Officials from the government in #China have been praising the countries which have denied flyover permission for the plane carrying the President of #Taiwan, causing him to cancel his trip to Eswatini. The government in #Taipei has blamed #Beijing for pressuring countries into doing this.
What is the State of the World’s Human Rights today?
Our report examines 144 countries and paints a picture of States playing with a fire that threatens to scorch the future for generations to come.
Read more: amn.st/63321B6A1y7
Cartoon on China's Xi met with Cheng Li-yuan, chair of Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang
漫画《鄭麗文與習近平會面》
Cheng Li-wun's startled response to a CCP official's comment on having "viewed her vids" led netizens on a mad scramble to uncover her past — from being an activist denouncing the KMT's inhumane treatment of the #Taiwanese in 1989, to dressing up as a #bunny for Lien Chan's farewell banquet in 2005.
🚨 NEW REPORT 🚨
In ‘Taiwan matters’, Joe Keary, Nathan Attrill, Mark Harrison and Marc Ablong warn that even a limited Taiwan Strait disruption could trigger a global shock far exceeding recent crises, including the Middle East conflict, with direct consequences for Australia.
🔖: bit.ly/4sUcx9p
"Hundreds Demonstrate Against the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial's Commemoration of a Dead Dictator" by @brianhioe.bsky.social
A recent trending hashtag in Taiwan has been #補課 (bu-ke) or #台灣史補課 (Taiwan li-shi bu-ke)—roughly “make-up class” or “make-up homework”. Writing for the Taiwan arts and culture feed of @newbloommag.net, I review "A Foggy Tale"《大濛》in the context of my own bu-ke: nomanisanis.land/a-foggy-tale... 🧋
Huge breaking news: Ko Wen-Je sentenced to 17 years in prison.
This will have huge implications for the future of Taiwan’s domestic politics.
Small thread.
This latest survey is is line with previous similar polls:
- a wide majority of Taiwanese people identify as Taiwanese only (61%),
- a wide majority (59%) say they would resist Chinese invasion even without US help,
- a clear majority (54%) agrees with raising the defense budget.
1/3
A book review of Revolutionary #Taiwan by Catherine Lila Chou and Mark Harrison
laorencha.substack.com/p/book-revie...
The latest issue of @freedomhouse.bsky.social's China Dissent Monitor reports that protest activity in China increased significantly in 2025
freedomhouse.org/report/china...
In addition to promoting entertainment, X's feed algorithm tends to push more conservative content to users' feeds. Seven weeks of exposure to such content in 2023 shifted users' political opinions in a more conservative direction, particularly with regard to policy priorities, perceptions of the criminal investigations into Trump and views on the war in Ukraine. The effect is asymmetric: switching the algorithm on influenced political views, but switching it off did not reverse users' perspectives on policy priorities or current political issues.
We show that exposure to algorithmically curated content led users to follow conservative activist accounts. In contrast, when the algorithmic feed was switched off, users continued to follow the accounts they had engaged with previously. This indicates that exposure to feed algorithms has a lasting impact on users' feeds and their political attitudes.
This is a very interesting new paper in Nature about the role that feed algorithms on X play in influencing political attitudes.
No paywall: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The story of a Malaysian student who was imprisoned in Taiwan for 12 years on false charges during the White Terror period
[Warning: descriptions of torture]
mekongreview.com/cautionary-t...
BREAKING: Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media tycoon and a fierce critic of Beijing, is sentenced to 20 years in prison in one of the most prominent cases prosecuted under a China-imposed national security law.
New report on Australia-Taiwan relations by @usstudiescentre.bsky.social advocates for Australia to deepen its relationship with Taiwan
www.ussc.edu.au/australia-ta...
I am thrilled to share our newest peer-reviewed work, "Feeling Blue: Public Support for Taiwan’s Bluebird Movement and Legislative Reform" with @poscwty1.bsky.social & Hannah June Kim, out now at China Quarterly!
A🧵on Taiwanese public opinion & independent voters:
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Two books on civil society & how change will likely happen in China, and why advocates for human rights and democracy shouldn't lose hope. Imprisoned organizer of the Citizens Movement, Xu Zhiyong, is an eloquent writer whose book will soon be released in English. chinachange.org/2026/01/31/o...
Op-ed by Taiwan's representative in Australia Douglas Hsu, in response to PRC ambassador Xiao Qian:
www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/u...
The China Dissent Monitor, a project of @freedomhouse.bsky.social, is the only public database of protest events in China. It helps to explain economic, social, and political trends in China
freedomhouse.org/article/qa-a...
2025’s Top Ten Taiwanese films, as selected by the editors of New Bloom and Cinema Escapist!
nomanisanis.land/the-10-best-...
Japan:
“military exercises”
“increase tensions”
“dialogue”
Philippines:
“coercion”
“intimidation”
“distorted rule of international law”
“fragile geopolitical environment”
The Philippine text names the pathology, not just the symptom.
A good example of how "lefties" are totally down for imperialism and war, if the PRC is doing it.
The US isn't trying to pry Taiwan from China, because China doesn't own it. Rather, the Taiwanese don't want to be annexed to the PRC, and nations around them are supporting them.
My column for today on the illiberal ASPI piece on the possibility of erosion of liberal democracy by the Lai administration.
www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...
The fall of civil society in #HongKong is chilling. SD's earlier study on how NGOs, unions, media, and religious groups were shut down in 2021 reveals the earlier steps, with the recent closure of its main opposition continuing the fall of free HK.
safeguarddefenders.com/en/blog/ccp-...
I review Nathan Batto and Emily Beaulieu's book about brawling in legislatures in #Taiwan, #Ukraine and beyond!
laorencha.substack.com/p/book-revie...
Frozen Garlic explains how Taiwan has entered a constitutional crisis
frozengarlic.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/c...
