Brookings just published my analysis of Taiwan politics after the first wave of recalls. The main point: the recalls have resolved some remaining political uncertainty, & all 3 political parties have some incentives to tack towards the middle. www.brookings.edu/articles/tai...

81 years ago: The Mummy's Ghost (US) An Egyptian high priest travels to America to reclaim the bodies of ancient Egyptian princess Ananka and her living guardian mummy Kharis. Learning th... 1944-07-07 https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/29243

Three big takeaways from Taiwan's recalls: 1. Even though the pro-recall movement was highly mobilized, and the KMT efforts to recall DPP legislators flopped, blue voter networks are not dead or apathetic. KMT voters can and will still mobilize for their party when need be.

Finally wrote something about the Taiwan People's Party. Read to the end to find out why the TPP is the biggest reason most KMT legislators are going to face recall votes on July 26: www.kharistempleman.com/blog/the-cur...

Huge loss. Mala Htun did pathbreaking work on gender representation. This is terrible: provost.unm.edu/news-and-art...

Former Nantou county magistrate sentenced for charges totally 656 years and 4 months, it's confirmed he will serve 21 years and 2 months

SoCal showers now likely Sun-Mon! Decent soaking (0.5+ in.) possible mtns; lighter (0.2-0.5 in.) elsewhere. This will be a cold/convective system (w/showers + t-storms). Enough to tamp down but not end fire season; t-storm downpours may risk fire zone debris flows. #CAwx #CAfire

I just got banned on Little Red Book 小红书, it was really easy. All you have to do is write the words “Tiananmen Square 1989” or even better “Taiwan is a Country” and you will break the glass hearts of 1.3 billion netizens.

Stefanik has clearly done her homework—in line with her earned reputation as a quick study, she has clearly put in the time and learned a lot about the UN

🧪⚒️ A M6 earthquake shook southwestern Taiwan earlier today, causing at least one building to collapse. The faults in western Taiwan are mapped in detail - thrusts soling to a detachment at 5-6 km depth. So why did this earthquake occur several km deeper? Read more on our blog:

Just saw the Presidential Alert and felt a rather long earthquake up here in Taipei. Initial reports indicate M6.4 with an epicenter in Chiayi County, somewhere around Tsengwen Reservoir, where I was just a few days ago... www.cwa.gov.tw/V8/E/E/EQ/EQ...

Algeria, one of Russia's top 5 arms customers, just shifted a major naval order to China. In line with a broader shift to China, which has already displaced Russia as the top arms exporter to Sub-Saharan Africa. dailywrap.ca/algeria-pivo...

Taiwan's premier has said the government faced a crisis in day-to-day operations, including national security, because of large cuts to this year's budget proposed by opposition parties, who have cited a need to cut waste. www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-as...

KMT really wants that submarine budget cut, hm? news.ltn.com.tw/news/politic...

During the recent election in Hyogo, supporters of Governor Saito spread defamatory information about a local politician who was investigating the governor. The politician was found dead yesterday from an apparent suicide, and he is still being defamed online. news.goo.ne.jp/article/yomi...

Taiwan is on the brink of a constitutional crisis. I detail how it got so bad, so fast, here: www.kharistempleman.com/blog/taiwan-...

KMT and TPP legislators just passed bill raising income replacement rate to 80% for pensions of retired police officers and firefighters. DPP government officials & legislators opposed the move, explaining it will only increase generational conflicts and exhaust the pension fund early.

KMT/TPP passed a law to divert central government funds to local governments but allocated funds to cities/counties with more businesses instead of based on demographics (like areas with more elderly/children). TPP has again gone back on promises of supporting young families. tinyurl.com/5d44ej5k

Taiwan has been on a path towards a constitutional crisis since last summer. One root problem is that its institutions aren't designed to handle divided goverment. A lot of the political pathologies of the Chen Shui-bian era have reappeared. thediplomat.com/2025/01/taiw...

JOB OPENING: I'm seeking to hire a deputy director, program administrator to work with my fantastic team in GMF's Indo-Pacific program. This is primarily a managerial and admin/budget position in either Berlin or DC. Apply here: www.gmfus.org/about/careers

This coming Wednesday -- Hoover Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific will host Weitseng Chen for a talk on national security investment screening in Singapore vs Taiwan. Details here: www.kharistempleman.com/blog/ptip-we...

JF Books, been around just a year, at DuPont Circle, the DC reincarnation of an influential intellectual hub back in Shanghai before being shut down there by the gov, is shaping up to be an important salon for ideas on China’s past and future.

After reading these two articles, I am even more skeptical about the usefulness of the concept of "far right" in Latin America - beyond describing a generic "reactionary" position.

Bridge Colby, soon to be OSD Policy chief, lays out views here that lead directly to the withdrawal of US forces from Korea. There should be no illusions about where this is heading. english.hani.co.kr/arti/english...

Thinking for some reason about my teacher, Jonathan Spence. With the third anniversary of his passing (Christmas day) approaching, I would like to share this remembrance of him (and my favorite book of his) that I wrote for my @thechinaproject.bsky.social column thechinaproject.com/2022/01/26/t...

This short UDN editorial suggests that at least some people in the Blue camp are concerned about what happened with that vote. For those who don't read UDN regularly, these short op-eds on p.2 are where the paper's deep Blue paranoid id finds caustic expression. udn.com/news/story/7...

Notable divergence btwn KMT and TPP on vote for Examination Yuan president Chou Hung-hsien. KMT opposes, TPP votes put him over the top, 59-53. Committee nominee Ker Li-ling is opposed by both caucuses so fails to get confirmed; other 6 confirmed w/o opposition: focustaiwan.tw/politics/202...

In all sincerity, I believe Taiwan Travelogue, by Yáng Shuāngzǐ - which just won the National Book Award for translated work - to be very possibly the best book I have *ever* read. Layers upon layers of meaning. It is absolutely outstanding. www.yuricon.com/product/taiw...

In what appeared to be an imitation of foreign consultants, Prabowo said in a mocking tone: “You must uphold democracy. You should hold regional elections every three months.” www.ft.com/content/d88e...

Breaking: #SouthKorea National Assembly passed the vote to impeach President Yoon Suk-Yeol with 204 yes and 85 no, abstain 3 and 8 invalid votes.

Beijing has unveiled a new tactic on Taiwan, the democratic island it claims as its own, officials and experts say: large-scale drills with no fanfare to normalize a heightened military presence and let the U.S. know that China can act whenever it wants. www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/12...

Incredible byline, incredible dateline, incredible story. Great to see Evan’s work again in the WSJ www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Visited a shelter for children of migrant workers in Taiwan (most of their mothers are Southeast Asian domestic workers). Many of their mothers can't house them because they live full-time with the Taiwanese elder they're taking care if, or they are undocumented.

Good morning from Seoul. Here is where I will share the latest important updates from South Korea. First, please note the significant anniversary date below, as described by Ben Engel, who you should already be following by now.

Two senior members of Taiwan's government are in the United States to meet people connected to President-elect Donald Trump's transition team, five sources told Reuters, in an effort by Taiwan to establish ties with the incoming administration reut.rs/3ZvDtPm

To celebrate the publication of our HANDBOOK OF COMPARATIVE POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS and our awesome contributors, I’m kicking off a pre-holiday challenge: every day, I’ll share a short intro to one of its chapters. This is also an opportunity to connect with new colleagues, so please feel free to 📌!

NEWS: Google, Intersect Power announce $20B plan to colocate data centers with solar, wind, batteries. The idea is to simplify interconnection and reduce grid strain, letting Google build data centers fast and clean @jeffstjohn.bsky.social reports: www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle... #energysky

This is coming down to a "protect democracy by impeaching Yoon" vs. "protect democracy by preventing Lee Jae-myung becoming president" struggle. The former will win more public support, but ultimately it's the individual PPP legislators who will vote, not the public

Maybe a bit of drama left in the PPP. Ahn Cheol-su was alone when the vote started but now has two friends. Still need 5 more

Note that the “Xinjiang Cotton Association” does not deny the use of forced labor, and it does not offer to allow independent inspectors to carry out human rights due diligence. Enough said.

Thread. S Korean President Yoon impeachment vote fails to reach 2/3 majority after conservatives boycott. Conservative PPP seems to be following Yoon’s ploy to get opposition leader Lee Jae-myung convicted and barred from running in early pres election, before Yoon steps down.

Right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. This does directly contradict one of the Ministry's of the Interior's three reasons for denying the dual nationality petition: increased social welfare burden. Alslo MOHW is much less conservative than Interior.

The PLA’s monthly total air incursions into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in November dropped below 300 for the first time since April but remained much higher than pre-2024 monthly averages. 🧵1/5 China-Taiwan Weekly Update, Dec: 5: isw.pub/ChinaTaiwanU...

Tsai was scheduled to visit London for two days and was in discussions to address the UK parliament, according to a leaked letter. The trip was cancelled because of the UK foreign secretary's ‘goodwill visit’ to China. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Alaskans rejected a measure to repeal ranked-choice voting by 664 votes, with all ballots counted. Across the state’s three majority-Native House districts, the ‘no’ vote won by 2,960 votes, 64 to 36 percent. boltsmag.org/alaska-...

Huzzah, Alaska has counted the final votes and the attempt to repeal primary reform and ranked choice voting has narrowly FAILED. alaskapublic.org/2024/11/20/a...

Signs of some "big time" weather for TBD portions of U.S. West coast over next 10 days. A major #AtmosphericRiver, & perhaps a short sequence of very wet ARs, will affect some section of coast between NorCal & WA--perhaps bringing very heavy rain accumulations. #CAwx #ORwx [1/6]

Lithuania’s presumptive PM Gintautas Paluckas vows to restore ties with China – BNS

Created a Taiwan Studies Starter Pack for folks coming from Twitter. Let me know if you ought to be on here! go.bsky.app/TG2GBbz