Last October the Congressional Research Service, whose job is to lay out policy options for Congress, described some of the issues in US-Taiwan relations. Some of it is quite good. The section that discusses “Credibility” gives an excellent overview of the falling out between the Bush Administration and Chen Shui-bian, and the Bush Administration’s ongoing [...]
A senior US defense analyst says that China’s military power continues to grow. What a shock, eh?
China’s growing military capability also gives it a better chance to counter the US or another country that might intervene in the event of a war, Mark Cozad, a senior analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency, told a [...]
The Taipei Times yesterday reported that the problem with Chen’s speech at the FAPA banquet that provoked a relatively sharp State Department reaction was:
Sensitive discussions between US State Department officials and their North Korean and Chinese counterparts were behind the rather strong reaction the department issued in response to President Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) “four wants” [...]
Gerrit van der Wees of FAPA writes:
+++++++++
Hello Taiwan-Focus friends,
I hereby like to let you know that issue no. 113 of Taiwan Communiqué is off the press. We give a brief summary of past events, such as the important statement by President Chen at FAPA-25, the 228 Commemorations in Taiwan and here in the US [...]
Going shopping in the Taiwan blogs today, I found…..
The Foreigner explains 300. Best review I’ve seen yet.
Feder’s Blog list of 250 you’ve been in taiwan too long when…
Interlocals.net has a post on archaeology and memory — community nets in Taiwan.
The Conductor Blogs on the 3-26 peace march.
Cold Goat Eyes on a neighborhood power cut.
The Bushman [...]
The Economist has a damn fine article pointing out that nobody really believes in The Peaceful Rise:
Why are China’s neighbours not always susceptible to its charms? Of course, any rapidly emerging big power is unsettling. Like America, China can still display a penchant for unilateralism that undermines all its careful diplomacy. As it overtakes America [...]
Most of you probably haven’t noticed, but Taiwan has no budget for this fiscal year. The pan-Blue alliance, led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), have refused to pass the budget unless the Greens permit the Blues to reconstruct the Central Election Commission (CEC) in favor of the Blues:
To secure a majority for passage [...]
The Washington Post hosts a roundtable discussion of a Taiwan-US FTA:
A Path Worth Taking? The Prospects and Challenges of a U.S.-Taiwan Free Trade Deal
In recent years, the creation of numerous free trade agreements (FTAs) around the world has triggered a chain reaction, as countries fearing exclusion move forward to establish their own regional FTAs.
Taiwan, the [...]
Tainan is probably the most photogenic of the cities on the west coast plain. Here are 90 or so photos I took the other day while strolling around the area near the train station.
As we near election season, candidate pictures are starting to fill up public spaces everywhere. Here a bus hosts election advertisements for [...]
Two articles on global security and East Asia crossed my path this week. The first is from Japan Focus, and discusses the emerging alliance structure aimed at China that is growing now in Northeast Asia.
Secondly, by explicitly “affirming the common strategic interests and security benefits embodied in their respective alliance relationships with the United States, [...]
It’s a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.
All of the Chinese and English newspapers are running front page reports today with the story of how TVBS reporters helped film a mobster threatening his capo (see UPDATE below as of 9 pm 3/29). The pro-Blue China Post reports:
Axed were Shih Chen-kang for [...]
The spectacular Suhua Highway. Plans are to shove a major expressway through here.
Asia Sentinel, a widely lniked site that reports on news from all over Asia, has a good article on the plans to drive a highway from Suao to Hualien through some of the most spectacular terrain on the island.
But this is an election [...]
David on Formosa points to a great new group blog:
It features writing and photos by Taiwan-based journalists, photographers and translators, currently writing for Newsweek, Reuters, Taipei Times, Far Eastern Economic Review, Asia Times and other publications.
[Taiwan] [media]
Related PostsDouble Ghost Month is Upon UsWorkers at a clothing store in Fengyuan burn ghost money.It’s a double [...]
This post at China Redux leads to some very interesting information on the recent transfer of Pacific Fleet Commander Adm Fallon to the Middle East: an article from the Washington Post:
Fallon’s soothing words on Iran contrasts with conventional wisdom, which is that his selection as the first Navy admiral to lead CENTCOM signals increased preparation [...]
Our fair city has been the site of another one of those periodic outbursts of gangster violence recently. Gangsters killing each other, a world-wide affliction, is not very interesting news, but the tale did take a turn when a gangster supposedly filmed himself making threats on tape promising retaliation for the killings. ESWN has part [...]
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