Former Singaporean Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo raised eyebrows with comments earlier this month asserting that Taiwan was a “piece on the chessboard.” Though these comments provoked some outrage in Taiwan, Yeo’s full comments were not necessarily incorrect, in that he went on to state that Taiwan was itself aware of its role as a geopolitical pawn of larger powers, and that it was its own choice as to how to be played. Yeo next went on, however, to rather outlandishly suggest that a solution for Taiwan and China to establish peace was to form a confederation with China Read More
Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, one of a host of Republican contenders for the presidential nomination, recently raised eyebrows with comments to the media suggesting that the US abandon its policy of strategic ambiguity regarding what stance it would take in the event of an invasion of Taiwan. Ramaswamy instead suggested that the US should commit to an unambiguous stance on Taiwan, that of strategic clarity—at least until the US could ensure that it is not dependent on Taiwan for semiconductors Read More
A YouTube animation, “Life of a Mountain Road Monkey”, has become a sudden overnight hit in Taiwan. At time of writing, the animation has to close four million views–a figure suggesting that one in six Taiwanese has seen the video Read More
Political streamer and Internet celebrity Holger Chen raised eyebrows earlier this week by accusing the DPP of being behind a shooting incident in August 2020 in which he was shot by a gunman Read More
The pan-Blue camp experienced another strange controversy regarding English-language messaging earlier this week when it came to the attention of the Taiwanese public that the website for Ko Wen-je’s TPP featured a slogan that read “Vote White, Vote Right.” Subsequently, podcast program Bailinguo, which focuses on international affairs, honed in on the bizarre optics of the website, which could be interpreted as expressing support for white supremacy Read More
Recent comments by former President US Donald Trump on Fox News lashed out at Taiwan Read More
A report in the Financial Times earlier this week indicated that some in Washington DC were upset with DPP presidential candidate William Lai for suggesting that one day he hoped to see a Taiwanese president visit the White House. As the same article quoted an official stating that the White House had not been in contact with the Lai campaign over the remarks, those unhappy about Lai’s comments may not be from the White House, but could be from the State Department Read More
When I went to the gallery at Ho Sng House (about a 10-15 minute walk from Guting station) to see Peng Hsiung Hsu’s Sexca-paint (一邊打砲,一邊畫畫) exhibition, the artist was there in person to offer a guided tour. I was handed a lollipop as part of the experience: “The lollipop is part of the exhibition.” Read More
In comments last month, famed investor Warren Buffett justified his sale of 4 billion USD worth of stocks in TSMC on the basis of the geopolitical risk faced by the semiconductor manufacturing giant. While Buffett rather diplomatically praised the company’s management, as well as how it was run, Buffett stated that it was geopolitical risks that made him decide to sell stocks in TSMC. In particular, Buffett stated that he would rather own stocks in Japan or closer to home in the US Read More
A scandal has broken out after students were found to have been given sleeping pills at a preschool in Banqiao, New Taipei Read More
A review of “The Infinite Glory of the Military Police” in the Songshan Creative Park Read More
The DPP has been hit by successive scandals involving cases of sexual harassment or assault within the party. These incidents were mostly publicized on social media. Read More