Month: August 2022

Do Legislative Visits Actually Help Taiwan?

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement International tourism was probably the worst hit industry by the COVID-19 pandemic. But one type of tourism has unexpectedly flourished over the past two years: political visits to and from Taiwan. Politicians from all over the “free world” – ranging from those important positions to those retired after political defeats and little-known politicians without much influence – have concluded that Taiwan needs to be supported against the “communist” menace across the Taiwan Strait and the best way they can do this is through… a visit. Taiwanese politicians, not really…

China Pushes Its Vision for Taiwan As U.S. Delegation Visits

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BEIJING — As tensions in the Taiwan Strait reached their highest level in decades, China held the world rapt with a show of military might, deploying its largest-ever military exercises to intimidate Taiwan and its supporters. But the message that China has sought to convey involves far more than warships and fighter jets. Alongside its flashy display of raw power, China has been laying out its most forceful vision — political, economic, cultural — of a future unified with Taiwan. Under that vision, guided by China’s leader, Xi Jinping, not…

India and Pakistan at 75: partition remains an open wound as new friction points arise

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The attack on Salman Rushdie shone a light on where Pakistan and India, both now 75 years old, share common ground. Amid worldwide outrage, both governments were conspicuous by their silence. The silence came from different roots. Some of the first riots after the publication of Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses were in Pakistan and violent extremism is still very much part of the country’s political life. In India’s case, it was because Rushdie has been a critic of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and annoyed his supporters, who the author…

How Frustration Over TikTok Has Mounted in Washington

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In an interview, Mr. Beckerman called TikTok’s data collection “all very minor” compared with other social apps. To reduce security concerns, the app has said that it plans to store all its American data solely on Oracle servers in the United States, deleting its backups in Singapore and Virginia, and managing access from the United States. The process, Mr. Beckerman said, would probably be finished this year. He did not offer a specific date. Read More on the Relations Between Asia and the U.S. The White House may be preparing…

US congressional delegation visits Taiwan on heels of Pelosi trip

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A US congressional delegation has arrived in Taiwan, days after China held military drills around the island in retaliation for the House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit. The five-member delegation, led by Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, will meet President Tsai Ing-wen and attend a banquet hosted by the foreign minister, Joseph Wu, during the visit, according to Taiwan’s foreign ministry. The American Institute in Taiwan said the US politicians would discuss “US-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade and investment, global supply chains, climate change, and other significant issues of mutual interest”.…

Five U.S. Lawmakers Arrive in Taiwan Amid Tensions With China

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A five-member congressional delegation arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, less than two weeks after the contentious visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that infuriated China and drew intense Chinese military drills off the island’s coast. The bipartisan group, led by Senator Ed Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, was welcomed by Taiwanese officials who said they appreciated the show of solidarity during the escalating tensions with Beijing. There was no immediate response from Beijing, but the presence of the five American lawmakers so quickly after Ms. Pelosi’s visit was likely to provoke…

4 dead, 9 injured, in China flash flood in Sichuan city of Pengzhou

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“As of 7.30pm, the mountain flood has killed four people, severely injured three and lightly injured six others,” Pengzhou emergency response authorities said in a statement. The flood comes during a summer of extreme weather in China, with multiple cities including Shanghai recording their hottest days ever during a heatwave in July. Advertisement Scientists say extreme weather across the world has become more frequent due to climate change, and is likely to grow more intense as global temperatures rise. 01:57 Seoul moves to ban ‘Parasite-style’ basement flats as historic floods…

Xi Jinping faces stumbling blocks, as crucial Communist party meeting looms

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Having presided over a grand celebration of the party’s centenary and suppressed mass Covid outbreaks last year, China’s president, Xi Jinping, told his countrymen and women in his 2022 New Year address that the Chinese nation was “making confident strides on the path toward the great rejuvenation”. But so far, the Year of the Tiger has been full of stumbling blocks. First, the draconian Covid lockdowns in major cities such as Xi’an and Shanghai, the commercial capital, sparked outcry and disrupted global supply chains. Then the economy showed signs of…

Taiwan chip veteran calls working for China’s top foundry SMIC a ‘foolish’ decision

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“Because I am a US citizen, it did bother me a lot,” said Chiang, who pursued graduate studies at Princeton University and Stanford University. He added that he thought the mainland Chinese government did not trust him because he was a Taiwanese with US citizenship. Chiang relinquished all his roles at SMIC, including vice chairmanship and executive director, in November 2021. At the time, he told the Post he would return to the US to join his family and enjoy retirement. Advertisement In his interview with CHM, Chiang said he…

US and Chinese officials discuss Biden-Xi meeting amid Taiwan friction

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US and Chinese officials have been discussing a face-to-face meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, amid a significant escalation in friction over Taiwan. Kurt Campbell, the coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs in Biden’s national security council, confirmed on Friday that the two leaders had raised the possibility of an in-person meeting when they last talked by phone in late July “and agreed to have their team’s follow up to sort out the specifics”. Campbell said there were no new details to announce, but both leaders are expected to take part…