Tag - taiwan

 
 

TAIWAN

Elbridge Colby appears at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee to be undersecretary of defense for policy at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 5, 2025
Trump Pentagon policy pick pushes Japan and Taiwan to boost defense spending
Tokyo should boost its defense budget to 3% of GDP “as soon as possible,” said Elbridge Colby, Trump’s pick for the top policy job at the Pentagon.
Taiwanese Defense Minister Wellington Koo gives a short speech during a media briefing in Taipei on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 4, 2025
Taiwan says U.S. will ‘not abandon’ Asia-Pacific region
The remarks by Taiwan’s defense minister came days after U.S. President Donald Trump’s fiery clash with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
U.S. President Donald Trump, and C.C. Wei, chief executive officer of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., announce investments in the United States, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 4, 2025
TSMC announces $100 billion investment in new U.S. chip plants
The announcement comes amid concerns Taiwan could lose its “silicon shield” against a Chinese invasion if its companies build too many factories overseas.
To achieve a stable supply chain and propel semiconductor innovation, Japan's government and chipmakers are increasingly building bridges with foreign firms.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Mar 3, 2025
Japan is no island when it comes to semiconductors. Rightly so.
To achieve a stable supply chain and propel semiconductor innovation, Japan’s government and chipmakers are increasingly building bridges with foreign firms.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's destroyer Akizuki (far left) leads the MSDF fleet during a naval review in Sagami Bay, south of Tokyo, in October 2012.
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2025
Japanese destroyer passes through Taiwan Strait for just second time
The solo passage last month by the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Akizuki comes amid warming ties with Beijing, but also follows ramped-up military pressure by China.
Kumamon, the official mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture, poses in front of a sign of Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing, a subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., at TSMC's then new factory in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, in February 2024.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Mar 3, 2025
In chip renaissance, Japan is learning from past mistakes
In the 1980s, Japan dominated semiconductor production. Fast-forward to today and the country is trying to recapture its past glory, this time with a more outward-looking strategy.
A photo released by the Australia Defense Force showed an Australian Navy ship in the foreground and two Chinese navy ships in the Tasman Sea in February.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 1, 2025
China’s military puts Pacific on notice as U.S. priorities shift
While Washington is consumed with other matters, from Ukraine and the Middle East to budget cuts at the Pentagon, China keeps pressing.
Taiwanese comic artist Rishiazao and interpreter Yun-wen Huang greet an attendee at the 2025 Angouleme International Comics Festival in France.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 1, 2025
Taiwan comics on the rise: Local storytellers, global aspirations
A supportive ecosystem and eager audiences — both domestic and global — are boosting the soft power of illustrated narratives from Taiwan.
Security footage provided by a neighbor shows two men walking near the scene of the burglary in Tokyo's Nerima Ward a few hours beforehand. The surroundings have been blurred for privacy reasons.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 28, 2025
Two Taiwanese men arrested over burglary in Tokyo
Lin Yu-hung, 31, and Lin Chun-ku, 43, were arrested on suspicion of burglary resulting in injuries.
U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 27, 2025
Trump declines to say if U.S. would protect Taiwan from Chinese invasion
Trump’s refusal to comment stood in stark contrast to his predecessor, Joe Biden, who repeatedly hinted that Washington would come to Taipei’s aid.
Taiwanese Air Force Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft taxi for takeoff during a scramble as part of a combat readiness exercise at the Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taichung, Taiwan, on Jan. 7.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 26, 2025
China holds ‘shooting’ drills off Taiwan’s coast, vows ‘reunification’ push
Taipei said the exercises endanger the safety of international flights and shipping and are a “blatant provocation” to regional peace and stability.
The Taiwanese Coast Guard detains Togolese-registered, Chinese-crewed cargo ship Hongtai in Penghu, Taiwan, on Tuesday after a subsea telecoms cable was severed off the islands.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2025
China says Taiwan ‘manipulating’ undersea cable cutting incident
Taiwan’s coast guard said it detained a China-linked cargo ship on Tuesday after a cable to the Penghu Islands was disconnected.
A sample of a wafer is seen at the Semicon Taiwan 2022 exhibition in Taipei in 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2025
China says Taiwan seeking to give away chip industry to U.S.
U.S. media has said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has been in talks for a stake in Intel.
A Chinese H-6 bomber flies between Okinawa’s main island and Miyako Island in October 2013. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned that Japan must strengthen its defenses in case of a Taiwan contingency.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 26, 2025
As Ukraine endgame intensifies, don’t forget Taiwan
The scale of China’s air and naval exercises around Taiwan has grown from fewer than a dozen planes and ships a few years ago to over 250 in the December exercise alone.
The Togolese-registered ship Hongtai in Penghu, Taiwan. Taiwan detained a Chinese-crewed cargo ship after a subsea telecoms cable was severed off the island, the coast guard said.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 25, 2025
Taiwan detains Chinese-crewed ship after subsea cable cut
It is the latest in a series of Taiwanese undersea cable breakages, with previous incidents blamed on natural causes or Chinese ships.
Yuichiro Tamaki, chief of Democratic Party for the People (left), meets with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te at the presidential office in Taipei on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 25, 2025
DPP’s Tamaki meets Taiwanese President Lai
Both leaders underlined the importance of cooperation among democracies for regional and global stability.
Visitors take pictures of wafer samples at the Intel booth during Computex 2024 in Taipei on June 4, 2024. U.S. President Donald Trump's threat of tariffs on semiconductor chips has complicated Taiwan's bid to remain a global powerhouse in the critical sector and stay onside with key backer Washington, analysts said.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 25, 2025
Trump’s chip tariff threats raise stakes for Taiwan
Taiwan produces more than half of the world’s chips and nearly all of the most advanced ones, making the island essential to global supply chains.
Akie Abe meets with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te (left) at the Taiwan Presidential Office in Taipei on Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2025
Taiwan President Lai meets with Akie Abe, widow of slain prime minister
Lai told Akie at the meeting that Taiwan aims to protect the values of freedom and democracy, and deepen its friendship with Japan.
An electric vehicle factory in Rayong, Thailand. Asian countries are among the most vulnerable to President Donald Trump's economic grievances — but also well-placed to make deals to minimize their exposure.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 22, 2025
How Trump’s tariffs could reorder Asia trade and exclude the U.S.
Asian countries are among the most vulnerable to Trump’s economic grievances — but also well-placed to make deals to minimize their exposure.
Japan is the world's No. 2 LNG buyer, a major investor in energy infrastructure and a trading hub with a glut of LNG that could help open new markets for U.S. gas in Southeast Asia.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 22, 2025
Trump seeks to reshape Asia’s energy supplies with U.S. gas
While the Alaska LNG proposal faces hurdles, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and others are buying into the idea of increasing U.S. gas imports more broadly.

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival