De Chinese Wouden, vrijdag 21 juni: conflict in Azië en Europa
Het thema vandaag is geopolitieke escalatie. Op twee plekken in Azië loopt de spanning op. In Zuidoost-Azië was er de bloedige aanval van de Chinese kustwacht op Filipijnse bevoorraders. Daar hebben we nu beelden van. In Noordoost-Azië bezocht Ruslands president Poetin het Noord-Korea van Kim Jong-un. Ook daar hebben we beelden van.
De Filipijnse strijdkrachten hebben opnames op Twitter geplaatst van het incident. Daarop is te zien hoe Chinese boten agressief Filipijnse bootjes vastzetten en aanvallen. Hierbij gebruiken ze handwapens als speren en zwaarden. Het doet denken aan de gevechten tussen Chinese en Indiase troepen in de Himalayas. Het achterwege laten van vuurwapens moet escalatie voorkomen.
Maar wat we zien, maakt mij wel bang. China escaleert. We zien nu voor het eerst duidelijk Chinezen met wapens Filipijnse marinebootjes enteren en daar mensen vasthouden. Hierbij vielen gewonden aan de Filipijnse kant en stal China wapens en vernielde bootjes. Deels vond dit plaats naast het gestrande Filipijnse schip dat als basis voor mariniers op Second Thomas Shoal dient.
De Filipijnse kant laat grote beheersing zien. Ze dragen zelf geen middeleeuwse wapens. De mariniers op de Sierra Madre lossen geen waarschuwingsschoten. Maar waar stopt dit? In handgemeen op land tussen India en China zijn tientallen soldaten omgekomen. Maar als we op het water ook doden gaan krijgen, dan speelt de vraag of het Filipijnse defensiebondgenootschap met de Verenigde Staten getriggerd wordt. Peking is een levensgevaarlijk spelletje aan het spelen door dit te testen.
Ondertussen heeft de sectie Kantelpunt hieronder een aantal nieuwsberichten over door Peking zo gehate blokvorming in de regio. Poetin en Kim hadden een leuke tijd met elkaar, zo laten de foto’s zien. Tussen de woest met vlaggen zwaaiende mensenmassa’s door hebben ze tijd gevonden om een wederzijds bijstandsverdrag te tekenen.
De reden dat Peking een beetje nerveus wordt van deze dingen, gaat verder dan het feit dat men daar Noord-Korea liever niet een Russisch alternatief ziet hebben voor China. De reacties van Zuid-Korea, Japan en de Verenigde Staten maken duidelijk dat Rusland de geopolitieke spanningen in de wereld met elkaar aan het verbinden is. Seoel kondigde gelijk al aan dat het nu overweegt om wapens te leveren aan Oekraïne.
In het subsectietje Rusland hieronder zie je een beetje bewijs van de steeds verder voortschrijdende samenwerking tussen Moskou en Peking. Maar dat is niet alles. Het is nu al duidelijk: ook zonder grotere Chinese deelname aan Russische kant raakt het conflict in Europa steeds verder verstrengeld met de conflicten in Oost-Azië.
(Voor de mensen die vinden dat ik nu wel erg lang niet de hele nieuwsbrief over Taiwan heb gemaakt, scroll omlaag voor een goed achtergrondstuk in NRC over de omstreden KMT-wetten die nu weer in behandeling zijn.)
Nederland en Europa 🇳🇱🇪🇺
China-EU think tank forum highlights new quality productive forces – Xinhua: ‘The Xinhua Institute released a report on new quality productive forces and hosted the China-Europe Think Tank Forum [with the Europe-Asia Center] here on Wednesday.’ 🇪🇺
EU climate dialogue with China affirms focus on climate finance goal past 2025 – Euractiv: ‘Both sides agreed on support for the Azerbaijani COP presidency’s focus on a new climate finance goal from 2025, the EU stated.’ 🇪🇺
Press readout on the Fifth EU-China High Level Environment and Climate Dialogue – European Commission 🇪🇺
Habeck goes to China: how Germany hopes to smooth relations with Beijing – Euractiv 🇩🇪
South Korea and Germany share aim of diversifying from China, German minister says – Reuters 🇩🇪🇰🇷
Polish president to pay state visit to China – Xinhua 🇵🇱
Pope offers prayers for ‘noble, courageous’ Chinese people – Reuters 🇻🇦
Ruslands invasie 🇷🇺
Russia and China find payments workaround as US sanctions net widens, sources say – Reuters: ‘Since Putin’s visit, specially authorised banks have been set up in border regions which allow Russian firms to open non-resident accounts (NRA) with Chinese banks’ 🇷🇺
Russia scours China for second-hand machine tools – FT: ‘The operations, run through networks of opaque companies, tap a stock of older high-end machine tools made by western companies that remain in China after decades of sales to local factories.’ 🇷🇺
The EU approves a new package of sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, seeking to tighten the enforcement of restrictions – Bloomberg: ‘Restricting trade with dozens of new listings, including companies in China, Turkey and India’ 🇷🇺
Taiwan donating US$1.2m to Kyiv through Estonia – Taipei Times: ‘to aid Estonia’s efforts to build a shelter for Ukrainian refugees.’ ‘The signing ceremony took place at the Estonian parliament’ 🇺🇦🇪🇪
Elektrische auto’s 🚗⚡️
Europe gives China a taste of its own trade medicine – POLITICO Europe: ‘The big idea is to use the tariff threat to force Chinese carmakers to come to Europe to form joint ventures and share technology with their EU counterparts, according to conversations with four diplomats and two senior officials.’ 🇪🇺
As in past disputes, China looks to be readying a series of actions to punish the European Union for its proposed tariffs on electric cars – Bloomberg: French brandy, Spanish pork, Mediterranean wine, German and Slovakian cars, and Danish diary 🇪🇺
China may take anti-dumping measures against EU pork imports, official says – Reuters: ‘The probe is expected to be completed by June 17, 2025, but could be extended by another six months if required.’ 🇪🇺
China’s dumping probe to test resilience of Spain's pig farmers – Reuters 🇪🇸
China complies with WTO rules in anti-dumping probe into EU brandy – Xinhua: ‘said on Thursday that it has completed response submissions, sampling and surveys for its anti-dumping investigation’ 🇫🇷
China and Europe in EV tariff stare-down as Beijing drops retaliation hints – Nikkei Asia: ‘A closed-door meeting attended by Chinese and European carmakers was held on Tuesday, with the former calling for “firm countermeasures,” state media said.’
‘Media reports have said that Germany is actively working to prevent the tariffs from coming into force, or at least to soften them.’ 🇪🇺
EU-China relations could still degenerate into full-blown trade war, analysts say at European Policy Centre (EPC) forum – Euractiv 🇪🇺
NB: EPC heeft recent een belangrijk aantal uitwisselingen gehad met het Center for China and Globalization (CCG), een Chinese denktank die een belangrijke rol speelt in Pekings recente verenigd front-werk gericht op Europese denktankers en functionarissen.
EU subsidy probe cools China EV sector’s will to invest in Europe, China Chamber of Commerce survey finds – Reuters 🇪🇺
Chinese EV firms urge Beijing take ‘most stringent’ measures against EU, allege ‘snooping’ – SCMP 🇪🇺
China’s commerce ministry says EU mandated its EV firms turn over 'unprecedented' amounts of data – Reuters 🇪🇺
Op deze manier kaatst Peking de beschuldiging van technologie- en datadiefstal weer terug naar Europa.
Italy fines a local automobile company €6 million after determining that vehicles originating from Chinese manufacturers were illegally mislabeled as Italian-made – Bloomberg: ‘The move extends a crackdown in recent months by the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over foreign-built vehicles that give the impression of being made in Italy.’ 🇮🇹
Efforts to boost Europe’s battery industry appear to be running out of steam amid a price war with China – Bloomberg: ‘Disappointing EV demand is raising the bar for new entrants, who also face competition from leading Asian suppliers.’ 🇪🇺
China’s Gotion 国轩 and local partner InoBat to build Slovakia EV battery plant – Reuters 🇸🇰
The Chinese EV Dilemma: Subsidised yet striking – Scott Kennedy for CSIS: ‘despite the extensive government support and expansion of sales, very few Chinese EV producers and battery makers are profitable.’
Veel cijfers in dit interessante achtergrondstuk.
Filipijnen 🇨🇳🇵🇭
‘Barbaarse piraterij’ door China zet conflict in Zuid-Chinese Zee op scherp – de Volkskrant: „Dat de Chinese kustwacht bewapend aan boord gaat bij andermans marineschepen is ook omstreden omdat marineschepen volgens internationaal recht immuniteit hebben” 🇵🇭
Philippines secretly reinforces ship at centre of South China Sea dispute – FT: ‘In recent months, the Philippine military has conducted missions to reinforce the Sierra Madre, which is lodged on the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, the people said.’
‘“Beijing is probably aware and infuriated that the Philippines has successfully delivered construction materials . . . China has waited 25 years for the ship to disintegrate and slide off the reef and continued escalation against the Philippines suggests that they will not back down and admit defeat,” said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the German Marshall Fund.’ 🇵🇭
‘Only pirates do this’: Philippines accuses China of using bladed weapons in major South China Sea escalation – CNN: ‘Collin Koh, research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said it was unprecedented for China’s maritime law enforcement to board a Philippine naval vessel.’
‘The decision by China’s Coast Guard to use bladed weapons in the latest South China Sea clash has drawn comparisons with clashes between China and India on their disputed Himalayan border, where soldiers on both sides have fought fiercely with sticks, rocks and their hands.’
‘This is the closest China’s Coast Guard has come to the BRP Sierra Madre, Koh noted. “Under normal rules of engagement, the garrison would have fired warning shots,” he said. “The fact that this incident didn’t escalate further is because the Philippines exercised utmost restraint. That’s a simple fact.”’ 🇵🇭
Chinese coast guard boarded Philippine ship, seized rifles, punctured boats off Second Thomas/Ayungin Shoal, says Brawner – Rappler: ‘constitute “piracy” and Beijing should pay for the damage, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief said’ 🇵🇭
China coast guard personnel a ‘band of barbarians’, says Philippine navy spokesperson Roy Trinidad – Reuters 🇵🇭
‘THREAD | In a brazen act of aggression, the CCG obstructed the AFP's critical humanitarian rotation and resupply operations at BRP Sierra Madre (LS57) in Ayungin Shoal on June 17, employing physical attacks, bladed weapons, blaring sirens, and blinding strobe lights.’ – Armed Forces of the Philippines, Twitter 🇵🇭
‘WATCH: The Armed Forces of the Philippines releases to media late June 19 videos from soldiers aboard rigid hull boats, from aboard the BRP Sierra Madre, and drones to show how the China Coast Guard violently disrupted a routine mission to bring supplies for and rotate troops assigned to the BRP Sierra Madre in the West Philippine Sea. The mission happened on June 17, resulting the the destruction of two rigid hull inflatable boats, theft of equipment, and the amputation of one soldier's thumb.’ – Rappler, Twitter 🇵🇭
De videootjes in de twitterdraadjes hierboven laten zien dat wat gebeurt is, echt heel serieus is.
Exclusive: Photos show CCG boarding, inspecting, restricting Philippine vessels intruding into Second Thomas Shoal/Ren'ai Jiao – The Global Times 🇵🇭
South China Sea: Statement by the Spokesperson on recent developments – EU EEAS 🇪🇺
Corruptie PLA 🇨🇳🪖
Chinese leader Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 ordered a redoubled campaign to eradicate graft and enforce loyalty in the military, suggesting no end to a purge in the country’s defence establishment – WSJ: ‘Fravel said Xi might have been motivated by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s lackluster gains in Ukraine, which military experts have blamed in part on widespread corruption.’
‘The conference took place in the northern city of Yan'an, a revolutionary base from the 1930s to 1940s’
Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 tells top PLA leaders they must eliminate ‘conditions that breed corruption’ – SCMP: ‘Xi’s speech, which covered a range of issues from global geopolitical challenges to the PLA’s modernisation, mirrored a similar one he gave a decade ago in Gutian, Fujian province that heralded an overhaul of the PLA and acceleration of its modernisation drive.’
Xi Focus: Xi stresses PLA’s political loyalty at crucial meeting held in old revolutionary base – Xinhua: ‘The Yan'an conference marks a return to the roots of the military, Xi said.’
Tech War 💽💥
Interview Christophe Fouquet: Kan Nederland de forse uitbreiding van ASML nog wel aan? „We willen geen last zijn, maar toch groeien” – de Volkskrant 🇳🇱
Silicon Valley steps up staff screening over Chinese espionage threat – FT 🇺🇸
Tech war: Chinese chip makers ramp up capacity amid fears of more US sanctions – SCMP
Major Chinese semiconductor company goes bankrupt — 23 others recently withdrew IPO applications – Tom’s Hardware
Tech war: Huawei 华为 wields growing influence in China’s server industry with AI chip success – SCMP
China is rolling out the red carpet for venture capital in tech — and foreign funds are welcome – SCMP
China triples storage technology for renewable power as Tesla and CATL jump in – SCMP
TSMC 台積電 explores radical new chip packaging approach to feed AI boom – Nikkei Asia: ‘The idea behind the new approach is to use rectangular panel-like substrates, rather than the conventional round wafers used today’
En toen was Nvidia ineens het waardevolste bedrijf ter wereld. Wat zegt dat? – NRC
Hitachi 日立 eyes Singapore and Malaysia rail markets in race with China – Nikkei Asia: ‘following its acquisition on May 31 of the French aerospace company Thales Group’s rail signal business’ 🇯🇵
Kantelpunt 🌏⏱️
Russia and North Korea’s defence pact is a new headache for China – The New York Times: ‘exactly the kind of bloc-building that China has charged the United States with.’ ‘appearing to deepen the semblance of a trilateral axis between China, Russia and North Korea, which China has sought to avoid.’ 🇷🇺🇰🇵
China keeps its distance as Russia and North Korea deepen ties – Reuters 🇷🇺🇰🇵
Rusland en Noord-Korea beloven elkaar te verdedigen – NRC: „Ook kondigde hij aan dat de twee landen zouden werken aan alternatieve mechanismen voor handel en betalingsverkeer, die zich aan westerse invloed zullen onttrekken.” 🇷🇺🇰🇵
Key points of North Korea, Russia landmark strategic partnership treaty – Reuters: ‘Immediately provide military and other assistance using all available means if either side is in a state of war, in line with Article 51 of the U.N. Charter’ 🇷🇺🇰🇵
Russia’s Putin ‘does not rule out’ sending weapons to North Korea, US ‘incredibly’ concerned – AFP 🇷🇺🇰🇵🇺🇸
South Korea slams North Korea-Russia treaty; hints at potential arms supply to Ukraine – Yonhap News 🇰🇷🇷🇺🇰🇵🇺🇦
China and Russia have chilling plans for the Arctic: The two autocracies dream of creating a ‘polar silk road’ – The Economist 🇷🇺
Low chance of China-Russia military teamwork leading to direct attack on US, Rand report says – SCMP: ‘Given that trying to sabotage Sino-Russia relations might be counterproductive, Washington should pursue “ever greater cooperation among its most important allies and partners”, they said.’ 🇷🇺
Future scenarios for Sino-Russian military cooperation – RAND 🇷🇺
Vietnam wil laten zien dat het niet kiest tussen de grootmachten – NRC 🇻🇳
Vietnam’s ‘bamboo diplomacy’ triumphs with visits from Biden, Xi, and now Putin – FT 🇻🇳
Thailand eyes BRICS membership at October summit, begins OECD application – Reuters 🇹🇭
Malaysia reaffirms One China policy, rejects Taiwan independence – Nikkei Asia: ‘Meanwhile, the two sides will launch a bilateral dialogue in managing maritime issues in the South China Sea, according to the joint statement.’ 🇲🇾
Chinese Premier Li’s Malaysia visit sees nod for fresh durian exports, possible rail link to China – The Straits Times 🇲🇾
China-Malaysia ties set example for region, Chinese premier says – Xinhua 🇲🇾
China probeert al jaren om de twisten in de Zuid-Chinese van het multilaterale naar het bilaterale te halen, omdat het één-op-één makkelijker zijn overwicht kan gebruiken. Dat Maleisië daar nu op toegeeft is onvoorstelbaar.
China’s influence on UN space agency grows as top funder – Nikkei Asia 🇺🇳
IMF unveils plan for China-based regional centre in Shanghai, moving closer to Asia-Pacific – SCMP: ‘will serve as a hub to promote research that can inform policies in areas of interest to emerging market and middle-income countries’
Weekend 🏖️📚
Longreads en achtergrond
Higher wages, fewer jobs: The changing face of China’s manufacturing sector – Caixin Global
How China’s overcapacity holds back emerging economies – Camille Boullenois and Charles Austin Jordan for Rhodium Group: ‘It has long been assumed that China’s rise up the value chain would create a growing market for labor-intensive manufactured goods from other emerging markets. These hopes will be dashed if Beijing cannot restart the engines of its own domestic growth and absorb more of what it currently exports.’
To supplement law enforcement, local governments across China are recruiting citizen ‘vigilantes’ – Jessica Batke for ChinaFile
Vietnam’s quiet in the South China Sea – Zack Cooper and Gregory Poling for War on the Rocks
Tide of Injustice: Exploitation and illegal fishing on Chinese vessels in the Southwest Indian Ocean – Environmental Justice Foundation
The Deadly Mining Complex Powering the EV Revolution: Nickel is pouring into the supply chain from an Indonesian industrial park with a history of fatal accidents – Bloomberg: ‘Controlled by Chinese metals giant Tsingshan Holding Group Co., IMIP is the product of more than $30 billion in investment.’ 🇮🇩
‘Twin track diplomacy’: The Chinese Communist Party’s International Department steps up activities in the Pacific region – Geoff Wade for Parliamentary Library, Parliament of Australia
Opinion: Final blow to Chinese ‘neutrality’ on Ukraine war – Viking Bohman, Patrik Andersson, and Hugo von Essen for POLITICO Europe
Podcasts
Taiwan and cross-Strait relations in a year of elections, with Bonnie Glaser and Abigaël Vasselier – MERICS China Podcast 🍎
Overige
China buitenland en defensie
Australian Federal Police accused of ‘excessive force’ by protester during Chinese premier's visit to parliament – SBS News 🇦🇺
TV journalist Cheng Lei blocked from entering a second major government press event hours after bizarre diplomatic incident – Sky News Australia 🇦🇺
Former New Zealand MP and alleged Chinese spy Yang anointed mentee Lu as successor – Stuff: ‘A new Stuff Circuit documentary The Long Game explored Yang’s influential role within China’s united front operations in New Zealand to promote the Chinese Communist Party’s interests.’ 🇳🇿
Activists urge caution in dealings with two Canadian senators with alleged ties to China – The Globe and Mail: ‘Its spokespeople include Cheuk Kwan, co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, and Victor Ho, a former editor-in-chief of Sing Tao Daily, one of Canada’s largest Chinese-language newspapers.’ 🇨🇦
Chinese Canadian Concern Group links two Senators to actions against Canada’s interests – The Bureau 🇨🇦
China cultivated high-rolling crime families in Myanmar before turning on them – The Washington Post: ‘A Washington Post investigation found that Kokang’s criminal networks — principally led by the Wei, Bai and Liu families, according to U.N. officials, Chinese court records and analysts — had for more than a decade enjoyed close relations with Chinese officials, primarily in neighboring Yunnan province, along with support from Beijing and the military government in Myanmar.’
‘an extension of Beijing’s overall approach in restive borderlands: development as a path to stability.’ 🇲🇲
US and China to hold high-level talks on anti-narcotics cooperation – Reuters 🇺🇸
China says US tip led to money laundering suspect in ‘prime example’ of cooperation amid fentanyl crisis – SCMP 🇺🇸
US spies believe China’s leaders see little or no upside to the looming electoral showdown between Joe Biden and Donald Trump – Bloomberg 🇺🇸
Lawmakers in Philippines push for probe into Pentagon’s anti-vax propaganda operation – Reuters 🇵🇭🇺🇸
In ‘2+2’ talks, China and South Korea agree to push for more ‘political trust’ – SCMP: ‘The 2+2 dialogue was set up in 2002 and has been held five times.’ 🇰🇷
Calibre of China envoy Wu Peng ‘highlights South Africa’s importance to Beijing’ – SCMP 🇿🇦
China economie
China’s key plenum aims to fix decades-old tax revenue imbalance – Reuters: ‘Long-touted changes to China's tax system will focus on allowing local governments to retain more fiscal revenues, say policy advisers’
Erg belangrijk punt.
Plans for potentially the biggest shift in years in how China conducts monetary policy are starting to surface – Bloomberg: ‘looking into trading government bonds in the secondary market as a way to regulate liquidity.’
China’s central bank chief warns of weaker credit growth as property lending declines – FT
A Chinese firm is considering offering a 50-year domestic bond in what would be the nation’s longest-tenor corporate note – Bloomberg
China orders small banks to curtail wealth management business, sources say – Reuters: ‘a 2026 deadline to stop selling wealth management products unless they have a separate wealth subsidiary in a bid to curb financial risks, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.’
China doesn’t want people flaunting their wealth – The Economist
In Depth: Alipay 支付宝 and WeChat Pay 微信支付’s smaller peers struggle amid new crackdown – Caixin Global
Cracks are appearing in the bullish picture for liquefied natural gas demand in China – Bloomberg
Gucci loses shine in China as discounts and outlets erode brand – Nikkei Asia
China binnenland
China wijzigt honderden Oeigoerse plaatsnamen: „Onze geschiedenis wordt uitgewist” – RTL Nieuws
China has renamed hundreds of Uyghur villages and towns, say human rights groups – The Guardian: ‘many replaced by names reflecting Communist party ideology, a report has found.’
Chinese vice premier Liú Guózhōng 刘国中 stresses rural revitalisation – Xinhua
Rains lash southern China as rising rivers threaten more flooding – Reuters
Hong Kong
Newly appointed school heads in Hong Kong attend lecture on national security law – Xinhua
China’s new Shenzhen-Zhongshan mega link carries high hopes for Greater Bay Area economy – SCMP
Singapore loses China’s rich to Hong Kong in family office rush – Nikkei Asia: ‘as their plans to set up shop in Singapore are slowed by intense scrutiny by the city-state following a massive money laundering bust.’ 🇸🇬
Tibet
US lawmakers meet Tibet’s Dalai Lama in India, pressure China on talks – Reuters: ‘said they would not allow China to influence the choice of his successor’ 🇺🇸
The head of Tibet’s government-in-exile encourages countries to join the US in pressuring China to resume direct negotiations with Tibetan officials – Bloomberg
China says Dalai Lama must ‘thoroughly correct’ his political views – Reuters
Chinese President Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 visits Tibetans and temple in western China, calls for ethnic unity – SCMP: ‘Xi’s inspection was reportedly focused on local efforts to deepen education to forge “a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation” and strengthen “love for both the country and the religion” of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as education support from more developed eastern provinces.’
Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 stresses conserving Qinghai-Xizang[/Tibetan] Plateau ecology, high-quality development – Xinhua: ‘On Tuesday afternoon, Xi went to a middle school in the provincial capital Xining. It is a boarding school funded and built with assistance from Shanghai and accommodates ethnic minority students from the pastoral areas in Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.’
Xi underscores ethnic unity – Xinhua
Taiwan buitenland en defensie
US approves sales of two kinds of suicide drones to Taiwan – Focus Taiwan: ‘the latest package includes 720 Switchblade 300 (SB300) loitering munition systems and 101 SB300 fire control systems (FCS).’ 🇺🇸
Eight retired Taiwan military and police officers held in China in past year, MAC says – Focus Taiwan: ‘Chinese authorities wanted to gather information about the individuals, specifically regarding their work, colleagues and networks’ 🇨🇳
Taiwan’s Air Force conducts large-scale joint air defence drills – Focus Taiwan
Editorial: Lai should consider ICC membership – Taipei Times
Dit voorstel komt vaker voorbij de laatste tijd. Ik denk dat eenzijdige erkenning nog mogelijk is, maar het lijkt mij onwaarschijnlijk dat het Internationaal Strafhof de Republiek China/Taiwan zal erkennen gezien haar plaats in het VN-systeem.
Taiwan binnenland en economie
Hsinchu County councillor Chang I-sheng 張益生 (KMT) gets 9 years in prison for corruption – Focus Taiwan
Omstreden wet in Taiwan kan China-vriendelijke oppositie meer invloed geven – NRC
Goed overzicht in de NRC van wat er nu eigenlijk aan de hand is.
Three days of protests begin over controversial reform bills – Taipei Times: ‘Protesters have dubbed the movement the “Bluebird Action”’
Premier Cho says constitutional interpretation on cards – Taipei Times
President Lai outlines plans for new defence, health care, and climate committees – Focus Taiwan
President Lai ambiguous on nuclear power despite premier’s assurances – Focus Taiwan
Ma urges Lai to seriously consider nuclear energy – Taipei Times
Donovan’s Deep Dives: How the new president’s cabinet is shortchanging the future – Courtney Donovan Smith for Taipei Times: ‘The cabinet is not only old, it is also mostly male.’ ‘It is puzzling that William Lai does not appear to have considered any of these issues whereas [KMT chair] Chu has.’