A meeting in Beijing between senior officials from the two foreign ministries failed to solve the heated dispute. The number of tourist cancellations over the weekend reaches early COVID-19 levels. Beijing is also putting pressure on Chinese students, who, faced with visa difficulties in the United States, increasingly opted for Japanese universities.
Chinese musician and influencer Wang Bo has turned a Taipei politician's quip into a track that has become popular on both sides of the Taiwan Strait in recent weeks. Mainland China has tried to coopt it as a tool against the rebel island's government, but the real message is self-deprecation in the face of widespread dissatisfaction, even in the self-proclaimed “second world power”.
Ambassador Ho's speech at the celebrations held in Rome for the anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China in the presence of Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi. ‘Taiwan will continue to promote universal values and defend human dignity.’
The Chinese Communist Party has recruited the Bamboo Union to promote unification with the People's Republic. Chang An-lo and other key figures have been exploited to boost China’s political influence on the island through intelligence gathering and psychological operations. Meanwhile, Taiwan is cracking down on a pro-Beijing party and prosecuting its members.
Next Saturday Taiwanese voters are set to approve or reject the reactivation of the Maanshan plant in a referendum called by the opposition after the country's last plant shut down in May after 40 years of operation. After Fukushima, environmentalists have achieved a gradual phase-out, but fears that China might stop natural gas supplies are now reviving the issue. For its part, China has 33 plants under construction.
The diplomat, who has just taken up his post as his country’s representative to the Holy See, recounts his meeting with Leo XIV. Taiwan helped the pontiff “when he served in Peru”. Leo “said that he will pray for Taiwan.” The island does not “pose any threat” to China, offering instead “opportunities for dialogue and for peace.”
