With each passing day, the threat of a People’s Republic of China (PRC) assault on Taiwan grows. Whatever one’s view about the history, there is essentially no question that a PRC conquest of Taiwan would mark the end of the autonomy and freedom enjoyed by the island’s 23 million people. Simply put,
I still remember the first time I heard about the possibility of an invasion by China. I was SIX years old. I thought war was coming and hid in my bed, scared. After 18 years, the invasion news tastes like a sandwich I eat every morning. As a Gen Z Taiwanese student who has witnessed China’s harassm
Ko double standards?Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors have fixed their sights on “three big projects” that took place when Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was mayor of Taipei. The three projects are the Taiwan Intelligent Fib
EDITORIAL CARTOON
In just the first week of this year, at least 18 journalists were assaulted or harassed while covering alleged election irregularities and violence in Bangladesh. Then, in early February, journalists in Pakistan were hindered from covering elections by a wave of violence, widespread Internet blackou
Every now and then, I am tempted by an iPad. I spot some slick individual at a departure gate using one. Look at how neat it is, I think, as I lug my laptop bag over my shoulder. It has great battery life and a built-in cellular connection, too?Then, I pull out my phone and look up some options. Thi
A barrel of oil fetches about US$80 on the global market. Consider the power of that price: It has driven extensive human endeavor, trillions of dollars in investment, technological breakthroughs, the creation of some of the world’s largest companies — all to extract fossil fuels from wherever in th
Twenty opposition lawmakers are to visit Itu Aba (Taiping Island, 太平島) on Saturday next week, a trip that not only has raised controversy domestically, but might also cause more unnecessary friction between nations in the region.The 46-hectare Taiping Island, the largest of the naturally occurring S
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) last week published a report titled Truth and Reality with Chinese Characteristics that reveals how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using its propaganda system to brainwash people in other countries. For instance, it invests in emerging technolog
If a company’s overhead for creating products rises, but their prices remain the same, it would eventually shut down.Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) is the nation’s only electricity provider. If it were to shut down, would people be fine without electricity? Unless people are willing to revert to living
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is on his first tour to Europe in five years, beginning with France on Monday this week, followed by Hungary and Serbia. Notably, Xi’s infrequent trips overseas often come on the heels of changes unfavorable to China, be it Vietnam after its strategic partnership a
Fu could have said ‘no’After Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (?) led KMT party members to Beijing to meet with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧), China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Song Tao (宋濤) and others, the TAO announce
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The bird flu outbreak among dairy cows continues to generate alarm, despite reassuring news that pasteurized milk is unlikely to infect anyone with H5N1. Scientists cannot stop worrying about a nightmare scenario: that the virus would get into pigs and, from there, spark a human pandemic.Pigs “are t
India’s ongoing parliamentary election, in which nearly 1 billion people could cast their votes over a six-week period, should represent an extraordinary exercise of democracy. However, the bleak reality is that the election appears poised to consolidate a decade-long process of democratic decay, wh
On Wednesday last week, US President Joe Biden called the immigration policies of Japan and India “xenophobic,” lumping them in with China and Russia. Comparing them with the US’ principle of welcoming immigrants, he accounted for their troubled economies by saying that “they don’t want immigrants.”
The trio of AUKUS defense chiefs — US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, British Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps and Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles — have recently revealed the nations’ collaboration with Japan on AUKUS Pillar II advanced capability projects. This announc
Every day since Oct. 7 last year, the world has watched an unprecedented wave of violence rain down on Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories — more than 200 days of constant suffering and death in Gaza with just a seven-day pause. Many of us in the American expatriate community in Taiwan h
Be a better touristOver the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday, a record of about 400,000 travelers passed through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in a single day. Trips to Japan are still the first choice of many Taiwanese tourists. To avoid making fools of themselves due to cultural differences or mis