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the pages: intro travel food Taiwan economy diplomatic Taiwan military human right in TW soft power identity women education medical personality judiciary white terror |
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intro. of Taiwan |
♦♣♣ Taiwan-China conflicts ♣♦♣♣ Taiwan have reasons to worry Trump ♣♦♣♣ ♣a divided, fractured Taiwan♣♣♣Trump's tariffs, trade war ♣♣♣ Spy war with China ♣♣♣ Taiwan's largest drills ♣♦♣♣ ♣Taiwan's defense♣♣♣ US won't defend Taiwan ♣♦♣♣ "Zero Day" - a preview of China invasion♦
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No.1
"introduction of Taiwan"
on Yandex of Russia, 2025-6-22, 2025-5-31, 5-20, 2025-5-11, 2025-4-27, 2025-4-13, 2025-3-30, 2025-3-3, 2025-2-22, 2025-2-16, 2025-1-1, 2024-12-31, 2024-12-25, 2024-12-24, 2024-12-14, 2024-9-15, 2024-5-12, 2024-4-14, 2024-3-15, 2024-2-28, 2024-2-3, 2024-1-1, 2023-12-29, 2023-12-24, 2023-11-11, 2023-11-1; No.1
"introduction to Taiwan"
at 2022-7-31, 2022-7-7, 2022-7-1, 2022-6-24, 2022-6-15,
2022-6-12, 2022-5-26, 2022-5-14, 2022-4-30, 2022-3-14, 2021-12-27, 2021-12-4, 2021-11-21, 2021-10-21;
pic. : No.1 "introduction to Taiwan" on Yandex of Russia (largest engine in Russia) at 2025-5-11, 2025-4-27, 2025-3-30, 2025-3-3, 2025-2-22, 2025-2-16, 2025-2-4, 2025-1-1, 2024-12-31, 2024-12-25, 2024-12-24, 2024-12-14, 2024-5-20, 2024-5-12, 2024-5-1, 2024-4-14, 2024-3-15, 2024-2-28, 2024-2-3, 2024-1-1, 2023-12-29, 2023-9-1, 2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-25, 2023-7-1, 2023-5-31, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-31, 2022-9-5, 2022-8-21, 2022-8-8;This websites group was ranked top "introduction to Taiwan" on Yandex of Russia, 2024-12-2, 2024-10-28, 2024-10-15, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-7-11
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| ◆ Washington Post, 2025-7-23 | The harder challenge is deterring Chinese “gray zone” tactics, that squeeze Taiwan into submission. A professor at the Harvard Kennedy School etc: “The focal threat isn’t invasion but a quarantine that chokes the island by preventing import of food and energy and prevents export of computer chips and everything else.” | ||||
| ◆ The Strategist, 2025-7-21 | China could conceal preparations for an invasion by framing it as a large-scale joint exercise... the opening phase would be a massive missile barrage targeting Taiwan's airbases, radar stations, naval ports and command centres. Simultaneously, China's air force would launch waves of fighters, drones and bombers to suppress Taiwan's air defences. If the US decided to intervene, the world could quickly find itself on the brink of a global conflict. | ||||
| ◆ Financial Times, 2025-7-19 | Japan tells its companies in Taiwan "you're on your own" if China invades; FDI has slumped ft.com/content/04626778-0753-4fa5-a735-f1a5613b3293 | ||||
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| ◆ Global Times, 2025-7-20 | In reality, it reflects a clear-eyed recognition of the facts: Japan has little real intention of getting pulled into a military conflict with China. | ||||
| ◆ Financial Times, 2025-7-15 | experts said Taiwan's military would struggle to shake off a tradition of centralised command. “Decentralisation is a difficult thing for our armed forces” | ||||
| ◆ Fox News, 2025-7-15 | Pentagon presses Japan, Australia on role in possible Taiwan conflict. Australia responded by stressing it would not commit troops in advance of any conflict. CSIS expert: "Japan is always critical, we can't win the war without them", "Their forces are important, but our ability to use our bases in Japan is critical". Whether Japan allows the U.S. to center its wartime operations on its territory would be a critical question certain to come up in preparations for a wartime contingency. | ||||
| ◆ Council on Foreign Relations, 2025-7-8 | the PLA Navy and China's Coast Guard maintain a constant presence of approximately a dozen ships surrounding Taiwan, and that the PLA Navy could “move into a blockade posture . . . in a matter of hours.” The presence of Chinese warships and aircraft carriers in the waters around Taiwan is such that a full-scale Chinese air assault against Taiwan would also be possible without warning. | ||||
| ◆ New York Times, 2025-7-7 | The close ties between the two economies have been seen in Taiwan as a deterrent against China's aggression, and a way for China to exert its influence over the island. The coupling cuts both ways. | ||||
| ◆◆Eurasian Times, 2025-7-5 | future conflict scenarios might not begin with missile strikes or naval blockades but with targeted disruptions, sudden leadership decapitation attempts, or sabotage of key infrastructure—all carried out covertly before a formal war even begins | ||||
| ◆ New York Times, 2025-6-30 | “President Lai is trying to fire up his base of support as much as possible in order to ensure the recalls are successful". Critics say he is stoking divisions, and risking blowback from Beijing. | ||||
| ◆ Stars and Stripes, 2025-6-30 | Japan unlikely to intervene directly if China attacks Taiwan, expert says. The former head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. John Aquilino, said all indications suggest the Chinese military could be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. | ||||
| ◆ New York Times, 2025-6-26 | By attacking Iran, President Trump has shown he is willing to engage in a distant war. China's leaders are confident that their military is much more formidable than the weakened Iranian forces. China has about 3,500 missiles, as well as a growing nuclear arsenal and a fast-expanding navy. | ||||
| ◆ CNN, 2025-6-22 | US officials quietly warn that Taiwan's reserve forces remain the soft underbelly of its defense posture. Millions of former conscripts exist “on paper,” but years of truncated service and minimal refresher training have left them “underprepared for modern warfare. “It is imperative to reform military service as quickly as possible” | ||||
| ◆ Reuters, 2025-6-17 | Taiwan's armed forces are dwarfed by those of China, Taiwan is modernisising its military to be able to fight "asymmetric warfare," using mobile and agile systems like submarines, drones and truck-mounted missiles to fend off its much-larger adversary China. | ||||
| ◆ SCMP, 2025-6-15 | Taiwan war game triggers US questions over island's ‘will to fight’ if PLA attacks. The exercise simulating a 2030 cross-strait conflict has exposed serious vulnerabilities in Taiwan's defences of its outer perimeter and eastern regions, most notably Penghu. | ||||
| ◆ Defense News, 2025-6-14 | When young conscripts in Taiwan refer to themselves as “cannon fodder,” it signals a crisis in trust that the government must not ignore. According to the Washington Post, Taiwan's Defense Minister acknowledged that equipment and instructor shortages have delayed plans to improve training for reserves. | ||||
| ◆ Economist, 2025-6-10 | Should Taiwan rehearse how to resist occupation by China, striving to be ungovernable after a defeat? Several Taiwanese experts are sceptical. They call such planning defeatist, divisive and panic-inducing | ||||
| ◆ Atlantic Council, 2025-6-9 | China is carrying out ‘dress rehearsals’ to take Taiwan, which has made distinguishing exercises from true military action nearly impossible. a nonlinear 300 percent increase in Chinese military pressure over the past year. As the PLA continues to degrade US and Taiwanese abilities to detect tactical and operational indicators of conflict, China's geographic advantage across the Pacific becomes even more acute. | ||||
| ◆ The Hill, 2025-6-10 | China's next war ‘could be imminent’ and spread fast. War is coming to East Asia, and Taiwan — Chinese President Xi Jinping, after all, has staked his personal legitimacy on annexing Taiwan. | ||||
| ◆ National Interest, 2025-6-6 | Taiwan must embrace an insurgency strategy. what would Taipei need to prepare for this? Not tanks, F-16s, and warships (they are also going to be big, beautiful targets for Chinese bombardment) but rather lots of people and a seemingly endless cache of small arms dispersed throughout the country. Unfortunately, Taiwan's leaders have not adopted this approach—and they're running out of time to change direction. | ||||
| ◆ Wall Street Journal, 2025-6-3 | The War of Revision Is Coming. Taiwan could be the next battlefield. | ||||
| ◆ The Guardian, 2025-6-1 | China already has sufficient capability to invade now, with amphibious landing craft, D-day-style floating docks, paratroopers and expanded air combat and missile forces in a constant state of readiness. | ||||
| ◆ Bloomberg, 2025-6-2 | China escalated military pressure around the region, deploying dozens of warships and government vessels daily in what it described as an extreme pressure campaign. | ||||
| ◆ Daily Express (UK), 2025-6-2 | China stockpiling nukes and could team up with Russia to grab Taiwan, there's uncertainty over how far the US 'nuclear umbrella' really stretches - and whether America would act in defence of Alaska, Hawaii, Guam or its Pacific allies. | ||||
| ◆ New York Post, 2025-5-29 | Taiwanese officials are worried their country will have difficulty attracting international support should China launch an invasion. "in order to stay in power, Xi will have to possibly use force against Taiwan.” | ||||
| ◆ NBC News, 2025-5-30 | In congressional testimony, an official publicly acknowledged for the first time that there are about 500 U.S. military personnel stationed in Taiwan, more than 10 times the number previously disclosed. But, it is difficult for Taiwan to build a modern fighting force, China's 2.8-million-strong military is more than 18 times larger than Taiwan's number of active-duty personnel. | ||||
| ◆ Financial Times, 2025-5-26 | China improves ability to launch sudden attack on Taiwan, officials say. Military build-up enables Beijing to switch from peacetime to war operations quickly. China's Type 075 amphibious assault ships are capable of dropping special forces into Taiwan ft.com/content/c82eb38e-87cb-4468-b013-0f7fce0fc54b | ||||
| ◆ New York Times, 2025-5-22 | Taiwan defense chief is overseeing the Taiwanese government's efforts to upgrade its relatively small military into a force strong and nimble enough to fend off threats from China, partly by deploying more drones, unmanned sea vessels and highly mobile missiles. “Practical training is the foundation for forming combat capabilities.”. The trajectory is in the right direction. It's now a question of being able to move fast enough.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/world/asia/trump-china-taiwan-security.html | ||||
| ◆ National Interest, 2025-5-20 | Polls repeatedly show that an American majority does not support fighting for Taiwan, preferring instead the current ambiguous status quo. Taiwan's hope and expectation is that the United States will enter the fray. Wargames point to costly fighting and losses if that happens, including the specter of potential escalation to nuclear war. | ||||
| ◆ Foreign Affairs, 2025-5-20 | Military upgrades should be concealed or downplayed until they are fielded... Reassuring Beijing is a critical component of a successful deterrence strategy. Reassurance that Washington does not support Taiwanese independence should include public criticism when Taiwan's leaders make statements or take actions that suggest otherwise. | ||||
| ◆ PBS, 2025-5-20 | Michael Swaine, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft: Taiwan has never been regarded as a strategically critical location for the United States in Asia. The United States should be supporting Taiwan in every way possible, except through military intervention. | ||||
| ◆◆Foreign Affairs, 2025-5-15 | The Risk of War in the Taiwan Strait Is High—and Getting Higher. Beijing's worry about the future could spur a deadly miscalculation Soon | ||||
| ◆◆Newsweek, 2025-5-17 | the former commander of the U.S. Army Pacific, told lawmakers that "the threat of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is no longer distant or theoretical." | ||||
| ◆◆Wall Street Journal, 2025-5-14 | . They span nearly 2700 feet; This could thin out Taiwan's defenses and make it harder to defend all the different places... | ||||
| ◆ Brookings 2025-5-12 | China has been pursuing a strategy of “coercion without violence”to steadily induce a sense of fatalism among Taiwan people that resistance is futile, and that Taiwan eventually will have no choice but to succumb to Beijing’s designs. As The Economist recently reported, about 30% say Taiwan will end up ‘being unified by mainland China’. | ||||
| ◆◆Wall Street Journal, 2025-5-10 | Using weapons that are cheaper to acquire and faster to deploy will be key to fending off China, said professor at King’s College London. One of the biggest obstacles facing Taiwan's military is staffing. President said he would raise military spending to 3% of GDP, but he has encountered resistance to his budget in parliament from opposition... | ||||
| ◆◆Daily Mail, 2025-5-7 | China is at a 'rapid boil' in its preparations for a military attack on Taiwan, said Admiral Samuel Paparo, heading up the US Indo-Pacific Command | ||||
| ◆◆Deutsche Welle (DW), 2025-5-5 | Energy would be Beijing's first target in case of a blockade or invasion. The water supply is powered by electricity, communication is based on electricity and the military would not be able to function without it. | ||||
| ◆◆Real Clear Defense, 2025-5-5 | A Taiwan Strait war wouldn't be measured in months. It would be decided in days. The U.S. won't have time to surge exquisite assets across the Pacific... | ||||
| ◆◆Economist, 2025-5-1 | Recent China's military exercises deployed in a “cabbage strategy” to wrap Taiwan in layers of forces. A blockade could provoke an American military response without forcing Taiwan to surrender. That is why a quarantine is more likely. | ||||
| ◆◆Foreign Policy, 2025-5-1 | Trump Should Rein In Taiwan. Lai Ching-te gave several speeches that went significantly further than his predecessors in positioning Taiwan as a sovereign state that is separate from China, greatly increasing the risks that Xi could seize Taiwan's outlying islands, order a blockade, or even invade | ||||
| ◆◆Brookings, 2025-4-25 | According to our survey, across almost all measures, the United States is seen as a less reliable partner, Taiwan and South Korea both feel less confident that the United States will assist them in the event of a conflict with their respective authoritarian neighbor. Only 37.5% of respondents in Taiwan believed in March 2025 that it is “likely” or “very likely” that the United States would intervene in a military conflict.brookings.edu/articles/the-trump-effect-on-public-attitudes-toward-america-in-taiwan-and-south-korea/ | ||||
| for more China-Taiwan conflicts ... click | |||||
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Taiwan might have reasons to worry about Trump. |
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| ◆ Washington Post, 2025-7-23 | Trump's views about Taiwan are unclear, ... Some fear that in trying to make a broad trade agreement with Xi, Trump could put Taiwan on the table. |
| ◆ WSWS.org, 2025-7-21 | In reality, just as it actively provoked Russia into invading Ukraine, the US under both Biden and Trump has sought to goad China into using its military to take over Taiwan. Formally, the US still abides by the “One China” policy; but Washington has been systemically undermining that policy by dispensing with associated diplomatic protocols, arming Taiwan with offensive weapons and stationing US troops on the island. Washington plans to transform Taiwan into an Asian Ukraine as a means of triggering a conflict, destabilising China and subordinating it to the economic and strategic interests of US. |
| ◆ Taipei Times, 2025-7-14 | Trump's foreign policy is less about strategy than instinct. Trump approaches diplomacy as a real estate mogul might: transactional, impulsive, and often devoid of historical context. For Taiwan, Can it continue to rely on a US security umbrella under a president who has questioned the value of NATO, threatened to pull US troops from South Korea, and hinted in the past at making deals with China at Taiwan’s expense? |
| ◆ The Print, 2025-7-16 | the US response to Taiwan's invasion will depend on the occupant of the Oval Office. Trump has adopted an “America First” approach and is increasingly less keen on spending money to defend foreign countries. |
| ◆ BBC, 2025-7-9 | The US is compelled by legislation to help Taiwan defend itself, but Trump has been ambiguous about this and recently refused to comment on whether he would stop China from taking Taiwan by force. Doubt grows in Taiwan that the US under Donald Trump would intervene militarily in the event of a Chinese attack |
| ◆ New York Times, 2025-7-7 | Mr. Trump has demanded that Taiwan drastically raise its own military spending and accused Taiwan of stealing the lead in semiconductor manufacturing from the United States. Officials in Taiwan have committed to a slight increase in military spending |
| ◆ Economist, 2025-6-10 | When Mr Trump scorns Ukraine as a small country that foolishly imagines it can defy a larger neighbour, Taiwanese hear echoes of their own plight. |
| ◆ Atlantic Council, 2025-6-9 | The US TRANSCOM has revealed reduced capacity and greater cracks in the United States’ sustainment strategy. This combination of reduced warning and response poses serious risks to the United States’ ability to deter a forceful resolution across the Taiwan Strait. |
| ◆ The Guardian, 2025-6-1 | Trump doesn't know how to deal with China. His cowardice only makes a war with Taiwan more likely. when people ask if Trump will fight for Taiwan, the answer is not really in serious doubt. |
| ◆NBC, 2025-5-30 | Officials in Taipei have also been rattled by the collapse of U.S. support for Ukraine as well as the threat of steep tariffs on Taiwan's exports, which Trump has set at 32% in addition to a 10% baseline. Even as it works with the U.S., Taiwan is unsure about the extent of the security commitment from Washington |
| ◆New York Post, 2025-5-29 | Taiwanese officials are worried their country will have difficulty attracting international support should China launch an invasion. |
| ◆New York Times, 2025-5-21 | Taiwan's president has taken a tougher stance on China, raising criticism from some who say it's a risky position since a geopolitically fickle President Trump may not offer steadfast support for the island. |
| ◆ Economist, 2025-5-1 | Mr Trump's fickleness has made Taiwan's security seem more parlous |
| ◆ The WEEK, 2025-4-15 | Washington's long-maintained "security relationship" has been "less than assured" since Donald Trump took office recently. "the confusing signals" from America have left "Taipei wondering where it stands", said The Washington Post. |
| ◆ Newsweek, 2025-4-8 | Would Donald Trump Defend Taiwan? Even as Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. priority is the Indo Pacific, the U.S. military is focused on the Middle East, and there have been reports that the U.S. THAAD battery in Seoul along with two Patriot missile batteries, deployed elsewhere, were moved to the Middle East. |
| ◆ New York Times, 2025-4-1 | The problem with president Mr. Lai's approach is that Taiwan can no longer bank on U.S. support. This isn’t something that we are just now realizing |
| ◆ Wall Street Journal, 2025-3-17 | Taiwan's military planners signal to Washington the desire for a stable relationship as anxieties simmer in Taipei about whether President Trump would send help to defend against a Chinese attack. Trump's recent suspension of U.S. support for Ukraine heightened those concerns in Taiwan. |
| ◆ New York Times, 2025-3-6 | President Trump has pressed Taiwan to loosen its dominance in advanced semiconductors and to move production to the United States, and he has warned of hefty tariffs if his demands are not met.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/world/asia/taiwan-tsmc-chips-arizona.html |
| ◆ TIME, 2025-2-27 | University of London expert says: I haven't seen any evidence that Trump cares much about Taiwan. Nanyang Technological University scholar says: China may be able to take Taiwan “without too much U.S. interference” if Beijing is able to strike a similar deal with Washington. |
| ◆ New York Times, 2025-2-25 | Mr. Trump executes a dramatic reversal of U.S. policy toward Ukraine, insisting that Ukraine is to blame for the war; a few Taiwanese commentators suggest that if war between China and Taiwan should erupt, Mr. Trump might take a similarly transactional approach. |
| ◆ Council on Foreign Relations, 2025-2-21 | Trump is making Taiwan more vulnerable. Trump has also made clear that he wants to negotiate a broad economic deal with China, which raises the question of what China will seek in return. If Trump can take Greenland, why can't China take Taiwan? |
| ◆ Washington Post, 2025-2-18 | Each statement by Trump that degrades the principle that territorial boundaries must not be redrawn by force or coercion might embolden China on Taiwan. political scientist Graham Allison : “Taiwan will be depreciated in the triangular relationship”,“I see no evidence whatever that [Trump] believes the U.S. has any vital interest in Taiwan.” |
| ◆ NY Times, 2025-2-13 | Taiwan prepares for Trump's tariffs and a more transactional U.S. relationship; Taiwanese officials have traveled to Washington to float energy deals and defend the island's semiconductors. |
| ◆ Bloomberg, 2025-2-14 | Taiwan President pledged to boost military spending to 3% of GDP; Trump suggested the archipelago should devote 10% of GDP to its armed forces. |
| ◆ CNN, 2024-12-15 | one thing's for sure: Trump is a less vocal supporter of Taiwan than Joe Biden. That's why Taiwan is buckling up for what could be a far more volatile relationship with Washington. Trump's remarks have prompted jitters that Taiwan would need to move more of its critical chip supply chain to the US at a faster pace, that could affect the island's economic security and dismantle the very “silicon shield” ... |
| ◆ New York Times, 2024-11-24 | Trump couldn't care less about Taiwan... Maybe he will strike some sort of bargain with Taiwan. But whatever Taiwan can offer him, Beijing can easily top. More and more, there are those in Taiwan who say we are an “abandoned chess piece,” no longer valued by the United States. China amplifies these fears... |
| ◆ Wall Street Journal, 2024-11-18 |
Some in Taiwan say its survival as a self-ruled democracy is
at stake, that it
can't afford to spend what Trump demands on defense and that it would wither in
the crossfire of a U.S.-China trade war. Taiwan's military spending is currently at 2.45% of GDP—a lower share than Singapore's 2.8% and South Korea's 2.7%; In Washington, the percent of GDP is really seen as a proxy for your seriousness. |
| ◆ Fox News, 2024-11-10 | Trump's public comments might suggest that he would not be willing to put boots on the ground to face another global superpower in defense of a tiny island democracy (Taiwan). there is hope among restraint groups that Trump will be focused on economic warfare with China – rather than military. "We don't have that alliance with Taiwan, ... the Taiwan issue is a powder keg — it's exceedingly dangerous. " |
| ◆ New York Times, 2024-11-10 | Tump's call for Taiwan to spend more on its own defense and his complaints about its semiconductor dominance may herald a tenser relationship. |
| ◆ Business Insider, 2024-11-9 | In 2025, Taiwan will have to contend with uncertainty on whether the US will protect it, or play it. |
| ◆ New York Times, 2024-11-6 | Some diplomats expect China to intensify pressure on Taiwan, if not invade Taiwan; and China may calculate that Mr. Trump would not go to war for a democracy that he has accused of “stealing” the microchip industry from the US. “With Donald Trump, there are large amounts of uncertainty,” said Lev Nachman, a political scientist, “And it's a matter of uncertainty that comes with great risk for Taiwan.” |
| ◆ Washington Post, 2024-11-6 | Trump's statements this year that raise doubt about his willingness to come to the island democracy's defense and his misleading assertion that Taipei needs to pay the US for defense. Such rhetoric could “fan the flames of skepticism” ... |
| ◆ New York Times, 2024-11-6, news briefing | Trump could decide to do the true “America First” thing and withdraw completely, and basically say, "defending Taiwan is not in our interest.” ... |
| ◆ Bloomberg, 2024-11-5 | Taiwan's Economic Affairs Minister acknowledged that Trump could introduce measures that might prove harmful for Taiwan's semiconductor industry. But the impact will not be as severe as some anticipate. |
| ◆ Reuters, 2024-11-6 | Trump might try to use the Taiwan issue as a bargaining chip to gain leverage in other areas, such as offering to restrain Taiwan's provocative actions in exchange for Beijing's compromise on trade. |
| ◆ The Guardian, 2025-7-23 | Lev Nachman, a professor at National Taiwan University said “There's a difference between anti-DPP and pro-Beijing, but from the recallers' perspective these have become synonymous.” |
| ◆ Reuters, 2025-7-23 | The recall groups accuse the KMT of selling out Taiwan by sending lawmakers to China, not supporting defence spending, and bringing chaos to parliament. The KMT rejects those accusations, denouncing Lai's "dictatorship" and "green terror" - the DPP's party colour. China said Lai is "engaging in dictatorship under the guise of democracy" and "using every means possible to suppress the opposition" |
| ◆ WSWS.org, 2025-7-21 | president Lai is determined to undermine and suppress any opposition. Lai and the DPP are waging an unprecedented recall campaign against 31 KMT lawmakers. The whipping up of anti-China xenophobia to establish DPP parliamentary control is a warning that new anti-democratic measures are being prepared to crack down on opposition to the preparations for war. |
| ◆ The Jamestown Foundation, 2025-7-7 | Taiwan's ‘Great Recall’ a Historic Bid to Overturn the Opposition's Legislative Majority. The pro-recall campaigners rely heavily on “painting red” (抹紅) the KMT by associating them with the CCP's agenda. The KMT deny this, and there is no proof of them taking direct orders from the CCP. |
| ◆ Wall Street Journal, 2025-6-9 | Taiwan has embarked on a mission to purge any allies of Beijing from its civil service in an escalating battle against China's influence. |
| ◆◆Bloomberg, 2025-5-20 | Lai's tougher stance may give Beijing more pretext to ramp up pressure on Taiwan. Nearly half of respondents think Taiwan is heading in the wrong direction, and Lai's approval rating has slipped to 32% — his lowest since taking office a year ago. Taiwan risks chipping away at its own civil liberties... Lai's policy may result in a tightening of free speech under the guise of national security ... it causes a kind of chilling effect — a form of self censorship. msn.com/en-us/news/world/taiwan-s-lai-toughens-china-stance-stoking-debate-on-democracy/ar-AA1F3Xlz?ocid=BingNewsVerp |
| ◆◆AFP News, Eurasian Times, 2025- 5-19 | the current dysfunction is distracting lawmakers and eroding public confidence, which benefits Beijing. Ryan Hass at Brookings: a divided, fractured Taiwan is incapable of addressing its own long-term requirements and vulnerabilities. Bonnie Glaser: The parties “spend a lot of their time thinking about how to weaken support and damage the reputation and the image of their political adversaries”. Lai's disapproval rating rose to the highest since he took office — the polling group linked to handling of US tariffs on Taiwan and the DPP's unprecedented recall campaign targeting the opposition. eurasiantimes.com/its-advantage-china-as-taiwans-president-who-vowed-to-stand-up-to-beijing-faces-political-turmoil-at-home/ |
| ◆◆Brookings, 2025-5-12 | Taiwan's political system is in turmoil. Lai Ching-te's approval ratings have dropped. So, too, has public sentiment on Taiwan's future. Economist: about 30% say Taiwan will end up ‘being unified by mainland China’, 8% more than in 2020. |
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Trump's tariffs , trade war |
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| ◆ New York Times, 2025-7-7 | Taiwan's ruling party wants to be seen in Washington as a reliable friend of the United States, “even if that means paying a short-term economic cost”; Completely decoupling the two economies would be difficult. China remains the largest buyer of Taiwan's exports, especially semiconductors. |
| ◆◆Wall Street Journal, 2025-6-9 | Taiwan exports growth nears 15-Year high on likely frontloading as tariff uncertainty continues. Taiwan expects exports to contract in the second half, citing “escalating trade protectionism and heightened policy uncertainty.” |
| ◆◆Bloomberg, 2025-5-30 | Trump is planning to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding the pace set during his first term, Reuters reported, a move that risks escalating military tensions with China at a time the two nations are already locked in difficult talks over tariffs. |
| ◆ Foreign Affairs, 2025-5-20 | The trade war could make a shooting war seem more appealing to Beijing. |
| ◆ The WEEK, 2025-4-15 | Increasing economic dependence on the US "could placate Mr Trump", said The Spectator, but "experience shows that it could just become a way for Trump to exert more pressure in the future". China has signaled it will not let the trade war keep it from the technology it needs. Expert at Techcet said,“Everyone is holding their breath". |
| ◆ Washington Post, 2025-4-9 | Tariffs put Taiwan on shaky ground with U.S., may open door for China. Taiwan can't afford to take on Beijing and Washington at the same time, Taiwanese professor at NCCU said. The U.S. aims to push other countries into negotiations through raising the tariffs, hoping they'll buy more American goods and services |
| ◆ New York Times, 2025-4-3 | The Taiwanese government condemned the tariffs as unreasonable and unfair to Taiwan. The government would lodge a strong protest...The chip companies in Taiwan, the center of the global supply chain, are expected to face pressure from Washington to invest more in the U.S. |
| ◆ Reuters, 2025-3-4 | TSMC's $100 bln gamble jeopardises 'Taiwan First'. TSMC committed to set up a major research and development centre stateside, despite an earlier assurance from boss C.C. Wei to keep innovation on the company's home island. That's a threat to Taiwan in multiple ways. The enormous disruption that military conflict would inflict on global semiconductor supply chains is a core part of the deterrence. But the more that TSMC replicates its business offshore, the more this protection will erode. |
| ◆ Politico, 2025-3-3 | Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC announces new $100B investment in US; CEO C.C. Wei credited President Donald Trump for the investments TSMC agreed to build a factory in the U.S. to cut reliance on geopolitically risky Taiwan during Trump’s first term. |
| ◆ Global Times, 2025-3-4 | Taiwanese critics claim TSMC “has become USMC”, calling the move “yet another example of the Democratic Progress Party (DPP) selling out Taiwan.” |
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Taiwan's Han Kuang exercise, the largest and longest one so far |
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| ◆ Spectator (since 1828), 2025-7-19 | Beijing has less risky possible strategies that are more obviously within its capabilities. One is a sudden lightning assault on the Taiwanese government. To do so, Chinese vessels would presumably sail up the Tamsui river, which in the last two weeks the Taiwanese military has practised blockading. |
| ◆◆Reuters, 2025-7-17 | The civil defence drills are taking place at the same time as Taiwan's largest ever military drills, which simulated attacks on its command systems and infrastructure, as well as China's grey zone tactics including military incursions and a disinformation campaign designed to test Taiwan's response |
| ◆◆CNN, 2025-7-17 | Air raid drills across Taiwan as island practices for a war with China it hopes will never come. Polls suggest most Taiwanese don't believe an invasion is imminent, the government is preparing with focus and urgency. |
| ◆◆AFP, 2025-7-17 | "It is as much training as acclimating the Taiwanese population to the reality of modern warfare," said a member of the Atlantic Council. A citizen said Taiwanese people had "lived comfortably for too long" and some didn't take the air raid drill seriously. |
| ◆◆The War Zone, 2025-7-14 | Taiwanese troops train to use subway to their advantage during Chinese invasion of Taipei. Camouflage, concealment, and deception tactics are already aspects of Taiwanese training for urban warfare. In addition to being transit nodes, Taipei Metro stations might be convertible to other uses, including acting as command posts or field hospitals. |
| ◆◆National Defense magazine, 2025-7-14 | Lack of U.S. participation in Taiwan military exercise a concern, experts say; The United States' absence from Han Kuang not only limits its effectiveness, but also incurs heavy costs in the event of an actual invasion scenario, they said. |
| ◆ Reuters, 2025-7-9 | The exercises start with simulated attacks on its command systems and infrastructure ahead of a Chinese invasion, and will focus on testing how Taiwan's military can decentralise command in the event of a crippling communications attack. Cyber attacks and misinformation campaigns are seen by Taiwan as high-intensity "grey zone" actions that are likely to precede a broader Chinese assault. |
| ◆ BBC, 2025-7-9 |
Like last year, the drills will be unscripted to test troops' response to a surprise attack. This change appears to have been made in response to criticism over the years that previous drills appeared to be more of a public relations exercise instead of an actual military exercise. Taiwan's military and defence has come under criticism both domestically and externally in recent years. One survey last year showing only 47.5% have confidence in their defence capabilities. |
| ◆ Global Times, 2025-7-9 | Taiwan plans for a last-ditch fight, attempting to prolong the combat and wait for external forces to come to their aid, in the event of a military conflict, these marine lanes would be cut off by the PLA. Taiwan's current air defense systems have no means of countering the hypersonic YJ-21 - in fact, there are hardly any forces in the world capable of effectively intercepting it. This year's Han Kuang drills include some slight changes, such as the shift from coastal combat to in-depth defense and protracted warfare, which means Taiwan forces are admitting that they cannot stop the PLA from landing... |
| ◆ AFP, 2025-7-9 | Twenty-two thousand reservists -- the largest ever call-up -- are participating in this year's drills. |
| ◆ The Telegraph, 2025-7-9 | Taiwan, a country of 23 million people, has 180,000 soldiers and as many as 1.67 million reservists. China has more than two million active soldiers and 1.2 million reservists. Some of Taiwan's most sophisticated technology will also be on display, including the US Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (Himars), TOW 2B anti-tank missiles, new unmanned aviation vehicles (UAVs), and a domestically built version of the Sky Sword II missile. But China's PLA significantly exceeds Taiwan across every metric. China has more than six times the number of tanks and aircraft than Taiwan, and nearly five times more artillery. War game simulations have shown that if Taiwan faces Beijing alone, or if the country surrenders before the U.S. is able to assist, it would be overwhelmed in a very short time. |
| ◆ Newsweek 2025-7-10 | With the HIMARS and Abrams tanks, the Taiwanese military can strike potential PLA landing forces from greater distances and with more precise firepower, gradually wearing down enemy troops and deploying in dispersed positions to avoid destruction by China's long-range rockets and similar weapons. |
| What did China say ? |
♦
Reuters, 2025-7-9:
Taiwan's "attempt to seek independence through force or relying on
foreign (actors) will never succeed". Taiwan's Han Kuang military
exercises were "nothing but a bluff".
"No matter what weapons are used, Taiwan can't resist
China's sharp sword against independence" . |
|
Taiwan's defense / protection strategy |
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| ◆ CNN, 2025-6-22 | Taiwanese organized efforts to evade conscription are largely seen as a sign of people's apathy towards service, rather than their fear of military rough-and-tumble. |
| ◆ Lowy Institute (Australia), 2025-5-26 | Conscription evasion remains widespread. Defence spending has increased but still falls short of the urgency implied by official rhetoric. Civic mobilisation is growing, but slowly. And public opinion remains ambivalent, supportive of autonomy, but unsure about confrontation |
| ◆ PBS, 2025-4-7 | Taiwan's financial systems, energy and communications are vulnerable to Chinese blockade and cyberattack, and critics worry Taiwan isn't doing enough to prepare for social and economic disruption. On paper, Taiwan's reserves appear large. But these men say military training is insufficient, Many young people today are reluctant to join the armed forces. There's also a general lack of awareness among civilians about the importance of national defense. |
| ◆ PBS, 2025-4-3 | Privately, Taiwanese officials admit they're not ready for the Chinese army. Taiwan needs lots more cheap drones, with technology to repel jamming, secure satellite communications |
| ◆ Fox News, 2025-3-2 | most Taiwanese aren't willing to make the sacrifices required for victory in war. Migrant workers serving as essentially mercenaries would only highlight how few of our citizens are willing to fight . Taiwanese expert says: I understand the logic behind the U.S. policy of strategic ambiguity, but I fear far too many Taiwanese people – especially younger people – are counting on a rescue from Uncle Sam" |
| ◆ Stanford Review, 2025-2-24 | Taiwan's military is dilapidated. The assumption of CSIS's 2023 war game rests on false premises. Upon closer examination, Taiwan's military readiness and morale stand on weak foundations. What money the government does have to spend on procurement they do so on flashy items like fighter jets, tanks, and attack helicopters–are reduced to piles of twisted steel in hours of an invasion. stanfordreview.org/the-illusion-of-taiwanese-strength/ |
| ◆ New York Times, 2025-2-25 | Mr. Trump said Taiwan was spending far too little on its military and was too complacent about the United States coming to its rescue in a war |
| ◆ The Guardian, 2025-2-21 | many analysts believe a large part of Taiwan's protection strategy comes from keeping production of its most advanced chips – which form 90% of the world's supply – onshore. Bonnie Glaser: But Taiwan will likely face pressure from Trump to accede to his demands.” |
| ◆ Wall Street Journal, 2025-2-22 | Taiwan must “adopt a new military culture” akin to that of Israel, turning itself into a warrior-state—or “a porcupine”... “...enough rifles, pistols, and ammunition such that each member of the military, reserves, and civil defense force has emergency access to a personal weapon.” |
| ◆ Bloomberg, 2025-1-14 | Taiwan's military is not prepared for a Trumpian World; With the former president soon back in the White House, Taipei needs to rethink its defense strategy. |
|
“Zero Day”- What if China invaded Taiwan? This TV drama paints a visceral picture |
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| ◆ The Guardian, 2025-6-1 | A new Taiwanese TV drama, Zero Day, depicts the frightful impact of an invasion on an unprepared nation. |
| ◆ Wall Street Journal, 2025-5-15 | Is ‘Zero Day’ a Preview of Taiwan's Future? A Taiwanese realization: if we don't do something more for this country, we will not retain our democracy and our freedom.” Watching “Zero Day” may unsettle Taiwanese viewers enough to draw the same conclusion—and to act on it. |
| ◆ Financial Review, Australia, 2025-5-14 | Zero Day addresses the issue of divided loyalties in Taiwan head-on. It features portraits of people whose first instinct is to surrender, while others flee and some collaborate with the invaders. |
| ◆ AFP, Eurasian Times, 2025-5-13 | Zero Day! Taiwanese War Drama ‘Wake-Up Call’ To Chinese Invasion Threat As Next Battlefield Could Be Taiwan Strait. Taiwan would be outgunned in any conflict with China and would need the United States and other countries to come to its defence. |
| ◆ Washington Post, Star and Strips, 2024-8-4 | the “Zero Day” show's bleak assessment of Taiwanese readiness to fight touches upon a very real problem facing President Lai Ching-te, new programs have continued to face shortages of funding, instructors and equipment . |
| ◆ Stanford Review, 2025-3-4 | Certainty that American forces won't intervene on Taiwan’s behalf will only embolden the Chinese. Europe has made it clear that Taiwan is not an issue they will intervene for ... It's likely that in the next 10 years, Taiwan will become just another province of China. |
| ◆ Brookings, 2025-2-12 | Trump said in 2021, if China invades Taiwan, “there isn't a f—ing thing we can do about it.” |
| ◆ Fox News, 2025-2-7 | Trump's comments on the campaign trail suggest that he would not be willing to put boots on the ground to face another global superpower in defense of the island democracy. |
| ◆ Politico (EU), 2025-1-30 | Trump said the island should pay the U.S. for protection from China and suggested that trying to defend the island would be futile. |
| ◆ National Interest, 2025-1-13 | Why Trump Won't Defend Taiwan - Waging World War III for Taiwan—or any small nation, for that matter—would not be in keeping with the predilections and preferences of the incoming US president. |
| ◆ The Telegraph, 2025-1-13 | Donald Trump has appointed a number of hawkish foreign policy advisers to his transition team. However, he has pledged not to allow the US to become involved in foreign wars. |
| ◆ Newsweek, 2025-1-3 | Trump, who positioned himself as being tough on China, has suggested he would not defend Taiwan from China. |
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pic. :
Le Monde
diplomatique
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Taiwan has already lost its China spy war |
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| ◆◆Strategist (Australia), 2025-7-21 | The activation of a fifth column to incite civil unrest across Taiwan could be highly effective. It could debilitate Taipei's ability to govern and maintain stability, potentially by exploiting existing fault lines in Taiwanese politics. This could provide Beijing with a pretext to deploy what it might call stabilisation forces. A fifth column could plausibly target critical infrastructure, disrupting power grids, railways, air traffic control and water treatment facilities. Bomb threats, arson attacks and incitement of riots would further destabilise society. Combined with Beijing's formidable cyber capabilities, China could sow chaos and division |
| ◆◆Eurasian Times, 2025-7-5 | Recent cases suggest that Taiwan's most sensitive political circles are now within Beijing's reach. The data points to a clear pattern—the CCP is zeroing in on Taiwan’s defense establishment, treating it as a primary target for infiltration. |
| ◆◆LA Times, 2025-5-22 | Taiwan is worried about spying threats. That may mean deporting thousands of Chinese; More than 140,000 Chinese immigrants hold residency in Taiwan because they are married to Taiwanese citizens. |
| ◆◆Washington Post, 2025-3-28 | Taiwanese soldiers guarding president's office were spying for China. The presidential office should be the most secure place, this shows how severe China's infiltration is in Taiwan; Taiwan's sentencing on espionage activities has been too lenient. |
| ◆◆Washington Examiner, 2025-3-25 | Taiwan's defense and security structures are so deeply penetrated by Chinese spies that Beijing knows everything about its plans to deter aggression by the People's Liberation Army, including American defense and intelligence secrets. At this point, any secrets Washington shares with our Taiwanese partners stand a high chance of winding up in Chinese Communist hands.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/courage-strength-optimism/3357074/taiwan-has-already-lost-its-china-spy-war |
| ◆◆Stanford Review, 2025-2-24 | Taiwan's military is dilapidated. Reports of Chinese espionage and infiltration are commonplace throughout Taiwan's military and civil society. |
| ◆◆Fox News, 2025-4-23 | it is our house, we will keep it safe. |
| ◆◆The Conversation, 2025-4-22 | With the US now an unreliable ally, proliferation risk is greatest in East Asia: Japan, South Korea, even Taiwan |
| ◆◆The Hill, 2025-4-19 | The commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, gave testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee: In 2024, the People's Liberation Party demonstrated growing capabilities through persistent pressure operations with military pressure against Taiwan increasing by 300%”, “China's increasingly aggressive actions near Taiwan are not just exercises, they are rehearsals”. |
| ◆◆The Insider, 2025-4-19 | The commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command: China could stop US airpower from achieving air superiority in the first island chain, China's fighter fleet, bombers, and missiles are enough to cause problems. "their advanced long-range air-to-air missiles also present a tremendous threat.". Researchers have said that China could more easily devastate American airpower than the other way around. |
| ◆◆Asia Times, 2025-4-21 | New non-nuclear bomb's high-temperature fireball and deadly shockwave anticipates urban warfare scenario in Taiwan |
| ◆◆New York Post, 2025-4-10 | Beijing insists will be annexed in the coming years. China acknowledges its role in years of cyberattacks against US over support of Taiwan |
| ◆◆Fox News, 2025-4-11 | commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said "With military pressure against Taiwan increasing by 300%, China's increasingly aggressive actions near Taiwan are not just exercises, they are rehearsals." |
| ◆◆Washington Examiner, 2025-4-10 | Should China try to take Taiwan militarily, it would result in a 25% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contraction in Asia and it would have a “knock on effect of 10 to 12% GDP reduction in the United States of America. The unemployment rate in the U.S. would spike “7-10 points above base and likely 500,000 excess deaths of despair above base as well,” |
| ◆◆Newsweek, 2025-4-8 | three likely Chinese actions in The Federalist: a full-scale blockade to pressure Taiwan economically; a lightning strike to achieve a fait accompli before Washington can respond; or a wider regional attack involving U.S. bases in Guam, Japan, or the Philippines. China is engaged in the largest military buildup in modern times, focusing on sea power, amphibious assault capabilities, long-range missiles, and nuclear weapons |
| ◆◆The Guardian, 2025-4-2 | Defence secretary Hegseth indicates US backing for Taiwan – but it is transactional Trump who has the final word. “There's a concern with the Trump administration that its attention shifts around, and what is promised now may not come through,” said scholat at U. Singapore. |
| ◆◆PBS, 2025-4-3 | Privately, Taiwanese officials admit they're not ready for the Chinese army |
| ◆◆Washington Post, 2025-3-21 | “We are moving toward conflict escalation with China, that's for sure”, said a professor at National Chengchi University. |
| ◆◆Daily Express, 2025-3-21 | Taiwan has issued a grim warning on China invasion — but world isn't listening |
| ◆◆Wall Street Journal, 2025-3-17 | Taiwan envisions Chinese assaults on the island to potentially come by land, sea, air and space as well as through cyberattacks, among others. China could launch a rapid invasion or blockade Taiwan to try to pressure it into submission. |
| ◆◆SUN (UK), 2025-3-14 | China to exploit Trump's New World Order with ‘perfect moment’ to strike Taiwan using invasion barges & 1.2m troops. Beijing is already shown signs of preparations for a potential war. |
| ◆◆Associated Press, 2025-3-18 | China conducts air and sea drills (an unusually large number of Chinese military ships, planes and drones entered airspace and waters surrounding Taiwan ) in response to US and Taiwanese statements. |
| ◆ The Telegraph, 2025-1-14 | China's invasion barges are a sure sign that war is coming. Some analysts believe China would need to move two million people across the Strait to guarantee victory. If and when the invasion begins, the barges might be the reason it succeeds |
| ◆ The Hill, 2025-1-7 | Lyle Goldstein, a professor at Brown University said the cost of a war with China is “incalculable” and would at the very least sow mass destruction in Taiwan and the South China Sea region; the U.S. should avoid a war over Taiwan, arguing it amounts to a civil war dispute. |
| ◆ USNI News, 2024-12-19 | The Pentagon's report recognizes that China has “both the will and capability to alter the international order in its favor”; but Xi Jinping's goal of having his military ready to carry out a “short, sharp invasion” of Taiwan by 2027 “is not possible right now” |
| ◆ Financial Times, 2024-12-13 | US nuclear build-up would not help deter China from using atomic weapons in Taiwan, war game finds; Unclassified exercise by CSIS and MIT suggests Washington should not go beyond current modernisation plans...only five of 15 iterations of the nuclear game ended with a withdrawal of the PLA. |
| ◆ New York Times, 2024-12-10 | Taiwan says China has deployed largest fleet of ships in decades, which could block American allies in the region from coming to Taiwan's defense. |
| ◆ Economist, 2024-12-5 | The views (the period of greatest danger has probably been pushed out for several years) are not universally shared, in or out of government. “Xi has his foot firmly on the accelerator and a full tank of gas". |
| ◆ Washington Examiner, 2024-12-4 |
Chinese leaders have said they want their military to be prepared to
invade Taiwan by 2027,
though U.S. defense leaders have said the date does not guarantee a
decision to carry out such an operation has been made.
War with China would exhaust munition stockpiles "very rapidly", national security adviser J. Sullivan acknowledged that China has "the single biggest advantage", "God forbid we end up in a full-scale war with the PRC" . |
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Unaffordable-island!! |
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| ◆ Economist, 2025-1-30 |
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| ◆ Bloomberg, 2024-1-11 | It costs 16 years of annual income to afford a home in Taipei — one of the highest such ratios globally. uk.news.yahoo.com/taiwan-voters-head-polls-ties-220000046.html |
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