China’s response to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s lack of ambiguity on Taiwan has been immediate and extreme, and it is threatening to turn a diplomatic spat into a regional crisis. Our latest on the Japan-China tensions: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

KMT to review suspension of Central Standing Committee member Ho Ying-lu – Taipei Times: ‘during a trip to Yanan, Shanxi Province, […] she wore a shirt with a profile picture of Mao Zedong and said she hoped “Taiwan would return to the embrace of the motherland as soon as possible.”’

China and the EU have made little headway in repairing ties since a summer summit, the bloc’s top envoy to Beijing Jorge Toledo says, though the country’s easing of rare earth controls offered a chance for reset – Bloomberg: ‘Toledo also criticized “attacks” lodged at the EU in Chinese media’

Beijing is priming China’s people and the world for a new pressure campaign on Taiwan – WSJ

China teaming up with Russia and North Korea is fuelling concern, Japanese defence ministry think tank report says – Kyodo News: ‘and their rivalry with the US-led security framework involving Tokyo and Seoul may grow’

I used to ask questions into the social media ether but now doing so seems super naive when I can just ask AI.

Looks like the government is calling on Taiwanese to travel to Japan and boost exports, given its diplomatic row with China over Taiwan focustaiwan.tw/cross-strait...

In an official letter, #UN #HumanRights experts urged #China govt to clarify missing details in the conviction of two Uyghurs: songwriter #YasharShohret — including which songs “promoted extremism” — and to disclose the whereabouts of scholar #RahileDawut. 📚 spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBas...

'At the outset of his term, when Russia’s aggression against Ukraine was in its early stages, Stoltenberg tried to get NATO members to help Ukraine, and from the outset he encountered resistance,' writes Robert Wihtol.

China’s new pressure campaign on Taiwan: “It prepares domestic audiences, signals resolve externally and shapes the psychological battlespace long before any military move.” www.wsj.com/world/china/...

Alors que la Chine organise un boycott du Japon et de ses produits, le président taïwanais Lai Ching-te a posté ce midi cette photo de son déjeuner, avec sushis et soupe miso au menu. (Photo : page FB de Lai Ching-te)

Sharing a new syllabus for an American University School of International Service class I'm teaching in Spring 2026: "The Scholar as Detective," a course on research methods for PhD students josephtorigian.com/wp-content/u...

No lawmaker in Congress should be able to buy, own, and sell individual stocks. Period. Let's make Congressional stock trading illegal.

Chinese woman who faked nationality to become Philippine mayor jailed for trafficking. Alice Guo sentenced to life in prison for overseeing a Chinese-operated online gambling centre where hundreds of people were forced to run scams or risk torture u.afp.com/SnyT

A very interesting essay by @michaelturton.bsky.social arguing that Taiwan could end up being integrated into Fujian Province rather than being a province as it was for the last decade of Qing rule and under the ROC between 1945 and 1949. www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...

Yes. Greater Bay Area is code for the de-identification of Hong Kong's and Macau's societies with their cultures and languages and the eventual eradication or absorption of dissident elements. It's political strategy masquerading as economics – highly seductive for corporate shills the world over.

Beijing’s coercive strategy has weakened its effectiveness due to frequent standoffs, which have desensitized the target countries to its tactics. China’s actions only strengthen the target countries’ (Japan and Philippine) resolve to de-risks.

Reminder for this Saturday: Connecting Taiwan to the World Through Books. A panel discussion with @brianhioe.bsky.social, @michellekuo.bsky.social, Elizabeth Hsinyin Lee, and me. Date: 2025-11-22 Time: 7pm Place: Daybreak Cafe/破曉咖啡 in Bangka More details: www.facebook.com/events/29449...

#FORMOSAT8 launch has been delayed once more, says #SpaceX, citing weather and technical issues. New tentative launch date is scheduled for Nov. 27, 2.18am #Taiwan time, from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California: www.tasa.org.tw/zh-TW/announ... More info: www.spacex.com/launches/tra...

The draft order, obtained by WIRED, instructs the US Justice Department to sue states that pass laws regulating AI. www.wired.com/story/trump-...

🎺🎺🎺✌️

Just think how they will handle Taiwan

A large fire tore through a densely populated district of Oita, Japan, destroying more than 170 structures and leaving one resident missing. www.japantimes.co.jp/news/202...

When is the UK government going to wake up to the fact that both Russia and China are at war with us, they just haven’t declared it officially yet?

Can you imagine where this country would be if, after the Civil Rights era, the "well-intentioned" everyday white conservatives had actually recognized how deeply racist and ignorant American society still was—and instead of reacting against multiculturalism, had embraced it?

Well, once again it was shown that Trump's "support" for Ukraine was a con. He has been working with Putin in secret to craft a "peace" deal which the US and Russia will now try to shove down Ukrainian and European throats. Another patient explainer for he media who have been duped by Trump again.

ICYMI: “.. rivaling or surpassing models hundreds of times its size, even outperforming Chinese rival DeepSeek's famed R1 that went viral at the start of this year ..” (via @deanbaker13.bsky.social) venturebeat.com/ai/weibos-ne...

wrote about the president’s flagrant and destructive corruption in a column that references street fighter, the simpsons, machiavelli, and a host of revolutionary-era americans (gift link)

Repeating, since Bloomberg and WSJ seem to not understand the difference: The Dutch economic affairs minister’s instruction to freeze control over Nexperia is distinct from the Amsterdam-based Enterprise Chamber’s court ruling that took away control and replaced the CEO over illegal mismanagement.

Excellent choices. On @heguisen.bsky.social's Ghost Nation: 'I can’t recommend this book enough: it’s both a history of Taiwan and a primer on why Taiwan is important both as a concept for its own people, and to the world for both ethical and pragmatic reasons.'

China underground church pastors arrested, face up to 3 years in jail, NGO head says – Reuters: ‘The remaining 18 detainees were formally arrested and charged with the crime of "illegally using information networks", said Bob Fu, the founder of Christian NGO ChinaAid’

‘Where have all the girls gone?’ Mapping gender gaps in Europe’s China expertise – Ivana Karásková and Emma Belmonte for China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe: ‘men made up roughly two-thirds of all speakers, while women accounted for just 34.7 percent.’

The Dutch government suspended its powers over chipmaker Nexperia, handing back control to its Chinese owner and defusing a standoff with Beijing www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Wat Xi kan, kan Trump – De Groene Amsterdammer: „In beide gevallen is er sprake van vrouwenhaat en van de verheerlijking van ‘echte’ mannelijkheid, er is ook bij Xi een afkeer van alles wat naar queer of woke neigt. Ook Xi heeft bovendien het idee dat er een bepaald ras superieur is”

💡 #China authorities moved human rights defender and journalist #ZhangZhan to #Shanghai Women's Prison while not disclosing her appeal outcome & denying her access to family and lawyer. The court sentenced her to 4 years for picking quarrels in Sept. Via wqw2010.blogspot.com/2025/11/4_18...

Missed this big news last week: A bid for a stake in Germany's gas network collapsed because the bidder (Italian energy firm Snam) is 1/3-owned by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, an Italian investment vehicle, which is 35% owned by State Grid Corp. of China

Lol. Poor put upon Xi Jin-ping. Seriously, this is why I could never be an editor for a major int'l media. "Rhetorical adventurism"? What about real adventurism from Xi?

If you think this is bad then imagine what it would be like if China gets permission to build its Super-Embassy in London. ‘MPs and peers have been told they face “a covert and calculated” attempt to recruit parliamentarians through two LinkedIn profiles linked to the Chinese intelligence service’.

More CCP bullying and intimidation. ‘China has suspended imports of Japanese seafood again, as the fallout over the Japanese prime minister’s comments about Taiwan continues to escalate in one of worst bilateral disputes in years’.

The Japanese PM did not do rhetorical adventurism over Taiwan, nor change Japan's stance on Taiwan. She stated the obvious, which is a blocus or a military invasion of Taiwan by China would impact Japan's national security (all while answering a question in Parliament, as suited in a democracy).

It's amazing how "China will take Taiwan" has become a refrain attached to any crisis unfolding anywhere.

¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

❗CSDS Conversations❗ This week, we had the distinct pleasure and honour of inviting Ely Ratner, Principal at the Marathon Initiative, to a CSDS Conversation, where he made the case for a Pacific defence pact. A really great discussion! Learn more csds.vub.be/conversation...

Kallas on China The European Union’s deep economic ties to China are constraining its ability to pressure Beijing over Russia’s war in Ukraine, the bloc’s top diplomat said.

Wrote on the growth of craft beer and cocktail bars, as it is linked to rising Taiwanese identity, in my latest for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social

Ten more books about #Taiwan? Don't mind if I do laorencha.substack.com/p/ten-more-g...

KMT vice chair claims that new chair Cheng Li-wun's understanding of the 1992 Consensus is the same as Ma's, which is "One Country, Two Areas." Er, yeah, sounds very distinguishable and distinctive from "One Country, Two Systems", lol news.tvbs.com.tw/politics/304...

Had 2 meetings with Ballast Books today: 1st, they told me pre-sales are going great & I’ll be signing lots of books. 2nd, we coordinated the audio book recording. Really excited about this project…this book discusses the military, family, leadership, values, character, and war.