Taipei, Taiwan | AFP | Images of riot police battling protesters in Hong Kong this week have reverberated in nearby Taiwan where many recoil at what they fear could be their future if Beijing has its way. Taiwan has been a self-ruled de facto nation in charge of its own affairs …
Read More »Pope ready to visit Pyongyang if invited: S.Korea’s Moon
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis is ready to visit North Korea if its leader Kim Jong Un extends a formal invitation, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday after meeting the pontiff. Moon briefed the pontiff about his visit to Pyongyang in September when Kim …
Read More »When politicians are unrecognizable in campaign Posters
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A female candidate for a local position in Taipei, Taiwan, recently became the butt of social media jokes, after people noticed that she looked nothing like the woman on her campaign posters. The difference between real-life Wang Zhiya and her depiction on campaign posters …
Read More »China’s aircraft carrier spotted in huge naval drill
Beijing, China | AFP | Beijing flexed its military muscle this week as its sole operational aircraft carrier apparently took part in a huge naval drill with dozens of other vessels in the South China Sea, satellite images showed. The pictures, taken by Planet Labs Inc., appear to show the …
Read More »World’s most wired cities have money, ideas and wide internet reach
Taipei, Taiwan | AFP | A few extra-keen cities in developed countries are using internet technology to cut energy bills, fight crime and ease traffic congestion. Now everyone else wants to know how they got so far. New York, Singapore, Taipei, Barcelona and London are regarded now as what techies call …
Read More »Beijing’s new weapon in economic war: Chinese tourists
Beijing, China | AFP | Slapping import bans on products like mangoes, coal and salmon has long been China’s way of punishing countries that refuse to toe its political line. But Beijing has shown that it can also hurt others by cutting a lucrative Chinese export: tourists who normally flock …
Read More »China’s premier rules out Taiwan, Hong Kong independence
Beijing, China | AFP | China will firmly oppose Taiwan “separatism”, Premier Li Keqiang declared Sunday, following tension with US President Donald Trump over the island, and said Hong Kong independence moves would “lead nowhere”. “We will resolutely oppose and contain separatist activities for Taiwan independence,” Li said in a …
Read More »Trump backs ‘One China’ policy in first call with Xi
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump reaffirmed Washington’s ‘One China’ policy on Thursday in his first conversation with Xi Jinping, an apparent effort to ease tensions after angering Beijing by questioning a major plank of Sino-US relations. During a phone call with China’s leader, the US president …
Read More »Trump upends US foreign policy with Taiwan call
New York, United States | AFP | US President-elect Donald Trump broke with decades of foreign policy to speak with the president of Taiwan, prompting Beijing Saturday to accuse Taipei of a ploy but saying the move would not affect US-China ties. It was not immediately clear whether Trump’s telephone …
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