabah, 2026-2-14 China FM: "instigating and plotting to split China through Taiwan, crossing China's red line" could very likely lead to a confrontation between China and the United States.
◆ Global Times, 2026-2-14 Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs: The US should encourage peaceful diplomacy across the Taiwan Straits and should not stir up trouble.
◆  Reuters, 2026-2-13 US lawmakers step up pressure on Taiwan parliament to approve defence spending. A bipartisan group of 37 U.S. lawmakers have written to senior Taiwanese politicians expressing concern about parliament stalling proposed defence spending.
◆  Fox News, 2026-2-13 US lawmakers warn Taiwan to ‘meet the moment’ as China stages invasion-style drills. The warning comes as Taiwan's president, Lai Ching-te, pushes for a major multiyear defense package aimed at strengthening the island's asymmetric warfare capabilities
◆  Associated Press, 2026-2-12 China's exercises in Dec. included live rounds landing closer to the island than before, though many in Taiwan including its former President Tsai Ing-wen believe its' silicon shield'  would deter China from attacking.  The risk of an invasion is unclear.
◆  AFP, 2026-2-12 president Lai said the US will not need to use it as a "bargaining chip" with Beijing.  Xi's recent purge of his top generals has sparked speculation about what it might mean for Beijing's timeline to potentially attack Taiwan, which some US officials have suggested could be in 2027.
◆  Newsweek, 2026-2-11 Congress threatens to exclude China's participation in global organizations if it moves against Taiwan.  The president may waive these actions if doing so is in the U.S.' national interest, the bill states.
◆  Reuters, 2026-2-10 China will offer firm for 'reunification forces' in Taiwan, go after 'separatists'.
◆  Heritage Foundation, 2026-2-10 Taiwan already faces shortfalls in military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. Without further funding, Taiwan risks exacerbating major shortfalls in its defensive capabilities at a time it can ill afford to do so.
◆  Financial Times, 2026-2-10 China steps up dangerous air encounters near Taiwan. Bonnie Glaser, a  China  expert at the German Marshall Fund, said the PLA was becoming “increasingly reckless” as it stepped up the pressure on Taiwan.
◆  War on the Rocks, 2026-2-9 Rather than seeking victory through destruction, Beijing appears increasingly focused on achieving political outcomes through paralysis: exhausting decision-making processes, fracturing alliances, and reshaping perceptions of risk and inevitability.
◆ The Hill, 2026-2-6 China's latest series of large-scale military drills around Taiwan, Justice Mission 2025, offers the clearest evidence yet that Beijing is prepared for action.
◆ Bloomberg, 2026-2-7 Donald Trump's China visit could face uncertainty over US' likely $20 billion new arms sale to Taiwan, says FT report.
◆ USNI News, 2026-2-4 Report to Congress on Taiwan Defense and Military Issues: Some observers assess that the PLA is, or soon will be, able to execute a range of military campaigns against Taiwan, including missile strikes, seizures of Taiwan's small outlying islands, blockades, and an amphibious landing and takeover of Taiwan's main island.   Taiwan's military has struggled to recruit, train, and retain personnel, and some argue Taiwan's civil defense preparedness is insufficient. Taiwan's energy, food, water, communications, and other infrastructure is vulnerable to external disruption. the PRC uses  gray zone tactics to sow doubt about Taiwan's military capabilities among Taiwan civilians and to create political pressure for Taipei to acquiesce to Beijing’s insistence on unification.
◆ New York Times, 2026-2-4 “The U.S. must handle arms sales to Taiwan with extreme caution,” Mr. Xi told Mr. Trump; Mr. Xi's statement was notably “pointed and sharp.”
◆ The WEEK, 2026-2-5 For now, though, a “near-term invasion of Taiwan” is seen as “less likely.” Xi instead is seen as “pivoting” to attempts to “break Taipei's resolve” by leaning on a variety of military and economic tactics that “fall just below the threshold of open conflict.”
◆ The Lowy Institute (Australia), 2026-2-4 Xi's military purges will make him wary of invading Taiwan.
◆ Reuters, 2026-2-4 Pressure from politicians in the US has grown on parliament not to hold up defence spending.  Senator directly criticised the Kuomintang "‌is playing with fire." The KMT says while it supports strengthening Taiwan's defences, it has a right to fully scrutinise government spending plans and will not sign "blank cheques".
◆ Reuters, 2026-2-3 U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the Armed Services Committee,  was "disappointed" to see Taiwan's opposition parties slash Lai's defence budget.  In response, the KMT asked Wicker  "Would the U.S. Congress ever pass a blank-cheque budget for eight years with no specifics?" ‌
◆ New York Times, 2026-2-3 The yearslong shake-up is to make room for a new generation of more disciplined generals capable of mastering advanced technologies. The ultimate aim is to create a military force capable of conquering Taiwan and prevailing in a potential confrontation with the United States.
◆ Economist Intelligence Unit, 2026-2-3 A direct, purposeful Chinese invasion of Taiwan is unlikely. An economic blockade—or even a direct invasion—cannot be fully ruled out. However, we maintain our position that an unintended or a low-level conflict pose the biggest risks of escalation into a more serious cross-Strait incident.
◆ El Pais, 2026-2-3 "Zhang fell from power because their results in force building and war preparation failed to meet expectations and may have jeopardized Xi's requirement that the PLA be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027.”the time by which Xi has demanded troops be ready.
◆  Reuters, 2026-2-2 Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu says that Moscow continues to support Beijing over Taiwan. Taiwan's foreign ministry said in a statement that Shoigu's remarks “severely undermine our nation's sovereignty”.
◆  The Telegraph, 2026-2-1 Mr Xi may well prefer to reunify Taiwan through a political process as the costs of an invasion would be staggering. Taiwan's elections due in 2028 while a pro-Beijing party is performing well in the polls. The Gen Zhang's recent speeches had laid out his focus on a training programme that would, by its nature, have pushed back a complex crossing of the Taiwan Strait, noted an analyst.
◆  Forbes, 2026-1-31 China is practicing a Taiwan blockade with a floating Great Wall of 2,000 fishing vessels ──  it is challenging to determine when they are valid military targets under the law of war.
◆  The Independent, 2026-1-31 PLA claimed  the two generals had "seriously undermined and violated" the Chairman Responsibility System, which vested Xi with "supreme military decision-making”. Analysts say they may have questioned or criticised Xi's goal of being ready for a military invasion of Taiwan by 2027.
◆  New York Times, 2026-1-29 Mr. Xi will probably need years to nurture a new generation of younger officers he can trust. The resulting delay and disruption could set back Mr. Xi's military goals and sap his confidence that the People's Liberation Army will be able to subjugate Taiwan in the coming years.
◆  Bloomberg, 2026-1-29 China signals Xi's purge won't deter ‘reunification’ with Taiwan; and also brushes aside doubts about the effectiveness of its military in the wake of the ouster of top generals. 
◆  The Telegraph, 2026-1-29 Among Taiwan's beaches that are considered likely places for  China  to land its troops during an invasion, Linkou holds the most strategic value.  Seizing this area would cut Taiwan's primary external connections to Taipei, isolating the capital, disrupting its food supply, and undermining morale – essentially a blitzkrieg-style campaign.
◆  Task & Purpose , 2026-1-29 The Pentagon argues that the PLA envisions its future “great power conflict” with the U.S. as a top-to-bottom fight using all of Chinese society, with traditional military combat backed by industrial and economic pressure, technology denial, and widespread social control
◆  Atlantic Council , 2026-1-27 For decades, S Korea avoided appearing as a frontline stakeholder in cross-Strait contingencies, preferring instead to manage its delicate balance between Washington and Beijing. But now, for S Korea, protecting its core interests increasingly requires contributing to the stability of the Indo-Pacific as a whole. 
◆  Fox News , 2026-1-27 "Purges can degrade near-term readiness, but over the long-term they increase political control over the military and reduce dissent, easing the path for riskier decisions down the line"
◆  Associated Press, 2026-1-26 The latest purge “makes China's threat toward Taiwan weaker in the short term but stronger in the long term.” It would make a military escalation against the island riskier in the immediate term because of “a high command in disarray".
◆  Washington Examiner, 2026-1-26 purges of China's military leadership  decrease the short-term threat of a Chinese attack on Taiwan (2026). But it likely increases the medium-term threat (2027-2030).
◆  NBC News, 2026-1-27 Of the six generals Xi appointed to the commission in 2022, only one is left, allowing the president to consolidate power, but also heightening the risk of a military miscalculation when it comes to Taiwan, according the director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London.
◆  BBC, 2026-1-27 The purge does not affect the PRC's ambitions to control Taiwan.  While the purge may matter are operational decisions.  Decisions about escalation and aggression toward Taiwan will centre even more on Xi, his preferences, and proclivities.
◆  New York Times, 2026-1-27 Xi seems to have calculated that in the longer term, his shake-up will make the military less corrupt, more loyal and more effective in pursuing his goals. But the disruptions caused by the purges could leave Xi less confident that his commanders are ready for combat, analysts say.
◆  WSWS.org, 2026-1-27 the Ministry of National Defense stated that Zhang Youxia was accused of “grave violations of discipline and the law,” but provided no details. Liu Pengyu, a Chinese Embassy spokesman in Washington, blandly told the Wall Street Journal that the investigation into Zhang underscored party leadership's “full-coverage, zero-tolerance approach to combating corruption.”
◆  New York Times, 2026-1-24 Trump has been nonchalant about a far more serious risk of war in the Taiwan Strait — in ways that elevate the peril of all the calamities that might befall the world in the coming decade or so, a war in the Taiwan Strait would be among the worst.
◆  Irish Times, 2026-1-24 If a military invasion of Taiwan is to succeed, it must first create an overwhelmingly favourable situation around Taiwan before a US intervention can have an impact. Or it must simultaneously attack Taiwan and be able to repel US military intervention.
◆  New York Post, 2026-1-22 The nation must be ready to replace “vital manufactured goods,” ensure “the military has enough oil to fight China” and repel “Chinese cyberattacks.” Xi Jinping may be counting on “Americans’ unwillingness to fight for long as a factor that will give China the ultimate edge in an all-out conflict.”
◆  National Interest, 2026-1-21 Should China attack Taiwan, howitzers will serve as a critical element of Taiwan's defense.  it is likely that the Chinese navy would successfully enact a blockade around the country in the same way that the US Navy imposed a monthslong blockade around Venezuela.  If a war erupted between the United States and China over Taiwan the Chinese could defeat the US military.
◆  Fox News, 2026-1-21 the US could reach a breaking point within weeks of a high‑intensity conflict with China — U.S. forces would culminate far sooner than China, suffer catastrophic losses to aircraft and sustainment infrastructure in the Pacific, and still fail to prevent a global economic shock.
◆  New York Times, 2026-1-17 The most common view among China-watchers I most respect is that war is unlikely in the next decade. But they might be wrong. The Taiwan Strait Risk Report, a consultancy, foresees a 30 percent chance of a Chinese invasion in the next five years, and a 60 percent possibility of an air and naval blockade of the island nytimes.com/2026/01/17/opinion/taiwan-china-war.html
◆  Financial Times, 2026-1-17 China flies drone into Taiwan's airspace for first time.  While the US might help defend Taiwan in the case of a Chinese attack, it would not intervene over Pratas.ft.com/content/4b73bf1c-76a4-426f-a335-de8528b24acb  
◆  Wall Street Journal, 2026-1-16 TSMC is seen by some observers as a deterrent for a Chinese invasion. some analysts say China wouldn't want to tank the global economy by attacking Taiwan and potentially disrupting TSMC's production of chips. That supply also gives the U.S. incentive to protect Taiwan.
◆  le Monde (France), 2026-1-16 Taiwan's dominance of the chip industry has long been seen as a "silicon shield" protecting it from an invasion or blockade by China and an incentive for the US to defend it. But the threat of a Chinese attack ...increasing pressure for more chip production beyond Taiwan's shores...
◆  New York Times, 2026-1-16 TSMC's commitment to spend $100 billion has stirred debate and misgivings in Taiwan, a democratically governed island where many people see the chip sector as a vital economic pillar and a shield against possible aggression by China.
◆  CNBC, 2026-1-15  Lutnick said that artificial intelligence semiconductors has become a key geopolitical matter.  There is substantial risk to the U.S. economy if China invades Taiwan and reduces access to TSMC chips.
◆  South China Morning Post, 2026-1-16 Lutnick warns Taipei to keep Trump ‘happy’ as US$500 billion chip deal draws China rebuke. “the answer is because Donald Trump is vital to protecting them. And so they want to keep our president happy, right?”
◆  Reuters, 2026-1-15 Taiwan says more US arms sales are in the pipeline.  But Taiwan's opposition, which has the most seats in parliament, has not let the measure progress to the committee stage for review, arguing that the spending details are vague and that they want more details.
◆    CGTN,  2026-1-14 China made the comment in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's latest remarks regarding Taiwan in an interview with the New York Times.   ──   "the Taiwan question belongs to China's internal affairs, and its resolution is a matter for the Chinese people alone".
◆  The Nation, Feb. 2026 issue Elbridge Colby had repeatedly stated if China ever invaded Taiwan, the US military should destroy TSMC, to prevent it from falling into Chinese hands, which has been echoed by Seth Moulton, as well as in a paper from US Army War College Quarterly... 
◆    Xinhua, CGTN,  2026-1-14 the global CGTN survey shows that an overwhelming 90 percent of respondents see the Taiwan DPP authorities' armament build-up as a push to the brink of war.  A proposed 1.25 trillion New $40 billion special "defense" budget was block by the island's legislature, which reflects a growing consensus in the Taiwan region that purchasing weapons does not buy "security".  the DPP authorities squander public money to appease foreign forces and enrich arms dealers overseas, and further create a climate of "green terror" .
◆    National Interest,  2026-1-11 the Chinese military is getting close to a point where it will have the necessary equipment and expertise to launch an amphibious invasion of Taiwan. During “Justice Mission 2025”drills, a Russian surveillance ship was also present.
◆    Interesting Engineering,  2026-1-10 Taiwan plans not to match China ship-for-ship or tank-for-tank, but rather fill the island with thousands of what it calls “quills.” These consist of things like Man-portable air defence and small loitering munitions... anti-tank missiles, long-range rockets , and urban ambush tactics ... Ukraine-style attrition warfare.
◆    The Hill, Reuters, 2026-1-9, New York Times,  2026-1-8 Trump Says ‘It's Up To’ Xi Jinping What China Does In Taiwan.“You know, I've expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that and I don’t think he’ll do that. I hope he doesn't,” Trump said“He may do it after we have a different president, but I don't think he's going to do it with me as president,” Trump continued. 
◆    War on the Rocks,  2026-1-9 Pentagon's latest "China Military Power Report": Within the 2027 preparations framework, Xi has clearly elevated nuclear weapons as core to his objectives, constraining American and allied options, and coercively enveloping Taiwan.
◆    TIME,  2026-1-6 Taiwanese officials have publicly celebrated the Maduro operation, calling it “a powerful deterrent to Beijing's aggression” and “a timely reminder of the US ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons.” This is wishful thinking.  Taiwan should deepen its reserves of ammunition, energy, and food to withstand a prolonged blockade—measured in months...
◆    CNN,  2026-1-6 the factors determining Beijing's timeline to take over Taiwan boil down to China's domestic economic situation, the PLA's capabilities, Taiwan's domestic political situation, as well as Washington's policy toward Taiwan and China.
◆    The Guardian,  2026-1-6 The US military's capacity for a decapitation strike, especially against Venezuela's largely Chinese defence systems, ought to provide a deterrent that makes Beijing think about putting their [military] to the test against Washington.
◆    BBC,  2026-1-4 Venezuela could now define Trump's legacy - and America's place in the world. A centrist Republican congressman expressed concern that China will use this to justify an invasion of Taiwan.
◆    Bloomberg,  2026-1-4 To Xi, Trump's actions (on Venezuelan) could be viewed as consistent with great powers intervening in neighboring countries in the name of national security, ...“A potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan could fall into the same bucket".
◆    Associated Press, The Hill,  2026-1-4 South Korean president visits China following Beijing's rising tensions with Japan over Taiwan.  Lee assured that South Korea consistently respects the “One-China” policy, and praised Xi as a “truly reliable neighbor".
◆  Wall Street Journal, 2025-12-31  China is “now in a position to enact large-scale exercises on short notice”,  “it creates a greater challenge to anticipate whether an imminent action is an exercise or ‘the real thing’.
◆  The Guardian, 2025-12-31 Xi Jinping vows to reunify China and Taiwan in New Year's Eve speech.  US intelligence is increasingly concerned about the advancing capabilities of China's armed forces to launch such an attack if Xi decides the time is right.
◆    New York Times,  2025-12-30 With the abrupt resumption of drills —  PLA stands ready to attack the island, if ordered.    Through the exercises Chinese leaders appeared to be trying to demonstrate “that Japan would and could do nothing” to defend Taiwan.  nytimes.com/2025/12/30/world/asia/china-taiwan-military-drills.html
◆    New York Times,  2025-12-29 China's military exercises appeared designed to display Beijing's growing capabilities to encircle Taiwan ── simulate blockading ports and establishing Chinese dominance to the east of Taiwan (to deny potential wartime support from the United States )  nytimes.com/2025/12/29/world/asia/china-taiwan-military-exercises.html
◆    Financial Times,  2025-12-29 China's‘Justice Mission 2025’ exercises to test US response after largest-ever arms sale to Taipei. China: “The US must fully recognise the grave consequences of arms sales to Taiwan”.  “The balance of power across the Strait has fundamentally shifted". ft.com/content/fd7c69e5-b3cf-4b4f-927a-fb7f0c2cdc93
◆    CNN,  2025-12-29 China announces major military drills around Taiwan in 'serious warning' against any push for independence.
◆    Reuters,  2025-12-29 China's state broadcaster said the drills would focus on sealing off Taiwan's vital deep-water Port of Keelung and Kaohsiung . Beijing's drills increasingly blur the line between routine military training exercises and what analysts say could be stage-setting for an attack, a strategy intended to give the U.S. and its allies minimal warning of an assault.
◆    Mainichi Shimbun (Japan), Asia Times,  2025-12-28 Elbridge Colby, previously publicly urged Japan to be explicit about how its military would respond in the event of an invasion or coercion of Taiwan. Now that Takaichi has done precisely that, both he and Trump have been silent.  The US NSS nonetheless defined China chiefly as an economic threat, not as a military one.
◆  Reuters, New York Post, 2025-12-26 China hits US defense firms with sanctions over Taiwan arms sales.  The U.S. is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, though such arms sales are a persistent source of friction with China.
◆  Wall Street Journal, 2025-12-25 the PLA must be able to achieve ‘strategic decisive victory’ over Taiwan, ‘strategic counterbalance’ against the US in the nuclear and other strategic domains, and ‘strategic deterrence and control’ against other regional countries”
◆  United Press International  , 2025-12-24 An outright invasion of Taiwan probably exceeds Beijing's military capacity...However, China could amass ... a coercion.  Whether through an economic embargo and blockade -- or through the threat of literally destroying Taiwan through missile and air attacks, suppose Taiwan surrendered.
◆  New York Post,  2025-12-24 China's historic military buildup includes rapid expansion of nuclear forces, hypersonic weapons, long-range missiles, cyber warfare units and space capabilities — developments the Pentagon says now place the US homeland at growing risk. 
◆  Responsible Statecraft,  2025-12-24 Taiwan shouldn't become the thorn we use to provoke China.  There is a reason US strategic ambiguity has worked for 40 years.
◆  The Telegraph, 2025-12-23 China ‘expects to be able to fight and defeat Taiwan’ by end of 2027, Pentagon finds. China has significantly expanded its arsenal of short, medium and intermediate-range missiles, which means it could destroy many of the US’s advanced weapons well before they could reach Taiwan.
◆  Business Insider, 2025-12-23 Taiwan needs to flood the battlefield with cheap, mobile, and survivable weapons to counter China.
◆  Fox News, 2025-12-19 China warns of rising war risk after historic US arms sale to Taiwan.  Analysts say Beijing’s sharp rhetoric suggests additional military signaling is likely, though China did not immediately announce specific countermeasures.
◆  New York Times, 2025-12-18 an arms package for Taiwan valued at more than $11 billion...  is likely to reassure China hawks in Washington who have grown uneasy about Mr. Trump's commitment to defending Taiwan as he seeks to cut trade and economic deals with Beijing.
◆  Bloomberg, 2025-12-18 US weapons sales to Taiwan annoys Beijing, ... It comes less than two months after Xi and Trump agreed on a one-year truce in their trade spat. As part of that deal, Beijing ensured US access to rare earths critical to manufacturing everything from smartphones to missiles.
◆  Washington Post, 2025-12-18 “Taiwan must not become a weak point in regional security,” president Lai said at a news conference then. “Among all the possible scenarios for China's annexation of Taiwan, the biggest threat is not force — it is our own surrender”.
◆  Fox News, 2025-12-14 A U.S.–China clash on land would not be fought by massed armies. It would be a missile war shaped by geography, alliances and survivability — a contest where political access and command integration matter as much as raw firepower.
◆  MSN, 2025-12-14 a war over Taiwan could inflict trillions of dollars in damage to the global economy.   China's economy is far larger than Russia's, raising concerns that a conflict over Taiwan could produce far more severe economic consequences, including shipping lane closures, stress on the banking system, and shortages affecting industries from automobiles to electronics.
◆  Council on Foreign Relations, 2025-12-11 A future cross-Strait crisis will likely draw in other regional powers. Finally, belligerents during a Taiwan conflict may quickly resort to aggressive action to achieve a quick and decisive victory, and if that fails it could very well become a protracted, regional war.
◆  Washington Post, 2025-12-12 an increasingly sharp division in Taiwan: KMT chair Cheng etc are promoting stronger ties with Beijing amid growing concern that Lai is inviting conflict and deepening skepticism about whether Taiwan can count on the United States to support it.
◆  CNN, 2025-12-12 The Trump administration unveiled its NSS which makes its focus clear from the start, declaring economics as “the ultimate stakes.”it has nothing to say about China's strategic ambitions … and whether those are compatible with US interests.” the document also softened its language elsewhere.
◆  Wall Street Journal, 2025-12-7 Taiwan war —  Phase 1, China would unleash a “joint firepower strike”with missiles. Phase 2, Crossing and landing. PLA could use the cover of military exercises to obscure the warning signs.  Phase 3, Breakout and seize Taipei. If China take a port it's kind of game over.
◆  TIME, 2025-12-7 A new NSS calls deterring a conflict over Taiwan a “priority,” and says the ideal way to achieve that is by “preserving military overmatch.”It says a war between Taiwan and China would have “major implications for the U.S. economy.”
◆  New York Times, 2025-12-3 China has repeatedly invoked World War II — The language always centers on defeating fascism and protecting the outcomes of the war. But the implicit message is that Japan, which recently made clear that it would intervene militarily if Taiwan were attacked, is a historic aggressor that should be regarded warily.
◆  New York Times, 2025-12-2 China wants to isolate Japan and make sure that other key members of the international community will not move further from its cherished ‘one-China principle'.  A diplomatic row with Japan over Taiwan has China turning to Britain and France for support.
◆  New York Times, 2025-12-2 China's growing anxiety that one of its bedrock goals — isolating Taiwan and forcing it to submit to unification on Chinese terms — is slipping away.  the United States should stand with Japan.
◆  Wall Street Journal, 2025-12-1 China's more consequential steps against Japan have been economic. China has unearthed its old playbook of informal coercive moves. Unlike clear-cut export controls, these disguised measures are harder to manage and pose escalatory risks.
◆  Bloomberg, 2025-12-2 Taiwan's response to the China-Japan spat has been fairly muted. The Taiwanese foreign minister: “we show our support through, I think, a soft approach” while also trying “to help cool down the situation.”
◆  Reuters, 2025-12-2 No room for compromise on Taiwan's security, Taiwan president tells reservists. "Even when engaging in reconciliation, we must have strong power as our backing in order to protect the overall interests of the nation.
◆  The Guardian,  2025-11-30 China is bearing down on Taiwan – enabled by Trump's weakness and vacillation. Xi's first preference is to win without a devastating, unpredictable war”, a classic ‘anaconda strategy’, meant to get progressively tighter until Taiwan yields.
◆  The US SUN,  2025-11-30, US News, Reuters, 2025-11-27 As tensions between historic foes China and Japan explode over Taiwan, Beijing has warned the world that it is ready for war. 
China's defence ministry said that Japan will have to pay a "painful price" if it steps out of line over Taiwan.
◆  Wall Street Journal,  2025-11-28 While U.S. silence may deter China, it can also weaken public resolve; “Whether or not we believe America is coming or not has a very big effect on people's willingness to defend Taiwan”, NTU professor Nachman said.
◆  The WEEK UK,  2025-11-28 indications ─ China has been stockpiling record amounts of gold, which could be part of a strategy to defend itself from Western sanctions in the event of an attack on Taiwan. It has also been building a solid legal ground for a potential invasion.
◆  Washington Examiner,  2025-11-28 Taiwan will have to utilize what it has at the war's onset. Taiwan's best bet is to focus on asymmetrical warfare, turning the island into a “porcupine,” and making an invasion costly enough to shore up deterrence. Some lessons, such as small-unit tactics and UAVs, will be useful.
◆  Wall Street Journal, Reuters, 2025-11-26 Trump, after call with China's Xi, told Japan to Lower the volume on Taiwan; and advised her not to provoke Beijing on the question of Taiwan's sovereignty.  Trump's advice to Takaichi was subtle, and he did not pressure Takaichi to walk back her comments.
◆  JERUSALEM POST, 2025-11-26 Taiwan has put a new “Taiwan Dome” missile shield at the center of a dramatic military buildup, unveiling plans for a multi-layered air and missile defense system that Lai says is directly inspired by Israel's Iron Dome and US“Golden Dome” project.
◆  New York Times, 2025-11-25 Under pressure from the Trump administration to increase defense outlays, Taiwan president Lai Ching-te seeks an extra $40 billion for military. He says the spending, which must be approved by the island's legislature, would fund purchases of arms from the United States.
◆  New York Times, 2025-11-24 Xi presses Trump on Taiwan. “Beijing is rattled by the Japan flare-up because it sees a regional coalition coalescing around the idea that Taiwan's security is a shared stake” Mr. Xi emphasized “that Taiwan's return to China is an important part of the postwar international order”.
◆  Bloomberg, 2025-11-25 Trump held back-to-back calls with the leaders of China and Japan, as escalating tensions over Taiwan threaten to derail his weeks-old trade truce with Beijing.  Any hint Washington is siding with Tokyo could imperil a truce.  Beijing views America's allies as “subordinate to US direction".
◆  Washington Post, 2025-11-25
China sees the call a tactical win for China in its escalating spat with Tokyo; drawing Washington closer to Beijing.

“Tokyo's room for maneuver has been constrained,” “Takaichi's unilateral declarations on Taiwan now appear not just premature but strategically isolated — she has moved beyond where even Washington is willing to go.”
◆  CNBC, 2025-11-25 the Trump administration is “far more reluctant” to sacrifice blood and treasure on the Taiwan question than his predecessors, preferring instead to focus on the trade relationship between Washington and Beijing. 
◆  Wall Street Journal, 2025-11-25 Taiwan, a flashpoint that has surged to the forefront in recent days as Japan takes a more assertive stance on the island's autonomy.  Trump didn't mention Taiwan nor the diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Tokyo—an omission that likely will rattle U.S. allies in the region already concerned about wavering American commitment.
◆  Reuters, 2025-11-25 Trump has not directly waded into the simmering diplomatic row between Japan and China over Taiwan; China's deeper fear is about the potential of future Japanese militarization.  "That could make it easier on the Japanese side to advocate for more advanced capabilities in the southwest islands".
◆  Associated Press, 2025-11-24 “My best guess is China is worried about the escalation (in tensions) with Japan. The reference to Taiwan and the post-World War II order directly points to the spat with Japan over Taiwan,” said director of Stimson Center.
◆  New York Times, 2025-11-21 Ms. Takaichi said an attempt by China to blockade or seize Taiwan, if it involves the use of warships and the use of force, could constitute an existential threat . Her comments provoked a furious response in China, with officials demanding a retraction.

Takaichi's task is to avoid an escalation while still projecting strength at home.

◆  Kyodo News, 2025-11-20 U.S. Ambassador to Japan denounced China's recent response to Sanae Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan, calling its statements "provocative" and its economic measures "coercive."
"I just want to say directly from the president (Donald Trump) and from myself and from the embassy, for the prime minister, we have her back".
◆  Newsweek, 2025-11-21 annual report to Congress warns a war over Taiwan could be “cataclysmic,” the report warned, potentially “wiping out as much as 10 percent of global GDP”—an unprecedented economic hit in modern times.  Such a conflict would also carry “an acute risk of nuclear escalation and raise the threat of Chinese geographical expansion in the Indo-Pacific”
◆  Wall Street Journal, 2025-11-20 China's Plan A aims to coerce Taiwan into capitulation without firing a shot. The goal is to make the island's position so economically, diplomatically and psychologically unbearable that negotiation becomes the only viable option. Plan B, a military takeover.
◆  Reuters, 2025-11-21  The Chinese military now has enough dedicated military ships to transport only about 20,000 troops in an initial attack. That is far short of military experts' estimates of what would be needed in an invasion. Subduing Taiwan would require 300,000 to 1 million troops or more
◆  The Hill , 2025-11-18 "it would be necessary for Washington to implement an assertive forward defense, requiring the pre-positioning of naval and air assets and the timely stationing of ground forces in Taiwan.
◆  Royal United service Institute, 2025-11-17 Assuming it doesn't go nuclear, a Sino-US conflict over Taiwan is likely to settle into a protracted struggle with the PRC unable to safely get a critical mass of troops across the straits, and US forces unable to break a Chinese ‘blockade by fire’ (using ground-based missiles to prevent shipping arriving in Taiwan). Following the initial clash, the US runs low on munitions, and Japan becomes the indispensable staging post for replenishment, for attempting to bring in supplies to sustain the population and resistance on Taiwan, and for imposing a counter-blockade on the PRC.
◆  Bloomberg , 2025-11-14 Chinese state-run newspaper called it Tokyo's “first threat of force” against Beijing in 80 years.
◆  Reuters, Kyodo News, 2025-11-14 China's Defense Ministry warned that if Japan were to use force to interfere in the Taiwan issue, it would "only suffer a crushing defeat against the steel-willed People's Liberation Army and pay a heavy price." 
◆  New York Times, 2025-11-13 In WWII, the Japanese army committed multiple atrocities,  crimes for which Beijing believes Tokyo has never sufficiently apologized.  China says Japan repeated use of ‘crisis of survival’ as a pretext to launch foreign aggression. 
◆  CNN, 2025-11-12 People's Daily condemned Japanese PM Takaichi as “recklessly shooting her mouth off,” and warning: “No one should harbor any illusion that they can cross the line on the Taiwan issue without paying a price.”
◆  Financial Times, 2025-11-13 Tokyo has been more openly warning of the most severe security environment in the region since the second world war in response to Beijing's increasing assertiveness. The explicitness of Takaichi's remark went further than any sitting Japanese prime minister has in the past, by implying that Tokyo could take military action without being attacked itself.
◆  The Diplomat, 2025-11-12 The intensifying competition between the United States and China has drawn Tokyo into a more explicit alignment with Washington's Indo-Pacific strategy. But any active participation in a Taiwan conflict would require legal, political, and public consensus – none of which currently exists.
◆  Newsweek, 2025-11-10 Japan's new leader speaks out on defending US in possible China war.  PM Sanae Takaichi has doubled down on comments detailing the conditions under which her country might join a U.S. military response should China move against Taiwan.
◆  National Interest, 2025-11-5 Taiwan's eastern region could no longer serve as a strategic buffer against any Chinese invasion of their island.
◆  Fox News, 2025-11-1 Trump and Xi avoided the one issue that could most likely draw their nations into war: Taiwan, despite years of war preparations.  The military balance in the region has shifted "rather quickly in China's favor," making U.S. deterrence less credible if tensions continue to climb. "The time to pivot to Asia has probably passed"
◆  USNI News, 2025-10-31 Hegseth maintains U.S. position on Taiwan, China urges caution.
◆  CNN, 2025-10-30 The Trump administration plans to adopt a policy on Taiwan with the goal of making the island a “porcupine” by investing strategically in precision and smaller weapons built for asymmetric warfare to deter Chinese aggression or make an invasion so costly and painful that costs would outweigh benefits.
◆  Reuters, 2025-10-29 China "absolutely will not" rule out using force over Taiwan, a government spokesperson said , striking a much tougher tone than a series of articles in state media this week that pledged benign rule if the island comes over to Beijing.
◆  Fox News, 2025-10-27 Some analysts warn that a Chinese blockade would be difficult to break.
Taipei would "urge its allies and like-minded partners to treat any blockade as an act of war that should trigger a coordinated international response," noting that shipping disruptions in the seas near Taiwan would have serious effects on the global economy. 
◆  BBC, 2025-10-27 Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US wouldn't abandon the island in exchange for a favourable deal with China. But a tug of war has been playing out inside the Trump administration over whether a military battle for Taiwan – if China did try to seize it – would be in America's best interests.
◆  Bloomberg, 2025-10-26 Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration will not abandon long-standing US support for Taiwan in negotiations with China to reach a trade agreement.
◆  National Interest, 2025-10-24  Taiwan has established a multi-layered area defense for itself. This layered defense prioritizes electronic jamming before any kinetic action is taken. By targeting the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum, data links, and sensors, Taiwan is ensuring that the country can both knock down unmanned interlopers from neighboring China while avoiding drastic escalation from Beijing
◆  TIME, 2025-10-23 Trump's recalcitrance regarding support for military action over Taiwan is broadly shared by its allies. “Once shooting starts, there is a very, very high probability that Taiwan gets lost,”“Because militarily, we can' t win. The war termination phase would be basically on the table, not in the field.”
◆  Foreign Affairs, 2025-10-22 The objective of the US should be to take incremental steps to restore the status quo that existed before Pelosi visited Taiwan in 2022. Washington should press Beijing to pull its military, coast guard, and surveillance ships from Taiwan's contiguous zone, reduce the frequency and scale of major military exercises around Taiwan...
◆  National Interest, 2025-10-17 Taiwan must double down on asymmetric denial—to cripple invasion forces within the first 72 hours.  Taiwan's collaboration with the United States on missiles, launchers, and drones is progressing, but its volume, stockpiling, and indigenous production capabilities remain insufficient.
◆  Financial Times, 2025-10-16 Taiwan's aim is to emphasise deterrence so that it never comes to armed conflict in the Taiwan Strait, and develop the capabilities and strategies to impose such a huge cost on the PLE that decision makers in Beijing — assuming that they calculate rationally — would decide that this is simply not a viable option to resolve the issue.ft.com/content/4a49b180-4208-49de-8c39-6de95cb4c91d
◆ Wall Street Journal, 2025-10-8 a critical vulnerability on Taiwan: It is almost entirely dependent on imported fuel.  Some 97% of Taiwan's energy is imported by sea. If completely cut off, its LNG inventory would be fully depleted within days, crippling the island's ability to produce electricity.  Taiwan would require U.S. intervention to restore electricity over a longer period.
◆ Reuters, 2025-10-8 Taiwan's president Lai said Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize if he could convince Chinese President Xi Jinping to abandon use of force against Taiwan.  China says Taiwan president is 'prostituting' himself.
◆ The Diplomat,  2025-10-4 The U.S. government is preparing for a military strategy that “does not demand too much from Americans.”  The Trump administration has recently begun prioritizing the self-defense of Taiwan over an overt U.S. military intervention in the event of a Taiwan contingency.   
◆ Reuters, 2025-10-8 The nominee to be the Pentagon's senior official for the Indo-Pacific region said he strongly supported President Donald Trump in saying that Taiwan should spend up to 10% of its GDP on defense.
◆ New York Times, 2025-9-29 “The Rocket Force is the crown jewel of the Chinese military" .  Having an overwhelming number of missiles is also intended as a political signal — to Taiwan that there's no point in fighting back, to the United States that you can't intervene.”
◆ L.A. Times, 2025-9-29 China is playing the long game" by acquiring Russian equipment; That's because Beijing will find a way to reverse engineer the equipment and technology and develop it not just for airborne combat but also for advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance which are critical for modern warfare
◆ WEEK UK, 2025-9-30  in recent years China and Russia “military partnership has become more robust” as ties between Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin have warmed, “raising alarm bells in Washington"
◆  Washington Post, 2025-9-26 Russia has agreed to equip and train a Chinese airborne battalion and share its expertise in airdropping armored vehicles that analysts say could boost Beijing's capacity to seize Taiwan.
◆  AP News London, 2025-9-26 Russia agreed to sell China systems which are designed for parachuting up to 190 kilograms (419 pounds) from an extremely high altitude; Moscow's assistance (equipment and localized training) could help speed up China's airborne program by about 10 to 15 years. 
◆ The National Interest, 2025-9-25 Taiwan is finally embracing the Insurgency Model for beating China. —— Taipei’s strategists are finally making the pivot away from conventional armed forces toward something nimbler—namely the mass production and use of cheap and deadly drones.
◆ The Hill, 2025-9-25 Some argue the U.S. is ill-prepared for war with a formidable People's Liberation Army and thus must reach a deal now. That confuses deterrence with defeatism. The point is not to fight — it is to prevent war by making the costs of aggression unmistakably high and the benefits uncertain.
◆  UPI, 2025-9-26  the Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank : Russia will train and equip Chinese paratroopers to invade Taiwan.
◆  Foreign Affairs, 2025-9-22 First and most important, Taiwan's leaders will need to adequately resource their national defense and resilience. This will require compromise among leaders who prioritize raising compensation for career soldiers and extending the service of conscripts and those who favor fielding new military capabilities.
◆  The Guardian, 2025-9-20 “To avoid war and defend peace we must build defence capabilities and societal resilience through continued preparedness” said  Taiwan's  president, Lai Ching-te
◆  Washington Post, 2025-9-19 The US and Taiwan agreed to a massive package of weapons sales.  The package would consist almost solely of “asymmetric” equipment, such as drones, missiles and sensors to monitor the island’s coastline, the people said. Still, these next-generation weapons may take years to deliver.
◆  CNN, 2025-9-19 Taiwan unveils first missile jointly developed with American arms company; Adapted from Anduril's Barracuda-500, an autonomous, low-cost loitering ammunition launched from aircraft that is undergoing tests by the US military, the new land-mobile missile can be used against targets at sea or on land.
◆  New York Times, 2025-9-15 Taiwan is ... a source of  advanced semiconductors. But even all that is not worth America's going to war. China's growing arsenal of missiles and nuclear weapons can reach the U.S. mainland.
◆  Foreign Affairs, 2025-9-12 Tension across the Taiwan Strait has raised fears that Beijing and Taipei could soon find themselves at war. A war between China and Taiwan could result from an accident or miscalculation that spirals out of control.  China and Taiwan do ultimately need some level of communication to discuss crisis prevention and find off-ramps that both sides can accept.
◆  Reuters, 2025-9-11 Facing new China 'grey-zone' threat, Taiwan steps up sea cable patrols.
◆  Monocle (UK), 2025-9-11 satellite imagery showed large-scale developments of airports and ports for amphibious vehicles on Chinese islands in the East China Sea. It's believed that these could be used to launch an invasion of Taiwan, which US officials warn Beijing would be ready for as soon as 2027. But on the ground in Taipei, armed forces remain significantly under-manned: active units are only about 80 per cent staffed.
◆  WSJ, The Telegraph, 2025-9-8 In satellite images analysed by the Wall Street Journal, new berths for amphibious warships, as well as mega-airports, can be seen taking form. While the facilities could have multiple uses, China's primary military focus is on Taiwan.
◆  The Diplomat, 2025-9-6 Taiwan's security environment is deteriorating faster than its domestic politics can adapt. What is required is not only frank discussion, but sweeping reforms to the military and a genuine effort to prepare society for the possibility of war. By delaying bolder action, Lai risks a society that remains psychologically underprepared for crisis.
◆  TIME, 2025-9-4 Trump downplayed the apparent convergence of anti-U.S. forces. 
◆ New York Times, 2025-9-2 Xi parades firepower to signal that China won't be bullied again, and to show that China can resist pressure from the West.  Mr. Xi offered an implicit message to Taiwan and its international supporters of the perils of any move toward formal independence.
◆ New York Times, 2025-9-4 Beijing's V-Day parade was a message for the West about China's rise.  On display were hypersonic missiles to sink ships and nuclear-capable ballistic missiles that could strike the continental U.S. New armored ground vehicles, which can be dropped from transport planes, and long-range rocket launchers magnified Beijing's threat to Taiwan.
◆  BBC, 2025-8-26 most people in Taiwan – 65% according to a survey  - believe it is unlikely that China will attack in the next five years. But the urgency of this question (Whether China will invade) has spiked with a recent escalation in tensions, particularly with William Lai's election last year. Beijing has accused Lai's government of deliberately antagonising them, particularly with the defence drive.
◆ Fox News, 2025-8-23 Over the last decade, Taiwan has imported up to 97% of its energy needs,  experts also argue that Taiwan would likely use up its stores of oil in a matter of weeks to days if China implemented a blockade, Some opponents have also pointed out that wartime scenarios in recent years have shown the security risks surrounding active nuclear power plants
◆ Reuters, 2025-8-22 Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said he hoped defence spending would reach 5% of gross domestic product before 2030.  Taiwan's government said next year's defence budget would reach 3.32% of GDP.
◆ Reuters, CNN, 2025-8-16 Trump says Xi told him China will not invade Taiwan while he is US president
◆ Brookings, 2025-8-11 The White House recently called off a meeting between Taiwan's defense minister and Pentagon officials and delayed action on military sales.  Ely Ratner on WP:  These concessions send a dangerous signal that America's approach to Taiwan is negotiable.  
◆  Foundation for Defense of Democracies  , 2025-8-11 Taiwan's energy dependence is an Achilles heel. Beijing can exploit this issue without firing a single shot.
◆ New York Times, 2025-8-8 Taiwan strained by 20% tariffs, no trade deal, an appreciating currency and political uncertainty. Taiwan's president Lai is facing an intensifying confrontation with opposition lawmakers able to effectively stymie his policies.
◆  The Telegraph, 2025-8-8 Taiwan's deputy foreign minister says that Taiwan needs to “learn and to work with China” to avoid war with a nuclear power.
◆  The Diplomat, 2025-8-4 Ukraine's civil society was well-prepared, psychologically and practically, for Russia's invasion. Taiwan's is not.  Beijing has cultivated a population conditioned to support the state in conflict. Taiwan's strategy has been the opposite: depoliticize, demilitarize, and hope for deterrence through foreign alignment. The discrepancy could be catastrophic
◆  Brookings, 2025-8-1  Beijing generally acts most aggressively when it feels comfortable and confident, and it exercises restraint when it feels a need to regenerate or preserve national power. Yet between now and the 2028 elections, China will not exert so much pressure that it alienates voters who might otherwise support the KMT. Thus, a calibrated, two-handed approach is most likely.
◆  CSIS, 2025-7-31  The “joint blockade campaign” (联合封锁战役) is discussed extensively in Chinese doctrinal writing, and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has signaled that it would consider such a campaign if it acts against Taiwan. Taiwan requires U.S. intervention if China uses military force in a blockade.
◆  The New York Times, 2025-7-25 China may intensify its pressure on Mr. Lai by holding large-scale military exercises near the island in the coming weeks or months, to show its anger over the recall campaign, his speeches and his travels abroad
◆  Council on Foreign Relations, 2025-7-25  In recent surveys, only 36 percent of polled Americans support sending U.S. troops into harms war to break a Chinese blockade or repel a Chinese invasion of the island.
◆  BBC, 2025-7-25
For now, the Pentagon looks set to keep stepping up its activity in Asia unless directly ordered otherwise.  Whether that is enough to give those in power in Beijing second thoughts on launching an invasion of Taiwan, only time will tell, but the stakes look likely to keep on getting higher
◆  National interest, 2025-7-23 3 percent of GDP to defense spending in FY 2026 will likely not be sufficient to cover these stipend increases and the MND's military modernization goals, an aspect equally crucial as recruitment and retention. 
◆  The Strategist, 2025-7-23, 7-21 If China decides to dramatically accelerate unification with Taiwan—the first 24 hours will be pivotal.  China could conceal preparations for an invasion by framing it as a large-scale joint exercise... the opening phase would be a massive missile barrage targeting Taiwan’s airbases, radar stations, naval ports and command centres.
◆ Spectator , 2025-7-19 Should the labyrinthine Hengshan command centre nestled under the mountains north of Taipei ever fall, the military practised defending its alternative command centre west of the city. If it ever came to it, there's also an enormous underground airbase complex in a hollowed-out mountain on the East coast.
◆  Fox News, 2025-7-15 CSIS expert: "Japan is always critical,  we can't win the war without them", "Their forces are important, but our ability to use our bases in Japan is critical".  Whether Japan allows the U.S. to center its wartime operations on its territory would be a critical question certain to come up in preparations for a wartime contingency.
◆  Financial Times, 2025-7-15  “If China attacks, one of the first things to go will be our communications systems","we must train for our units to be cut off from their superiors.”But experts said Taiwan's military would struggle to shake off a tradition of centralised command. “Decentralisation is a difficult thing for our armed forces”
◆  iNews UK, 2025-7-15 Experts caution that a long-planned attack co-ordinated by China and Russia is unlikely, at least in the near term, were China to do so eventually, Russia could act spontaneously to take advantage of the situation. A senior research fellow at the London think-tank Chatham House said China had so far been cautious in its approach to Taiwan to avoid all-out war.
◆  Financial Times, 2025-7-12 Trump administration raises eyebrows by calling for commitments from Australia and Japan, “But this request caught Tokyo and Canberra by surprise because the US itself does not give a blank cheque guarantee to Taiwan.”
◆  The Telegraph, 2025-7-9  China's PLA significantly exceeds Taiwan across every metric. China has more than six times the number of tanks and aircraft than Taiwan, and nearly five times more artillery. War game simulations have shown that if Taiwan faces Beijing alone, or if the country surrenders before the U.S. is able to assist, it would be overwhelmed in a very short time.
◆  Newsweek 2025-7-10 With the HIMARS and Abrams tanks, the Taiwanese military can strike potential PLA landing forces from greater distances and with more precise firepower, gradually wearing down enemy troops and deploying in dispersed positions to avoid destruction by China's long-range rockets and similar weapons.
◆ BBC, 2025-7-9 Taiwan's military and defence has come under criticism both domestically and externally in recent years.  One survey last year showing only 47.5% have confidence in their defence capabilities.
◆  Council on Foreign Relations, 2025-7-8 One unnamed official told the  Financial Times that China's rocket force and air force were now able to switch from peacetime to wartime operations in the Taiwan Strait at “any time” without warning.
◆  ekathimerini (Greece), 2025-7-3 Taiwan's tough talk raises the cross-strait temperature. China's military planners are surely drafting large-scale military exercises modeled on the live-fire show that followed Pelosi's visit.  Expect missile tests over the island, flotillas encircling it, and coast guard “inspections” of Taiwanese civilian vessels that could disrupt commercial shipping if Beijing decides to prolong the exercise.
◆  New York Times, 2025-6-30 “President Lai is trying to fire up his base of support as much as possible in order to ensure the recalls are successful". The president's critics in Taiwan are also harsh, accusing him of stoking divisions and jeopardizing the fragile status quo with China.  China may use Mr. Lai's speeches to justify increasing its military pressure on Taiwan.

continue reading China-Taiwan war (2)

　

China Mysteriously Cuts PLA Flights Into Sensitive Taiwan Areas
◆  United Press International, 2026-3-16 Taiwan regards the incursions into its airspace and waters as routine harassment.   Analysts have suggested that the decrease in incursions is timed to a meeting of the Chinese legislature, which has happened previously, or be part of a diplomatic or strategic play before Xi-Trump meeting in Beijing at the end of the month.
◆  Politico, AP, 2026-3-15 Analysts said the meeting could not be the sole reason behind the recent drop. Another potential factor could be a desire to calm the waters with Washington weeks before Xi-Trump meeting. Some observers also suggested the decline may be driven by a shift to a next phase in China's military training and modernization, with the army appearing to be exploring a new model for joint training between its forces.
◆  Reuters, 2026-3-15 Taiwan on Sunday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities. It last reported that many on February 25.  Officials and experts in Taipei have said ​reasons for the disappearance could range from Beijing trying to recalibrate its pressure campaign ‌ahead of Xi-Trump meeting to President Xi Jinping's ongoing purge of senior Chinese generals.
◆  Wall Street Journal, 2026-3-15 analysts had pointed to the timing, with preparations accelerating for President Trump's high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. Others had suggested Beijing may have been conditioning Washington to perceive a reduced military threat and lower its guard. Still others had speculated that the pause reflected a revision of Chinese military training procedures.
◆  Associated Press, 2026-3-13 a sharp drop in the number of flights in the past two weeks (1) such flights have fallen in the past during major events and public holidays. But this year's fall was much greater than in the past. (2) China's desire to calm the waters with Washignton two weeks before a visit by Trump. (3) the decline in flights may be driven by a shift to a next phase in China's military training and modernization.
◆  Reuters, 2026-3-13 Beijing was seeking to delay U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and has ​been trying to create a better atmosphere ahead of the summit, including by toning down military pressure on the island.
◆  Wall Street Journal, 2026-3-12 (1)  Beijing might be trying to get Washington to see a reduced military threat, lower its guard, stop selling weapons to Taiwan (2)Xi's recent purges of senior Chinese military officials could also be influencing air force activity (3) could serve as an olive branch signaling a desire for stability ; Given reports that the U.S. has delayed a major arms package to Taiwan, ...a quid pro quo regarding creating positive conditions for a productive dialogue
◆  CNN, 2026-3-12 For nearly two weeks, Chinese fighter jets stopped buzzing Taiwan. No one seems to know why. For now, the mystery remains unsolved
◆  New York Times, 2026-3-11 A  fellow  said The Chinese armed forces have been shaken by widespread purges of generals and other top leaders; Another possible factor may simply be that the air force is intentionally altering its training routines.  Trump already engaged in war with Iran, “Xi doesn't want Trump to think that Beijing is adding to the trouble”.
◆  Bloomberg, 2026-3-10 A Taiwanese official said the recent absence of China's military aircraft near the self-ruled democracy is possibly a move by Beijing  to ease tensions ahead of Xi-Trump Summit.
◆  Defense Post, 2026-3-9 the recent sudden drop in PLA military flight activity — its longest recorded hiatus — may be linked to the upcoming Xi-Trump Summit; and China may also be using the lull to absorb lessons from its military drills.
◆  The Strategist, Real Clear Defense, 2026-3-10 During previous high-stakes U.S.–China summits, air sorties did not decrease. Neither does it fit with broader Chinese foreign policy, marked by a preference to negotiate from a position of strength. During the last year's "Two Sessions" meetings, activity was exceptionally higher than usual.  China has oil stocks. More importantly, military aviation in other theatres does not seem to have been affected.
◆  AFP, France24, RFI, 2026-3-9 possibilities ranging from China's annual political gathering, known as the "two sessions", currently underway in Beijing, to its recent military purges.  "PLA air incursions into Taiwan's ADIZ drop to/near zero around the time of the annual 'two sessions' every year"
◆  Bloomberg, 2026-3-6 The absence of PLA aircraft around Taiwan aligns with a longer-term shift in training that began last year toward exploring new approaches to joint operations training, said a fellow at the Pacific Forum. “Because joint training involves coordination across multiple services, it may also lead to a temporary reduction in the number of aircraft and naval vessels operating around Taiwan”
◆  Reuters, 2026-3-5 Chinese President Xi Jinping may be toning down visible pressure tactics to create a better atmosphere ahead of his anticipated meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the end of the month, two Taiwanese officials said. Facing Trump, "Beijing might be trying to create a false impression: I am peaceful, I am moving toward peace, so you should stop selling weapons to Taiwan"

　

Japan's defying China.
◆  Bloomberg, 2026-3-8: Taiwan Premier makes first Japan visit since 1972, defying China. ◆  NHK (Japan), 2026-3-8: Taiwan's premier visits Japan to watch WBC (World Baseball Classic) game.
◆  Reuters, 2026-3-9: China condemns 'evil designs' of Taiwan premier's Japan visit.  "Japan's indulgence of provocation and unbridled recklessness will certainly pay a price, and all consequences arising from this must be borne by the Japanese side." China routinely ​lambasts any overseas trips by its leaders, but used especially strong language to target premier Cho.
◆  South China Morning Post, 2026-3-8:In a move that may draw further pushback from Beijing, Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai visited Tokyo on Saturday. It is the first known trip to Japan by a sitting premier from the island since Tokyo severed ties with Taipei and normalised its diplomatic relationship with Beijing in 1972. the one-day visit has been hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough by some politicians from the island's DPP.
◆  NPR (National Public Radio), 2026-3-8: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggesting last year Japan might get involved if China invades Taiwan. Chinese FM Wang Yi said : "Taiwan affairs are purely China's internal affairs."  it is up to Tokyo to  decide  what the future holds for China-Japan relations.
◆  SCMP, 2026-3-8: Chinese FM Wang Yi warns Japan on Taiwan 'red line', dashing hopes of ending diplomatic row.  "As is known to all, the exercise of the right of self-defence is predicated on one's own country being under armed attack. Let me ask, what gives Japan the right to interfere in Taiwan affairs, which are China's internal affairs?"

　

Taiwan's division

◆  AFP, 2026-2-12 Taiwan government has proposed $40 billion more in defence spending over eight years.  But legislation to enable the spending has been blocked 10 times since early December by opposition parties.
◆  Heritage Foundation, 2026-2-10 President William Lai (賴清德) was applauded for announcing a special defense budget of US$40 billion.  the Legislative Yuan controlled by the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) repeatedly blocked the budget, which risks damaging Taiwan-U.S. relations.
◆  Reuters, 2026-2-3 chairman of the US Armed Services Committee wrote on X that he was "disappointed" to see Taiwan's opposition parties slash president Lai's defence budget. In response, the KMT asked, "Would the U.S. Congress ever pass a blank-cheque budget for eight years with no specifics?"
◆  Asia Times, 2026-1-29 Lai Ching-te and his Party want to ensure a permanent separation from mainland China.  Lai is offering the US trade and the largest-ever purchases of US weapons in Taiwan's history. Opposition leader argue that close and friendly relations with China make more economic and political sense.   Lai's proposal a waste of money and said it would only serve to infuriate China.
◆  New York Times, 2026-1-21 Opposition lawmakers who dominate the legislature have blocked president Lai's ambitious proposal to spend $40 billion across eight years on military equipment from moving forward without concessions from Lai .  The friction reflects growing divisions in Taiwan over whether to hold tight to its relationship with the United States or try rapprochement with Beijing.
◆  Japan Times, 2026-1-22 the ruling and opposition parties have been increasingly at loggerheads — and sometimes literally at each other's throats — for almost two years now, there is little hope the situation will change anytime soon.
◆  Politico, 2025-12-19 Taiwan faces a new obstacle in securing U.S. weapons to deter a possible attack by Beijing: domestic political deadlock.  The opposition party is using its legislative majority to slow-roll his security agenda.  The weapon systems that State approved the sale of this week are a small portion of what U.S. and Taiwan defense experts say Taiwan needs to deter a Chinese invasion.
◆  Washington Post, 2025-12-12 an increasingly sharp division in Taiwan: As Lai's ruling party attempts to secure the Trump administration's backing in the face of increasing Chinese military threats, politicians such as KMT chair Cheng are promoting stronger ties with Beijing amid growing concern that Lai is inviting conflict and deepening skepticism about whether Taiwan can count on the United States to support it.
◆   South China Morning Post, 2025-12-2 Taiwan opposition blocks US$40 billion defence budget, injecting fresh uncertainty into Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te's ambitious military modernisation plan.  KMT caucus convenor Fu Kun-chi said "We support defending Taiwan," "But not extravagant or opaque arms deals, and not policies that risk turning Taiwan into the next Ukraine."
◆   The Star, 2025-11-30 Opposition critics have accused Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te of stoking fear on the island with his suggestion that Beijing could be preparing to take Taiwan by force by 2027.  Lai's attempt to justify a massive increase in defence spending was nudging Taiwan towards a wartime footing without consensus or clarity.  This risked becoming “protection money – paid without protection”.  
◆   AFP, 2025-11-1 Taiwan's new opposition (KMT) leader against defence spending hike, KMT has close ties with China.   Taiwan president Lai Ching-te, who leads the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), aims to boost defence spending to more than three percent of GDP next year and five percent by 2030, following US pressure to spend more on protecting itself against a potential Chinese attack.
◆   AP News, 2025-10-19 Taiwan's main opposition party elects new leader in a race clouded by claims of China meddling.  Cheng Li-wun pledged to turn KMT from a flock of “sheep” into “lions,” opposing Lai's proposal to boost defense budget to 5% of GDP, local media reported.
◆  Financial Times, 2025-10-16 Taiwan looks more divided now than perhaps one might hope in a country facing an external existential threat like this.   China has been more successful in its political warfare strategy against Taiwan is in its attempts to co-opt individuals, entities, businesses, political parties, but also to divide Taiwan... Trump appears much more transactional than he already was during his first term.
◆  Washington Post, 2025-9-29 China has  numerous “more trusted and controllable” assets on Taiwan. 
Taipei's concern that the CUPP is a fifth column is bolstered by the group's access to weapons... the potential for the CUPP to be weaponized in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
◆  Foreign Policy research Institute, 2025-9-25 Since President Lai Ching-te was inaugurated in May 2024, Taiwan's domestic politics have been in relative turmoil. Large-scale protests, the incarceration of Taiwan People's Party (TPP) leader Ko Wen-je on corruption charges, and an unprecedented recall election targeting thirty-one Kuomintang (KMT) legislators rendered the past fifteen months unusually turbulent.
◆  Foreign Affairs, 2025-9-22 a failed “recall” of opposition members that deeply divided the population, and President Lai Ching-te's popularity is collapsing.  But it is far less divided internally than its rough-and-tumble politics might suggest. There also is consensus across Taiwan's political spectrum to increase defense spending.
◆   Washington Examiner, 2025-9-15 Taiwan leaders flaunt de facto sovereignty as Kuomintang warns rhetoric will provoke Chinese invasion.  The KMT rejects the idea of Taiwanese independence as a pipe dream, one that, if pursued too openly, could get the island's population killed. "KMT's position is to manage an ambiguous, vague concept of one [China], while actually maintaining two [Chinas],
◆   Anadolu Agency, 2025-9-18 A Chinese scholar said that Beijing could draw on Germany's post-Cold War model by offering financial support and unconditional citizenship to reunify with Taiwan,  including a “solidarity tax” to fund infrastructure and integration, and equalizing the Chinese yuan with the New Taiwan dollar, currently traded at 1 to 4.22.
◆   BBC,  2025-8-26 Taiwanese celebrities friendly to China, social media influencers and Chinese spouses of Taiwanese citizens have come under close scrutiny, with some deported or forced to leave.
◆   Foreign Policy,  2025-8-21 Taiwan's increasingly fractious internal politics put it further at risk.  Rhetoric by both sides has become increasingly caustic. An attempt by the DPP to recall 24 KMT legislators failed but was a further sign of the parties’ inability to work together.
◆   Bloomberg,  2025-8-12 Taiwan's Lai Sees Approval at Lowest of Tenure After Setbacks. The results follow a landslide defeat in an unprecedented recall effort backed by Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party that aimed to remove more than one-third of opposition lawmakers from office.
◆   Chicago Tribune,  2025-8-5 The failure of recall means that Lai Ching-te will either be forced to work with the opposition to get anything passed in the legislature or spend the remainder of his term as a lame-duck leader
◆  Brookings, 2025-8-1  if the outcome of the recall election funnels political energy into a future-oriented contest to persuade voters of who can best protect peace and preserve the status quo, then it could have a moderating effect on Taiwan’s political discourse. This would be welcomed in Washington
◆  Forbes, 2025-7-27 An important reason why the recall vote was defeated is a testament to the Taiwanese people’s desire to maintain a thriving democracy and a semblance of checks and balances, ... to ensure the Republic of China government can maintain democracy which is not ruled by one voice.”
◆  The New York Times, 2025-7-25 an extraordinary recall campaign could put more power in the president's hands but add to tensions with Beijing.  Opponents say the campaign is an abuse of a process that should be used sparingly.“This recall is a fight driven by hatred,”  Targeted lawmakers were being “totally demonized.”
◆  Reuters, 2025-7-23  The recall groups accuse the KMT of selling out Taiwan by sending lawmakers to China, not supporting defence spending, and bringing chaos to parliament. The KMT rejects those accusations, denouncing Lai's "dictatorship" and "green terror" - the DPP's party colour.  China said Lai is "engaging in dictatorship under the guise of democracy"
◆  The Guardian, 2025-7-23 Lev Nachman, a  professor at National Taiwan University said “There's a difference between anti-DPP and pro-Beijing, but from the recallers' perspective these have become synonymous.”
◆  The Jamestown Foundation, 2025-7-7 Polling has been inconsistent on whether the public approves of the recall campaigns.  Voters could choose to repeat their message from the 2024 election and opt for maintaining oversight by the opposition after eight years of DPP dominance of the executive and legislative branches of government.
◆◆Reuters, US News, 2025- 6-20 Taiwan to Hold Recall Election for Lawmakers That Could Reshape Parliament. The DPP has given full support for the recalls, calling on people to vote yes and "oppose the communists"
◆◆SCMP, 2025- 6-1 The DPP has denied politically targeting the opposition, but the KMT has accused Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te of weaponising judicial and investigative powers to intimidate opposition lawmakers.  expert: The Lai administration is using judicial probes to sweep through the KMT's local party apparatus.
◆◆AFP News, Eurasian Times, 2025- 5-19 the current dysfunction is distracting lawmakers and eroding public confidence, which benefits Beijing.  Ryan Hass at Brookings: a divided, fractured Taiwan is incapable of addressing its own long-term requirements and vulnerabilities.  Bonnie Glaser: The parties “spend a lot of their time thinking about how to weaken support and damage the reputation and the image of their political adversaries”.  eurasiantimes.com/its-advantage-china-as-taiwans-president-who-vowed-to-stand-up-to-beijing-faces-political-turmoil-at-home/
◆  ABC News Australia, 2025-5-10 The KMT has denounced the recall effort as a "witch hunt" and an attempt by the DPP to establish one-party rule. KMT chair E. Chu has accused Mr Lai of launching "a cultural revolution in Taiwan", referencing the bloody purges in China under Mao Zedong.  Mr Lai has rejected characterisations as a dictator.
◆  The Diplomat, 2025-5-5 TPP chair Huang called for a new set of presidential elections to be held if a new set of legislative elections take place. Some KMT politicians have proposed a vote of no confidence in the Cabinet.
◆  Brookings, 2025-2-12 Taiwan's politics are intense, but today they are in hyperdrive. The three main political parties maintain their own narratives for the causes of the breakdown in Taiwan's comity and its deepening divisions. President Lai Ching-te's toughest test as a leader may be whether he is capable of building consensus within his own political party and forging compromises with key stakeholders across Taiwan's political spectrum.
◆  Foreign Policy, 2025-2-3 The ruling party's engaging in violence in the legislature to prevent bills from being passed, launching what many see as a political witch hunt against the leader of the third party...  in Taiwan, recalls have been wielded in a retaliatory and petty manner as political weapons rather than as legitimate means of kicking bad politicians out of office. 
◆  The Diplomat, 2025-1-28 The KMT-TPP alliance's deep cuts to government budget spark widespread recall efforts against KMT legislators in Taiwan.   The scale of this recall effort is unprecedented in Taiwan's democratic history.  Most importantly, the budget cuts raise international doubts about Taiwan's determination to defend itself. 
◆  Washington Times, 2024-12-27 "Elbridge Colby and Pete Hegseth: Charting a new course for U.S.-Taiwan security": With the possibility of recall elections targeting these KMT politicians, Taiwan has an opportunity to confront these internal threats and demonstrate its commitment to national security.

　

Taiwan might have reasons to worry about Trump
◆  Lowy Institute,  2026-2-9 Trump hands Beijing a gift: nervous Asian allies.  US unpredictability emboldens pro-China voices in Manila and Taipei.
◆  The Guardian,  2025-11-30 Trump has now flipped from waging a trade war to gushing gratitude for an invitation to visit Beijing, obtained during his obsequious phone call to Xi last week. Trump subsequently offered no public assurances to Taiwan and, in a separate call, urged his Japanese ally to pipe down. His truckling to Xi reinforced fears in Taipei and Tokyo that, as Ukraine knows, he's chronically unreliable.
◆  CNN, 2025-10-30 Taiwan worries about US support wavering ahead of Trump's meeting with Xi
◆  Asia Times, 2025-10-6 Rather than saving Taiwan to protect the chip supply, Elbridge Colby, now under secretary of defense for policy, said in 2023 that if China takes Taiwan the US should destroy TSMC facilities in Taiwan so China could not have the chips. That would make the shield worse than ineffective.   /  Denny Roy is a senior fellow, East-West Center, Honolulu.
◆   arstechnica, 2025-9-29 Taiwan pressured to move 50% of chip production to US or lose protection
◆   NBC News,  2025-8-29 US Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker:  “A thriving democracy is never fully assured … "
◆   Financial Times,  2025-8-28 The longheld US position to defend Taiwan's independent status in the face of Chinese aggression is looking shaky under the Trump administration, in spite of Taiwanese efforts to court the American president
◆   SKY News, Australia,  2025-8-26 The US is continuing to pressure Taiwan on ramping up military spending while imposing 20 per cent tariffs. This is counterproductive and driving more Taiwanese to question how reliable the US is as a partner.
◆   Foreign Policy,  2025-8-21  Taipei fears that if Trump is willing to do all this just to get a summit with Xi, he might be willing to further accommodate Beijing—e.g.,, by cutting defense sales to Taiwan and formally opposing Taiwan's independence
◆   Brookings,  2025-8-11 Policy experts tend to greet new legislative initiatives with skepticism. Many Taiwan-related proposals contain more symbolism than substance.   Taiwan increasingly looks like a bargaining chip in U.S.-China relations
◆   The Conversation,  2025-8-8 Trump's stance is far harder to predict.  If China were to dangle a trade deal in front of the US president – committing to buy more US goods, put in more investment that is non-problematic on security grounds in the US and generally abide by American demands – would Trump be able to resist?
◆◆POLITICO, 2025-7-31  Taiwan's President ' in a position of political double jeopardy — submit to onerous trade terms and risk blowback from key segments of his constituency or refuse the administration's terms and risk alienating Trump at a time when it faces a potential Chinese invasion risk as early as 2027. “For Taiwan the danger of displeasing Donald Trump is existential”
◆◆Bloomberg, 2025-7-31 Trump likes winners — the problem for Taiwan’s leader Lai Ching-te is that he looks like a man running out of options. It’s an unenviable position to be in, with the threat of punishing tariffs hanging over him. Domestically, Lai is dealing with the fallout from a bruising vote that will embolden the self-ruled island’s pro-Beijing opposition.
◆◆Bloomberg, 2025-7-30 "Washington may be again relegating Taiwan to the back burner and framing Taiwan as a mere bargaining chip in service of the US’ China policy ends”,“If true, it would be a dangerous sign", said an expert at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub.
◆◆Bloomberg, 2025-7-28 “The fact that at least some in the administration are putting our partnership with Taiwan on the table with Beijing is deeply concerning, and sends a dangerous message to Beijing,” said Laura Rosenberger, chaired the American Institute in Taiwan until this year
◆◆Fox News, 2025-7-29 U.S.-Taiwan solidarity has long included symbolic gestures — but critics suggest that the Trump administration may be undermining that relationship in a bid to engage China on trade.
◆◆Telegraph (UK), 2025-7-29 Bonnie Glaser:  the move (Trump blocked Lai Ching-te's New York stopover) suggested that “Trump wants to avoid irritating Beijing while US-China negotiations are ongoing and planning gets under way for a possible summit with Xi”, “By signalling that aspects of the US relationship with Taiwan are negotiable, Trump will weaken deterrence and embolden Xi .
◆◆Council on Foreign Relations, 2025-7-25 Trump's desire to shoulder this burden,  deterrence in the Taiwan Strait, is very much an open question.  
◆◆Bloomberg, 2025-7-23 Taiwan ran a trade surplus of about $65 billion with the US last year, backed by strong demand for tech goods critical to the AI boom. That imbalance is sure to rankle Trump
◆◆The Telegraph, 2025-7-15 the Australian prime minister says that his country would not join a “hypothetical” conflict with China over Taiwan. President Donald Trump has echoed this position, while also pushing for Taiwan to do its own part to protect itself
◆◆Taipei Times, 2025-7-14 Under a president whose loyalty to democratic norms is ambiguous and whose geopolitical thinking centers on short-term leverage, Taiwan could easily become a pawn in a larger bargain — or worse, left to fend for itself. Trump has previously oscillated between fiery rhetoric on China and overtures of camaraderie with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). His unpredictability breeds confusion in Taipei, and, perhaps more dangerously, could encourage miscalculation in Beijing. Taiwan must also avoid putting all its eggs in Washington's basket.
◆◆BBC, 2025-7-9 The US is compelled by legislation to help Taiwan defend itself, but Trump has been ambiguous about this and recently refused to comment on whether he would stop China from taking Taiwan by force.  Doubt grows in Taiwan that the US under Donald Trump would intervene militarily in the event of a Chinese attack
◆  Japan's Mainichi (每日新聞), 2025-6-25 Taiwanese trust in the US is surprisingly low. According to the latest survey by the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, only 3 percent like the U.S.; many people doubt whether Washington will really help in cross-strait contingencies.  Trump's tariff policy toward Taiwan has been strict, and consideration for Taipei's national security needs has remained lacking.
◆◆The Guardian, 2025-6-1 ask if Trump will fight for Taiwan, the answer is not really in serious doubt.   Some American commentators argue that Taiwan is a bear trap, to be avoided at all costs – music to Xi's ears.
◆  New York Times, 2025-5-22 Some of President Trump's words and actions on Taiwan — raising tariffs,  drastically raising military spending, and accusing Taiwan of stealing the U.S. lead in making semiconductors — have magnified doubts in Taiwan about whether the US would step in if China attacked the island.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/world/asia/trump-china-taiwan-security.html
◆  New York Times, 2025-5-21 Taiwan's president has taken a tougher stance on China, raising criticism from some who say it's a risky position since a geopolitically fickle President Trump may not offer steadfast support for the island.
◆  Economist, 2025-5-1 Mr Trump's fickleness has made Taiwan's security seem more parlous
◆  The Hill,   2025-4-28 U.S. support is no longer a given. Taiwan risks becoming less a steadfast partner and more a bargaining chip in the U.S.-China rivalry — or worse, standing alone against China
◆  TIME,   2025-4-26 If he won't take on costs and risks to help Ukraine repel Russian invaders, how confident can Taiwan be that Trump will commit U.S. troops and taxpayer funds to defend an “ally” thousands of miles from American shores?
◆◆The WEEK, 2025-4-15 Increasing economic dependence on the US "could placate Mr Trump", said The Spectator, but "experience shows that it could just become a way for Trump to exert more pressure in the future"
◆◆Newsweek, 2025-4-8 Would Donald Trump Defend Taiwan?  Even as Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. priority is the Indo Pacific, the U.S. military is focused on the Middle East, and there have been reports that the U.S. THAAD battery in Seoul along with two Patriot missile batteries, deployed elsewhere, were moved to the Middle East.
◆◆The SUN (UK), 2025-4-8 Trump v Xi trade war makes world a scarier place – China could launch full scale invasion of Taiwan.  Trump cares about the TSMC, but he has made it clear he really doesn't care about Taiwan as an independent democratic state or as a staunch Western ally.  The word is,  Trump has made it clear to China that if he reached some grand bargain with Beijing that was better for America, he'd stand aside and let it absorb Taiwan
◆◆Wall Street Journal, 2025-3-17 Taiwan's military planners signal to Washington the desire for a stable relationship as anxieties simmer in Taipei about whether President Trump would send help to defend against a Chinese attack.  Trump's recent suspension of U.S. support for Ukraine heightened those concerns in Taiwan.
◆◆Washington Post, 2025-3-21 The U.S. president's transactional approach has unnerved many in Taiwan.  The long-standing U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity”is now even more pronounced.

continue reading Taiwan's Trump problem (2)

　

　

Trump's new tariffs, Taiwan's semiconductor, trade war
◆   Fox Business,  2025-8-27 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said:   chips are a strategic necessity for us.  the United States has five to seven strategic vulnerabilities in critical industries. And President Trump has set about de-risking that.
◆  Global Times, 2025-8-21 US Commerce Secretary warned "For national security, we must manufacture our own chips domestically. We cannot rely on Taiwan, which is 9,500 miles from the US and only 80 miles from China. 99 percent of leading-edge chips should not be made in Taiwan."  US Treasury Secretary echoed Lutnick's remark,  "the single point of failure for the global economy is that 99 percent of the advanced chips in the world are made in Taiwan,"  "And for national security, we have to stop that single point of failure"
◆  POLITICO, 2025-7-31 “U.S. trade negotiators are squeezing Taiwan like a lemon”
◆   Reuters,  2025-8-1 Taiwan says 20% U.S tariff rate is temporary, and the government expects to negotiate a lower figure
◆  Bloomberg, 2025-7-23 president Lai is treading a fine line in negotiations with the US, needing to maintain good relations with the country that provides key security guarantees without angering domestic constituencies, including the farming sector
◆   New York Times,  2025-7-7 The sale of tech equipment to China is likely to be a continuing source of friction, and negotiation, for Taiwan in its dealings with the Trump administration.
◆◆ Bloomberg, 2025-6-19 Taiwan is likely to hold its benchmark interest rate for the fifth straight quarter as it considers worries about tariffs.  Bloomberg, 2025-6-18: US-China Tech Fight Widens After Taiwan Blacklists Huawei
◆◆Wall Street Journal, 2025-6-9 Taiwan exports growth nears 15-Year high on likely frontloading as tariff uncertainty continues. Taiwan expects exports to contract in the second half, citing “escalating trade protectionism and heightened policy uncertainty.”
◆  Foreign Affairs,   2025-5-20 instead of hampering China's military, the trade war could make a shooting war seem more appealing to Beijing.foreignaffairs.com/taiwan/taiwan-tightrope
◆  Reuters,   2025-5-13 "They've agreed to open China, fully open China, and I think it's going to be fantastic for China, I think it's going to be fantastic for us, and I think it's going to be great for unification and peace," Trump said, without mentioning Taiwan.
　

continue ready Trump's tariff (2)

　

　

 Taiwan's defense and security structures are so deeply penetrated by Chinese spies

China holds large-scale drills around Taiwan after president Lai announced measures to counter China's influence and espionage
◆◆Strategy Page, 2025-7-20 both China and Taiwan have intelligence operatives in enemy territory. Both are also hobbled by corruption within the military and government.
◆◆Eurasian Times, 2025-7-5  The CCP's campaign is not an external nuisance—it is a systemic infection reaching the top echelons of Taiwan's defense and political leadership.   a long-term espionage network carefully cultivated by Beijing, one capable not only of collecting intelligence but also of compromising Taiwan’s command structure and critical infrastructure in a crisis.
◆◆War On The Rocks, 2025-6-25 China might have a way to combine old tools — such as spies, fifth columns, and saboteurs — with newer capabilities pre-staged before the fighting starts — like drones and malware — to overwhelm and paralyze the country.
◆◆L.A. Times, 2025-5-22 Taiwan is worried about spying threats. That may mean deporting thousands of Chinese
◆◆Washington Post, 2025-4-1 China targets Taiwan's president with military drills and personal attacks. Taiwanese expert: "we should call it a pre-invasion operation.”  By specifically targeting Taiwan and blaming Lai, China is engaging in “cognitive warfare” that is gradually making Taiwanese numb to the real threats they face.
◆◆New York Times, 2025-4-1 Chinese land, navy, air and missile forces would “approach close” to Taiwan and practice “seizure of overall control, etc.  The exercises appeared intended to intimidate Taiwan, without tipping over into a wider confrontation or crisis.  They likely want to persuade the Trump administration that Lai is a troublemaker .nytimes.com/2025/04/01/world/asia/china-taiwan-military-drills.html
◆◆Washington Post, 2025-3-28 Taiwanese soldiers guarding president's office were spying for China. This shows how severe China's infiltration is in Taiwan; Taiwan's sentencing on espionage activities has been too lenient.  It is now even more uncertain whether Washington would come to Taiwan's aid. Taipei's latest crackdown on espionage helps show Washington that Taiwan is serious about plugging leaks 
◆◆The Diplomat, 2025-4-1 the U.S. has called on Taiwan to do more for its own security, including taking action on frequent cases of defection or espionage
◆◆Washington Examiner,  2025-3-25  Taiwan has already lost its China spy war.  Taiwan's defense and security structures are so deeply penetrated by Chinese spies that Beijing knows everything about its plans to deter aggression by the PLA, including American secrets. At this point, any secrets Washington shares with our Taiwanese partners stand a high chance of winding up in Chinese Communist hands.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/courage-strength-optimism/3357074/taiwan-has-already-lost-its-china-spy-war
◆◆Stanford Review, 2025-2-24 Taiwan's military is dilapidated. Reports of Chinese espionage and infiltration are commonplace throughout Taiwan's military and civil society.
◆◆Reuters, 2021-12-20 The repeated cases of the most senior level of Taiwan armed forces officers being convicted of espionage...Beijing has even penetrated the security detail assigned to protect Taiwan's President.  Well-placed spies in the ranks of the Taiwan military could offer a priceless advantage to China if the two sides plunge into open conflict, according to Taiwanese and U.S. military analysts.

　

The Beiping model: coercion without violence
◆  TIME, 2025-7-29 For China, the hope is that blood being thicker than water will mean that China’s principal appeal for unity with Taiwanese—cultural commonality—will finally have traction.
◆  Brookings 2025-5-12 Beijing has been pursuing an unrelenting campaign of “coercion without violence.” Beijing is working to wear down the confidence of the people of Taiwan in their own future. These tactics include persistent visible military pressure, economic inducements and penalties, diplomatic pressure, covert operations, organized crime, cyber operations, and disinformation.brookings.edu/articles/can-the-us-and-taiwan-advance-a-shared-vision/
◆  Lowy Institute Australia, 2025-5-15 The Beiping model: Victory can be achieved through the slow erosion of political cohesion, economic independence, and societal confidence;  The signs are already visible.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/beiping-model-how-china-could-absorb-taiwan-without-war 
◆   Brookings, 2025-2-12 China's strategy of “coercion without violence” includes cyber intrusions, economic coercion, influence operations, organized crime, united front activities, and ceaseless and intensifying military pressure surrounding Taiwan.  In other words, Beijing is taking a full spectrum of actions...

　

　

Taiwan's  Tougher Stance on China
◆◆Foreign Affairs, 2025-5-15 President Lai's political position is weak compared with that of his predecessor, Tsai. ... this weakness may make Lai bolder, as he might want to ramp up confrontation with China to try to win public support.
◆◆Foreign Policy, 2025-5-1 The Trump administration should rein in Lai before he mistakes Washington's passivity for approval and entangles the United States in a potentially calamitous war.
◆◆Washington Post, 2025-3-31 Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has also adopted a harder line toward China and moved to crack down more on Chinese espionage in what analysts say is an effort to appeal to China hawks in the Trump administration.
◆◆New York Times, 2025-3-23 President Lai may be betting that China's appetite for retaliation will be limited by Beijing's interest in containing tensions with the Trump administration. Part of Lai's calculus is that if the opposition played games with his proposed defense spending increase, that would get Washington's attention in a way they really don't want.  KMT accused Lai of unfairly casting his domestic critics as “red” tools of Beijing
◆◆Washington Post, 2025-3-21  For decades, Taiwanese leaders have performed a delicate dance of defending Taiwan’s sovereignty while not provoking Beijing. Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te is changing that.  “We are moving toward conflict escalation with China, that's for sure,” said a professor  at National Chengchi University.

　

　

China-Taiwan conflict (2)
◆  The Independent, 2025-6-24 Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has said that China's “massive” military buildup has raised the risk of conflict over Taiwan, there was a real possibility Beijing would urge Russia to create trouble in Europe so as to divide Nato's attention and resources.
◆  The Telegraph, 2025-6-24 Mark Rutte said: “The Chinese will try anything with Taiwan.”
◆  CNN, 2025-6-22 millions of former conscripts exist “on paper,” but years of truncated service and minimal refresher training have left them “underprepared for modern warfare.”
◆  Reuters, 2025-6-17 Taiwan's armed forces are dwarfed by those of China, which has two operational aircraft carriers and ballistic missile submarines and is developing stealth fighter jets. Taiwan is modernisising its military to be able to fight "asymmetric warfare," using mobile and agile systems like submarines, drones and truck-mounted missiles to fend off its much-larger adversary China.
◆  Defense News, 2025-6-14 Taiwan's military reform is failing where it matters most.  one of the main reasons for the decrease in military training is understaffing and a lack of instructors.
◆  Economist, 2025-6-10 Should Taiwan rehearse how to resist occupation by China, striving to be ungovernable after a defeat? Several Taiwanese experts are sceptical. They call such planning defeatist, divisive and panic-inducing
◆  The Hill, 2025-6-10 China's next war ‘could be imminent’ and spread fast.  War is coming to East Asia, and Taiwan — Chinese President Xi Jinping, after all, has staked his personal legitimacy on annexing Taiwan.
◆  Atlantic Council, 2025-6-9 China is carrying out ‘dress rehearsals’ to take Taiwan. the credibility of US deterrence depends on the visible presence of capable military forces west of the IDL and their ability to respond with sufficient force. Lethality and visible presence matter.
◆  National Interest, 2025-6-6 What's needed in Taiwan is for the island to prepare to wage a long-term,  national insurgency against  any possible Chinese invader. Instead, they're trying to make the Taiwanese Armed Forces into a miniature clone of the United States Army. It won't work.
◆  Wall Street Journal, 2025-6-3 The War of Revision Is Coming. Russia's invasion of Ukraine was the start.  Taiwan  could be the next battlefield.
◆  The Guardian, 2025-6-1 Were China to obstruct Taiwanese maritime traffic, launch covert cyber-attacks on Taiwan, or impose a full naval and aerial blockade that fell short of all-out invasion, it could force Trump into a humiliating climbdown.
◆◆NBC News, 2025-5-30 Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense: it is difficult for Taiwan to build a modern fighting force,  in the face of “inherently disproportionate” threats from China.  Even as it works with the U.S., Taiwan is unsure about the extent of the security commitment from Washington.
◆◆New York Post, 2025-5-29 Taiwan fears outside the world will abandon it if China invades.  deputy minister of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council: " in order to stay in power, Xi will have to possibly use force against Taiwan.”.  Many experts or analysts think that maybe Xi Jinping and Putin already formed some agreement. nypost.com/2025/05/29/world-news/why-taiwan-fears-outside-world-will-abandon-it-if-china-invades/
◆◆Financial Times, 2025-5-26 China has increased its ability to launch a sudden attack on Taiwan with faster-paced air and operations, new artillery systems and more alert amphibious and air assault units. the PLA appeared to have the greatest success was “in the development and integration of the joint firepower strike campaign”. But it is struggling..., particularly military leadership and decision making. ft.com/content/c82eb38e-87cb-4468-b013-0f7fce0fc54b
◆◆Lowy Institute, 2025-5-26 Conscription evasion remains widespread. Defence spending has increased but still falls short of the urgency implied by official rhetoric. Civic mobilisation is growing, but slowly. And public opinion remains ambivalent, supportive of autonomy, but unsure about confrontation.
◆◆New York Times, 2025-5-22 critics say that Taiwan's efforts to upgrade military preparations are too superficial and lag China's. Many U.S. officials and experts have urged Taiwan to shift more decisively to newer weapons, such as drones, which are less expensive and more mobilenytimes.com/2025/05/22/world/asia/trump-china-taiwan-security.html
◆  National Interest,   2025-5-20 Taiwan's hope and expectation is that the United States will enter the fray. Wargames point to costly fighting and losses if that happens, including the specter of potential escalation to nuclear war.
◆  Foreign Affairs,   2025-5-20 U.S. provocations—official diplomatic interactions, references to Taiwan as a country, calls for a U.S.-Taiwanese alliance—could incentivize Beijing to undertake a cross-strait invasion.
◆  PBS,   2025-5-20 Michael Swaine: If you put it that way, defending Taiwan to the point of going to war with China, I don't believe is a vital U.S. interest, no.
◆◆Foreign Affairs, 2025-5-15 If Beijing doubts U.S. commitments to the island, that could encourage China to engage in more coercive actions against Taiwan. All these factors dramatically increase the chances that Beijing will miscalculate—and that it could very well use force against the island around 2027
◆◆Wall Street Journal, 2025-5-14 Beijing's new ships can land on beaches and link to form massive mobile piers. Analysts say they're intended to rapidly offload military equipment, setting the stage for a D-Day-style invasion of Taiwan. 
◆◆Wall Street Journal, 2025-5-10 Taiwan's leaders have embarked on an urgent overhaul of the island's defenses to prepare for what they see as the possibility of a Chinese invasion by 2027. The purpose: be able to hold on long enough for the U.S. to come to the rescue. the deputy foreign minister said: Taiwan will also need to know if U.S. forces will show up.
◆◆New York Times, 2025-5-6 China's military  is now the world's largest armed force and rivals the United States in air, naval and missile power.  Xi Can't Trust His Own Military. Taiwan should radically increase spending on weapons such as anti-ship cruise missiles, sea mines and drones. The US should deploy more long-range missiles...
◆◆Economist, 2025-5-1 A blockade could provoke an American military response without forcing Taiwan to surrender. That is why a quarantine is more likely.  Elbridge Colby has long argued that America should concentrate on containing China, not least by explicitly guaranteeing Taiwan's security. Now he says Taiwan is not an “existential” matter for America and suggests the island cannot be defended at acceptable cost. economist.com/briefing/2025/05/01/chinese-military-exercises-foreshadow-a-blockade-of-taiwan
◆◆Foreign Policy, 2025-5-1 Lai Ching-te gave several speeches that went significantly further than his predecessors in positioning Taiwan as a sovereign state that is separate from China.  The Trump administration should rein in Lai before he mistakes Washington's passivity for approval and entangles the United States in a potentially calamitous war

　
◆◆The Diplomat,  2025-4-29 Taiwan was not taking defense reform more seriously, and responding to calls for a dramatic increase in defense spending with a less than credible “counteroffer” to make incremental increases.  PS: War on the Rocks, 2025-4-16: Taiwan's military remains a profoundly unserious organization. It is not ready to wage war.
◆◆Brookings, 2025-4-25 According to our survey, across almost all measures, the United States is seen as a less reliable partner, Taiwan and South Korea both feel less confident that the United States will assist them in the event of a conflict with their respective authoritarian neighbor.brookings.edu/articles/the-trump-effect-on-public-attitudes-toward-america-in-taiwan-and-south-korea/
◆◆TIME, 2025-4-26 Why China-Taiwan relations are getting so tense? Lai Ching-te's DPP lacks a parliamentary majority, and he can't be sure the Trump Administration has his back. Whatever his political intent, Lai has become more strident on cross-Taiwan Strait questions in recent weeks.
◆◆The Hill, 2025-4-19 The commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, gave testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee: In 2024, the People's Liberation Party demonstrated growing capabilities through persistent pressure operations with military pressure against Taiwan increasing by 300%”, “China's increasingly aggressive actions near Taiwan are not just exercises, they are rehearsals”.
◆◆Reuters, 2025-4-18 the Republican Senator Pete Ricketts said that although administrations change, the bipartisan support for Taiwan in Congress continued; The US will keep helping Taiwan in its self-defence.
◆◆The Insider, 2025-4-19 The commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command: China could stop US airpower from achieving air superiority in the first island chain, China's fighter fleet, bombers, and missiles are enough to cause problems. "their advanced long-range air-to-air missiles also present a tremendous threat.".  Researchers have said that China could more easily devastate American airpower than the other way around.
◆◆PBS, 2025-4-7 Taiwan's financial systems, energy and communications are vulnerable to Chinese blockade and cyberattack, and critics worry Taiwan isn't doing enough to prepare for social and economic disruption.   On paper, Taiwan's reserves appear large. But these men say military training is insufficient, Many young people today are reluctant to join the armed forces. There's also a general lack of awareness among civilians about the importance of national defense.
◆◆Washington Post, 2025-3-21 For decades, Taiwanese leaders have performed a delicate dance of  not provoking Beijing. President Lai Ching-te is changing that.  “We are moving toward conflict escalation with China, that's for sure,” said a professor at National Chengchi University.
◆◆Associated Press, 2025-3-18 China conducts air and sea drills  in response to US and Taiwanese statements.  Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te said that Taiwan law designates mainland China as a “foreign hostile force” and said tougher measures...
◆◆Wall Street Journal, 2025-3-17 Taiwan envisions Chinese assaults on the island to potentially come by land, sea, air and space as well as through cyberattacks, among others. China could launch a rapid invasion or blockade Taiwan to try to pressure it into submission.
◆  Brookings, 2025-3-13 In surveys (2021, 2022), Taiwanese people were asked how likely they are to be willing to fight against an invasion by China on a one-to-five scale. After observing the invasion, more respondents gravitated to extreme options.  A research in 2022 indicated that the more Taiwanese citizens believe the United States will assist Taiwan, the higher their willingness to engage in self-defense becomes.
◆  Fox News, 2025-3-2 most Taiwanese aren't willing to make the sacrifices required for victory in war. Migrant workers serving as essentially mercenaries would only highlight how few of our citizens are willing to fight .  Taiwanese expert says: I understand the logic behind the U.S. policy of strategic ambiguity, but I fear far too many Taiwanese people – especially younger people – are counting on a rescue from Uncle Sam,"
◆   New York Times, 2025-2-25 Mr. Trump said Taiwan was spending far too little on its military and was too complacent about the United States coming to its rescue in a war
◆   Wall Street Journal, 2025-2-22 Taiwan must "adopt a new military culture" akin to that of Israel, turning itself into a warrior-state.
the DPP has flirted with sovereignty and self-determination, it has always been careful to stop short of provoking China with any outright declaration of independence —— that has kept Taiwan and China from falling into war.
◆   Brookings, 2025-2-12 China's strategy of “coercion without violence.”includes cyber intrusions, economic coercion, influence operations, bribery, organized crime, united front activities, and ceaseless and intensifying military pressure surrounding Taiwan. In other words, Beijing is taking a full spectrum of actions...
◆    Economist, 2025-2-6 China is infiltrating Taiwan's armed forces.
Most of the prosecuted cases have been uncovered through internal reporting, showing that anti-spy education is working.
◆    New York Post, 2025-1-23 Trump says he can strike deals that would keep China out of Taiwan. “We have a pot of gold.”,“We have one very big power over China and that's tariffs”.
◆    Washington Post, 2025-1-17 Taiwan is entering a period of political upheaval that could hinder its combat readiness; Debates over defense — “whether to increase the military budget or pay a ‘protection fee’ to Trump” — are being “turned into battlegrounds for partisan conflict”. 
◆   Bloomberg,   2025-1-14 Taiwan's military is  not  prepared  for a Trumpian  World; With the former president soon back in the White House, Taipei needs to rethink its defense strategy. 
◆   Council on Foreign Relations,   2025-1-15 A top concern among U.S. security analysts is that China's growing military capabilities and assertiveness, as well as the deterioration in cross-strait relations, could spark a conflict that leads to a U.S.-China confrontation.
◆   L.A. Times, 2025-1-13 China is working with gangs, shell companies and others to gain intelligence, Taiwan's spy agency says
◆   Financial Times, 2025-1-13 Taiwan's long stretches of the coast comprise cliffs, reefs and rocks, while the flatter western seaboard is lined with mudflats.  China building new mobile piers could help possible Taiwan invasion;  But military experts said a Chinese invasion force would still struggle to advance through Taiwan's western plains...
◆   Financial Times, 2025-1-5 Taiwan suspects a Chinese-owned ship of cutting a subsea cable off its northern coast.

Taipei is concerned that such “greyzone” operations, below the threshold of war, will make it harder to defend against aggression that could eventually escalate to an outright attack.
ps:  Politico Europe (2025-1-5): Taiwan has experienced several dozen incidents of damage to its underwater telecom cables in recent years, without being able to definitively identify the source of the attacks, and has appealed to the European Union for help.
◆   The Hill, 2025-1-7 Lyle Goldstein said the cost of a war with China is “incalculable” and would at the very least sow mass destruction in Taiwan and the South China Sea region;  the U.S. should avoid a war over Taiwan, arguing it amounts to a civil war dispute and, for the U.S., a moral conundrum more than a national security risk.
◆  Wall Street Journal,   2025-1-3 In addition to unleashing its full military power, Beijing would be expected to use a variety of economic strategies in a showdown over Taiwan.  A 2023 study by Rhodium Group and the Atlantic Council concluded that Beijing has been more systematic in preparing such defenses than Russia was to counter Western sanctions.
◆  Washington Examiner,   2025-1-1 The quantity and quality of munitions to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan has fallen as they have been diverted to Ukraine.  While Taiwan's 2.5% of GDP spent on defense is impressive compared to many European nations, it is nowhere near what is needed in a nation at the front line of conflict.
◆   USNI News, 2024-12-19 The Pentagon's report: Xi Jinping's goal of having his military ready to carry out a “short, sharp invasion” of Taiwan by 2027 “is not possible right now”; the force has not yet demonstrated the type and scale of sophisticated urban warfare or long-distance logistic capabilities that would likely be required for operations against Taiwan or major contingencies overseas”.
◆   Financial Times, 2024-12-13 US nuclear build-up would not help deter China from using atomic weapons in Taiwan, war game finds;  Unclassified exercise by CSIS and MIT suggests Washington should not go beyond current modernisation plans...  only five of 15 iterations of the nuclear game ended with a withdrawal of the PLA.
◆   Economist, 2024-12-5 American military officials have long worried about a “window of vulnerability” before new weapons enter into service in the 2030s.  But corruption in the PLA is changing the calculations; China's economic woes and social discontent mean that Mr Xi is turning inward.
◆   Breaking Defense,   2024-12-6 The head of the Defense Intelligence Agency: China did appear to be on track to meet Xi's 2027 preparedness goal.
 House intel's Himes: You could implement a blockade. You know, what? If you invade Taiwan, what happens? A. You may lose. B. You may reduce the place to smoking rubble, what have you really achieved economically?
◆  Newsweek,   2024-11-20 U.S. Pacific Commander Samuel Paparo:  a cross-strait invasion executed by the Chinese military would be "exceedingly difficult" given the advantages of the U.S. and allies.
◆  Washington Examiner,   2024-12-4 War with China would exhaust munition stockpiles "very rapidly", national security adviser J. Sullivan acknowledged that China has "the single biggest advantage", "God forbid we end up in a full-scale war with the PRC" .
　

　

Trump's tariff (2)
◆  The Hill,   2025-4-28 Taiwan's semiconductor industry no longer guarantees lasting security. The US is pressing Taiwan TSMC to increase production in the US, reducing its reliance on Taiwan-based manufacturing. As Taiwan's economic leverage diminishes,  will Washington still view it as indispensable? “Once Trump's America gets what it wants — or if you remove the chips from the equation — will the assurance still be there?”
◆  TIME,   2025-4-26 Though we don't yet know his tariff intentions toward Taiwan, Trump is extremely unlikely to cut it loose, at least in the near term.
◆  BBC,   2025-4-16 Trump is trying to create a chip industry through protectionism and isolation, when what allowed the chip industry to emerge throughout Asia is the opposite: collaboration in a globalised economy.   TSMC have faced challenges with their investments, including surging costs, difficulty recruiting skilled labour, construction delays and resistance from local unions..yahoo.com/news/perils-trumps-chips-strategy-us-233939824.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
◆  New York Times,   2025-4-16 President Trump has threatened tariffs on Taiwan and the chip industry. China has signaled it will not let the trade war keep it from the technology it needs.  Analysts said China's move to exempt chips made in Taiwan was an acknowledgment of just how much China's tech relied on Taiwan. Expert at Techcet said, “Everyone is holding their breath" nytimes.com/2025/04/16/business/china-taiwan-tariffs-chips.html
◆  Washington Post,   2025-4-9 Tariffs put Taiwan on shaky ground with U.S., may open door for China. Taiwan can't afford to take on Beijing and Washington at the same time, Taiwanese professor at NCCU said.  The U.S. aims to push other countries into negotiations through raising the tariffs, hoping they'll buy more American goods and services
◆  Business Insider,   2025-4-8 Trump tariffs are all about Taiwan. Tariffs are an attempt by Trump to reorder the global economy away from Chinese manufacturing.businessinsider.com/trump-tariffs-taiwan-china-invasion-explained-2025-4
◆   CNN, 2025-3-14 TSMC paying Trump a $100 billion ‘protection fee’reignited fears and resignation in Taiwan about losing its crown jewel.   An economist at the University of Chicago: TSMC and others will have to “do whatever they can to make Trump happy.” But the risk is “Once you agree to blackmail, then there's no end of it”

Taiwan's Markets Jolted as Currency Surges Most Since 1980s

Reuters, 2025-5-5

Bloomberg, Reuters, 2025-5-5
Taiwan's president called for an end to "false" news about US forex talks.  "I would also like to ask malevolent people to stop deliberately spreading false information", Lai Ching-te said. Taiwan's monetary authority hadn't been seen aggressively intervening in the market Monday to limit its strength, though it typically does so to smooth out volatility. An unprecedented two-day surge in Taiwan's currency is the latest leg of a scramble out of the U.S. dollar and signal of disquiet in markets as Trump's trade war rattles confidence and disrupts trade relationships.  "Many are saying that's due to pressure from the U.S." a financial industry executive say that "must be the case."; expert at LC Beacon Global Fund:  a weak dollar is certainly an integral part of Trump's strategy to move manufacturing onshore is out

　

　
◆   Fortune, 2025-3-13 TSMC's $100 billion promise to invest in the U.S. won’t shake up the chip supply chain: ‘Most of its capacity is still in Taiwan’.  a senior research analyst at Isaiah Research is skeptical that TSMC's $100 billion pledge will fully materialize.   Timelines for reaching the next generations of chips are “not quite aligned with U.S. capacity right now.
◆   NPR, 2025-3-12 Taiwanese chip giant's investments in U.S. stir 'silicon shield' security worries and divide politics in Taiwan.  TSMC chairman is facing a dilemma, because on one hand, he needs to meet the needs of the Trump administration. On the other hand, he needs to assure the Taiwanese people that we'll be safe.
◆  Reuters, 2025-3-4 TSMC's $100 bln gamble jeopardises 'Taiwan First'.  TSMC committed to set up a major research and development centre stateside, despite an earlier assurance from boss C.C. Wei to keep innovation on the company's home island. That's a threat to Taiwan in multiple ways. The enormous disruption that military conflict would inflict on global semiconductor supply chains is a core part of the deterrence. But the more that TSMC replicates its business offshore, the more this protection will erode.
◆  Bloomberg, 2025-2-15 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is considering taking a controlling stake in Intel Corp.'s factories at the request of Trump administration officials, as the president looks to boost American manufacturing and maintain US leadership in critical technologies.
◆  NY Times, 2025-2-13 Taiwan is adjusting to a shift in its relationship with the United States, its primary backer — one that does not focus on shared democratic ideals, and that is more uncertain and transactional. Taiwanese officials have traveled to Washington to float energy deals and defend the island's semiconductors.
◆  Fortune, 2025-2-3 Taiwan offers to help firms move production to the U.S., Southeast Asia, or India as Trump threatens tariffs.  a U.S. think tank argues that a tariff on Taiwanese chips would likely backfire. The organization claims that such a measure will increase prices, hurt U.S. tech firms, and damage relations with Taiwan, while also failing to drive chip and electronics manufacturing back to the U.S
◆  Washington Post, 2025-1-28 the vast majority of chip production happens overseas, particularly in Taiwan  ── Trump said he wanted the manufacturers of semiconductors and chips — which are used in many high-end consumer electronics and sophisticated AI-powered technology and research — to open factories in the United States and would use the threat of high taxes and tariffs to force them to relocate.
◆  Reuters, 2025-1-28 Taiwan Economy Minister said he only expected a small impact from any tariffs imposed by Trump on semiconductor exports given their technological superiority.

In another potential challenge for Taiwan, Trump last week directed federal agencies to investigate persistent U.S. trade deficits and unfair trade practices and alleged currency manipulation by other countries
◆  Politico (EU), 2025-1-30 Trump threatened to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on Taiwanese semiconductor imports in a bid to “return production of these essential goods to the United States of America.” Taipei will convene “emergency discussions” to determine countermeasures...
◆   Business Insider, 2025-1-28 US tariffs on Taiwan's semiconductors could result in a steep increase in costs to Nvidia and other significant customers, such as Apple and AMD. Chip manufacturing efforts in the US are less developed and more expensive than those in Taiwan.   the US's chip manufacturing sector could take years to develop the same capacity as Taiwan's.
◆  CNN, 2024-12-15 Trump's remarks have prompted jitters that Taiwan would need to move more of its critical chip supply chain to the US at a faster pace, that could affect the island's economic security and dismantle the very “silicon shield”  ...
　

　

Taiwan has Trump's problem (2)
◆◆The Hill, 2025-3-13 Taiwan president Lai has clearly gotten the message that he must increase defense spending in a world where the U.S. appears increasingly likely to leave small powers to fend for themselves.
◆   New York Times, 2025-3-6 President Trump has pressed Taiwan to loosen its dominance in advanced semiconductors and to move production to the United States, and he has warned of hefty tariffs if his demands are not met.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/world/asia/taiwan-tsmc-chips-arizona.html
◆   TIME, 2025-2-27 University of London expert says: I haven't seen any evidence that Trump cares much about Taiwan.  Nanyang Technological University scholar says: China may be able to take Taiwan “without too much U.S. interference” if Beijing is able to strike a similar deal with Washington.
◆   New York Times, 2025-2-25 Mr. Trump executes a dramatic reversal of U.S. policy toward Ukraine, insisting that Ukraine is to blame for the war;  In Taiwan, Mr. Trump's stinging comments about Ukraine could feed a current of public opinion arguing that the island has been repeatedly abandoned by Washington and cannot trust its promises.
◆   Eurasian Times, 2025-3-1 Same Playbook! just like the Ukraine minerals deal, the U.S. seeks to secure Taiwan's semiconductor technology through the TSMC-Intel deal.  The agreements conspicuously lack one crucial element—security guarantees in both cases.
◆   New York Times, 2025-2-21 Mr. Trump executes a dramatic reversal of U.S. policy toward Ukraine, abandoning Western efforts to punish Russia for the invasion and insisting that Ukraine is to blame for the war; The prospect of the United States trying to make a deal with Russia over Ukraine, without actually giving Ukraine a seat at the table, will reinforce the sense of American skepticism in Taiwan”nytimes.com/2025/02/25/world/asia/trump-ukraine-taiwan.html
◆    Washington Post, 2025-2-18 Each statement by Trump that degrades the principle that territorial boundaries must not be redrawn by force or coercion might embolden China on Taiwan.  political scientist Graham Allison :  “Taiwan will be depreciated in the triangular relationship”,“I see no evidence whatever that [Trump] believes the U.S. has any vital interest in Taiwan.”
◆    Newsweek, 2025-2-18 Trump's  approach to Ukraine could signal how it would respond to a cross-strait conflict between the East Asian power and its diminutive neighbor.
◆     The Guardian, 2025-2-21 Taiwan holds its breath as a withdrawal of American support here would spark an existential crisis.  “The Trump administration has already demonstrated that it is willing to suddenly and without warning break from decades of bipartisan US policy on China,” says head at ASPI.  Worries about Trump's “lukewarm” view of Taiwan are becoming more obvious ...says professor  at Taiwan's National ChengChi university.
◆   Council on Foreign Relations, 2025-2-21 Trump is making Taiwan more vulnerable. Trump has also made clear that he wants to negotiate a broad economic deal with China, which raises the question of what China will seek in return. If Trump can take Greenland, why can't China take Taiwan?
◆   Politico (EU), 2025-1-30 President Donald Trump's threat to use military force to take control of Greenland and Panama has spooked Taiwan.  Trump's assertions of the U.S. right to use military force — even against longtime allies — in the name of national security concerns could  embolden Beijing to apply that same logic to pursuing its claims to Taiwan.
◆    Wall Street Journal,  2024-11-18 Some in Taiwan say its survival as a self-ruled democracy is at stake, that it can't afford to spend what Trump demands on defense and that it would wither in the crossfire of a U.S.-China trade war.
 Taiwan's military spending is currently at 2.45% of GDP—a lower share than Singapore's 2.8% and South Korea's 2.7%;  In Washington, the percent of GDP is really seen as a proxy for your seriousness.
◆   New York Times,  2024-11-24 Taiwan is ready to defend democracy. Is Trump?  Maybe he will strike some sort of bargain with Taiwan. But whatever Taiwan can offer him, Beijing can easily top.  More and more, there are those in Taiwan who say we are an “abandoned chess piece,” no longer valued by the United States.  China amplifies these fears...
◆   New York Times,  2024-11-6 Some diplomats in Asia expect China to intensify pressure on Taiwan; and China may calculate that  Trump would not go to war for a democracy that he has accused of “stealing” the microchip industry from the United States.  “With rump, there are large amounts of uncertainty,” said Lev Nachman, “And it's a matter of uncertainty that comes with great risk for Taiwan.”
◆   Washington Post,  2024-11-6 Trump's statements this year that raise doubt about his willingness to come to the island democracy's defense and his misleading assertion that Taipei needs to pay the US for defense. Such rhetoric could “fan the flames of skepticism” about American intent at a time when the Taiwanese are “directly threatened by CCP disinformation aimed at undermining U.S. credibility”
◆   New York Times,  2024-11-10 Taiwan's leading chip makers may face demands from the Trump administration to locate more production in the United States.  Taiwan has already been raising its military spending, partly under pressure from Washington. But Mr. Trump has said that Taiwan should raise military spending to 10 percent of its gross domestic product (from about 2.6 percent). 
◆   Fox News,  2024-11-10 Trump's public comments might suggest that he would not be willing to put boots on the ground to face another global superpower in defense of a tiny island democracy (Taiwan).   there is hope among restraint groups that Trump will be focused on economic warfare with China – rather than military.   "We don't have that alliance with Taiwan, ... the Taiwan issue is a powder keg — it's exceedingly dangerous. "
◆   New York Times,  2024-11-6 news briefing Many believe Trump's foreign policy changes could have a greater impact than anything since the start of the Cold War.

Trump could decide to do the true “America First” thing and withdraw completely, and basically say,  "defending Taiwan is not in our interest.”
◆   Bloomberg,  2024-11-5 Taiwan's Economic Affairs Minister acknowledged that Trump could introduce measures that might prove harmful for Taiwan's semiconductor industry. But the impact will not be as severe as some anticipate.
◆  Reuters,  2024-11-6 From Taiwan to trade, China braces for more rivalry as close US presidential race ends.  Trump might try to use the Taiwan issue as a bargaining chip to gain leverage in other areas, such as offering to restrain Taiwan's provocative actions in exchange for Beijing's compromise on trade.
　

　

How much of the world backs Beijing's claim to Taiwan?
♣   Economist, 2025-2-9 By The Economist's count, 70 countries have now officially endorsed that China is entitled to pursue “all” efforts to achieve unification, without specifying that those efforts should be peaceful.  China's latest diplomatic push appears to be designed to secure global support for its broadening campaign of coercion against Taiwan. That campaign includes the threat of imposing a quarantine or inspection regime on Taiwan  economist.com/international/2025/02/09/chinas-stunning-new-campaign-to-turn-the-world-against-taiwan
♣   Lowy Institute , 2025-1-29 nearly three-quarters of countries (74% or 142 in total) now support Beijing's position that Taiwan is part of China.。A growing number of countries support PRC efforts to “achieve national reunification” without any caveat that Beijing's objectives should be pursued peacefully. The widespread adoption of Beijing's stance might constrain US-led deterrence efforts and could provide the PRC with extra licence to escalate military aggression lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/how-much-world-really-backs-beijing-s-claim-taiwan
♣  National Review . 2024-10-7 Taiwan is losing the battle for diplomatic recognition overseas. The island nation cannot compete with China's “checkbook diplomacy,” preferring instead to await the day when the foreign beneficiaries of Beijing’s largess recognize the substandard services they're purchasing and see for themselves the point of diminishing returns.  Washington treated Taiwan as a chip to be traded away.
♣  National Public Radio, 2024-8-19 Taiwan is not officially considered a sovereign nation by most other countries and does not have the ability to conduct normal diplomacy. 

　

China fumes at Trump after the State Department drops website wording on not supporting Taiwan independence
♣   New York Post, 2025-2-18 The US agreed to acknowledge the so-called One China Policy and recognize Taiwan as part of China in the 1970s under then-President Nixon. But while the US has agreed to the One China Policy on paper, in practice, it has historically shown “strategic ambiguity” on the issue.
♣   NBC News, 2025-2-17 The State Department website has also been changed to add a reference to Taiwan's cooperation with a Pentagon technology and semiconductor development project and to say the U.S. will continue to support Taiwan's participation in international organizations, “including membership where applicable.  China has consistently opposed Taiwan's membership in international bodies such as the WHO.
♣   Independent (UK), 2025-2-17 Beijing accused the Trump administration of "gravely backpedalling" ; It is not the first time the State Department has removed the phrase. It did so in May 2022 but restored it a few weeks later after a strong protest from China.
♣   USA Today , 2025-2-17 US drops website wording on not supporting Taiwan independence, prompting praise from Taiwan island.  the State Department website reads in the update posted : "We expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the (Taiwan) Strait."
♣   The Hill , 2025-2-9 The president's rhetorical pivot from threats to compliments suggests that he may smell a deal in the air.  But US concessions (such as agreeing to "oppose" rather than "not support" Taiwan independence...)  would make the U.S. strategic position in Asia increasingly vulnerable, as they leave Beijing with openings for future exploitation.

　

Trump's defense policy on Taiwan
◆  Brookings, 2025-2-12 Trump said in 2021, if China invades Taiwan, “there isn't a f—ing thing we can do about it.”
◆  Fox News, 2025-2-7 Trump's comments on the campaign trail suggest that he would not be willing to put boots on the ground to face another global superpower in defense of the island democracy.
◆  Newsweek, 2025-1-3 Trump, who positioned himself as being tough on China, has suggested he would not defend Taiwan from China
◆   The Telegraph, 2025-1-13 Donald Trump has appointed a number of hawkish foreign policy advisers to his transition team. However, he has pledged not to allow the US to become involved in foreign wars.
◆   Newsweek, 2025-1-3 Trump, who positioned himself as being tough on China, has suggested he would not defend Taiwan from China
◆  Voice of America,  2024-12-26 Taiwan seeks clarity on Trump team policy amid Chinese pressure.
There is still quite a bit of resistance not only within the security apparatus and armed forces, which don't like the idea of involving citizens in defense, the opposition parties have also sought to derail [relevant] plans and fundings.  What may come next depends on Taiwan's actions and Beijing's assessment of Trump's policies toward the island after he takes office.
◆  Insider,   2024-12-26 Trump's next undersecretary of defense policy, Elbridge Colby, once called for the destruction of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's chip plants if China takes over Taiwan.  In Feb., Colby said "disabling or destroying TSMC is table stakes" if China invades Taiwan.   The US and its allies can't afford to allow China to "have such dominance over global semiconductors," he wrote in 2023.

more

　

 

Taiwan has a Trump problem
◆  The Atlantics, 2024-10-25 The shortcomings of Taiwan's military lend some validity to Trump's complaint that America's allies don't pay enough for their own defense and dump too much of the responsibility onto the United States—a burden that a second Trump administration might not be committed to bear.
◆  New York Times, 2024-10-26 Mr. Trump criticized Taiwan, saying that “they stole our chip business”,“They want us to protect, ... They don't pay us money for the protection... The mob makes you pay money, right?”America's heavy reliance on Taiwan's semiconductors has been a growing source of concern among U.S. officials, given China's ongoing threats to invade the self-governing island.

　


　

If China were to invade Taiwan, would you support or oppose the United States: (% support)
　 2024 2023 2022
Using the US military to airlift food and medical supplies to Taiwan 74 78 　
Imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions on china 72 75 76
Sending additional arms and military supplies to the Taiwanese government 59 62 65
SAending US troops to Taiwan to help the Taiwanese gov. defend itself against China 36 39 40
globalaffairs.org/research/public-opinion-survey/taiwan-americans-favor-status-quo

　

　

China's "coercion short of violence" strategy
◆  Associated Press, 2024-10-5 Beijing could wage an economic and cyber war to force a surrender from Taiwan without direct use of military power, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said in the report.  the U.S. government has yet to formulate a plan to respond to non-military tactics, giving Beijing flexibility in working to undermine Taiwan without triggering an outright response from Washington...
◆  Foreign Policy, 2024-10-4 Taiwan's greatest vulnerabilities extend beyond its military    ──     financial, cybersecurity, and energy risks that China could exploit.
◆  Foundation of Defense of Democracies, 2024-10-4 the “most likely” scenario: Sometime in the next decade, China will combine economic coercion, malicious cyber activity, and limited military moves short of kinetic attacks to break Taiwan's societal and/or economic resilience and force a major adjustment in its policy toward unification. fdd.org/analysis/2024/10/04/targeting-taiwan/
◆  Brookings, 2024-10-3 China's leaders appear determined to show directional progress toward their goal of asserting control over Taiwan. Beijing is pursuing two parallel paths, significant military build-up and "coercion without violence" to compel the people of Taiwan to accept some form of union with the People's Republic of China as a least bad option for Taiwan's future. Harris said in 2022 that the United States would “support Taiwan's self-defense, consistent with our longstanding policy.”. Trump's disdain for alliances and security partnerships, though, negatively impacted Taiwan by calling into question the reliability of America's security commitments. The common thread among these utterances is Trump (team) suggestion that Taiwan is too small and far away for the United States to feel obliged to defend.
◆  American Enterprise Institute , 2024-5-3 From Coercion to Capitulation: How China Can Take Taiwan Without a War / (1) uses economic carrots and sticks, information operations, and military escalation to convince the US and Taiwan that their cooperation directly precipitates further escalation (2) Economic warfare, cyberwarfare, sabotage, rigorous (and pseudo-legal) inspections of ships carrying goods to Taiwan, air and sea closures, electronic warfare, and propaganda (3) break the Taiwanese public's will to resist by intimidating supporters of resistance, sowing doubt and fear ...  (4) information campaigns aim to decrease the US public's and political leadership's willingness to support Taiwan.   aei.org/research-products/report/from-coercion-to-capitulation-how-china-can-take-taiwan-without-a-war/

　

　

　

　

　

                  

★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on ecosia (Berlin Germany), 2024-12-22, 2024-12-7, 2024-10-10, 2024-9-12, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-8-2, 2024-7-24, 2024-5-1, 2024-4-19, 2024-2-28, 2024-1-23, 2023-11-11, 2023-11-1, 2023-10-10, 2023-9-11, 2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-4, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-31, 2023-5-1, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-23, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-6, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-1, 2022-12-12, 2022-10-10, 2022-9-20, 2022-9-11,  2022-8-23, 2022-8-14,  2022-8-7, 2022-7-29, 2022-7-18, 2022-7-7, 2022-7-1, 2022-6-25, 2022-6-18, 2022-6-10, 2022-6-7, 2022-5-23, 2022-5-16, 2022-5-7, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-10, 2022-4-8, 2022-4-3, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-22, 2022-3-17, 2022-3-12, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-6, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-19, 2022-2-11, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-11, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-1, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 10-1-2020;   pic. left: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by keyword "Taiwan comments"  on Ecosia of Germany, 2023-8-22, 2023-2-28, 2023-1-21, 2022-12-12, 2022-5-23, 2022-5-7, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-10, 2022-4-8, 2022-4-3, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-20, 2022-3-12, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-19,

 2022-2-14, 2022-2-11, 2022-2-8, 2022-1-30, 2022-1-26

　

　

              

★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, Dec. 6, 2020, 11-11-2020, 10-10-2020 

　

　

          ◆         
★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 11-9-2020, 11-1-2020, 10-30-2020, 10-10-2020

　

　


★  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 2021-8-22, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-26, 2021-4-17 

　

　

    

★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 01-01-2021, 12-20-2020  

　

　

　

　

　

U.S. SEAL Team Six  ──   resisting China's invasion ?
◆ Voice of America, 2024-9-14 the secret and precise combat characteristics of the  United States Navy's elite SEAL Team Six mean its role in resisting China's invasion of Taiwan would be very limited and the focus would be on carrying out special tasks.
◆ Financial Times, New York Post, 2024-9-12 SEAL Team Six has spent more than a year training for possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan.  However,  the US has so far declined to explicitly say it would come to Taiwan's aid if attacked.

　

"cyberwar" -  pro-Russian vs Taiwan
◆ CNBC (USA), 2024-9-13 "a large number of foreign IPs launched invalid queries" on stock exchange network, resulting in “unstable service for a short period of time.  Local media reported this attack on the Taiwanese government and financial unites, including airports and tax bureaus by a pro-Russian hacker group in retaliation for comments made by Taiwanese President William Lai (Lai Ching-te) .cnbc.com/2024/09/13/pro-russian-hackers-crash-taiwan-stock-exchange-website-local-media-reports-.html
◆ Daily Express (UK), 2024-9-3 Lai Ching-te  has mocked Vladimir Putin with a humiliating quip, saying his biggest ally China should take advantage of Russia being at its "weakest" and take back territory.

　

　

Taiwan's Annual Han Kuang exercise      ──   People don't realise the stage of infancy the military is in, said expert of the Atlantic Council.

◆  Newsweek , 2024-7-22 This year's drills are designed to better reflect the uncertainties of actual warfare...participating troops are not being briefed on where or when the "enemy" would strike and with what weapons systems, as a result of the added uncertainties of the new format,...assess how Taiwanese forces would handle a decentralized command structure in the event they are cut off from headquarters, as could happen should Chinese air strikes disable communications infrastructure before any invasion.
◆  Financial Times (UK), 2024-7-21 This year's drill pivots from scripted performances to realistic battlefield scenarios to address the Taiwan military's core problem, which is operational-level and tactical-level decision-making,”  The biggest problem was the general staff's planning process, they need to learn to adapt operational plans to a changing situation in wartime in rapid, live planning cycles.
◆  Barron's,  AFP (France),  2024-7-22 Japan has reportedly concluded that a ground landing in Taiwan by Chinese troops would now be "possible in less than a week" instead of the previous estimate of a month.

　

　


　

The US defends Taiwan ?

◆ TIME, 2024-6-4 Asked by Time magazine whether The US might involve boots on the ground, US President Joe Biden said, "It would depend on the circumstances""we are not seeking independence for Taiwan nor will we in fact, not defend Taiwan if they if, if China unilaterally tries to change the status...Not ruling out using US military force. There's a distinction between deploying on the ground, air power and naval power, etc"

 

China's 'reunification' with Taiwan

◆ Reuters, 2024-6-2 Prospect of peaceful 'reunification' with Taiwan is being increasingly "eroded" by Taiwanese separatists and external forces, China says
◆ Wall Street Journal, 2024-6-2
China is determined to subvert and manipulate the island's politics
◆ Daily Express, 2024-6-3 China's Defence Chief asserted that China's military is prepared to engage forcefully, and warned of an imminent "perilous situation of war and danger"

 

 

　

Taiwan Confirms US Troops on Front-Line Islands Near China
◆ Wall Street Journal, 2024-3-20 Taiwan acknowledges presence of U.S. troops on outlying islands /  The U.S. planned to expand its presence of troops in Taiwan to between 100 and 200 last year, up from roughly 30 in 2022. The U.S. and Taiwan have been largely silent on the deployment as they attempt to avoid agitating Beijing while they work to fortify Taiwan against a potential Chinese invasion.
◆ Taiwan News, 2024-3-21 US commander denies permanently stationing troops on Taiwan's outer island

　

.

◆ Foreign Affairs, 2024-2-20       foreignaffairs.com/scared-strait  brief
Raymond Kuo, Michael A. Hunzeker, Mark A. Christopher GLASER, WEISS, AND CHRISTENSEN reply
(They) argue that Washington and Taiwan are not doing enough to assure Beijing of their intentions, in the process undermining deterrence in the Taiwan Strait.... providing more assurances will simply embolden Beijing to continue its threatening behavior.  Conditional, credible consequences are now essential to encouraging a less bellicose Chinese policy...when deterrence is needed against a determined and capable rival, assurances that are not reciprocated can quickly become concessions. we did not advocate an “assurance first” strategy that offers “concessions” to appease Beijing... the new military measures we think are needed for deterrence will be less effective if Beijing believes they are aimed at buttressing a unilateral assertion of independence by Taiwan or ... an alliance... China can attack out of fear.  They may believe that Taiwan can safely assert permanent sovereign independence as long as there is sufficient military might in place to dissuade Beijing from attacking. If so, they are hardly alone, but we strongly disagree.

　

   

　

　

 ◆  the Lowy Institute Asia Power Index, 2023 Edition
　 Taiwan China Japan Korea Singapore
Comprehensive Power No.14  down 15.2 2nd 3rd 7th 8th
Economic capability 8th  -1.2   down 13.0 2nd  87.0 3rd   5th 6th
Military Capability 11th  +2.1   up 21.7 2nd   68.1 6th   27.4 5th 9th
Resilience 18th   -5.9 down 24.7 3rd   70.4 11th  10th 14th
Future Resources 12th  up 6.5 2nd   72.9 5th 7th 11th
Diplomatic Influence  22th  -3.9   down 19.4 1st    91.5 3rd 6th 10th
Economic Relationships 12th  +0.6  up 11.1 1st   98.3 3rd 5th 4th
Cultural Influence 13th  -2.2   down 12.6 2nd   47.4 3rd 7th 9th
Defense Networks 16th  down 11.8 7th    23.7 3rd 4th 5th
power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/taiwan/

　

.

　

    

◆  Report to Congress on Taiwan Defense Military Issues
news.usni.org/2023/09/26/report-to-congress-on-taiwan-defense-military-issues
Advantages  including geography and climate.
Challenges (1)  the PLA now is able, or will soon be able, to execute a range of military campaigns against Taiwan.
(2)  Civil-military relations are strained... The archipelago's energy, food, water, internet, and other critical infrastructure systems are vulnerable to external disruption.  Taiwan's civil defense preparedness is insufficient, and Taiwan's military struggles to recruit, retain, and train personnel.  At a societal level, it is not clear what costs — in terms of economic security, safety and security, and lives — Taiwan's people would be willing or able to bear.

◎

  In Times Higher Education 2024, National Taiwan University ranks behind Asian countries - China, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, S. Korea.   In Quacquarelli Symonds，QS  UK 2024, National Taiwan University ranks behind Asian countries - China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, S. Korea, Malaysia.  In CWUR 2023 National Taiwan University ranks behind countries of Asia & Pacific, Japan, S. Korea, China, Australia, Israel, Singapore.   In Nature Index 2023, National Taiwan University ranks No.208 behind China, Japan, Singapore, S. Korea, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, India.

　

　

　

China's economic crisis     news.yahoo.com/china-economic-woes-could-raise-220300203.html  Michael Martina   businessinsider.com/joe-biden-china-unlikely-invade-taiwan-economy-property-crisis-g20-2023-9   Huileng Tan

◆ Reuters, 2023-9-12 :  the Republican chair of a U.S. congressional committee on China says China's economic slowdown could increase the risk of Beijing taking military action toward Taiwan
◆ Insider, 2023-9-11: Biden says China is unlikely to invade Taiwan now because Beijing just too busy with its own economic crisis


　

◆  Taiwanese Divided on US Military Sales /  VOA News , 2023-9-6
♦  66.5% of the respondents support U.S. military sales to Taiwan
♦ 43.1% of respondents think U.S. military sales to Taiwan will further increase tension across the Taiwan Strait. Whereas 37.8% think U.S. military sales can help maintain peace between China and Taiwan
♦ Taiwan rarely has the autonomy to decide what types of weapons it wants to purchase from the U.S. Rather, the deliverables often seem to have been “decided” for Taiwan

♦ there are often deeper political meanings behind U.S. military sales to Taiwan.  These military sales should be conducted more discreetly, rather than publicly announcing these programs

♦  the U.S. provides more offensive weapons for Taiwan through military sales, they believe it increases the risks of prompting a potential Chinese military attack on Taiwan.

voanews.com/a/taiwanese-divided-on-us-military-sales-amid-growing-chinese-threats/7256298.htm

　

　

　

　

US Congress CRS Report, 2023-8-24  - Taiwan: Defense and Military Issues
crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12481
♣  Civil military relations are strained for historical, political, and bureaucratic reasons. The archipelago’s energy, food, water, internet, and other critical infrastructure systems are vulnerable to external disruption. Civil defense preparedness is insufficient, ... Taiwan's military struggles to recruit, retain, and train personnel. It is not clear what costs—in terms of economic security, well-being, safety and security, and lives—Taiwan's people would be willing or able to bear ...
♣ persistent, low-level, non-combat operations that analysts say are eroding Taiwan's military advantages and readiness... unmanned combat aerial vehicle flights near and encircling Taiwan, and reported flights of unmanned aerial vehicles in the airspace of Kinmen...The normalization of PLA operations ever closer to Taiwan's main island in peacetime could undermine “routine” operations or exercises to obscure preparations for an attack.  If the PLA were to use such operations as cover for an imminent attack, it could significantly shorten the time Taiwan would have to respond
♣ many observers argue that Taiwan's military is insufficiently equipped to defeat a possible PRC armed attack.  observers have raised concerns about impediments to the timely delivery of U.S. defense items to Taiwan.

　

　

　

◆ Fox News, 2023-7-28  
The coming China war over Taiwan - The US should fight alongside allies, not in their place
♦ a critical question – is Taiwan committed to its own defense? There are multiple indications that the answer is no.
♦ perhaps most alarmingly, some Taiwanese youth, it turns out, are reluctant to die for their country.Research in 2018: Large numbers of young Taiwanese were "apathetic toward the military and averse to service." 
 ♦ Biden must show leadership now, before it’s too late, and force Taiwan to participate much more in its own defense...
 foxnews.com/opinion/coming-china-war-over-taiwan-needs-american-leadership-before-too-late   Rebekah Koffler

　

　

comparisons
Chinese military  Taiwan's military
♦The Guardian, 2023-8-7: the more dramatic parts of China's documentary on Taiwan invasion are pledges by PLA soldiers from various divisions to give up their lives in a potential attack on Taiwan.   ── “If the conditions were too difficult to safely remove the naval mines in actual combat, we would use our own bodies to clear a safe pathway for our [landing] forces,” said  a frogman; “fighter jet would be the last missile rushing towards the enemy" said a pilot.   .theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/07/chinese-soldiers-pledge-to-sacrifice-their-lives-in-documentary-on-taiwan-invasion  Associated Press ♦Wall Street Journal, 2023-7-5: The professionalism and motivation of Taiwan's military are a particular concern, ... “A lot of young people who signed up for the four-year volunteer force decided to pay a penalty and dropped out early because they say they had come for the money—not to fight and not to die".  wsj.com/articles/taiwan-china-ukraine-russia-hong-kong-military-war-517b87d?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo    Yaroslav Trofimov    Joyu Wang

　

　

　

National Interest, 2023-7-16    -   Willing to fight ?
China Taiwan
a study conducted by Adam Y. Liu and Xiaojun Li, 55 percent of the respondents supported “launching a unification war ” while 33 percent opposed it ...  another online survey in ThinkChina and Taiwan Inside, 53.1 percent supported armed unification with Taiwan, while 39.19 percent opposed it among Chinese elites.  Instead of making a commitment to defend their territory, most Taiwanese people have a huge hope to rely on external support, particularly from the United States... extension of the compulsory conscription program received backlash from younger Taiwanese.

　

   

　

National Interest, 2023-6-20  nationalinterest.org/feature/are-taiwanese-confident-americans-will-defend-them-206566
“How confident are you that the U.S. would defend Taiwan if China were to start a war against Taiwan?”a web survey (implemented by Macromill Embrain)
　 overall DPP KMT TPP
not at all confident 26.61% 3.23% 55.63% 32.12%
not very confident 37.92 23.12 29.38 48.91
fairly 27.96 48.92 12.50 16.79
very confident 7.51 24.73 2.50 2.19


　

　

　

　

　

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Elbridge  Colby, a leading voice for a new “pivot to Asia.” John Walters, Hudson Institute CEO
He wants to see the U.S. concentrate efforts on deterring war in the Pacific, even if that means abandoning European interests.。 the U.S. simply does not have the capability for building the alliance system Walters envisions or supplying it with the requisite arms and ammunition to fight wars with two great powers at once; It will take well into the 2030s before we're in much better shape; before Chinese leader Xi Jinping moves on Taiwan, the U.S. should put in place immediate measures to attack the key segments of that CCP economic and military power。 “Ukraine Is No Distraction From Asia.”;  the US can fend off Russian and Chinese revanchism simultaneously; aggression must be met by strong American alliances with key countries, including both Taiwan and Ukraine; the kinds of weapons needed in Ukraine and Taiwan are different enough that supplying one will not substantially affect the other; most Republicans on Capitol Hill remain strong supporters of Ukraine.  Ukraine will help generate (US) domestic resolve to fight for Taiwan. 
washingtonexaminer.com/news/inside-right-debate-ukraine-taiwan  2023-6-1

　

　

　

　

　

Associated Press, 2023-5-2: Unclear who would help Taiwan in a war: Taiwan foreign minister
Japan S. Korea
 Asahi News, 2023-5-1: Asahi poll: 80% of voters said they are worried that Japan would be caught up in the armed conflict if the United States and China clashed over Taiwan, 56% want only SDF rear support to U.S. in event of Taiwan crisis. Which approaches to prioritize for its national security?  70% selected “deepening the relationship with China,” far more than the 26 % who chose “strengthening defense capabilities.”


Responsible Statecraft, 2023-5-2: It is naïve, however, to expect Japan to automatically fight China if the United States intervened militarily.   If Japan were to assume a neutral stance, China might be encouraged to use military force to realize its aim to bring Taiwan under its control. Recent war games conducted by the CSIS suggests that the United States would lose a conflict over Taiwan if it were unable to access bases in Japan. 

　

　

  The Diplomat, 2023-3-21: South Korea Will Stay Out of a Taiwan Strait War，  Seoul’s desire to limit the damage in its relations with Beijing is strong enough that strikes on South Korean territory that killed only Americans would not necessarily bring South Korea into the war as a combatant against China.。
South Korea would limit its support to actions near the low end of the spectrum – strong diplomatic statements, symbolic economic sanctions, and behind-the-lines re-supply of U.S. forces returning from battle.  

　

Axios, 2023-5-2: South Korea would be unlikely to consider sending troops into the Taiwan Strait. But the U.S. could pull some of its own 30,000-strong contingent out of Korea, and would likely expect  Seoul to play a key support role.  That could leave Seoul exposed to retaliation from China, and more vulnerable to North Korea

　
  asahi.com/ajw/articles/14898395  responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/05/02/should-japan-defend-taiwan/    k. sugawa   thediplomat.com/2023/03/south-korea-will-stay-out-of-a-taiwan-strait-war/    axios.com/2023/05/02/taiwan-war-us-philippines-japan-korea-australia  d. lawler, b. a. ebrahimian

　

　

　

　

　

　

Pew Research org., 2023-3-2
US respondents' views about a hypothetical conflict between China, Taiwan differ by question wording
　 a conflict between China and Taiwan China invade Taiwan Taiwan declared Independence, China invaded
support China 8% 7 10
support Taiwan 45% 49 40
remain neutral 47% 44 50
when the scenario involves Taiwan declaring independence. Under this hypothetical, 46% of Democratic respondents say the U.S. should support Taiwan, compared with 28% of Republicans.
pewresearch.org/decoded/2023/03/02/testing-survey-questions-about-a-hypothetical-military-conflict-between-china-and-taiwan/

　

　

　

General's memo spurs debate: Could China invade Taiwan by 2025?    The Hill, 2023-2-2, USA Today, 2023-2-3, FoxNews, 2023-2-3
US generals, officials, experts, law-makers China invade Taiwan by ?
CIA Director William Burns Xi has ordered military to be ready for Taiwan invasion by 2027
Philip Davidson, the former head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (Jan. 2023) China may attack Taiwan — even just its small, outer islands — by 2027
Adm. Charles Richard, commander of U.S. Strategic Command predicted war by 2027
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday (Oct., 2022) Chinese could attack Taiwan before 2024...or a potentially a 2023 window
Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Oct., 2022) on a “much faster timeline” than previously thought.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner (July, 2022) “only a matter of time”
Minihan, the leader of Air Mobility Command 2025
Jacob Stokes, a senior fellow focused on U.S.-China relations at the Center for a New American Security, before 2027,  a crisis or incident that could spiral out of control
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul agreeing with the assessment on “Fox News Sunday.”
Sen. Todd Young (Ind.) 2025
House Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.)  the 2025 timeline for such an event was “not only not inevitable” but “highly unlikely,”
Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey 2025 ,  a“bad judgment”
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Nov. 2022) it will be “some time” before the Chinese have the military capability to invade Taiwan.
news.yahoo.com/general-memo-spurs-debate-could-110000282.html

　

　

　

The Guardian, 2023-1-1: Ukraine is in the headlines now. But a whole new world of conflict is about to erupt，Taiwan, North Korea, Iran and Palestine are all potential flashpoints  

NBC, 2022-12-27: Taiwan to extend military conscription to one year, citing threat from China
WSJ, 2022-12-27 a once politically unpalatable move that has become imperative in the face of growing concerns about a Chinese attack and intensifying competition between Washington and Beijing. wsj.com/articles/taiwan-to-extend-mandatory-military-service-11672129529
PBS, AP,  2022-12-27 The White House welcomed the announcement on conscription reform, saying it underscores Taiwan’s commitment to self-defense and strengthens deterrence...mong the youngest demographic group of 20-24, however,  only 35.6 percent said they would support an extension pbs.org/newshour/world/taiwan-extends-compulsory-military-service-from-4-months-to-1-year
CNN, 2022-12-27  Chinese soldiers can only make an amphibious landing after taking control of the air and the sea...before they land, there will likely be bombing and blockade, and we need people to deliver goods and guide residents to air raid shelters  edition.cnn.com/2022/12/27/asia/taiwan-military-conscription-intl-hnk/index.html
Washington Post, 12-27 It had been a widely debated topic for a long time, but faced with Chinese threats, the government was left little room to be hesitant   washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/27/taiwan-military-mandatory-service-china/
Mainichi Japan , 2022-12-28 The change is said to have come at the request of the United States
 mainichi.jp/english/articles/20221227/p2g/00m/0in/058000c
GT (China), 2022-12-27 "a deplorable decision" made under US pressure  /   the DPP authorities might incorporate some conscripts into the "cyber army" to engage in collecting intelligence and conduct information warfare against the mainland, given their relatively weak capabilities on the real battlefield. ...expecting that the US may ask Taiwan authorities to increase the defense budget to purchase more US weapons and ensure the island's military is in line with US strategy. globaltimes.cn/page/202212/1282753.shtml    12-27

　

　

　

　


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Biden :  "U.S. forces, U.S. men and women would defend Taiwan"

　
Chicago Tribune, 2022-9-23 Biden pokes at China again over Taiwan. At what cost to US national interests?  if China needs to be confronted militarily (and that's unlikely), Taiwan is precisely the wrong place to try to do that   chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-opinion-taiwan-china-biden-tensions-20220922-tjd6rxcmozgunew3djsycoodsa-story.html
 CNN (US), 2022-9-20 looks like the US has moved from ambiguity to deterrence...  Biden's remarks don't necessarily equate to how he would behave in a real crisis. edition.cnn.com/2022/09/19/world/joe-biden-taiwan-answer-analysis/index.html  
Washington Examiner (US),
2022-9-20		 wrong to commit to Taiwan's defense unambiguously,  two key concerns here. (1) Taiwan's defense spending remains ludicrously low in face of the existential threat it faces. (2) It's one thing to tell a pollster that you're willing to fight and die for your country. It's a different thing to take painstaking steps to prepare for that eventuality. And the hard truth is that far too few Taiwanese are currently taking those steps msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-two-problems-with-bidens-taiwan-defense-pledge/ar-AA120KGw
Japan Times (Japan), 2022-9-20 Cornell prof. called Biden's remarks “dangerous",  this new combo (a pledge to send troops + decisions about independence are Taiwan’s) suggests an unconditional commitment, U.S. is issuing Taiwan a blank check japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/09/20/asia-pacific/politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific/biden-taiwan-remarks-uncertainty/
Bloomberg, 2022-9-20 “Such comments will do more to feed Beijing's sense of urgency than they will bolster deterrence” Taiwan's leaders could move closer to independence    msn.com/en-us/news/world/biden-s-vow-to-defend-taiwan-makes-us-policy-shift-explicit/ar-AA123qxX
 Politico, 2022-9-19 The big question is, what are the costs we're really willing to pay?” Stanford's Skylar Mastro said. politico.com/news/2022/09/19/biden-leaves-no-doubt-strategic-ambiguity-toward-taiwan-is-dead-00057658
Washington Post, 2022-9-19 Yet presidential pronouncements alone can only deter China so much... Congress should provide Mr. Biden and his successors with a stronger set of legislative instructions washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/19/biden-china-taiwan-60-minutes/

DW (Germany), 2022-9-19 scholars: "it can lead to very different results than what Biden might be thinking he has the capacity to do,"," US "strategic ambiguity is becoming more strategic and less ambiguous." dw.com/en/biden-us-forces-would-defend-taiwan-if-china-invades/a-63166248
Le Monde (France), 2022-9-19 Alors que l’occupant de la Maison Blanche a tenu des propos forts sur le dossier taïwanais dimanche soir, la Chine a dénoncé « une grave violation de [son] engagement important à ne pas soutenir l’indépendance de Taïwan .   lemonde.fr/international/article/2022/09/19/joe-biden-affirme-que-les-etats-unis-defendraient-taiwan-en-cas-d-invasion-chinoise_6142183_3210.html
 France 24 (France), 2022-9-19  most explicit statement so far on the issue, something sure to anger Beijing.。Biden's Asia policy czar, Kurt Campbell, has in the past rejected any move to "strategic clarity" over Taiwan, saying there were "significant downsides" to such an approach”msn.com/en-gb/news/world/biden-says-us-forces-would-defend-taiwan-if-china-invades/ar-AA11YIsO
Daily Express (UK), 2022-9-19 Bonnie Glaser: " if Mr Biden makes such pledges he needs the "capability" to back them up, If President Biden plans to defend Taiwan, then he should make sure the U.S. military has the capability to do so", “"Rhetorical support that isn't backed up by real capabilities is unlikely to strengthen deterrence"  express.co.uk/news/world/1671100/Joe-Biden-Taiwan-China-Xi-Jinping-CBS-Nancy-Pelosi-White-House-ont
Bloomberg (US), 2022-9-19 Expert Bonnie Glaser: “China has long assumed that the US would intervene to defend Taiwan, so these statements don’t change PLA plans”, Prof. Lev Nachman: “The worry is that this will exacerbate Taiwan's current high-tension moment rather than reduce it.。” Bloomberg     msn.com/en-us/news/world/biden-says-us-would-defend-taiwan-from-unprecedented-attack/ar-AA11Yf55
Washington Post (US), 2022-9-19 Biden’s most hawkish comments on Taiwan yet  /  The implications for that are huge. This is still in the realm of the hypothetical, but it’s a majorly consequential hypothetical that now includes a firm commitment — whether that firm commitment is technically official policy or not    washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/19/biden-taiwan-china-defense/
Global Times (CHN) , 2022-9-19 his most explicit answer so far on the question, which analysts believe suggested a shifting process in Washington's decades-long "strategic ambiguity" policy  ...not only his personal views, but also those in his White House team and various political forces on Capitol Hill.  China clearly knows that the US is trying to erode its "one-China policy." If the US moves further toward such "strategic clarity" that is entirely targeted against the Chinese mainland and supports Taiwan's pro-independence behaviors, we will certainly have diplomatic, military and economic countermeasures for them, Xin said.   globaltimes.cn/page/202209/1275600.shtml 
The Conversation  (Australia),
2022-9-20		 so does this support mean economic aid, supply of weapons or U.S. boots on the ground? China and Taiwan are left guessing if – and to what extent – the U.S. will be involved in any China-Taiwan conflict.    news.yahoo.com/biden-again-indicates-us-defend-181440760.html

 

　

　

　

　

Can "silicon shield" protect Taiwan?
New York Times, 2022-9-9 Taiwan is protected by something far more subtle —The "silicon shield"...If it is clear that China will be better off with a steady flow of chips from Taiwan, peace is likely to prevail
New York Times, 2022-8-29 Analysts debate how much protection China's reliance on Taiwan gives it.  Some argue that calculations over supply chains are insignificant in a decision over war.
 National Interest, 2022-5-15 Taiwan's “silicon shield”—the name for a strategy that entrusts the island's defense to both Chinese and American reliance on its semiconductors—is an outmoded concept that burdens the United States, emboldens Taiwan, and fails to deter China
VOA News, 2021-5-10 Song Hong, assistant general director at the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences  shrugged off the geopolitical implications of Taiwan’s silicon shield, saying that China views Taiwanese issues as domestic affairs and will not be deterred from its goals by U.S. action
Fox News, 2022-8-26 Why would the U.S. fight China over Taiwan, Trade is the key reason and the aforementioned importance of semiconductor production is the glue

　

　

　

　

　

Taiwan proposes large rise in defense spending specifically to acquire new fighter jets and other projects to boost naval and air capabilities (news, 2022-8-25)
Taiwan  vs.  US

Taiwan VS. US's "porcupine"  weapons

The US disagrees Taiwan's requests for big-ticket weapons


◆ Financial Times, 2022-8-19: Intensified military pressure from China has reinforced Taiwan's desire to acquire large weapons platforms such as warships and fighters...widens gulf on procurement policy between Taipei and its main arms supplier

ft.com/content/0d492ad7-9346-4c9e-b186-834c6fc75e85


◆ Economist, 2022-5-10:These flashier purchases are politically popular... Some of Taiwan’s political and military leaders believe it is more important to counter such “grey zone” attacks than to prepare for an invasion. A full-scale assault has long been hypothetical, after all, while incursions have increased every year
◆WEEK (UK), 2022-5-12: Taiwan plans to “throw a thousand tanks at the beachhead” in the event of a Chinese invasion that could result in “brutal tank battles”

◆ United Dialy (Taiwan), 2022-5-19 : Can the guerrillas of Stinger missiles and Javelin missiles really block the Russian main force in Ukraine?

 ◆ The China Times (Taiwan), 2021-10-26 : Urban guerrilla warfare will turn cities into ruins and cause a large number of civilian casualties。
◆ Foreign Policy, 2020-8-20 : “Their underlying thinking is that PLA has grown to be too strong for us to fight militarily anyway... Taiwan should just focus on putting up a good show of being tough, buy enough U.S. weapons for display, and pray that Americans come to our rescue

◆ Financial Times, 2022-5-17: Washington was right to push Taipei to focus procurement more on the threat of invasion, but that forcing its hand was counterproductive.

　

　

◆ War on the Rocks, 2022-8-22: flashy F-16 sales do little to defend Taiwan from China's missile force. warontherocks.com/2022/08/the-fourth-taiwan-strait-crisis-is-just-starting/

◆ Financial Times, 2022-8-19:Washington is trying to force Taipei to prioritise “asymmetric” weapons — systems that exploit an adversary’s weakness instead of trying to match its strengths.

　

◆ Business Insider, 2022-8-21: expensive equipment such as fighter jets, helicopters, and tanks to prepare against a possible Chinese invasion, defense experts say these would easily be destroyed by an attacker, according to the Journal's report. businessinsider.com/taiwan-learns-ukraine-porcupine-strategy-defend-against-china-2022-8

　

◆ New York Times, 2022-5-7: US presses Taiwan to buy missiles and smaller arms for asymmetric warfare (Suited to Win Against China);  But some Taiwanese defense officials are resistant.
◆ FoxNews, 2022-5-12: Taiwan may not have military equipment to defend itself against Chinese invasion warns Rep. McCaul
◆ Politico, 2022-5-11: The Biden administration is rebuffing some of Taiwan’s requests for big-ticket weapons,...these expensive items, while fine for peacetime operations, would not survive an all-out assault from the mainland.
 ◆ Economist, 2022-5-10: expensive conventional equipment such as tanks, battleships and submarines — are hard to hide and easy to strike with a missile — a "porcupine" strategist would focus on agile and concealable weapons
◆ Politico, 2022-5-19: the U.S. effort to reshape Taiwan’s military has taken on new urgency since the Russian invasion...the administration would no longer support arms sales for Taiwan “outside their definition of ‘asymmetric’ defense,”
◆ WSJ , 2022-5-8: F-16s Are the Wrong Way for Taiwan to Defend Itself
◆ National Interest, 2022-5-15: One important task has been to tailor the provision of defensive weapons to the needs of Taiwan’s military—procuring Stingers and Javelins rather than Abrams tanks and Seahawk helicopters.
 ◆ Foreign Policy , 2020-10-19 : Taiwan's leaders have gravitated toward military showpieces
◆ Diplomat, 10-5-2020: Taiwan needs mobile systems,long-range surveillance armed drones...

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

WHY?   Taiwanese people "don't worry" China's "the largest and most sophisticated military exercises" around Taiwan island ??

CNN, 2022-8-8: Taiwan's foreign minister says : "I worry that China may really launch a war against Taiwan,";   But the mood in Taiwan remained calm, with life carrying on as usual with packed restaurants and crowded public transport.
♣ NBC, 2022-8-10:   nbcnews.com/news/world/is-taiwan-worried-china-threat-invasion-pelosi-visit-rcna41964  
A: many residents say they are used to intimidation by Beijing ..." I don't think China will attack because our rockets can also reach Beijing and Shanghai" ;
Experts:  many residents in Ukraine reacted with disbelief to Russia's long-signaled invasion...whether Taiwan is being too complacent.?   people in Taiwan need to take this more seriously, they don't fully appreciate the circumstance they're in,”...
 ♣ New York Times, 2022-8-9:  many watching from outside Taiwan seemed to expect Taiwanese to be “hysterically” stockpiling food and crafting evacuation plans ... a Taiwanese girl says: "Taiwanese people appearing calm in the face of rising tension is not due to ignorance or naïveté, but because this is accepted — even internalized — as a part of being Taiwanese”.

♣ United Daily (Taiwan ) , 2022-8-11:  A poll showed that about 60% of the respondents were not worried about further military conflict between mainland  China and  Taiwan, which surprised foreign media,  Some posts on the net reflect what Taiwanese people's thought, "because China PLA won't attack us", " we are used to it" ," we have been intimidated two or three times per year" ... It appears too many intimidations made our people NUMB !


　

PS: NDTV, 2022-8-25: Taiwan Army Reservists Stoic But "Not Ready" For War Against China   ndtv.com/world-news/taiwan-army-reservists-stoic-but-not-ready-for-war-against-china-3284620

　

　

　


　

　

          
★pic. left: No.1 "comment Taiwan" on Lycos, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-1, 2023-1-21, 2022-9-20, 2022-9-11, 2022-8-24, 2022-8-13, 2022-8-7, 2022-7-29, 2022-7-7, 2022-7-1, 2022-6-25, 2022-6-18, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-11, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021,10-3-2020, 8-13-2020, 6-12-2020, 5-19-2020, 1-18-2020,12-05-2019; ★ pic. right:   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Search Encrypt, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-1, 2023-1-21, 2022-9-20, 2022-9-11, 2022-8-24, 2022-8-13, 2022-8-7, 2022-7-29, 2022-7-1, 2022-6-25, 2022-6-18, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-10, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-4, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021,10-3-2020, 8-13-2020 No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on ekoru (New Zealand), 2022-6-18, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-10, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7,  2021-8-22, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021,1-19-2021, 10-3-2020, 8-13-2020

　

　


★ No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Dogpile, 2023-5-1, 2023-1-21, 2022-9-11, 2022-8-13, 2022-5-23, 2022-5-16, 2022-5-6, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-10, 2022-4-8, 2022-4-3, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-23, 2022-3-20, 2022-3-12, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-6, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-14, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-10, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 10-1-2020, 8-13-2020, 8-2-2020, 6-12-2020, 5-19-2020;  No. 2  "comment Taiwan" on Dogpile,  2022-8-7,  No. 3 at 2022-7-19

　

　

　

★  pic.:  No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 2022-5-23, 2022-5-20, 2022-5-16, 2022-5-6, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-16, 2022-3-3, 2022-2-14, 2022-2-11, 2022-1-31, 2022-1-29, 2022-1-20, 2022-1-15, 2022-1-11, 2022-1-9, 2022-1-6, 2022-1-3, 2021-12-31, 2021-12-25, 2021-12-21, 2021-12-15, 2021-12-11, 2021-12-9, 2021-12-4, 2021-11-29, 2021-11-27, 2021-11-23, 2021-11-18, 2021-11-17, 2021-11-12, 2021-11-6, 2021-10-22, 2021-9-18, 2021-9-6, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-4, 2021-7-15, 2021-7-4, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-22, 2021-6-14, 2021-6-3, 2021-5-26, 2021-5-14; among top ranks at 2022-8-23, 2022-8-17; No2 "comment Taiwan" on Google, 2022-4-5, 2022-4-3, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-23, 2022-3-22

　

　

　

★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Mocrosoft Bing, 2023-1-1, 2022-9-11, 2022-8-6, 2022-7-19, 2022-7-6, 2022-6-24, 2022-6-16, 2022-5-29, 2022-5-23, 2022-5-16, 2022-5-6, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-16, 2022-4-10, 2022-4-3, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-22, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-6, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-25, 2022-2-21, 2022-2-19, 2022-2-14, 2022-2-11, 2022-2-8, 2022-2-5, 2022-1-31, 2022-1-28, 2022-1-25, 2022-1-20, 2022-1-15, 2022-1-11, 2022-1-9, 2022-1-6, 2022-1-3, 2021-12-31, 2021-12-24, 2021-12-21, 2021-12-15, 2021-12-12, 2021-12-10, 2021-12-7, 2021-12-4, 2021-11-29, 2021-11-27, 2021-11-23, 2021-11-20, 2021-11-17, 2021-11-10, 2021-11-1, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-19, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-2, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-23, 2021-9-7  

　

　

★  pic.:   No. 1 / top "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2022-5-16, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-13, 2022-4-9, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-22, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-5, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-14, 2022-2-11, 2022-2-7, 2022-2-5, 2022-1-31, 2022-1-28, 2022-1-25, 2022-1-20, 2022-1-15, 2022-1-11, 2022-1-8, 2022-1-6, 2022-1-3, 2021-12-31, 2021-12-27, 2021-12-21, 2021-12-15, 2021-12-10

　

　

　

★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Yahoo Japan ( most popular search engine in Japan ), 2022-8-10, 2022-5-23, 2022-5-16, 2022-5-7, 2022-4-26, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-22, 2022-3-20, 2022-3-17, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-6, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-25, 2022-2-21, 2022-2-19, 2022-2-14, 2022-2-11, 2022-2-8, 2022-2-5, 2022-1-31, 2022-1-28, 2022-1-25, 2022-1-21, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-2, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-26-2021, 1-19-2021, 12-5-2020, 11-28-2020, 11-9-2020, 10-30-2020, 10-10-2020, 10-1-2020, 8-13-2020, 8-5-2020, 6-12-2020, 5-19-2020; ★ No. 2 "comment Taiwan" on Yahoo Japan at 2022-8-7, 2022-7-22, 2022-7-19, 2022-7-10, 2022-7-7, 2022-4-16, 2022-4-10,  2021-6-2 


　

　

            

★  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on Google Japan, Google Hong Kong and Google Taiwan, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-25, 2022-2-21, 2022-2-18, 2022-2-14, 2022-2-11, 2022-2-8, 2022-1-28, 2022-1-25, 2022-1-21, 2022-1-9, 2021-12-31, 2021-12-10, 2021-12-4, 2021-11-29, 2021-11-23, 2021-11-20, 2021-11-17, 2021-11-9, 2021-10-8,  2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-6, 2021-8-22, 2021-6-27, 2021-4-30, 2021-4-14, 3-26-2021, 03-08-2021, 02-26-2021; No.3 at 2022-4-26, 2022-4-13  

　

　

　

　

　

　

　
  Comment Taiwan

　

● Ethics of Taiwan politicians : ♣ New Yorker (2022-11-21):  When the Chinese test-fired the ballistic missiles, Tsai Ing-wen didn’t tell the public that they flew over the island; that became known only after it was announced by Japanese leaders. When a Chinese drone flew into Taiwan's airspace, Tsai Ing-wen's government reacted with similar reserve... the government looks like it doesn't know what it's doing,”♣ al jazeera, 2022-5-30:  Taiwan legislature erupts in violence over "secret expenses" bill /  KMT lawmakers try to block bill they say could be used to overturn ex-President Chen Shui-bian’s corruption conviction.   ♣ Guardian, 2021-7-12: China accused Taiwan has rejected China's offers as fake altruism. ... putting politics above its people  ♣ United Daily, 3-11-2021, editorial: smear, fragmentation, low dirty means ... Pan Green's propaganda campaign already beyond the critical point of morality. udn.com/news/story/7338/5309442 ♣ China Times, 3-12-2021: Ruling party ignoring bottom line of morality is grief of the country. ♣ The Liberty Times, editorial (7-21-2020) reports only 2.3% Taiwanese politicians are trustworthy and have professional ethics, according to a survey half year ago,  56% Taiwanese note elected representatives (lawmakers, councilman, etc) care their own interest, only 9.3% think they care "national interest".  ♣ Washington Post (7-22-2020) reports:  In a major speech in January 2019, Xi (Chinese president) offered an ultimatum to Taiwan to come to the table for unification talks or face annexation by force.   However, Taiwan's government was tight-lipped about this ultimatum, so that even famous commentator and analyst  know nothing about it, otherwise pro-Independence Tsai I. W. may not easily continue in presidential office in Jan. 2020, because, according to National Interest (6-16-2020): more than 60.3 percent of the respondents opposed Taiwan's independence if it is followed by China’s military invasion...   Taiwanese personality

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●  democracy :  ● Economist, 2022-11-29: many Taiwanese are tired of squabbles over national identity, especially after Ms Tsai’s refusal last year to accept an offer of much-needed vaccines from China ... ● Wall Street Journal, 2022-11-28: Taiwan Ruling Party's election drubbing could ease tension with China and persuade Chinese leaders that they can peacefully influence politics there.   ●  US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12 :  In 2020 presidential and legislative elections, President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election,...there were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties.  ●  al jazeera, 2022-5-30: Taiwan legislature erupts in violence over "secret expenses" bill /  KMT lawmakers try to block bill they say could be used to overturn ex-President Chen Shui-bian’s corruption conviction.● United Daily(聯合報) , 2022-5-9, editorial:  Taiwan's news reports seem to be free, but in recent years, the speech market has tended to be "Homogeneity" (單一化); particularly, the state apparatus controls the media very deeply ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30: There were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties (KMT and DPP) in Presidential election. ● Economist EIU Democracy Index 2019 shows Taiwan is "Flawed democracy", overall score is lower than 2015's and 2016's, the scores of "political culture", "political participation" are low (5.63, 6.11). ● <DW> of Germany (Chinese edition, 12-25-2020) and <RFI> of France (Chinese edition, 12-27-2020) both quoted <Yazhou Zhoukan > (亞洲周刊) criticizing Taiwan's new democratic authoritarianism. ● N.Y. Times  12-3-2019:  soft underbelly of Taiwanese politics: patronage networks.  they continue to allow community leaders, farmers’ associations and even organized-crime figures to buy votes. ● New York Times, 1-11-2020: Taiwan’s young and vibrant, if messy at times, democratic society. ● <China Times> 2-26-2020, editorial: more and more uncontrolled admin. power and withered legislative power, freedom of speech was suppressed by admin. and judicial power at all levels, ...as for political culture, partisan, stand and ideology matter. ● <Foreign Policy>, 2015: Taiwan politics belongs to mega-corporations (not the people) and is controlled by the political parties. ● Apple Daily, editorial, 12-14-2019: Taiwan gov. shows authoritarianism political culture, ignoring and being hostile to those critics.   ● Apple Daily, editorial, 12-7-2019:  in this bad election morality age, Taiwan president becomes a low threshold, min. qualification criteria position, and a laughingstock. ● <UDN> editorial,12-6-2018: Taiwan's democracy exists in name only ...; ● <United Daily News>, editorial opinion, 6-23-2019: The operation of democracy usually strays off most public-opinions, big-data became a sharp-weapon for politicians to manipulate the will of the people ... fail to solve the adverse situation of reversing democracy;  ● <United Daily News>, Opinion, 3-7-2017:  Now it seems hard to keep Taiwan's skin-deep democracy ... the people's "livelihood" was sacrificed for politics ...● <United Daily> editorial 1-8-2020, <UDN> editorial (聯合報社論) 11-14-2019／Taiwan's democracy turns into grave 。 (民主設計的良意，如今變成私欲墳場 https://udn.com/news/story/11321/4163629)  democracy & freedom

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●  freedom of speech  :  ● US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2023-3-20 : Reporters faced the threat of legal action under the liberal libel laws.● US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12 : CTi News was forced off the air after the National Communications Commission declined to renew its broadcast license. Opposition politicians and some academics and commentators claimed the decision was politically motivated retaliation for CTi News’ criticism of the ruling party. ●  RSF, <Reporters Sans Frontieres>, France, 2022-5-3: Taiwan's press freedom situation has been "impaired" by some "serious problems". ●  USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30: Opposition politicians and some media outlets criticized these provisions (a new law criminalized receiving direction or funding from prohibited Chinese sources to conduct political activities) as overly broad and potentially detrimental to freedom of expression, including for the press. Opposition politicians and some academics and commentators claimed NCC’s decision not to renew the license was politically motivated retaliation for CTi News’ criticism of the ruling party.  ● Global Times, 2021-3-29 : Taiwan DPP's dark "online army" underbelly in misinformation campaign ,  the DPP's "online army" which manipulated and meddled in an online public opinion field of more than 20 million people on the island.   "The DPP can collude with social media such as PTT, Facebook, print media, electronic media, and TV programs".    globaltimes.cn/page/202103/1219763.shtml   ●  USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  3-11-2020:  Journalists said they faced pressure from management to submit news stories to complement or support the content of paid advertisements. Oxford university (UK) Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: Only 24% Taiwanese trust in local news which remains one of the lowest in Oxford survey.  < Reporters Sans Frontieres> (RSF, France) , 4-18-2019:  Taiwan’s journalists are suffering from a very polarized media environment dominated by sensationalism and the pursuit of profit. Although President Tsai Ing-wen has said she wants to continue developing press freedom in Taiwan, few concrete measures have been taken to improve journalists’ editorial independence and encourage media to raise the quality of the public debate. Beijing is exploiting this weakness by putting pressure on Taiwanese media owners, who often have business interests on the mainland. ●  China Times, editorial <中時社論> , 3-9-2020: Political power forms threats (penalty fine and suspending the license) to certain media ... Secretly bullying by (gov.-related) cyber force.  ● Apple Daily 12-4-2019 editorial : All political parties and many politicians found cyber-forces who are mean, base, cruel and dark to destroy target's image and reputation by secretly ways, without moral bottom line ...  ● UDN 12-7-2019 editorial: The number of fake news spread by Pan-Green coalition (ruling party) is far more (and more vile) than that sent by ordinary people   ● Apple Daily 3-29-2019 editorial opinion: Democracy & Freedom of speech is the bottom line which should never be lost, the government should not create chilling effect by fishing in trouble water.  ● The China Times 12-14-2019 editorial : the gov. seriously harmed free speech by investigating those messages shared or published on the net by the masses   ● The China Times 3-29-2019 headline news:  Democracy on the surface, anti-democracy to the bone is not allowed.  ● US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 3-13-2019: the impact of the concentration of media ownership on freedom of the press, self-censorship continued. ● N.Y. Times  12-3-2019:  Social media platforms are another key battleground (Chn-TW): Nearly 90 percent of Taiwan’s population is active on them, and traditional news outlets have been known to republish fake posts without fact-checking. According to Reuters, Chinese government agencies have paid Taiwanese news outlets to publish pro-Beijing content.  freedom of speech

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●  Family  New York times, Pew Research Institute, 2021-11-28:  unlike most other countries put family first, Taiwanese ranked Material well-being above family.  Marry for money not love

　

●  women  ● The Guardian (UK), 2023-6-8: The belated #MeToo reckoning has exposed the deeply patriarchal norms that still govern Taiwanese society...  in formal legal proceedings victims were unlikely to succeed.   ● DW (Germany), 2023-6-13:  Taiwan's culture remains conservative, and chauvinism still exists in workplaces and politics.。 victims may be "judged" by the public for sharing details....they may not be treated justly, ...the existing mechanisms are inadequate.  ● SCMP, 2023-6-11:  NTU prof.  Tso Chen-dong: the DPP has greatly disappointed the public as ... referring to the party's pledges to promote gender equality and human rights.  DPP had long focused on LGBTQ equality, rather than women's rights. ● United Daily, editorial,  2023-6-4 : sexual harassment and bully become the ruling DPP's norm  women

　

●  justice:  ● National ChungCheng University (ccu.edu),   2023-2-13: study found the percentage of Taiwanese trust in the judges is 32.8%.● National ChungCheng University, 2022-2-14: study found 2/3 Taiwanese are not satisfied with the quality of judgment of criminal cases ●  United Daily, editorial , 2022-1-25 : More people suffered fear from invisible and delicate social control and threats by DPP government' flank and judiciary (prosecutor, police) ... ●  USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30: Some political commentators and academics, however, publicly questioned the impartiality of judges and prosecutors involved in high profile, politically sensitive cases.  ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  3-11-2020:  Some political commentators and academics,  publicly questioned the impartiality of judges and prosecutors involved in high profile, politically sensitive cases. US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 3-13-2019 pointed out that justice ministry was insufficiently independent and conducted politically motivated investigations of politicians (in <Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government> section), ...  ● The United Daily, 1-6-2020, editorial:  Taiwanese don't trust law-enforcement because of government abusing power and playing with the law.   : ●　The United Daily, Focus, 11-30-2019: 　The prosecutors  and Taiwan's 'FBI'　were questioned a lot for years for their political investigations and conducts ...in recent years, the judiciary giving services to DPP almost became a routine...:●  UDN 10-20-2019: politics overrode justice   ● The Liberty Times,  head-line news, 3-16-2019: Taiwan PM is not satisfied with Judicial reform  ●  The Liberty Times, head-page, The China Times, head-page, 12-8-2018:   Taiwan P.M. (賴清德):  Taiwan has not made significant progress on judicial reform, which is roiling with public discontent;  ●  <The United Daily>,  06-18-2016, head page news: Taiwan's prosecutors admit usually following order to conclude legal cases.  ● <USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices>, 2016-2018,  public trust on Taiwan's judiciary system keeps falling down.  ● <United Daily>, opinion column, 12-16-2017:  Taiwan's public voice with a heavy heart  : The prosecutors should abide by the law too... don't be a political tool.    judiciary

　

●  corruption : 
● TaiwanPlus, 2023-3-6:

 ● China Times, 2023-6-26:  Taiwan ruling party's corruption - structural, collective and overall (結構性、集體性、全面性貪腐) ;  has already crossed the bottom line, and being out of control. chinatimes.com/opinion/20230626004425-262101?chdtv   brief   ● Voice of America, 2022-11-23:  "black gold"-"heijin." Corruption in Local Politics   ● Avios, 2022-6-28: Scandals and corruption have plagued the Taiwanese armed forces  ● Economist, 2022-8-2: Taiwan needs to do more to combat corruption and waste in its armed forces ●  US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12 :13 high-ranking officials, 79 mid-level, 93 low-level, and 18 elected officials were indicted for corruption.  the Ministry of Justice and the Judicial Yuan referred six officials to the Control Yuan for criminal investigation, including former minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu, former prosecutor general Wu Ying-chao, and two others for investigation of noncriminal misconduct... In 2020 presidential and legislative elections, President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election,...there were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties.  ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30:  Significant human rights issues included: the existence of criminal libel laws and serious acts of corruption. ●  Transparency International 1-29-2019: Taiwan has stagnated in the Corruption Perspective Index rankings since 2011 with its score 61~63 (dropped 2 spots this year), in contrast, South Korea improved by 3 points in 2017. ● China Times, editorial , 2022-6-1,  "The whole DPP party backups corruption, a shame of Taiwan's democracy": When the corruption scandal broke out in 2008, all DPP members gave ex-President Chen Shui-bian a cold shoulder, Chen's daughter 陳幸妤 was mad and shouted："Has anyone in DPP not taken money from my father ?? ", which shocked all fields, therefore, pan-Green Coalition has been involved in Chen's case.(綠營因此遭扁綁架事出有因)。● In platform presentation at 12-25-2019, Nationalist Party Presidential candidate Han criticized President Tsai has allowed top officials around grow very corrupt, Tsai refuted KMT was more serious, People First Party candidate Song said that speaking of corruption and unfair judiciary, KMT and DPP are about the same. ●  Apple Daily (12-7-2018) editorial :  Taiwan's corruption is off the charts by collusions between government officials and business owners,  furthermore, Taiwan's underworld going wild to assist government officials, business and some elected representatives (e.g., legislators) in corruption has been ahead of most corrupt countries, e.g., China, Indonesia, Brazil, Philippines, Vietnam, the stinky rotten food-chain crossing pan-Blue (Nationalist, KMT) and pan-Green (DPP) resurges after Taiwan's elections...●  Liberty Times, 1-12-2020, editorial: The administration's rottenness (腐壞氣息) smells already.   corruption

●

●  medical  : ● Taiwan ranks No. 249 in World's Best Hospitals by Newsweek and Statista in 2023  ●  Bloomberg's CovID ranking: Taiwan's 3-month case-fatality rate ranks the last twice in 2021 ● Lancet / Measuring universal health coverage  Taiwan is behind countries of  Asia& Pacific like Japan, Singapore, S. Korea, Australia, NZ, Kuwait, Qatar   ● Only one Taiwan's hospital was included and ranked No. 249 in Newsweek's top 250 "World's Best Hospitals" in 2023  ● Guardian (UK), 2022-5-9: The death of a two-year-old boy last month highlighted communication failures exacerbated by Taiwan’s entrenched bureaucracy.  ● al jazeera, 2022-5-30: The fatalities have notably included the sudden deaths of several very young children, which many Taiwanese attribute to failures of the healthcare system.   ●  China Times, editorial, 2021-9-8: The government ignores human lives of high-risk older populations.  Using vaccine to draw votes is "cold-blood", "losing their souls "  chinatimes.com/opinion/20210907005525-262101?chdtv ●  United Daily, editorial, 2021-9-4: Taiwan's vaccination policy is based upon government's selfishness and special purpose. ● National Taiwan University professor, King ChwanChuen, 2021-9-1: CDC should not turn into a election campaign center. ● UDN 2021-5-31, editorial: Taiwan's government fails to purchase enough CovID-19 vaccines, and stop civil org. to purchase from the west for saving its political face.  Till end May, patients are not easy to apply for and have CovID-19 medicine, which cause more deaths, Taiwan cares money more than human lives   hospitals,   CovID19

●

●  pirate :  ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30:  some indigenous rights advocates argued a large amount of indigenous land was seized and privatized decades ago, depriving indigenous communities of the right to participate in the development of these traditional territories. ● Green Peace, 5-2-2019:  It remains our view that Taiwanese fisheries still have many serious problems, both environmental and social, and that the need for reform is clear and urgent.  ●  Lowy Institute & <the interpreter>, 5-2-2019: Taiwan ...illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing... Taiwan has so far refused to adopt the Work in Fishing Convention. ●  EU warned in 2015 Taiwan with a yellow card for illegal fishing till  6 '19. ●  US  state government - 2019 Trafficking in persons report, Jun. 2019:   fishermen working on Taiwan-flagged and -owned fishing vessels experience non- or under-payment of wages, long working hours, physical abuse, lack of food or medical care, denial of sleep, and poor living conditions while indebted to complex, multinational brokerage networks. Migrant fishermen have reported senior crewmembers employ such coercive tactics as threats of physical violence, beatings, withholding of food and water, and pay deductions to retain their labor.    ● Freedom House, June 2019:  labor advocates report poor implementation, citing ongoing mistreatment and abuse of foreign fishermen on Taiwanese vessels.

 ○
●  privacy : ●  The China Times (中時) , editorial , 2023-5-23: 23 millions of Taiwanese household administration data and 28 millions of labor insurance data have been leaked and were sold to fraud groups - all personal data of Taiwanese were sold out, Taiwan government looked the other way as its citizens were in fraud for leakage of their personal data  ●  US Naval Institute   , May, 2022 : Taiwan has extensive networks of closed-circuit TV cameras, and issued a national health insurance smartcard that tracks medical histories. ● Amnesty International, June, 2021 :The government took several measures to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus, some of which threatened the right to privacy.  ●  People's Daily, 10-15-2020, commentary: Taiwan's Intelligence strictly monitors its own people, which is called "Green Terror". ● The China Times (中國時報), 1-6-2021:  the human rights protected by the Constitution has been in danger for a long time... The government had not admitted the "skynet - electronic fence" until law-makers questioned them a number of times... ● New York Post  4-25-2020 : Taiwan deals CovID with "a lot more authoritarian.", "almost everyone is tracked.". ● Apple Daily 11-10-2020: Taiwanese health & medical data/information was forced without agreement of the party to be opened on purpose of business and academic use. ● The United Daily News (聯合報) , editorial, 3-31-2019 :  Taiwan is a backward country on personal-data protection.   Taiwan plans to sell general public's personal data and digital human rights (e.g., people's medical health data without giving any notice ), peep at whatever on the net , and even monitor all the citizens,  nothing people would normally notice ...   (brief https://udn.com/news/story/7338/3728815) ;  ● EU General Data Protection Regulation - GDPR was given to effect at 5-25-2018, Taiwan is far behind, even is going in an opposite way  / Apple Daily 蘋果日報, 5-28-2018,  National Taiwan University Law School professor 林鈺雄    privacy

○
● secret police : ●  Law maker (2023-6-2): What an authoritarian era in Taiwan ? (「這是什麼威權時代嗎」) /  Dr. Su Hung-dah (蘇宏達), dean of the College of Social Sciences, National Taiwan University, reveals he was threatened by National Security Bureau ( state machine ) that "we can watch your LINE" (a popular online app. )   ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30:  Members of the security forces committed some abuses.   ● The United Daily News, editorial opinion (9-19-2018) : "secret police" (「東廠們」) have been active around us ...  ● The Liberty Times, head-page, The China Times, head-page, 12-8-2018:   Taiwan P.M. (賴清德): "Secret Police event" (「東廠事件」) has seriously damaged public trust on the government...;   ● Apple Daily 12-4-2019 editorial : All political parties and many politicians found their cyber-forces to secretly attack targets... ,  the dark force are mean, base, cruel  and dark to destroy target's image and reputation, they executed without moral bottom line and military discipline  (brief).   ● The United Daily News, editorial 11-30-2019: The state machine was abused as government's "tributaries".  ● UDN 11-3-2018,  Intel. sys. (NSB) confirmed their investigations of Facebook and other's communities on the net.  All internet platform service providers in Taiwan were requested to hand in all users' personal information/data (intel denied).   ● <Apple Daily (蘋果日報)> 11-7-2018 editorial opinion:  by whatever name ( "secret police" or "national security bureau") it is called, what "it" did secretly were always more than what it admitted.  Taiwan's Intelligence and secret-agent systems keep on governing the country ... they're true Prime Minister (行政院長), ...So many suspected political murder cases remain unsolved  (ref to 2018.7.26【政經看民視】 FTV, "政經看民視", 7-26-2018;  SET(三立電視), 9-24-2013 "Secret agents govern the nation (特務治國)" www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBdZCdYrwF4;  Era TV,   年代電視, 9-22-2013; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1b4R2m6K3g; "Secret agent systems resurgence to control the nation (特務復辟治國)"   repression, oppression

○

●  int'l fraud :  ● United Daily (聯合報), editorial, 2023-5-11 : Taiwan government got no grades on fighting fraud。In today, Taiwanese crimes of fraud have spread all over the world, the criminal methods have deteriorated to abducting people, selling human organs, defrauding money by using the name of the administration...●The China Times (中時) , editorial , 2023-5-8: The head of fraud group,「im.B借貸媒合平台」, has close connection with DPP's top ranking officials such as deputy premier   ● Reuters, DW (Germany), 12-31-2020: Chinese court sentences 29 Taiwanese deported from Spain / In recent years, hundreds of Taiwanese nationals, suspected of committing telecoms fraud overseas...   ● United Daily, 10-23-2019, editorial: Taiwanese telecom frauds run wild the entire world to damage Taiwan's image.   ● CTV evening news, 12-14-2017,  EBC TV, 4-9-2017,  UDN opinion, 12-24-2017:  Taiwan is notorious for its fraud crimes all over the world.  quora, 4-16-2016:  Taiwan largely sees these telecom frauds/phone scammers as an asset rather than liability...  ●  China Times, 11-7-2017:  It's not easy for Taiwan to clean its bad name of 'fraud-crime empire' because "Rome is not built in one day".  (Asia Association of Police Studies, secretary general)     international fraud 

○

●  torture & cruelty :  ● Global Times, 2022-12-19:  There are forces on the island who are mentally controlling the Taiwan people...   ●justsecurity.org, Focus Taiwan, Taipei Times, etc, 2022-5-13:  international human rights review panel urges to ban torture and other cruelties ● Global Times (globaltimes.cn/content/1209528.shtml), 12-9-2020: Taiwan authority ‘persecutes mainlanders, pro-reunification activists' by 'Political persecution, framing charge' .    Taiwan is far behind and keeps stalling legislating a new law against torture and other cruelty, conclusively advised by international review panel ( Philip Alston, law professor at New York University; Eibe Riedel, former member of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Jerome Cohen, law professor at New York University; and Nisuke Ando, professor emeritus at Kyoto University, etc. )  (ref. to Apple Daily, headline, 12-9-2017)  Taiwan's opposition party vice presidential candidate, NTU professor Lin Ruey-Shiung, was subject to electromagnetic wave attacks (French AFP ,Dec. 1, 2011 , Thailand's Bangkok Post,  Dec. 3, 2011, Yahoo UK & Ireland, etc. ), Taiwan gov. denied this.     ● State violence and white terror (product of state violence) return in Taiwan (United Daily, opinion, 12-21-2017, 12-27-2017).     Taiwan's Facebook "Green terror" suppressed free expression...... (Wikipedia 2017, The China Times, public opinion, 11-18-2017).   The key-point is state violence (Apple Daily, opinion, 8-16-2013).   repression, oppression

○

●  food safety  : ● United Daily (經濟日報社論),  2023-2-1: Food safety is an anxious issue for Taiwanese people ● Global Times,  2022-9-17 : DPP authority is sacrificing the people's interests for their political ends.   the Taiwan authorities detected Caesium-137 in the batch of konjaku jelly powder since the island in February relaxed a decade-long ban on imports of "nuclear food"  from Japan.   ● Scientific Reports Journal, Food Navigator Asia, 2-9-2021: Fish fraud findings: Almost 20% of fish in Taiwan found to be mislabelled - study (Taiwan food scare, including 5 star hotel restaurant foods  which the website revealed earlier in 2017).   ● The China Times, 10-20-2018  opinion (editorial)   https://opinion.chinatimes.com/20181019003889-262101 :  Taiwan's food safety failed again and again,  Dioxin, Fipronil poison-eggs in last year, Nicarbazin illegal drug residue event in this year.  Europe was very cautious about Fipronil event, in contrast, Taiwan did nothing about it.   Even worse, Taiwan officials hide Nicarbazin issue from Taiwanese people to baby related business ― indulge business to retrieve problematic eggs and then resell them as promotion goods.  Why do high-ranking officials always fudge Taiwanese people's only, and humblest request ？?   (brief)  ●  UDN, 2-17-2019: Gov. did not declared poison eggs until almost sold out...  ● The China Times (中國時報), 2-28-2019,  opinion (editorial) questions Taiwan officials are trying very hard to hide the epidemic state of Marek's virus in chicken eggs ...

 ○

● int'l drug base : ● Statista 2022-11-18: Offense against narcotics hazard prevention act ranks No.2 crime by the Number committed in Taiwan in 2021  ●

The Diplomat, 2022-5-17
:"patrols of the coast became almost nonexistent and, as a result, it was easy to smuggle guns and drugs into Taiwan.” ● Taiwan is narcotic drugs producing & selling center of Asia (The China Times <Want Weekly>, 9-18-2019).  Taiwan was already reduced to be a 'kingdom' of producing narcotic drugs. (United Daily, headline news, 11-2-2017)   Philippine President Duterte ... blaming Taiwan-based organised crime behind all this drug traffic... for using his country as a shipping hub. (Reuters, 9-27-2017, The Straits Times, 9-29-2017)   Duterte: Triad supplying illegal drugs to PH is based in Taiwan, not China (inquirer.net, 9-26-2017).    Taiwan is scandalous for being a major drug transit center & a major drug exporting country, part of Taiwanese government including Judicial sys. refused to improve this issue. (UDN Opinion, 11-6-2017, The China Times, head-page & focus, 4-4-2017, The Liberty Times, 5-12-2017)    illegal drugs

○

●  exploitation ,   children & women trafficking : ● US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2023-3-20: A rise in the number of reports of child sexual exploitation cases;  The NGOs called for increased prosecutions and heavier penalties. ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2022-4-12:  the number of male victims of child sexual exploitation was increasing and that male and female minors of indigenous heritage were targeted at higher rates than those of other ethnic groups. ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30:  NGOs raised concerns regarding online sexual exploitation of children and reported sex offenders increasingly used cell phones, web cameras, live streaming, apps, and other new technologies to deceive and coerce underage girls and boys into sexual activity.  ● US  state government - 2019 Trafficking in persons report, Jun. 2019:   in the last five years, human traffickers subject foreign men and women to forced labor and sex trafficking in Taiwan, and traffickers subject local men and women to forced labor and local women and children to sex trafficking. ... take advantage of Taiwan and foreign women’s and children’s drug addictions to subject them to sex trafficking. Taiwan traffickers increasingly use the internet, smartphone apps, livestreaming, and other such online technologies to conduct recruitment activities, often targeting child victims, and to mask their identities from law enforcement.  ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, March 3, 2017, 4-20-2018:  Exploitation of  foreign workers,  official corruption,  some media self-censorship with regard to China, vote buying, etc.     prostitution

○

●  life protection  : ● NY Times, 2021-10-15: Taiwan has a spotty record when it comes to fire safety... severe disrepair as a result of weak management and government neglect.  Skyrocketing housing costs in Taiwan’s cities — and a rapidly aging population — have exacerbated these issues in recent years and have outpaced the government’s efforts to resolve them... ● Nature, 2023-6-22:  Despite concerns from several nations and international groups (but Taiwan goes down on its knees) , Japan is pressing ahead with plans to release water contaminated by the 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean ● China times, 2021-10-15:  Behind the fire sea in Kaohsiung building (城中城) is the government's discrimination and indifference to those underprivileged group who can not afford buying fire-fighting equipments ● UDN 2021-4-1: foolish energy policy kills our lungs, people in southern and middle of Taiwan increasingly got related diseases ●  Apple Daily, 2021-4-10, editorial: The bane of Taiwan- backward infrastructures, e.g., no early-warning system for railway train, pollution in stream, dam, reservoir deposition ● The government has not well taken its fundamental responsibility of protecting the safety of people's life and property - why 5/6 bridges badly in need of repair have not done ?  government even has never made public the info. and where those bridges are. (ref. to United Daily, 10-9-2019, headline news)   why are there so many tall buildings located on the fault-zone? why are poor architectures everywhere on bad geologic grounds ? why are those shit-hole politicians doing nothing and ignoring urban renewal so as to risk millions of old houses and human beings? (ps: may face death in 6 magnitude quake)    (full text: https://udn.com/news/story/11321/2974813 聯合報社論／斷層帶上何以建了那麼多高樓？  2-8-2018,  https://udn.com/news/story/7338/2977079 勿讓軟腳樓成坑殺人命陷阱 2-9-2018,  https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/daily/20180209/37928659花蓮 都更 爛政客   2-9-2018)

○

● life protection (2) : ● UDN, 2023-6-6: Taiwan government tries to hide the safety risk - Taiwan Power's 四接 in Keelung Port - a significant risk ● CIA Fact Book, Dec. 10, 2021: air pollution; water pollution from industrial emissions, raw sewage; contamination of drinking water supplies; trade in endangered species ● Taiwan's CCPI (Climate Change Performance Index - GHG emissions, renewable energy, etc) rank of 2019 is reciprocal third among countries, the score/ranking is from bad to worse since 2017.  ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30: the total number of sexual assaults was seven to 10 times higher than the number reported to police.   ●  United Daily, 2021-4-10, editorial: The death rate of traffic accident (8+ per day) is higher than hat of many backward countries.  Large-bus structure is problematic - Jerry-built or bad safety specification. So many gods are hidden in the detail  ● UDN 1-2-2018 udn.com/news/story/7266/2908720,  The China Times. 8-6-2016, <食品不安全的年代如何自保>, 2016, etc : Taiwan failed to solve food-safety issue, professors and MDs advised eating at home.  Taiwan is dishonest and 'cruel' ― trying to hide, block, delay public-health news, e.g., poisoned eggs, PCV virus vaccine, and Bird-flu more than one time.  ref to BBC news :  www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese_news/2012/03/120304_taiwan_birdflu_investigate. ●  Due to bad Income distribution, Taiwan's social security (offender rate) worsens (China Times, 2-25-2020 editorial).   ●  The China Times 5-9-2018 column : This is an EVIL state apparatus ... The China Times 5-26-2018 column : The government likes to conceal bad news, put paper over the cracks, e.g., air pollution, rupture of diplomatic relationships, ...http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20180509000843-260109  ● Taiwan's CCPI (Climate Change Performance Index - GHG emissions, renewable energy, etc) rank of 2019 is reciprocal third among countries, the score/ranking is from bad to worse since 2017. ● Apple Daily 12-11-2019, headline news: Taiwan's air pollution is bad to worse, about half population were endangered by PM2.5 and PM10 from top 10 hazardous level companies (China Steel, Taichung Power plant, etc)  ● Taiwan administration's policy led to air pollution, toxic pollution in the land and sea ...   (The China Times, 1-7-2018 台灣海陸空污染毒害，山海變色 http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20180107000465-260114。Daily Mail (UK) 7-14-2017 : Shocking underwater video from Taiwan shows ocean floor littered with plastic (bottles) garbage)

●

●  transportation safety ● CNN (2022-12-6): Taiwan's 'living hell' traffic is a tourism problem.  Taiwan is notorious for its dangerous roads.  ● UDN, CTN, Apple Daily editorial、2021-4-3: NY Times, CNN: train carrying 490 derails /  Serious transportation accidents repeat -  all are SOP ignoring man-made disasters, no one treats seriously the warning message behind each accident, The gov. is good at risk management and focus-shifting, instead of preventive management in advance, all these lead to tragedy again and again. The event is just a tip of a iceberg, Taiwan should establish a culture respecting human life.  Taiwan railway bureau got rigid grading system  and reform failure.  ● United Daily News 1-20-2020:  The death rate caused by traffic accidents in Taiwan is 5 times that in Japan.  ● The SUN, BBC (UK) 2-13-2017: "BUS CRASH HORROR!" , Taiwan's tour bus  "has come under fire in recent months over safety standards"...  ● MSN, Reuters, EuroNews, Mirro(UK), NewsWeek, CNN, etc (2-4-2015) :"Taiwan has had a poor aviation safety record in recent years" .   transportation   Taiwan's aviation safety

●

●  Labor rights ● Le Monde diplomatique (France),  2023-2-14: Most migrant workers to higher-income Taiwan incur substantial debt to finance their fees, which binds them to their employers’ whims and exploitation while they pay it off.  ● US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12: Large enterprises frequently made it difficult for employees to organize an enterprise union through methods such as blacklisting union organizers from promotion or relocating them to other work divisions. ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30: The right to strike remained highly restricted.  24 percent of foreign fishermen suffered violent physical abuse; 92 percent experienced unlawful wage withholding; 82 percent worked overtime excessively.  ●  , 3-16-2021: the U.S. Labor Department placed Taiwan on its 2020 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor.  ● National Geographic, 11-25-2020 : Wildlife crimes and human rights abuses plague Taiwanese fishing vessels ...illegal dolphin catching, shark finning, and physical and verbal abuse ... ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  3-11-2020:  The right to strike remained highly regulated. Teachers, civil servants, and defense industry employees do not have the right to strike. Workers in industries such as utilities, hospital services, and telecommunication service providers are allowed to strike only if they maintain basic services during the strike. Authorities may prohibit, limit, or break up a strike during a disaster. For all workers, the law divides labor disputes into “rights disputes” and “adjustment disputes.” Workers are allowed to strike only in adjustment disputes, which include issues such as compensation and working schedules. The law forbids strikes in rights disputes related to violations of collective agreements and employment contracts.    foreign laborers

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●  underworld gang & politics : ● Global Times, 2022-11-28:  black (underworld) gold politics and nepotism severely violated what the DPP had pledged to the people  ● China Times,  2022-11-27: Tsai's DPP has entangled with Mafia, has abused of power and corrupted (黑道纏身、濫權腐化)  ● United Daily, editorial, 2021-5-7: The underworld gang links with the legal syndicate, or the gangsters parasitize the political party, which certainly leads to deviation and collapse of the adm. order.  (udn.com/news/story/7338/5439377?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2)  ● Apple Daily, 2021-5-7:   the country has been ruled by "black-gold" gangsters and bureaucratic factions. The "big guys" of gangs can decide or influence which democratical representatives will reach the stage of electoral campaigns for law-makers, city-councilors, ....  President Tsai won't be able to crack down gangsters.  ( brief from  tw.appledaily.com/forum/20210507/AWDMO7WLEBCAZCIYHGO7UBA4DA/  趙少康)    democracy

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●  social security  ● TaiwanPlus, 2023-5-4: Taiwan Police Chief Detained for Alleged Fraud Ring Ties  ● The China Times (中時) , editorial , 2023-5-5: The "Social security net" is proved to be broken -  they fail to protect citizens' personal basic data/information ● 《Yahoo Taiwan》, 2021-11-23:  all opposition parties blast the government not fulfilling its promise to patch the loophole of social security network.  ●《Next TV news 壹新聞》, 2021-11-23, 12:11: a big loophole in our social security net.  ● The China Times, 2-25-2020 editorial: Due to bad Income distribution, Taiwan's social security (offender rate) worsens.  ● World Economic Forum (WEF)  <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019 shows Taiwan's "safety & security" got an Eastern Asia-pacific average score 6.0, and is worse than world No.5 Hong Kong, No. 6 Singapore , No. 7 UAE,  No. 10 New Zealand,  11 Qatar,  13 Japan, 19 Australia,   23 Saudi Arabia.   ●《Economist》UK , EIU 「The Safe Cities Index 2019  」  Taiwan's "personal security" dropped 14 places compared with previous yrs. report,  Taiwan is worse than neighbors Singapore, Japan, China, Korea...     police

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●  discrimination  ● Taipei Times, 2023-6-12:  immigration authorities hand out insult after insult to people whose skins are a bit too brown... the reality of its suicidally discriminatory immigration policies is painful for those of us who live and work here.  ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30: The majority of sex discrimination cases reported in 2019 were forced resignations due to pregnancies. Scholars said sex discrimination remained significantly underreported.   There was reported discrimination, including employment discrimination, against persons with HIV or AIDS.  ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  3-11-2020:  Activists for LGBTI rights said due to victims’ reluctance to lodge formal complaints, discrimination against LGBTI persons was more widespread than suggested by the number of court cases.  There was reported discrimination, including employment discrimination, against persons with HIV/AIDS. ●  US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 3-13-2019  Foreign and PRC-born spouses were reportedly targets of social discrimination outside and, at times, inside the home.   Discrimination against LGBTI persons was more widespread than suggested by the number of court cases.  Employment discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS continues, Taipei officials pressured a magazine reporter to drop an investigative report about the city’s breach of personal information for more than 3,000 AIDS patients.

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

★  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2022-1-31, 2021-12-24, 2021-12-4, 2021-10-10, 2021-10-8, No.2 at 2021-11-29 

　

　

　


★  pic.: No.1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2021-12-31, 2021-10-23  

　

　

　

★  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2022-1-1, 2021-12-25, 2021-12-7, 2021-12-4, 2021-11-23, 2021-11-21, 2021-11-16 

　

　

　

　

 n US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12 : In 2020 presidential and legislative elections, President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election,...there were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties.

nUSA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30:  There were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties (KMT and DPP) in  Presidential election in 2020. 

N.Y. Times, 12-1-2019: the soft underbelly of Taiwanese politics: patronage networks. 
They continue to allow
community leaders, farmers’ associations and even
 organized-crime figures to buy votes
 ( NY Times, opinion : https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/01/opinion/china-taiwan-election.html ).
　

　

　

　

　

　 　

　

　

 　

       

★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 2022-2-1, 2021-11-5,  2021-11-1 

　

　

　

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pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 by keyword "Taiwan comments "  on Yandex of Russia, 2022-2-14, 2022-1-13

★  pic.:   The website group was ranked No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on Yandex of Russia, 2022-2-14, 2021-11-9, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-19

　

　

　

　

★  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 2022-1-6, 2021-10-12, 2021-10-6, 2021-10-3, 2021-9-18, 2021-9-6, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-4, 2021-7-15, 2021-7-4, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-22, 2021-6-14, 2021-6-3, 2021-5-26, 2021-5-14 

　

　

　

　

★  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2022-1-15, 2021-10-3, 2021-10-2, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 1-1-2021, 12-6-2020, 11-9-2020

　

　

　

　

                                
 ★  pic. :  This websites-group was ranked No.1  by keyword "comment Taiwan" on MetaGER of Europe at 2022-3-4, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-11, 2021-10-1,  2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-6-27, 2021-5-9, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 10-11-2020, 8-13-2020, 6-12-2020, 5-19-2020, 1-17-2020, 12-31-2019, 12-18-2019, 10-23-2019    (3 items above are advertisements);No.2 at 2022-6-18;   ★  pic.: No.1 "comment Taiwan" on Excite, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-10, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-4, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 10-3-2020, 8-13-2020, 12-05-2019 

　

　


　
　

　

　

★  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27

　

　

　

  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 2021-9-16, 2021-8-3, 2021-8-1, 2021-7-8 

　

　

　

              
★ pic. :   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Webcrawler, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-11,  2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-4, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021,1-19-2021,10-3-2020, 8-13-2020
　

　

　

　

       

★  pic. left:  No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on StartPage ( Dutch search engine  ), 2022-2-8, 2021-11-11, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2,  2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-6-2021

★  No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on EntireWeb ( Swedish search engine  ), 2022-2-8, 2021-11-11, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-6-2021

　

　

　


★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on QWANT ( most well-known French search engine  ), 10-3-2020, 8-13-2020

　

　

　


★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo search engine , 2021-9-26, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 1-1-2021, 12-6-2020, 11-9-2020

　

　

　

             
★ pic. left:   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Baidu ( largest search engine in China  ), 2021-4-14, 2-20-2021,1-19-2021, 8-13-2020
★ pic. right:   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Yahoo Taiwan, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-10, 2021-10-8, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 10-1-2020, 8-13-2020


★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Mocrosoft Bing, 2021-10-21, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-2, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-23, 2021-9-7,  2021-8-22, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021,  3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 1-1-2021, 12-12-2020, 11-28-2020, 11-11-2020, 10-30-2020, 10-1-2020, 9-1-2020, 8-13-2020, 8-2-2020

　

　

　

           

★  pic. left:  The site-group was ranked No. 1 by  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 2021-4-14,
2021-4-3, 2021-3-26, 3-8-2021, 02-25-2021  

★  pic. right:   The site-group was ranked No. 1 by  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 01-24-2021  

　

　

　

　

★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 12-12-2020, 11-24-2020, 11-16-2020, 11-14-2020

　

　

　


★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 10-10-2020, 10-3-2020, 7-1-2020

　

　


★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Google, 8-13-2020, 7-1-2020, 6-19-2020
　

　


★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 10-3-2020,
 9-1-2020, 8-28-2020

       

　

 ★ No.1 "comment Taiwan" on Yippy (IBM), 2021-4-14, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 10-3-2020,  8-13-2020, 1-18-2020, 12-05-2019 


★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Bing, 10-1-2020, 8-13-2020, 4-26-2020

★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on ASK, 10-11-2020, 4-26-2020, No.2 at 10-3-2020, 8-13-2020

★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Japan Excite, 10-11-2020, 8-13-2020, 5-19-2020


★  pic.  : No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on ecosia of Europe (Berlin Germany), 8-13-2020, 6-12-2020, 5-19-2020, 1-10-2020

★   Top  "comment Taiwan" on Yahoo search engine, 4-26-2020


★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 5-11-2020

　

　


★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 5-10-2020

　

　

　


★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 2-28-2020, 2-5-2020, 1-16-2020, 1-11-2020, 1-10-2020

 

　

 
 ★   pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1  by keyword "comment Taiwan"
on Yahoo search engine at 2-28-2020, 1-17-2020, 12-31-2019, 12-18-2019, 11-27-2019 
● This websites-group was ranked No.1  by keyword "comment Taiwan" on ASK at  1-18-2020, 8-24-2019 , 9-24-2019

　

　


★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Google, 1-11-2020, 1-10-2020

　

　
　 　
　

　

          
★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on ecosia of Europe (Berlin Germany), 1-10-2020
★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" (Chinese version) on ecosia of Europe (Berlin Germany), 1-10-2020

★   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Google, 1-4-2020 (test in Taipei)

　

　

           
　


★  pic.: No.1 "comment Taiwan" on US Google,   11-11-2019 

　

●  This websites-group was ranked No.1  by keyword "comment Taiwan"
on US Google at  9-22-2019, 9-24-2019 

●   This websites-group was ranked No.1  by keyword "comment Taiwan"
on US Google at  9-19-2019   9-11-2019
　


  

★   No. 1 on Google by keyword "comment Taiwan"  ,
  1-5-2018, 12-10-2017, 11-1-2017,  , 5-29-2017,1-1-2017

　

　

　

★   pic.:  This website was ranked No.1 on Baidu of China
 by keyword "comment Taiwan", both in English and Chinese,  at  1-30-2018

　

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●  ps: This websites-group was ranked No.1  by keyword "comment Taiwan"
on US Google at 6-27-2019  (test at Taipei city gov., TW) 

　

　

●  This website was ranked No.1,2, 3 on MetaGER of Germany
 by keyword "comment Taiwan" at  1-30-2018, 7-2-2019