NEW: Taiwan (ROC) Air Force T-34 trainer aircraft “3414” crashed near the runway during a training flight simulating engine failure near the northern end of the runway at Gangshan Air Base at 0808 on June 2. Both pilots were killed in the crash.

Taiwan Navy frigate ROCS Chen De and attack submarine ROCS Hai Kun passing each other in Kaohsiung. The frigate is equipped with an upgraded air defense system.

Taiwan will receive 28 Mark 48 Mod 6 AT torpedoes from the US in 2027 and 2028. Taiwan purchased the equipment through foreign military sales.

Gift article. Very much worth your time: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/29/o...

Precision for those who missed previous episodes: eliminated by the opposition parties during the legislative review of the special defense budget.

Taiwan is considering a new special defense budget that will include the TK-4 ballistic missile defense system, Albatross II UAVs, and sea drones. These items were eliminated from the $25-billion special defense budget passed earlier this year.

Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Charlottetown transited the Taiwan Strait on 5/22, The Globe and Mail reports. The vessel transited the Taiwan Strait on its own.

Manufacturing is complete for Taiwan's 12th and final Tuo Chiang-class corvette, PGG-632. Testing and commissioning will take place later this year.

This kind of mindset is heavily ingrained in China and Taiwan: "good iron doesn't become nails, good men don't become soldiers." And it's partly why both the PLA and ROC Armed Forces have personnel issues.

To be more precise: to do violence on behalf of the state (or sovereign) implied a privileged relationship, both culturally and pragmatically—failing to reward your soldiers rarely ends well. Crucially, these rewards need not be monetary: honors, privileges, and rights all do the job.

Kolead Aerospace and Teledyne FLIR tested launching and recovering the SkyRanger R70 drone from a M109 RHIB in Pingtung, Taiwan.

Hard to know what's happening with the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, I guess www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/...

Taiwan (ROC) Army M60A3 TTS tank on combat readiness patrol in Miaoli, 1st Battalion of the Taiwan (ROC) Army 586th Combined Arms "Bell Mountain" Brigade, 5/25/2026.

Taiwan releases image of: 1. F-16 monitoring Chinese YY-20 refueling aircraft and J-16 fighters 2. Frigate ROCS Kun Ming monitoring Chinese destroyer Yinchuan (175)

Disrupting Chinese-Iranian relations by showing Chinese internet users that Iran considers the bombing of Hiroshima to be a great crime

All 1,700 BGM-71F TOW-2B anti-tank guided missiles and 400 FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missiles ordered by Taiwan from the US through Foreign Military Sales have been delivered, sources tell Liberty Times.

Taiwan Coast Guard Administration fisheries patrol vessel HSUN HU NO. 7 departed Kaohsiung for the first high seas fisheries patrol in the Western and Central Pacific of 2026 on 5/22. The mission is part of Taiwan's WCPFC obligations to combat IUU fishing.

Chinese submarines based in eastern Taiwan could enter the Pacific undetected and unimpeded. Chinese warships could more directly disrupt SLOCs near Japan and the Philippines. A Chinese-controlled Taiwan is an existential threat to the freedom of navigation and all the countries that rely on it.

During the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee hearing earlier today, Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao told senators that arms shipments to Taiwan have been paused, saying “Right now we’re doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury.” However,

US policy toward Taiwan is unchanged, and Taiwan is "cautiously optimistic" about arms sales, Taiwan's Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo tells the Legislative Yuan on May 21.

Deliveries of M109A7 howitzers to Taiwan will begin in 2030 due to the need to upgrade around 600 US-operated M109A6 howitzers to the A7 standard, sources tell Liberty Times.

shooting film with the boys

Taiwan Travelogue wins the 2026 International Booker Prize! focustaiwan.tw/culture/2026...

Taiwan recently passed a $25 billion special multi-year defense budget. The original budget request was for $40 billion. The difference was mostly air and naval drones and air defense.

The Lincoln Memorial is across the river from Virginia (specifically, the former estate of Robert E. Lee) and serves as a symbol of national unity.

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense released images of China's military activity on 5/19. 1. PLA Air Force J-16 from a Taiwan (ROC) Air Force F-16's SNIPER pod. 2. PLA Navy destroyer Yinchuan (175) from Taiwan (ROC) Navy destroyer ROCS Su Ao.

Taiwan (ROC) Army M1A2T Abrams tanks on combat readiness patrol, 584th Combined Arms "Dengbu" Brigade, Hsinchu area, 5/20.

Taiwan defense firm NCSIST unveils Kestrel II rocket launcher. The system has an effective range of 500 meters and can penetrate over 500mm of rolled homogeneous armor. NCSIST is also developing a version that can be fired indoors.

In April, Taiwanese private groups and fire departments donated 68 emergency vehicles - fire trucks and ambulances - to #Ukraine. 26 of them will go to Kharkiv, the rest to frontline units, military and border guards in Lviv, Kupyansk and other affected regions.

The transformation of Philippines-Taiwan defense relations over the last 15 years is quite remarkable and a fascinating case study in modern alliance-building. The Philippines shot and killed Taiwanese fishermen as recently as 2013.

Shameful — and strategically illiterate to ignore that the U.S. actually benefits from it.

The Taiwan (ROC) Army will conduct artillery exercises on Xishu Beach in Tainan, southern Taiwan, this year.

Taiwan plans to procure the Mk44 ABM system to improve the CM-34 infantry fighting vehicle's ability to shoot down drones, the Armaments Bureau says. The system equips the vehicle's 30mm Mk44 Bushmaster II autocannon with programmable air-burst ammunition.

Graphic from Taiwan outlet Watchout

The Taiwan (ROC) Air Force deployed four C-130Hs after severe weather disrupted commercial flights and ferries between Nangan and Taiwan.

Here’s what actually happened: Texas Instruments repeatedly passed over company VP Morris Chang for promotion to CEO despite 25 years of excellent results. He then accepted an invitation from Taiwan’s government to build what would become TSMC.

Taiwan urges Trump to stay the course on weapons sales

Trump needs to approve the U.S. arms sale to Taiwan now. Using Taiwan’s security as a bargaining chip isn’t strategy, it’s surrender.

unfurling a "white replacement" banner should get you permabanned from MLB stadiums

CM-33 and CM-34 armored fighting vehicles in gunnery exercises, 1st Combined Arms Battalion of the Taiwan (ROC) Army 269th Combined Arms “Lion” Brigade in Tainan, 5/12/2026.

When Taiwan joined the WTO in 2022, it did so under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu." Taiwan has never used "Taiwan, Province of China" in the WTO.

this guy's opinions on taiwan hold more water than mine?

The KMT will use quotes from the second Trump administration to discredit the US and any efforts to strengthen US-Taiwan relations.

Sorry, but it is clear that little/no discussion took place. Trump doesn't understand details at all. It is highly unlikely that they talked about the individual weapons systems involved in the potential sale. Trump is just pretending to knowledge he doesn't have, as usual, and puffing himself up.

US-Taiwan relations have survived both the Cold War and the Peace Dividend, Dem and GOP administrations, treaty ally and non-recognition. The issue with Donald Trump is less that he will outright abandon Taiwan, but that his attitude toward critical partners is unprecedented.

Honduras-flagged fishing research vessel Hui Chuan anchored off the UAE’s east coast, is believed to have been seized by the IRGC Navy. The ship is reportedly operated by the Chinese private security company Sinoguards as a floating armory.-BBC

This is just a very stupid sounding way to phrase strategic ambiguity, which is long standing US policy. If Trump was coached on anything for this visit it would be that. I think it's an increasingly unwise policy and we should be clearer about telling China no, but it's not a new Trump thing.

An understated aspect of the Trump administration's approach to Taiwan is that Taiwan's opposition will hold this up and fuel anti-US skepticism, and the administration (and certain think tank types) will use this as proof that Taiwan won't fight for itself/is not worth fighting for.

To be clear: Taiwan is independent right now. That is the cross-Strait status quo since 1949. The ROC government has existed uninterrupted as an independent government since 1911.