Lai released a response to Trump, emphasizing there is no "Taiwanese independence problem" because Taiwan is already (de facto) independent as the ROC. This has been the DPP stance since 1999, but Xi has seemingly convinced Trump that Lai is pursuing (de jure) independence.

May 17, 2026 New Taipei, Taiwan — Hundreds of One Piece fans gathered at Tamsui Waterfront park in New Taipei City for a One Piece exhibition in celebration of the newly opened Danjiang Bridge.

Israel vows to level homes in Lebanon and counter threats with "full force" despite truce u.afp.com/SEaX

Thousands of people gather in central Taiwan as part of the Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage 大甲媽祖遠境. For nine days and eight nights, the sea goddess Mazu is carried 340 kilometers across central Taiwan, stopping at temples and blessing communities.

BREAKING Chinese President Xi Jinping tells Taiwan opposition leader 'full of confidence' Chinese and Taiwanese people will be united

Within a month of our President calling all Somalis "garbage," saying "they contribute nothing" that "they come from hell," "I don't want them in our country," the DOJ appears to be creating a separate process for deportation proceedings based on nationality just for Somalis.

E and J knew it was time to leave the U.S. the day of Donald Trump's inauguration. As transgender women, they were among the hundreds of families and individuals afraid for their futures. Reposting for Trans Day of Visibility. Read their story: www.herelhughes.com/writing/forc...

Nestled in the mountains of the Dominican Republic lies the world's only larimar mine, a striking blue semiprecious stone that has transformed from a symbol of Dominican identity into one of the country’s biggest industries. 🇩🇴 See my full story: www.herelhughes.com/photography/...

A total hardliner. Whose father, mother, wife, and son we just killed.

Lunar New Year has come to an end in southern Taiwan with one of the world’s most dangerous festivals, the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival 鹽水蜂炮. 🐝 🧨 Each year, thousands of people travel to the small town of Yanshui 鹽水 in the hopes of being struck by exploding bottle rockets.

A U.S. military strike killed three people and blew up a boat in the Caribbean Sea on Friday, the U.S. Southern Command said, raising the death toll in the Trump administration’s five-month-old campaign against suspected drug smugglers at sea to 133.

US military says it struck a vessel in Caribbean, killing three reut.rs/4auNge2

Japan seizes a Chinese fishing boat and arrests its skipper, an incident that could deepen a spat between the Asian giants u.afp.com/S6JU

This is the aftermath of an ICE kidnapping a few blocks from my home in St. Paul—an hour ago. A quiet street full of broken glass and at least three wrecked cars. The target of the kidnapping was taken away by ambulance. He was on a stretcher and covered by a sheet, though a cop said he was alive.

Finally sharing this story: www.herelhughes.com/writing/one-...

The total lack of explanation or comprehension from all sources contacted I this article is really unsettling - nobody has any idea why a major city was just suddenly grounded - with lethal force authorized against any aircraft that didn’t get the memo. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...

The FAA on Tuesday halted all flights to and from El Paso Airport in Texas for 10 days for “special security reasons,” isolating a major U.S. metropolitan area from air travel. Follow live updates.

"A modern-day concentration camp ... People have been killed by the staff here." Irish citizen Seamus Culleton has been in ICE detention since September, despite having a valid work permit and his own business in the US.

China to support 'reunification forces' in Taiwan, go after 'separatists' reut.rs/4aoBrWL

新年快樂 from Taipei’s traditional Dihua Street 🏮

This is literally what CURRENT LAW requires. It’s in the Constitution! www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

Lunar New Year preparations are underway at Longshan Temple 龍山寺 in Taipei. 🇹🇼 Ahead of the holiday, visitors bring offerings and pray for a prosperous year. For the zodiac signs facing an unlucky upcoming year 🐴 🐀 🐂 🐇 , they have to “A Tai Sui” 安太歲, or pacify this year’s guardian deity.

Taipei winter 🇹🇼

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Post says one-third of its staff across all departments, not just the newsroom, is being laid off.

Shout out to Taiwan’s unhinged Doritos flavors

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal immigration officers tried to enter Ecuadorian consulate in Minneapolis but were stopped, foreign minister says www.axios.com/2026/01/28/i...

President Trump said he was sending Tom Homan, his border czar, to Minnesota to run immigration enforcement operations in the state.

a heavily armed paramilitary force with legal immunity is occupying a city and going door to door kidnapping non-white adults and children in furtherance of an explicitly white nationalist political project

This is not normal wapo.st/4pFh6lw

The United States military said that it hit multiple Islamic State targets across Syria in another retaliatory strike in response to an attack that killed American service members.

Breaking news: U.S. forces seized a Russian-flagged tanker Wednesday that had evaded a naval blockade near Venezuela, officials said.

BREAKING: An American military operation in Venezuela killed 32 Cuban officers over the weekend, the Cuban government said in the first official acknowledgement of the deaths.

In its assault on the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, the U.S. military appeared to strike a residential neighborhood. In the aftermath of the capture of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuelans are struggling to understand what just happened, and what might come next.

The New York Times has just confirmed that 40 civilians died in President Trump's invasion. This is the aftermath in one area

North Korea fired several ballistic missiles from its capital Pyongyang towards the sea off its east coast at around 7:50 a.m. local time on Sunday, South Korea’s military said.

Today Taiwan faces record-setting military drills from the PRC. But, people in Taiwan will remain largely cool and unphased. Most won't even notice the threats. Why? In my new book, I write extensively about why some types of PRC threats mobilize civil society and others do not:

Major PLA exercise “Justice Mission-2025” (正义使命-2025) begins around Taiwan today. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theatre Command is dispatching its Army, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force for the joint mission beginning today, December 29.

Large earthquake felt in Taipei. Taiwan government puts it at a magnitude 7.0 www.cwa.gov.tw/V8/E/E/index...

Great reporting on China’s efforts to replicate the machines that make the most advanced chips. Fake ID cards, oblique networks of suppliers, and a prototype in a Shenzhen lab that almost fills a factory floor. www.reuters.com/world/china/...

Buried beneath the rock and ice of the Himalayas, in one of the most remote places on earth, lies a sensational chapter of the Cold War, and it’s not over yet. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

US bombers join Japanese jets in show of force after China–Russia drills, Tokyo says reut.rs/4iWQcUM

“For the first time, [Taiwan’s] government is invoking a 2022 law that made [semiconductor] chip makers’ trade secrets subject to protection on national security grounds.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/b...

The US is proposing that foreign visitors provide their social media history over the last five years to enter the country, including those from Australia, Germany, Japan and the UK who can now enter without a visa. Full story: bloom.bg/4q3W0y0 📷️📷️:: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

“Are you Dominican? Where are the drugs?” “Eres dominicana? Dónde están las drogas?” Dominican immigration agents check IDs and search cars at a road stop near Barahona, Dominican Republic on November 13, 2025.

Back in the batey 🇩🇴

November 12, 2025, Bahoruco, Dominican Republic — A resident of the batey watches as a truck full of immigration police pass the small sugar cane community. In the past year, bateys have become a target after Dominican President Luis Abinader announced a plan to deport 10,000 Haitians per week.

US aircraft carrier moves into Latin America region, officials say reut.rs/486sCAN

Israeli settlers attack Palestinians, journalists at West Bank olive harvest, witnesses say reut.rs/43PXnaK

A Post investigation found that Chinese manufacturers are shipping large amounts of chemicals that can be used in producing synthetic drugs to lawless parts of Southeast Asia, where criminal gangs have been trafficking record levels of meth.

En la frontera de la República Dominicana 🇩🇴 y Haiti 🇭🇹 On the border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti