Taiwan politicians dismiss Elon Musk’s ‘ill-informed and belittling’ China comments

Taiwanese politicians have dismissed comments from Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, that allowing China to have some control over the island would resolve the cross-strait dispute, urging him to respect the wishes of Taiwan’s citizens. Musk’s suggestion to “figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable,” given in an interview with the Financial Times on Saturday, was welcomed by China’s ambassador to the US. The ambassador, Qin Gang, said “peaceful reunification and ‘one country two systems’ are our basic principles for resolving the Taiwan question…

Taiwan’s citizen warriors prepare to confront looming threat from China

On a sleepy Sunday morning 50 anonymous young men and women have wandered into a nondescript Taipei office for training with Kuma Academy. The one-day course includes cross-strait geopolitics and strategy, invasion scenarios, and disinformation. Later, they’re taught the difference between the opposing armies’ uniforms, and how to tie a tourniquet. The citizen warriors are being trained with a 1bn Taiwan dollar (£28m) donation from businessman Robert Tsao. He made global headlines last month when he pledged the money to train “three million people in three years” and 300,000 sharpshooters…