A few new things from me: theeastandback.substack.com/p/china-or-t...

open.substack.com/pub/theeasta... My latest.

On why I left Taiwan. open.substack.com/pub/theeasta...

Anyone who is surprised that all these recalls could fail despite gathering all those signatures needs to understand: Almost every district can summon 30% support for blue/green camps. 10% is the amount of signatures needed.

Early days but if these results hold, a lot of self-professed Taiwan experts need to take a long, hard look in the mirror about how they completely misjudged support for the recalls.

Today is a pivotal day for bi-national couples and families: for the first time people on the spouse/partner visa route were listened to by a Committee that wanted to learn what life is really like when you want to live in the UK and were moved by what we read in the report #FamiliesBelongTogether🧵

Seeing as I am soon to leave the company, I will list out a few replies to points in the article. The English version had the xenophobic edges sanded off by Kwangyin. From the start, the only instruction on editorial policy received by the team is that T+ should operate as an int'l news channel.

TANK vs TESLA "We've crushed fascism before and we'll crush it again" - ⁠WW2 veteran Ken, 98, in the tank

"Some random country that hasn't fought a war in 40 years..." Over 500 dead British and French personnel (more than 1,000 total European fatalities) and c10,000 injured in Afghanistan 2001-2021. The only time Article 5 has been invoked. 'Disrespect' does not reside in lack of a suit, Mr Vance. ~AA

China swiftly retaliated against fresh US tariffs, announcing 10%-15% hikes to import levies covering a range of American agricultural and food products, and placing twenty-five US firms under export and investment restrictions reut.rs/4h2kylT

TSMC Announces Additional US$100B Investment in U.S. Can follow the latest reaction from Taiwan and around the world here: www.taiwanplus.com/news/live-ne...

💥Our new report conducted by Frontier Economics dropped over the weekend. Revealing how deep alignment with the EU on goods & services could boost UK GDP by up to 2.2% - double the estimated impact of a UK-US trade deal. Now here's what this kind of deal could do for the EU.👇1/

Senator Ron Wyden told me today it looks an awful lot like a coup - full Decoder coming Monday but it felt like we should get this clip out there

TaiwanPlus's budget has been cut by 20% and funds "frozen" (in essence means you must satisfy lawmakers' demands before money is released) 30%. The stated reason being the "inappropriate" description of Trump as a "convicted felon."

KMT proposal to cut the entirety of PTS (and TaiwanPlus) budget. TPP has proposed cutting 20% plus freezing 30%. Unclear if either proposal will be adopted (previous negotiation had agreed a 2% cut). www.threads.net/@jeankuo329/...

Now that is a level of international celebrity.... In a club in Shanghai... footage of Luigi Mangione up on the big screen 😲 Video sourced from Majorcantotraits on IG: www.instagram.com/majorcantotr...

How is China's EV boom affecting gasoline demand and electricity demand? It has been hard to find precise data on this so here's a thread working out some numbers.

You Know What The Fuck I Meant: A muting story

This week, three news stories in Taiwan have illustrated to me the government's unwillingness to meaningfully engage with some of the country's biggest problems: its poor labour standards, its shrinking population, and its lack of international visibility. All three are also intimately connected. 1/

Today in unbelievable news: Taiwan's media regulators says it will open investigation and fine TaiwanPlus if necessary over a report that states Trump is a convicted felon (aka, a 100% verifiable fact). www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/20...

full sentencing for all the NSL47, image from HKDC:

www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent... ““Trump won because of us and we’re not happy with his Secretary of State pick and others,” says Rabiul Chowdhury, a Philadelphia investor who chaired the Abandon Harris campaign in Pennsylvania and co-founded Muslims for Trump.”

Son of fallen Communist princeling Bo Xilai, Bo Guagua is apparently in Taiwan to visit the family of his Taiwanese wife. Didn't have that on my bingo card for this week. Security agencies in Taipei not commenting on any specifics of the decision to grant entry. udn.com/news/story/1...

Was a real honour to work on the live coverage for TaiwanPlus's election coverage in Jan. 13 – including my first experience of helping to direct coverage from inside the control room. Looking forward to working with this team to keep bringing untold stories from Taiwan and around the world.