On April 19, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) gave a public speech, his first in about 17 years. During the address at the Ketagalan Institute in Taipei, Chen’s words were vague and his tone was sour. He said that democracy should not be used as an echo chamber for a single politician, that peo
Taiwanese have launched a major recall movement to remove pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) legislators from office, with slogans such as “resist communism, protect Taiwan” echoing throughout every corner of the nation. On April 19, a rally against China’s “united front” efforts organized by YouTube
On April 9, Taiwan established a Marine Pollution Control Fund committee. Seeing this news brought back memories of 2001, when the Amorgos — a Greek-registered freighter — ran aground near Kenting National Park in Pingtung County due to bad weather, causing an oil spill that severely damaged the cor
On ‘diplomatic allies’ On April 11, South Korea announced the establishment of diplomatic relations with Syria. With this move, it now has ties with every UN member state except North Korea — its enemy in the still-unresolved Korean War. Does this mean South Korea now has 191 “diplomatic allies,” mo
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This is hardly a golden era of diplomacy. A ceasefire — let alone a lasting peace — between Russia and Ukraine remains a distant possibility, and neither Israel nor Hamas seems to view a long-term truce in Gaza as a priority. The one bright spot on the global diplomatic chessboard might be the relat
When US Vice President J.D. Vance in February blasted Europe for abandoning democracy, he singled out Romania over its unprecedented decision to annul a first-round presidential vote that a candidate from the far-right had come from nowhere to win.Vance owes this country an apology.I say that despit
US President Donald Trump last week toned down his rhetoric on multiple issues ahead of his 100th day in office this week, including Washington’s trade policies on China and threats to fire US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Trump was also reportedly planning an exemption on levies for some aut
The end of Pope Francis’ papacy presents not just a ceremonial moment for the Catholic Church, but a pivotal opportunity for communities that have long valued the church’s moral voice in global affairs. Among them is Taiwan, whose enduring relationship with the Holy See has carried profound symbolic
Within Taiwan’s education system exists a long-standing and deep-rooted culture of falsification. In the past month, a large number of “ghost signatures” — signatures using the names of deceased people — appeared on recall petitions submitted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) against Democratic
Abolish Chinese charactersA few months ago, under the overhang walkway (teng-a-kha, or Hokkien architecture) of a Tainan side street, I saw a child — perhaps 10 years old — hunched over one of the collapsable tables of her parents’ food stall, writing columns of “hanzi” (漢字, Chinese/Han characters),
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I observe international affairs from Washington, capital of a superpower which used to be the world’s more-or-less benevolent hegemon, but which is now groping for a different role as a potential imperialist carving up the planet into spheres of influence.What if you are looking back at us in Washin
There are few places where inflation is felt as profoundly these days as tariff rates.A few months ago, US President Donald Trump’s election campaign promise of a 10 percent levy on all US imports seemed shocking. Now we are looking at a 46 percent rate on Vietnam and 145 percent on China.This week,
The successful collaboration between the health ministries of Malaysia and Thailand, industry partners in Egypt and Malaysia, and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) to bring a new hepatitis C antiviral drug — ravidasvir — to market in 2022 was an important milestone. For years, a 12-
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹) on Friday last week was detained and held incommunicado for allegedly agreeing to or instructing the use of forged signatures to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. The KMT, supported by the Taiwan Peo
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan.Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators.President William
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