Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou was re-elected Saturday, a win that will preserve the cross-strait status quo and likely lead to closer ties with China. Ma, a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT), fended off …
Taiwan
Taiwan Goes to Vote: What’s at Stake in the Island Nation’s Election
At the headquarters of Taiwan’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party in Taipei, three women are hunched over the sink in a second-floor bathroom, scrubbing coins. With soapy fingers, they turn brackish discs to dull
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Exclusive: TIME Meets Taiwan Presidential Hopefuls Ma Ying-jeou and Tsai Ing-wen
This is a guest post from Asia Editor Zoher Abdoolcarim.
(Updated: Jan. 5, 2012 at 5:20 a.m. EST)
TIME’s Zoher Abdoolcarim and Natalie Tso spoke recently in Taipei with Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou and his chief challenger, Tsai Ing-wen, about the Jan. 14 election and the triangle that is China, Taiwan and the U.S. Here are …
Greek Political Crisis Gets Animated
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiH-a0JRUZE&feature=player_embedded]
Taiwan’s Next Media animators are on the case yet again. As Greece’s Socialists, led by outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou, struggle to form a coalition government with the rival New Democrats, let this 1-minute primer set it all up for you. With …
A Step Back From the Brink in the South China Sea
China and Vietnam, which traded accusations this summer over rival territorial claims in the South China Sea, signed an agreement Tuesday outlining basic measures to help settle their ongoing dispute. The agreement, reached during a visit to Beijing by Vietnamese leader Nguyen Phu Trong, calls for China and Vietnam to hold biannual …
Awkward Anniversary: China Marks the Centenary of the 1911 Revolution
In a country that claims five millennia of history, what’s a mere century? Oct. 10 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of China’s 1911 Xinhai Revolution, which ended 2,000 years of imperial rule. The fall of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) was precipitated by an uprising in the central Chinese city of Wuchang (now part of …
China Strikes Back After Taiwan Weapons Deal
China will likely suspend some military ties with the U.S. following the Obama administration’s approval of a $5.85 billion package of upgrades for Taiwan’s aging fleet of F-16 fighter jets and pilot training, a senior U.S. State Department official said Monday. (A transcript of the official’s briefing was posted on the State …
How Will China React to U.S. Arms Deal with Taiwan?
The U.S. announced Wednesday that it will offer Taiwan a $5.85 billion package of upgrades to its aging fleet of F-16 fighters (pdf) and training for its pilots (pdf). The deal, which falls short of Taiwan’s request for newer F-16 C/D jets, was widely expected as details of the plan leaked out in Washington in recent weeks. Perhaps …
Obama’s Taiwan Conundrum: Should the U.S. Authorize More Arms Sales?
U.S. presidents have reason to not relish decisions on selling arms to Taiwan. Say yes, as Barack Obama did in January 2010, when he approved the sale of $6.4 billion worth of equipment including Patriot air defense missiles, Black Hawk helicopters and two Osprey mine-hunting ships, and you anger China. China considers Taiwan to be …
China’s Military Tries to Reassure Wary Neighbors
Years of sharp increases in military spending coupled with territorial disputes with some of its neighbors have contributed to growing suspicions over Chinese intentions. So China’s military brass is on a campaign to reassure governments in the Asia-Pacific region that the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army poses no …
Ma Ying-jeou’s First Year
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou is keeping his promise to aid his island’s stricken economy through stronger mainland links. But cozying up to Beijing carries political risks. Here‘s my colleague Michael Schuman’s latest story on Ma, out in the latest issue of TIME Asia.
Taiwan the Latest to Legalize Gambling
After 15 years of talks, Taiwan’s legislature has passed a bill to legalize gambling on the Penghu islands, located off the west coast of Taiwan’s main island. While Macau takes the lion’s share of Asia’s gaming dollars, reeling in more than $10 billion USD in 2007 (2008 figures haven’t yet been released), there’s no shortage …
