This Wednesday, the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club will be hosting a book talk with Taiwan expert and ex-intelligence officer J. Michael Cole, author of The Taiwan Tinderbox.
The session will be moderated by TFCC board director and
Domino Theory reporter @imtienyikrislih.bsky.social
Preview of KMT leader Cheng Li-sun’s visit to China: big shift in power inside Taiwan’s opposition party
Cheng is succeeding ex-president Ma Ying-jeou as the most important politician in the KMT’s dealings with Beijing, and is taking over Ma’s legacy.
asia.nikkei.com/politics/int...
Audience member asking a question
View of the room during the event
Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang (left) and TFCC President Thompson Chau (right)
Audience member shaking hands with Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang
As well as whole-of-society resilience, and the question of Chinese spouses seeking political office in Taiwan.
The session was moderated by TFCC Chair and Nikkei Asia correspondent @thomchau.bsky.social.
Photos by @mikg.bsky.social
Li Chen-hsiu, a now-divorced Chinese spouse from Hunan, is now a TPP legislator.
At a TFCC briefing, Taiwan’s interior minister Liu Shyh-fang requested that Li submit proof of relinquishing her PRC citizenship. “Otherwise, our Legislative Yuan shall dismiss her.”
asia.nikkei.com/politics/int...
KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun will visit China for a likely meeting with Xi Jinping next month, marking the first such encounter in a decade.
The trip was announced at a time when the KMT and the TPP are stalling on President Lai Ching-te’s $40 billion defence budget.
asia.nikkei.com/politics/int...
The Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club will be hosting Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling for a members-only briefing on April 2. Registration details have been sent to members via email.
The briefing will be moderated by TFCC chair and Nikkei Asia correspondent @thomchau.bsky.social
This was the first TFCC briefing by a sitting KMT leader in many years. The event was moderated by TFCC Chair @thomchau.bsky.social. Photos by @mikg.bsky.social.
“The chance of the TPP breaking away from the KMT on the special defence budget is more unlikely now than before,” said @williamyang120.bsky.social.
He expects the two parties to go on “playing hard ball” on defence as a form of leverage against Lai. 2/2 asia.nikkei.com/politics/one...
A court in Taipei convicted ex-presidential candidate Ko Wen-je of graft, in a verdict that could inflame Taiwan’s ongoing political crisis.
Ko, who founded the Taiwan People’s Party, was sentenced to 17 years in jail for bribery and corruption. 1/2
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A packed hall in Taipei yesterday as the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club hosted KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun.
Cheng weighed in on defense spending, US and China ties, cross-strait tensions, the 1992 Consensus and a possible meeting with Xi Jinping.
A Western govt official in the region said Taiwan’s opposition politicians often argue that as “the backlog in US arms deliveries is already too great, why pay more if the backlog is only to grow bigger?”
The war “reinforces their backlog argument.”
asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/ir...
The US-led military campaign against Iran is stirring questions over the depletion of ammunition and missile stockpiles considered necessary to deter China’s ambitions towards Taiwan, which aims to step up defence procurements from Washington.
asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/ir...
It was a full house at the conference hall inside the historic National 228 Memorial Museum in Taipei, with several diplomats, former ministers, officials, and analysts joining the discussion.
TFCC Vice Chair @demesdavid.bsky.social moderated the conversation. Photos: @mikg.bsky.social
As the US edition of “Ghost Nation: The Story of Taiwan and Its Struggle for Survival” was launched last month, the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club hosted longtime Taiwan journalist and former TFCC Vice President Chris Horton (@heguisen.bsky.social) for a talk about his new book.
The conflict is “a live stress test of Taiwan’s energy security, with LNG supply continuity and dispatch flexibility emerging as the most immediate pressure points.”
Taiwan energy dependence in focus as Iran war highlights vulnerabilities - Nikkei Asia
asia.nikkei.com/business/ene...
Taiwan is bracing for impact from rising energy prices and supply disruptions as economists and experts warn that its economy is particularly vulnerable to fallout from the Iran war.
Nikkei Asia spoke to a number of industry sources and experts: asia.nikkei.com/business/ene...
So excited for lol
The Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club will host Kuomintang Chairperson Cheng Li-wun for a members-only briefing on March 23.
This will be the first TFCC briefing with a KMT leader in many years. Registration details have been sent to members.
John Deng speaking
Audience during Q-and-A
Lin Chien-Chih speaking
John Deng speaking
The session was moderated by TFCC Chair and Nikkei Asia correspondent @thomchau.bsky.social.
Photos: @mikg.bsky.social
John Deng speaking
Lev Nachman speaking
Jasmine Lee speaking
Group photo of panel participants
This week Minister John Deng, Jasmine Lee of
US Taiwan Watch, @lnachman32.bsky.social of National Taiwan University and Lin Chien-Chih of Academia Sinica spoke to Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club members about what to expect this year when it comes to business and politics in Taiwan.
The Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club will host longtime Taiwan journalist Chris Horton (@heguisen.bsky.social) on Feb 3 for a talk about his book “Ghost Nation: The Story of Taiwan and Its Struggle for Survival”.
The event is organized with the support of the Memorial Foundation of 228.
“The Taiwan Coast Guard must urgently enhance its maritime domain awareness capability to effectively prevent and counter various grey zone intrusions,” Hsieh Ching-chin, deputy DG of the Coast Guard Administration, told @asia.nikkei.com in Kaohsiung. asia.nikkei.com/politics/int...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=99i2...
The “tallest urban free solo climb” in history is underway as American Alex Honnold attempts to scale Taipei 101 - Taiwan’s highest building - in a challenge followed by millions.
asia.nikkei.com/business/med...
On Thursday, the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club co-hosted a briefing with Democratic Progressive Party Secretary-General Hsu Kuo-yung.. In a wide-ranging briefing, Hsu outlined his party’s policies and views to members of the international press corps
Members of the international press corps also had the opportunity to meet the DPP’s Department of International Affairs director Michael Chen and his colleagues.
The session was moderated by TFCC chair and Nikkei Asia correspondent @thomchau.bsky.social.
Photos by @mikg.bsky.social.
Ambassador David Tawei Lee
TFCC president Thompson Chau (left) and Ambassador David Lee
Participants at the event
TFCC president Thompson Chau (left), Ambassador David Lee (center), and TFCC vice president David Demes (right)
Earlier this month, the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club hosted former cabinet bigwig and veteran diplomat Amb. David Tawei Lee for a talk reflecting on his 40-year public service and his new book “Composure Amidst Turmoil”. The session was moderated by @thomchau.bsky.social
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Looking back at 2025 - This year President Lai Ching-te of the DPP, KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun and TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang sat down with Nikkei Asia to explain their positions and policies.
Based on the three interviews, I wrote a reflective piece about Taiwan’s politics and crises in 2025.
There is a fivefold increase in interactions between EU countries and Taiwan. Taiwan “should not give up very easily after things turn temporarily sour because of different governments currently in place,” @matejsimalcik.bsky.social told @taiwanfcc.bsky.social.
asia.nikkei.com/politics/int...
European engagement with Taiwan has increased sharply in recent years, according to @ceias-eu.bsky.social’s new report, with the authors suggesting Taipei should push for economic ties beyond semiconductors and strive to “balance symbolism with substance.”
asia.nikkei.com/politics/int...