The Ministry of Culture’s proposed publicity budget of NT$47.38 million (US$1.48 million) was deleted in the budget cuts passed in the legislature on Friday, while funding for the Public Television Service (PTS) was reduced by NT$21.85 million and Taiwan Plus saw its budget cut by NT$200 million. Li on Saturday said the ministry’s publicity budget has been slashed for a second consecutive year.
mandag 17. august 2026
Taiwan: 'To destroy a nation, first erase its history; to destroy a people, first destroy its culture’
Minister of Culture Li Yuan on Saturday lamented the erosion of Taiwan’s cultural sector, saying opposition parties had used cuts to the ministry’s funding “to destroy a people, first destroy its culture.”
The Ministry of Culture’s proposed publicity budget of NT$47.38 million (US$1.48 million) was deleted in the budget cuts passed in the legislature on Friday, while funding for the Public Television Service (PTS) was reduced by NT$21.85 million and Taiwan Plus saw its budget cut by NT$200 million. Li on Saturday said the ministry’s publicity budget has been slashed for a second consecutive year.
The Ministry of Culture’s proposed publicity budget of NT$47.38 million (US$1.48 million) was deleted in the budget cuts passed in the legislature on Friday, while funding for the Public Television Service (PTS) was reduced by NT$21.85 million and Taiwan Plus saw its budget cut by NT$200 million. Li on Saturday said the ministry’s publicity budget has been slashed for a second consecutive year.
From Apple to Ford: How Chinese tech is becoming harder for global companies to ignore
Washington has been stepping up efforts to curb Beijing’s technological ambitions, but from artificial intelligence to electric vehicle batteries, Chinese technology is becoming increasingly embedded in the businesses of some of the world’s biggest companies.
Apple has tapped Alibaba and Baidu for AI in China, while Ford has turned to CATL for battery technology. Volkswagen has teamed up with Xpeng to develop smart EVs in China, while Stellantis is expanding its partnership with Leapmotor on EV production and joint purchasing. Analysts say a broad shift is underway, with Chinese companies becoming sources of technology and innovation that global businesses cannot easily sidestep.
Apple has tapped Alibaba and Baidu for AI in China, while Ford has turned to CATL for battery technology. Volkswagen has teamed up with Xpeng to develop smart EVs in China, while Stellantis is expanding its partnership with Leapmotor on EV production and joint purchasing. Analysts say a broad shift is underway, with Chinese companies becoming sources of technology and innovation that global businesses cannot easily sidestep.
Beijing is said to move to clarify tax rules stoking confusion among China’s ultra-wealthy
Beijing is moving to clarify new tax rules on offshore trusts that have sowed confusion among wealthy Chinese citizens and their advisers. China’s State Taxation Administration is conducting large-scale training for local tax officers to align on how the levy on offshore trusts – some of them set up decades ago – should be applied, according to several onshore and offshore tax lawyers.
The tax agency has also sent out draft guidelines to onshore law and accounting firms, and plans consultation sessions with lawyers in the coming weeks, according to multiple lawyers and advisors who didn’t want to be named discussing sensitive policy matters. Some of those people expect more draft guidance to follow, with the documents eventually made public.
The tax agency has also sent out draft guidelines to onshore law and accounting firms, and plans consultation sessions with lawyers in the coming weeks, according to multiple lawyers and advisors who didn’t want to be named discussing sensitive policy matters. Some of those people expect more draft guidance to follow, with the documents eventually made public.
Trump Will Make South Korea Pay For His Iran Humiliation
Last winter, Donald Trump plunged recklessly into war with Iran. The United States is now losing that conflict. Iran remains defiant, much of the world economy is more threatened now than it was six months ago, U.S. military resources are overextended, and munition stores are dangerously depleted. Trump and the United States have suffered one embarrassment after another; last week, he had to sneak away from the region on a backup plane because of a possible assassination threat from Tehran.
And so the president of the United States has taken the logical next step: He is punishing South Korea, a loyal American friend, and tempting U.S. enemies to doubt America’s will to defend its allies.
And so the president of the United States has taken the logical next step: He is punishing South Korea, a loyal American friend, and tempting U.S. enemies to doubt America’s will to defend its allies.
Hackers used autonomous AI agents to attack Taiwan. Is this the future of cyberwarfare?
Hackers deployed an AI system to carry out sophisticated cyberattacks on Taiwan, officials said, in what experts believe is the first known fully autonomous attack on government agencies. Over four days in July, the AI agents were able to map 21 government systems, crack 85 government user accounts, and extract 2,500 personnel records, according to Dream, an Israeli AI firm that first discovered the attack.
Experts suspect the hackers are from China, but neither Taiwan nor Dream would confirm the origin of the July attacks.
“The investigation found clear indications that the attacks originated overseas and involved a hybrid approach in which hackers combined conventional operations with AI agents such as OpenClaw,” Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs said in a Thursday statement.
Experts suspect the hackers are from China, but neither Taiwan nor Dream would confirm the origin of the July attacks.
“The investigation found clear indications that the attacks originated overseas and involved a hybrid approach in which hackers combined conventional operations with AI agents such as OpenClaw,” Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs said in a Thursday statement.
How an icy shipping route at the top of the world is bringing China and Russia together
Ice was still heavy on the water when the hulking Christophe de Margerie tanker set off on the first journey of the season along the Northern Sea Route in late May.
It had just stopped at a port connected to Arctic LNG-2, a US-sanctioned liquefied natural gas facility deep in the Russian Arctic, shipping data shows. From there, led most of the way by an icebreaker, the tanker lumbered through thousands of miles of Arctic waters and the Bering Sea. Its roughly two-week trip ended at the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s Far East, where the tanker slipped into a secluded bay that used to be home to a Soviet military settlement.
It had just stopped at a port connected to Arctic LNG-2, a US-sanctioned liquefied natural gas facility deep in the Russian Arctic, shipping data shows. From there, led most of the way by an icebreaker, the tanker lumbered through thousands of miles of Arctic waters and the Bering Sea. Its roughly two-week trip ended at the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s Far East, where the tanker slipped into a secluded bay that used to be home to a Soviet military settlement.
The perils of falling in love as a Communist Party member in China
She was about to marry the love of her life, a foreign man she met at an overseas airport, who’d asked for her number and quickly followed up. But instead of congratulating their long-time colleague, her co-workers, under the orders of their department head, urged her to think again.
Was he worth her losing her job? Along with millions of other Chinese government employees, the woman, whose name was not disclosed due to the sensitivity of the matter, is bound by a long-standing rule that bans civil servants, or anyone who possesses “significant secrets,” from marrying foreigners.
And it’s not just marriage. Since Chinese leader Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, many aspects of personal life for members of the Communist Party or the state sector, from divorce to travel and social activities, have come under increasing scrutiny.
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Was he worth her losing her job? Along with millions of other Chinese government employees, the woman, whose name was not disclosed due to the sensitivity of the matter, is bound by a long-standing rule that bans civil servants, or anyone who possesses “significant secrets,” from marrying foreigners.
And it’s not just marriage. Since Chinese leader Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, many aspects of personal life for members of the Communist Party or the state sector, from divorce to travel and social activities, have come under increasing scrutiny.
Read more
Xi says China needs ‘indomitable fighting spirit,’ praises Tiananmen crackdown
Chinese leader Xi Jinping called on his people to show an “indomitable fighting spirit” in a bullish speech on Monday in which he also praised the ruling Communist Party’s decision to clamp down the Tiananmen democracy protests.
Xi made the comments at a landmark speech marking the centenary of the birth of one of his predecessors – Jiang Zemin, who was China’s leader from 1993 to 2002. He died in 2022. Addressing thousands of officials and delegates at the Great Hall of the People, he portrayed China as a country that was facing tough times, but one that would emerge unscathed.
Xi made the comments at a landmark speech marking the centenary of the birth of one of his predecessors – Jiang Zemin, who was China’s leader from 1993 to 2002. He died in 2022. Addressing thousands of officials and delegates at the Great Hall of the People, he portrayed China as a country that was facing tough times, but one that would emerge unscathed.
Trump says US will reduce military exercises with South Korea, citing lack of help with Iran
President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the United States would reduce military exercises with key regional ally South Korea, just hours before that were due to get underway, citing his positive relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Seoul’s lack of assistance with Iran.
“Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful.”
South Korea has been a close American ally for over 70 years and the two nations have a mutual defense treaty, primarily designed to protect it from North Korea –– a burgeoning military power that now posses nuclear warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful.”
South Korea has been a close American ally for over 70 years and the two nations have a mutual defense treaty, primarily designed to protect it from North Korea –– a burgeoning military power that now posses nuclear warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Vietnam, Rare Earths, and the Evolving China Plus One Strategy
Over the past few years, China Plus One has reshaped global production, helping Vietnam emerge as an important manufacturing base. China Plus One involves companies reducing their excessive dependence on a single production base (i.e., China) by adding capacity elsewhere, which many have already done. However, the next stage of this strategy is likely to be more complicated. Export controls and economic security concerns are exposing vulnerabilities further upstream, particularly in industries that depend on critical minerals. This has demonstrated that even if a company can diversify where it manufactures, it may remain dependent on concentrated supplies of the materials, components, and processing capabilities necessary for that production.
Vietnam illustrates this challenge particularly well. China Plus One has brought major investments and increasingly sophisticated manufacturing activities to the country.
Vietnam illustrates this challenge particularly well. China Plus One has brought major investments and increasingly sophisticated manufacturing activities to the country.
Ex-Chinese military men accused of espionage activities near US bases in South Korea, police say
Two former Chinese military servicemen have been arrested in South Korea in separate cases of apparent espionage, involving alleged attempts to surveil South Korean military operations and US forces stationed in the country, police said.
In one case, a man is accused of intercepting flight communications near an airbase where US fighter jets are based, while in the other, information about military drills between US and South Korean forces was allegedly obtained. South Korea is a key ally of the US in Asia, and hosts its largest overseas military installation.
Both men have been charged with aiding an enemy state. In response to CNN’s request for comment, China’s Foreign Ministry said it was “not familiar with the situation.”
In one case, a man is accused of intercepting flight communications near an airbase where US fighter jets are based, while in the other, information about military drills between US and South Korean forces was allegedly obtained. South Korea is a key ally of the US in Asia, and hosts its largest overseas military installation.
Both men have been charged with aiding an enemy state. In response to CNN’s request for comment, China’s Foreign Ministry said it was “not familiar with the situation.”
søndag 16. august 2026
Goodbye, Comrade Zhu Rongji
As a young man in 1957, Zhu was punished during the anti-rightist campaign. Deng noticed him in the mid-1980s, when he was a mid-level head of the Department of Industrial Economy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). In 1988, reportedly, Deng sent him to Shanghai to serve as mayor to shake up the city, which was lagging behind Guangdong, and to make it a spearhead of the reforms.
The 1989 protests changed all priorities. Jiang, Shanghai party secretary, was called to Beijing to become party chief. In 1993, Zhu became vice premier, and in 1998 premier, China’s economic czar. Nobody has impacted the Chinese economy as he has. Yet his massive push to set things in order and clear books and accounts was abandoned once he left power. He knew market rules can’t be ignored forever. If this happens, the economy will collapse.
The 1989 protests changed all priorities. Jiang, Shanghai party secretary, was called to Beijing to become party chief. In 1993, Zhu became vice premier, and in 1998 premier, China’s economic czar. Nobody has impacted the Chinese economy as he has. Yet his massive push to set things in order and clear books and accounts was abandoned once he left power. He knew market rules can’t be ignored forever. If this happens, the economy will collapse.
Zhu Rongji left Asia a blueprint — and it still works
When Zhu Rongji died in Beijing on August 12 at the age of 97, Asia lost one of the finest public servants of its modern era. He was the premier who opened China to the world, the plain-spoken technocrat who took his country into the World Trade Organization in December 2001 after almost 15 years of talks.
The tributes have reached for the big numbers, and the numbers are extraordinary. But the most valuable thing he left behind is smaller and more useful than any of them: a method any government in Asia can copy. Make a binding promise to the outside world, then use it to win the arguments you cannot win at home.
The tributes have reached for the big numbers, and the numbers are extraordinary. But the most valuable thing he left behind is smaller and more useful than any of them: a method any government in Asia can copy. Make a binding promise to the outside world, then use it to win the arguments you cannot win at home.
The West studies China’s power — but not its civilization
At their Beijing summit on May 14, 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping asked US President Donald Trump whether China and the United States could avoid the “Thucydides Trap,” in which rivalry between a rising power and an established one ends in war. During the talks, Xi also warned that mishandling Taiwan could bring the two countries into conflict. The exchange captured the strategic anxiety of the present moment. China’s rise is measured in factories, patents, artificial intelligence models, naval vessels, infrastructure projects and trade flows.
South Korea proposes talks to officially end war with North
South Korea's president has proposed talks with its northern neighbour on officially ending the war between the two that is technically still active. Lee Jae Myung suggested a "multi-layered security system" to avoid flare-ups along the countries' de-facto border, known as the demilitarised zone (DMZ), and offered to discuss practical ways of halting Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
North Korea has continually tested ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, which has been perceived in Seoul and nearby Japan as an attempt to intimidate and project power. The conflict between the two occupants of the Korean peninsula has been effectively frozen since an armistice was signed in 1953.
North Korea has continually tested ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, which has been perceived in Seoul and nearby Japan as an attempt to intimidate and project power. The conflict between the two occupants of the Korean peninsula has been effectively frozen since an armistice was signed in 1953.
Afghan women tell the BBC their lives are unrecognisable after five years of Taliban rule
Five years on from the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, women and girls have told the BBC their lives are unrecognisable under the rule of the regime. The hard-line Islamist group has been eroding the rights of the 22 million women in the country since it re-gained control in 2021- two decades after being removed from power by a US-led military coalition.
The BBC is one of the few media organisations that has been able to maintain access to Afghanistan since the takeover. We spoke to women across the country, from the heart of Kabul to the vast countryside.They have watched on as the Taliban barred access to school for girls over 12, restricted travel without a male chaperone and brought in a law implying legal approval for child marriage.
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The BBC is one of the few media organisations that has been able to maintain access to Afghanistan since the takeover. We spoke to women across the country, from the heart of Kabul to the vast countryside.They have watched on as the Taliban barred access to school for girls over 12, restricted travel without a male chaperone and brought in a law implying legal approval for child marriage.
Read more
fredag 14. august 2026
Zhu Rongji, the ‘economic czar’ who helped turn China into a powerhouse, dies at 97
In some ways his death marks the end of a more economically optimistic era for many Chinese who witnessed their country’s sweeping transformation during its reformist years. Those reforms led to huge reduction in poverty, an exploding middle class and a scramble by foreign companies to access the lucrative Chinese market.
Opinion: Zhu Rongji’s Promise
Zhu Rongji began his tenure as China?s prime minister with a promise. During his now-famous March 1998 press conference at the National People?s Congress, the bold and freewheeling Zhu pledged that within three years he would turn around China?s ailing state-owned enterprises, long the nemesis of China?s economic opening. Now, as the prime minister prepares to step down, his critics are charging he has failed to deliver.
The behemoths of Chinese industry continue to be an enormous drag on the economy. And now that China has entered the World Trade Organization, many fear that China?s state-owned companies, especially those most sheltered from needed reforms, will collapse under the pressure of foreign competition.
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The behemoths of Chinese industry continue to be an enormous drag on the economy. And now that China has entered the World Trade Organization, many fear that China?s state-owned companies, especially those most sheltered from needed reforms, will collapse under the pressure of foreign competition.
Read more
Zhu Rongji, who helped turn China into a trading giant, dies at 97
Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, who spearheaded China's entry into global trade and laid the foundation for its explosive growth, has died at the age of 97. He served in the country's second-highest office from 1998-2003 and played a leading role in securing its entry into the World Trade Organization, opening Chinese factories to the international market and drawing foreign investment.
He was one of the most important economic reformers who moved local tax powers to the central government, closed or privatised failing state firms and promoted home ownership. Many in China remember him as a tough and pragmatic leader who delivered double-digit growth and was rarely afraid to speak his mind.
Read more
He was one of the most important economic reformers who moved local tax powers to the central government, closed or privatised failing state firms and promoted home ownership. Many in China remember him as a tough and pragmatic leader who delivered double-digit growth and was rarely afraid to speak his mind.
Read more
onsdag 12. august 2026
The lonely Chinese men being conned by fake brides
At 37, Wang Zhuang had almost given up hope of finding a wife, until he saw the glossy matchmaking adverts. They promised he wouldn't have to waste years on building a relationship that had no future. They offered to introduce him to a demure, devoted woman.
"The matchmakers said that girls from Guizhou are frugal," Wang says. "They told me they are good at running a household, able to do housework, and their families are very poor, so after marrying into your family, they would settle down and live a life with you."
So Wang travelled to Guiyang, a city in the southwestern province of Guizhou, in the hope of finding his soulmate. He thought he had, when he was matched with a woman who seemed to tick every box. They had only met a few times before they married. Then, almost as quickly as his new life had begun, it was over.
"The matchmakers said that girls from Guizhou are frugal," Wang says. "They told me they are good at running a household, able to do housework, and their families are very poor, so after marrying into your family, they would settle down and live a life with you."
So Wang travelled to Guiyang, a city in the southwestern province of Guizhou, in the hope of finding his soulmate. He thought he had, when he was matched with a woman who seemed to tick every box. They had only met a few times before they married. Then, almost as quickly as his new life had begun, it was over.
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