Taipei mayor Wayne Chiang Wan-an has emerged as the biggest political winner from an opposition protest against the government’s handling of a food safety scandal that drew what organisers said were more than 200,000 people onto the streets of the city. The unexpectedly large turnout appears to have given the island’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang, fresh momentum ahead of the local elections in November and could reshape the race to become the party’s candidate in the next leadership...
The future of a mainland Chinese film calling for reunification with Taiwan has been thrown into uncertainty as it faces a surprising backlash from nationalistic voices. The Belief tells the story of how in 1683, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing dynasty ordered Shi Lang, the admiral of the Fujian navy, to lead the Qing army to a major victory over the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan, which considered itself part of the then-overthrown Ming dynasty. The battle, known as the Battle of Penghu, ultimately...
There is a change in the skies and waters around Taiwan. In the first half of this year, the number of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fighter jets detected near the island more than halved year on year to 1,334. It was a three-year low and marked the lowest operational tempo since 2023, according to a tally by the South China Morning Post based on data from Taiwan’s defence ministry. At the same time, the number of days no PLA jets were detected by Taiwan hit a new high, and the PLA did not...
The People’s Liberation Army has showcased new airburst munitions that shower targets with metal fragments, offering the latest hint of how its long-range rocket artillery might be used in a Taiwan conflict. Released on Sunday by the PLA-affiliated China Military Bugle social media channel under the title “Steel Rain”, the footage shows several PHL-191-launched rockets detonating above what appears to be a desert training range, showering a wide area with high-speed metal fragments. The video...
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) says Hong Kong customs has stepped up scrutiny of “almost every book shipment” from the island, while a logistics company has separately told bookstores to ensure their orders would not breach the city’s national security laws. Independent bookstores and logistics companies also confirmed on Wednesday that customs had stepped up checks on book shipments from Taiwan in recent months. In a reply to the South China Morning Post, a spokesman for the Customs...
Taiwan is reviewing liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from Papua New Guinea after the Pacific nation said it would close Taipei’s unofficial representative office. PNG announced last week that it would immediately shut down the office, with Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko saying the move reflected the government’s “unwavering commitment to the one-China policy” ahead of the 50th anniversary of the country’s diplomatic ties with Beijing. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian swiftly...
Headed for Taiwan and south-eastern China, the 1,000 km-wide Bavi is forecast to be one of the strongest storms in decades.
Taiwan’s flagship “T-Dome” air defence programme is facing possible delays to 2028 after budget disputes left one of its critical indigenous missile systems without a clear funding source. The island’s opposition-controlled legislature approved a reduced NT$780 billion (over US$24 billion) special defence budget in May, rejecting a larger NT$1.25 trillion package proposed by the government. Among the excluded projects was funding for the indigenous Chiang-Kong (Strong Bow) anti-ballistic missile...
When a mainland Chinese research vessel spent three days last month conducting an oceanographic survey in the Philippine Sea east of Taiwan, state media portrayed the mission as another example of Beijing’s expanding civilian maritime governance. However, experts highlighted the dual-use nature of oceanographic data, pointing out that the information gathered by the Xiang Yang Hong 22 from June 16 to 18 could have military applications, particularly in underwater operations. Routine...
Beijing on Saturday rotated a new coastguard task force into waters east of Taiwan. The second such deployment in about a month came days after China’s top diplomat urged Washington to exercise “utmost prudence” on the self-governed island. The move also comes close on the heels of high-level talks with the Philippines, where Beijing pressed Manila to match words with deeds and stabilise bilateral relations amid persistent South China Sea tensions. The Chinese coastguard said on Saturday that...
Taiwan is requiring its reservists to train longer and harder, introducing drones and US-made Himars rocket systems into a revamped 14-day call-up programme as it races to offset worsening troop shortages amid a demographic decline. One of the biggest reforms of Taiwan’s reserve force in decades, the overhaul reflects growing concern that a shrinking pool of military-age recruits and mounting pressure from Beijing mean the island can no longer rely solely on its standing military. From this...
Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee, who publicly recounted being abducted and detained by mainland Chinese authorities in 2015, has died at the age of 70 after a years-long battle with lung cancer, according to Taiwanese media. Local media reported that Lam, who moved to Taiwan in 2019, was admitted to Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei on Tuesday, but his condition worsened and he fell into a coma. He was pronounced dead on Thursday evening. Last year, he disclosed that his lung adenocarcinoma...
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi warned the US to approach Taiwan affairs with “utmost caution” in a call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, calling for Washington to expand cooperation and manage risks with Beijing. According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, the two top diplomats held a “positive and constructive” phone call on Tuesday. It is the first reported cabinet-level communication since US President Donald Trump’s landmark visit to China in mid-May. During that visit, the two...
We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Trump thinks he is playing hardball. But China is playing Trump: analysts As the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump fades in the rear-view mirror, marked by anaemic deliverables, poor transparency and missed opportunities, analysts and former US...
Republican Senator Steve Daines said he did not meet with Cheng Li-wun, the leader of Taiwan’s main opposition Kuomintang party, during her US visit earlier this month despite Cheng’s statements to the contrary, saying she met only with members of his staff. “She met my staff. She did not meet me,” the conservative lawmaker from Montana told the South China Morning Post on Monday. Cheng visited Washington earlier this month as part of a broader effort to strengthen ties with US policymakers...
After rejecting a government spending package, Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang (KMT) has submitted its own proposal worth several billion dollars more to boost the military’s unmanned vehicle capabilities and the island’s broader drone sector. The move reflects growing consensus across Taiwan’s political spectrum that unmanned systems will be central to the island’s defence in the future. Defending its decision to reject the government’s proposal for the sector, KMT officials on Monday said the...