Two years ago, I heard that Taiwan's govt had unearthed surveillance files from the secret police of its authoritarian era. They were finally becoming open to the public, nearly four decades after Taiwan's democratisation. I wanted to see what was inside: www.economist.com/1843/2025/05...

Superb and important piece from @aliceysu.bsky.social about the long and painful process of truth and reconciliation in Taiwan. A pointed reminder about what "unification" with the People's Republic of China actually demands of the Taiwanese people. www.economist.com/1843/2025/05...

What if China & India became friends? I join @aliceysu.bsky.social on The Economist's Drum Tower podcast this week to discuss whether India & China can grow closer economically after their October border deal -- and what that might mean for Asia and the world. www.economist.com/podcasts/202...

Taiwan has detained a Chinese-crewed ship for investigation after another one of its undersea cables, this time connecting Taiwan to Penghu, was cut this morning. Coast guard says the ship was sailing under Togo flag but Chinese-funded, and could be a grey-zone actor www.cna.com.tw/news/asoc/20...

Taiwan's armed forces have a Chinese spy problem. Prosecutions for Chinese espionage have jumped fourfold in the last 4 years. 2/3 of alleged spies last year were current or retired military personnel. China is also using new tactics to recruit younger collaborators www.economist.com/asia/2025/02...

I'm hearing a lot from the media NGO sector about the impact of USAID cuts. A lot of small investigative media organisations across the globe are facing imminent closure as the funding they've budget for has vanished overnight, and the funder community has no capacity to absorb the shock.

I spent the last two days speaking w researchers and activists doing some of the most groundbreaking work on human rights in China. Many are facing pay cuts, layoffs, and total shutdown after the sudden freeze in US foreign aid www.economist.com/china/2025/0...

Our latest episode of Drum Tower tackles a difficult problem for liberal democracies with Chinese diasporas - how to counter the Communist Party's influence and espionage attempts within Chinese communities without demonising and alienating Chinese people? www.economist.com/podcasts/202...

"When the US selectively applies internationally accepted rules, it undermines its credibility and loses influence.. Biden claimed to understand this, but he abandoned his own strategy at a critical time. In doing so, he paved the way for a race to the bottom." www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

"Our core values remain openness, humility and digital. I know some people think that digital is not a value. But I believe that digital changes everything, including grammar." Bartleby is always excellent but this one actually made me laugh out loud www.economist.com/business/202...

“Because Mr. Biden, unlike Mr. Trump, was seen for decades as a champion of an American-led global order — ‘a high priest in the church’ — his actions in particular showed that international rules ‘are hollow’.” www.nytimes.com/2024/12/26/u...

Just listen to Drum Tower podcast from the @economist.com Insights like this are worth the money. We need to learn the lesson from Hong Kong about how step by step China crackdown on the rights and freedom of the individual.

现在能帮助过去吗? 活人能救死人吗? 当我继续阅读时，很明显这些都是不可能的问题。通过与人类最黑暗方面的持续接触，我感到我对人类长期破碎的信念完全破碎。我几乎放弃了这本小说。然后我读到了一个年轻夜校教育工作者的日记条目。朴永俊，一个害羞、安静的青少年，参加了1980年5月光州十天的起义中形成的自治公民的“绝对社区”.. 尽管他知道士兵们将在清晨返回，但他选择留在那里。在那最后一晚，他在日记中写道：“上帝啊，为什么我必须有这样令我痛苦的良心呢？我想活下去。” 读了这些句子，我像闪电一样清楚地知道这部小说应该走哪条路，我的两个问题必须颠倒过来： 过去能帮助现在吗? 死人能救活人吗?

Syria is the most displaced nation on Earth. 60% of its population - 14M people - forced from their homes by the regime’s brutality. Today, a golden thread has connected cities around the world as the Syrian diaspora gather to celebrate the end of Assad. Here’s a 🧵 of global celebrations 🟢⚪️⚫️ 👇

Crying this morning. Alf mabrook to the brave Syrians I know who have suffered so much for so long and who thought this day would never come. Courage and strength to them as they see loved ones come out of prison and dare to think of finally, really, being able to go home apnews.com/article/syri...

Japan's military spots a Russian submarine moving near Yonaguni, the island closest to Taiwan, for the first time apnews.com/article/japa...

Some tip-top tariff coverage by colleagues this week. First, Don Weinland on how China will resist and retaliate against US trade restrictions. One meaningful difference between today and 2018-19 is that China's trade surplus with non-US partners is far larger. www.economist.com/finance-and-...

While Yoon previously vowed to fight corruption and improve transparency, his presidency has been marred by abuses of power. Imposing martial law is a serious backslide of democracy in South Korea and follows a trend of a worrying chilling effect in the media since he entered office in 2022.

For those wanting a stream, Yonhap Television Network has a Youtube feed. www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_Bb...

I was preparing to pitch an op-ed on the nationwide protests calling for President Yoon's resignation, aiming to provide global context amid the limited international coverage. Given the urgency, I’m sharing it now. I didn’t expect events to escalate this quickly. #SouthKorea #Democracy

A Beijing court sentenced veteran Chinese state media journalist Dong Yuyu to seven years in prison for espionage, a family member told Reuters reut.rs/4fKqO27

This was a great listen, and well worth your time. Full of interesting characters and questions about what a just migration policy would look like.

Every episode The Drum Tower puts out is gold, but Pt. 2 of this series on Chinese migrants, about challenges crossing throughMexico, is particularly salient this week.

A really fascinating podcast about people who are migrating from China to the U.S. via the Darien Gap. There’s a lot more we can learn about this phenomenon via this excellent reporting from @aliceysu.bsky.social

Extremely disturbing first-hand testimony to Parliament from a retired NHS surgeon who spent Aug-Sep in Gaza. "The drones would come down and pick off civilians—children. We had description after description. This is not an occasional thing." committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence...

If you are "tough on China," then listen to Taiwan

Leading China hawks in the U.S. House are calling for a rethink on whether Hong Kong should continue to enjoy the cozy banking relationship it has with the U.S., saying the city is becoming a hub for money-laundering and sanctions evasion. www.wsj.com/articles/hon...

This is really impressive. Respect to the authors, who I've followed since I found their YouTube channel four years ago while searching for a recipe for 宜宾燃面 :) chinesecookingdemystified.substack.com/p/63-chinese...

This year I spent months reporting in Colombia, Mexico, and California, following Chinese migrants hoping to seek asylum in the US. It's a route that's become known as 走线. We made a 4-part podcast series about their journey. The first episode is free this week: open.spotify.com/episode/0vTt...