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When he was a boy, his parents considered emigrating from their home in Taiwan to escape the threat of war with China. Three decades later, they still live here. “I don’t think China will attack because our rockets can also reach Beijing and Shanghai,” Rui said. “There will be mutual destruction. We’re just a small island, but they are the ones who have much more to lose.” Rui, who now has a child of his own, said he rarely discusses the possibility of a Chinese invasion with his friends and family. Chinese officials say it is the United States that is trying to change the status quo by strengthening its unofficial relations with Taiwan, a self-ruling island that Beijing claims as its territory. “Faced with this, China has no choice but to fight back and defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday. But either way this latest crisis has sharpened global concerns about the future of the island, a longtime flashpoint in U.S.-China relations and a flourishing democracy in a region where autocracy has been making steady gains. ‘ We only want to protect our way of life’ Lee Ming-che was among the human rights activists who Lee spent five years in a Chinese prison as a political prisoner. Now, only four months after his release and return to Taiwan, Chinese threats to the freedoms he can again enjoy at home are escalating. From left, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Lee Ming-che and Lee’s wife, Lee C...

The Chinese military action, which lasted from 6 a.m. Sunday (5 p.m. Saturday ET) until 6 a.m. Monday, included J-10, J-11 and J-16 fighter jets, as well as drones, according to a map released by Taiwan’s defense ministry. The ministry said 47 of the planes crossed the median line, an unofficial boundary in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan said its military was monitoring the situation using planes, ships and land-based missile systems, adding that the Chinese drills were an effort to intimidate the people of Taiwan, who strongly reject Beijing’s claims of sovereignty. China, which has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, said Sunday that it had held joint exercises in the sea and airspace around the island. “This is a firm response to the current U.S.-Taiwan escalation and provocation,” Shi Yi, the spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese military, said in a statement Sunday night. “We will continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability in line with our long-standing commitments and consistent with our one China policy,” the spokesman added. The $858 billion U.S. defense bill authorizes up to $10 billion in military grant assistance to Taiwan over five years and accelerates the weapons procurement process for the island, with which China has

TAIPEI, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Taiwan is determined to defend itself and invaders will incur a "heavy price", President Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday on the anniversary of a confrontation six decade ago in which Taiwanese forces beat back Chinese attackers. Tensions between Taiwan and China have spiked over the past month following the visit to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. China staged war games near Taiwan to express its anger at what it saw as stepped up U.S. support for the island Beijing views as sovereign Chinese territory. Meeting military officers, Tsai extolled the "spirit" of defending against China's more than a month of bombardment of the Taiwan-controlled islands of Kinmen and Matsu, just off the Chinese coast, which started in late August 1958. "This battle defended Taiwan for us, and it also declared to the world that no threat can shake the determination of the Taiwanese people to defend their country," Tsai said, in comments released by her office. "What we have to do is to let the enemy understand that Taiwan has the determination and preparation to defend the country, as well as the ability to defend itself," she added. "A heavy price will be paid for invading Taiwan or attempting to invade Taiwan, and it will be strongly condemned by the international community." Meeting earlier in the day with a delegation of former U.S. officials now at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, including Matt Pottinger, former U.S. President Donald Trump's dep...

There's a long history of tension between China and Taiwan and the global ramifications of this are complicated — even for experts keeping up with every development. China has never recognised Taiwan's government, viewing it as a breakaway province. It had set a deadline to unite the mainland with the island by 2049, but things appear to be heating up now. This week China put out a document detailing plans for "reunification" after a week of conducting military drills near the island Here's a quick guide to get you up to speed on the situation. Why does China want Taiwan? There's a few reasons here. The key ones are that China wants to reinforce its dominance as a global superpower and consolidate its power. Read more China published a white paper (a term used for a government report or authoritative guide) called In it, China said reunifying with Taiwan was the only way to: "...foil the attempts of external forces to contain China, and to safeguard the sovereignty, security, and development interests of our country." This would fuel the Chinese government's push for rising nationalism. There's also the matter of Taiwan's geography — being able to set up bases further into the Pacific Ocean would extend China's military reach and intimidate nations in the region. Controlling Taiwan would disrupt the US geographical security concept known as the "island chain strategy", which is essentially a barrier of islands between the Chinese mainland and the Western Pacific ocean. If ...

There's a long history of tension between China and Taiwan and the global ramifications of this are complicated — even for experts keeping up with every development. China has never recognised Taiwan's government, viewing it as a breakaway province. It had set a deadline to unite the mainland with the island by 2049, but things appear to be heating up now. This week China put out a document detailing plans for "reunification" after a week of conducting military drills near the island Here's a quick guide to get you up to speed on the situation. Why does China want Taiwan? There's a few reasons here. The key ones are that China wants to reinforce its dominance as a global superpower and consolidate its power. Read more China published a white paper (a term used for a government report or authoritative guide) called In it, China said reunifying with Taiwan was the only way to: "...foil the attempts of external forces to contain China, and to safeguard the sovereignty, security, and development interests of our country." This would fuel the Chinese government's push for rising nationalism. There's also the matter of Taiwan's geography — being able to set up bases further into the Pacific Ocean would extend China's military reach and intimidate nations in the region. Controlling Taiwan would disrupt the US geographical security concept known as the "island chain strategy", which is essentially a barrier of islands between the Chinese mainland and the Western Pacific ocean. If ...

When he was a boy, his parents considered emigrating from their home in Taiwan to escape the threat of war with China. Three decades later, they still live here. “I don’t think China will attack because our rockets can also reach Beijing and Shanghai,” Rui said. “There will be mutual destruction. We’re just a small island, but they are the ones who have much more to lose.” Rui, who now has a child of his own, said he rarely discusses the possibility of a Chinese invasion with his friends and family. Chinese officials say it is the United States that is trying to change the status quo by strengthening its unofficial relations with Taiwan, a self-ruling island that Beijing claims as its territory. “Faced with this, China has no choice but to fight back and defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday. But either way this latest crisis has sharpened global concerns about the future of the island, a longtime flashpoint in U.S.-China relations and a flourishing democracy in a region where autocracy has been making steady gains. ‘ We only want to protect our way of life’ Lee Ming-che was among the human rights activists who Lee spent five years in a Chinese prison as a political prisoner. Now, only four months after his release and return to Taiwan, Chinese threats to the freedoms he can again enjoy at home are escalating. From left, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Lee Ming-che and Lee’s wife, Lee C...

The Chinese military action, which lasted from 6 a.m. Sunday (5 p.m. Saturday ET) until 6 a.m. Monday, included J-10, J-11 and J-16 fighter jets, as well as drones, according to a map released by Taiwan’s defense ministry. The ministry said 47 of the planes crossed the median line, an unofficial boundary in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan said its military was monitoring the situation using planes, ships and land-based missile systems, adding that the Chinese drills were an effort to intimidate the people of Taiwan, who strongly reject Beijing’s claims of sovereignty. China, which has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, said Sunday that it had held joint exercises in the sea and airspace around the island. “This is a firm response to the current U.S.-Taiwan escalation and provocation,” Shi Yi, the spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese military, said in a statement Sunday night. “We will continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability in line with our long-standing commitments and consistent with our one China policy,” the spokesman added. The $858 billion U.S. defense bill authorizes up to $10 billion in military grant assistance to Taiwan over five years and accelerates the weapons procurement process for the island, with which China has

TAIPEI, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Taiwan is determined to defend itself and invaders will incur a "heavy price", President Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday on the anniversary of a confrontation six decade ago in which Taiwanese forces beat back Chinese attackers. Tensions between Taiwan and China have spiked over the past month following the visit to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. China staged war games near Taiwan to express its anger at what it saw as stepped up U.S. support for the island Beijing views as sovereign Chinese territory. Meeting military officers, Tsai extolled the "spirit" of defending against China's more than a month of bombardment of the Taiwan-controlled islands of Kinmen and Matsu, just off the Chinese coast, which started in late August 1958. "This battle defended Taiwan for us, and it also declared to the world that no threat can shake the determination of the Taiwanese people to defend their country," Tsai said, in comments released by her office. "What we have to do is to let the enemy understand that Taiwan has the determination and preparation to defend the country, as well as the ability to defend itself," she added. "A heavy price will be paid for invading Taiwan or attempting to invade Taiwan, and it will be strongly condemned by the international community." Meeting earlier in the day with a delegation of former U.S. officials now at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, including Matt Pottinger, former U.S. President Donald Trump's dep...