Iwasaki Shigeru, former chief of staff of the joint staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF), has been appointed as a political consultant for a one-year renewable term by the Executive Yuan. For the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led administration, he might serve as an additional informal
Deflation in China is persisting, raising growing concerns domestically and internationally. Beijing’s stimulus policies introduced in September last year have largely been short-lived in financial markets and negligible in the real economy.Recent data showing disproportionately low bank loan growth
After the real-estate bubble burst, China’s purchasing power disappeared with it, and all its industries fell into a vicious cycle of price competition. Due to insufficient domestic demand, China has had to rely on exports to boost its GDP. As a result, its exports have grown rapidly in the past few
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New marriages in China reportedly plummeted by one-fifth last year, implying that the official number of births will likely fall from 9.54 million last year to 7.3 million to 7.8 million this year.Thus, while China represents 17.2 percent of the global population, it will account for less than 6 per
There is desperation and brilliance to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s proposal to provide Ukraine with post-war security by offering to cover it with the umbrella of NATO’s Article 5 Security guarantee, but not membership itself. It is loopy, because it would commit the US and Europe to pre
Tomorrow is the US’ big tariff day, when US President Donald Trump is set to announce reciprocal levies to address rising US trade deficits. Trump said he aims to increase tariffs on imports from all countries to match the rates they charge on US goods. The calculation for the tariffs includes not o
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) recently announced it would propose two referendums — one opposing the “abolishment of the death penalty” and another opposing “martial law and war.” The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) also supports the proposals. Ironically, the more the blue and white camps push fo
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi German
A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Myanmar on Friday, causing widespread devastation. Roads and bridges were destroyed, buildings collapsed, and the tremor resulted in significant loss of life and injuries.In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, Taiwan swiftly mobilized a rescue team. Th
I expected my article (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) published in the Taipei Times, to create a stir and wrote it to spark a debate over how Taiwan should respond to the affront on its sovereignty. Marcel Oppliger’s well-crafted riposte (“Yeoh is welcome back any tim
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US President Donald Trump has raised the specter of economic and geopolitical turmoil in Asia. While individual countries have few options for pushing back against Trump’s transactional diplomacy, protectionist trade policies and erratic decisionmaking, a unified region has a fighting chance.The cha
If you log onto Chinese social media these days, you might encounter many young people expressing the “involution” or neijuan (內卷) mentality. It has become a buzzword for a generation of college students and recent graduates beaten down by society’s relentless competition, and roughly translates to
After 22 years of power grabs, the seizure of all state institutions and severe oppression aimed at reshaping Turkish citizens into Islamofascist minions, Turkey is striking back against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authoritarianism. In cities across the country, including the regime’s s
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Tuesday said that 186,708 hospital visits for diarrhea were reported the week before, and that although weekly visits have fallen for five consecutive weeks, they remained the highest in five years.Since the start of this year, weekly hospital visits for diar
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offer
Taipei First Girls’ High School Chinese literature teacher Alice Ou (區桂芝) has been put under the spotlight again for an interview with China Central Television (CCTV).In her interview with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-run station, Ou reportedly said that President William Lai (賴清德) should not c
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