On the Chinese Internet, the country’s current predicament — slowing economic growth, a falling birthrate, a meager social safety net, increasing isolation on the world stage — is often expressed through buzzwords. There is tangping, or “lying flat,” a term used to describe the young generation of C
Some people will never forget their first meeting with Hans Breuer, because it occurred late at night on a remote mountain road, when they noticed — to quote one of them — a large German man, “down in a concrete ditch, kicking up leaves and glancing around with a curious intensity.”This writer’s fir
Tensions are rising all across Northeast Asia, not just in the Taiwan Strait. Beijing has been escalating claims over the Senkaku Islands (which Taiwan calls Diaoyutai, 釣魚台), Okinawa and the Russian Far East. North and South Korean relations have been deteriorating rapidly, and they may have just ba
Several recent articles have explored historical invasions of Taiwan, both real and planned, in order to examine what problems the People’s Republic of China (PRC) would encounter if it invaded. The military and geographic obstacles remain formidable.Taiwan, though, is part of a larger package of is
With raging waters moving as fast as 3 meters per second, it’s said that the Roaring Gate Channel (吼門水道) evokes the sound of a thousand troop-bound horses galloping.Situated between Penghu’s Xiyu (西嶼) and Baisha (白沙) islands, early inhabitants ranked the channel as the second most perilous waterway
From an anonymous office in a New Delhi mall, matrimonial detective Bhavna Paliwal runs the rule over prospective husbands and wives — a booming industry in India, where younger generations are increasingly choosing love matches over arranged marriage.The tradition of partners being carefully select
When Portugal returned its colony Macao to China in 1999, coffee shop owner Daniel Chao was a first grader living in a different world.Since then his sleepy hometown has transformed into a bustling gaming hub lined with glittering casinos. Its once quiet streets are now jammed with tourist buses. Bu
For the authorities that brought the Mountains to Sea National Greenway (山海圳國家綠道) into existence, the route is as much about culture as it is about hiking.Han culture dominates the coastal and agricultural flatlands of Tainan and Chiayi counties, but as the Greenway climbs along its Tribal Trail (原鄉
Mufasa: The Lion King has one very important thing going for it: an original story.That may seem like faint praise or at least a very, very low bar in the grand scheme of things. But in a landscape where Disney continues to remake its animated catalog in slightly different, and usually less interest
To build his giant Lego structures which usually take hundreds of thousands of bricks, Hungarian artist Balazs Doczy first must solve major “engineering challenges.”“Every structure has an Achilles’ heel. Once it is solved, the rest of the work is easy,” the 48-year-old said.He needed 90 helpers for
Saturday night lights beckon us to the Instagram-lovers paradise that’s been blowing up our for-you pages recently with its neon signs, mahjong tiled walls and red-hot spicy hot pots. Spicy Lucky Spot (辣吉點正宗成都串串香) in Songshan District (松山) is arguably the most Instagrammed hot pot experience in Taip
In northeast Asia the Cold War in many ways never ended and a series of interconnected stalled conflicts might be heating up. If any line could be said to divide northeast from southeast Asia, it would be the Tropic of Cancer. Fittingly, it runs right through Taiwan. For most of Taiwan’s history it
Just as the outline of an iron-age hut or remains of a Roman sword cause excitement today, archaeologists of the future could be brushing Martian dust off metal and marveling at one of Nasa’s rovers.Researchers have said that such instruments, as well as other forms of human activity on Mars, includ
In 1994 the writer Julian Evans went on a 10-day cruise down the Dnipro River. Ukraine had won its independence three years before. The journey took Evans along an ancient route used by the “restless Vikings” who established Kyiv. His ship — the Viktor Glushkov — stopped off at Crimea and Yalta. Its
Popeye can punch without permission and Tintin can roam freely starting next year. The two classic comic characters who first appeared in 1929 are among the intellectual properties becoming public domain in the US on Jan. 1. That means they can be used and repurposed without permission or payment to
As Britain’s new Labor government bids to reset long-fraught ties with China amid a suspected spy scandal, another issue could mar relations: Beijing’s controversial plans to open the largest embassy in the UK. China has for several years been trying to relocate its embassy, currently in the British
The latest military exercises conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) last week did not follow the standard Chinese Communist Party (CCP) formula. The US and Taiwan also had different explanations for the war games. Previously the CCP would plan out their large-scale military exercises and w
The world has been getting hotter for decades but a sudden and extraordinary surge in heat has sent the climate deeper into uncharted territory — and scientists are still trying to figure out why.Over the past two years, temperature records have been repeatedly shattered by a streak so persistent an
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo, speaking at the Reagan Defense Forum last week, said the US is confident it can defeat the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the Pacific, though its advantage is shrinking. Paparo warned that the PRC might launch a “war of necessity” even if it thin
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