Taijing Wu

Freelance videojournalist in Taipei. Fixer for video coverages. Ha Jin book fan. Grew up in Côte d'Ivoire. Si vis pacem, para bellum.

[Chris Horton 何貴森 @heguisen]

Yes, Xi wants to destroy Taiwan's democracy + would be happy to own TSMC, but the real prize? Direct access to the Pacific.

Chinese submarines dropping off Taiwan's steep eastern coastal shelf would completely change regional security + national security for Japan, Philippines.

[E. Eduardo Castillo @EECastilloAP]

Hong Kong charges 7 people and 2 firms over deadly fire that killed 168. By @kanis_leung https://t.co/fRSW57UZuT

[UnveiledChina @Unveiled_ChinaX]

Speaking Chinese on the streets of Seoul right now can instantly draw a hostile crowd. During recent high-tension election protests, a Taiwanese news crew was surrounded by over twenty furious South Koreans who suspected they were mainland Chinese, exposing the raw street-level friction currently gripping the city.

Taiwan's Mirror News anchor Chang Pei-tzu and cameraman Wang Geng-chen were reporting live outside the Olympic Park arena when speaking Mandarin on camera triggered immediate alarm. In an atmosphere pushed to the brink by protests over local ballot shortages, the emotional crowd trapped the journalists in a tight circle, aggressively demanding to know their nationality and ordering them to stop filming. The standoff only broke when Chang presented her press credentials, clarifying that they were from Taiwan, not China.

The result was a stunning, instantaneous flip in human emotion. The intense suspicion vanished, replaced by deep bows and profuse apologies. One local resident even rushed over to hand-write a protective sign reading "No to China, Taiwan Media" and pinned it directly to the cameraman’s back to shield the crew from further hostility. The very people who had just blocked them suddenly began clapping and chanting "Taiwan! Wan sui!" in a spontaneous display of democratic solidarity.

This dramatic turnaround underscores the incredibly fragile social climate in South Korea right now. The public mood is so raw that anyone speaking Mandarin is heavily scrutinized amid anxieties over regional interference. While Taiwanese identity is embraced with warmth due to shared democratic values, the deep-seated resentment toward Beijing means that navigating these crowds requires extreme caution, where a single spoken word can spark a massive misunderstanding.

#KoreaProtests #Seoul #AntiChinaSentiment #Taiwan #Journalism #Geopolitics #SouthKorea #MediaFreedom

[E. Eduardo Castillo @EECastilloAP]

Taiwan zoo welcomes a pair of red pandas from China, first in over a decade
https://t.co/2aQ0AKbRGD

[E. Eduardo Castillo @EECastilloAP]

China can build humanoids at scale. The hard part is finding enough buyers. By @ThomasHHChan
https://t.co/UmCjizF88w

[E. Eduardo Castillo @EECastilloAP]

In a tourist-friendly move, China's Tencent to allow PayPal payments through its WeChat networks. By @ThomasHHChan
https://t.co/BmoXqkswyX

[Taijing Wu @gerarddelorient]

@christinelu @michaelturton That is what I feel sometimes.

[Brigitte Devésa - Sénatrice des Bouches du Rhône @DEVESA3]

Je soutiens les propos de Taïwan en Provence.
Taïwan mérite d’être entendu et respecté sur la scène internationale. Je soutiens la démocratie, la liberté et la participation de Taïwan aux enjeux mondiaux. #Taiwan #WHA

[E. Eduardo Castillo @EECastilloAP]

Photos of daily life in China ahead of Trump's visit https://t.co/bMIR6z24qQ

[E. Eduardo Castillo @EECastilloAP]

Southern California mayor resigns, will plead guilty to acting as agent for Chinese government https://t.co/vQzsdKYIDu

[🖤 Christine @christinelu]

It’s that time of year again for China to block Taiwan from attending the @UN @WHO World Health Assembly.

So here’s that interview from 2020 where the reporter gets hung up on for asking about it. #WHA

[E. Eduardo Castillo @EECastilloAP]

China’s passenger car exports surge nearly 85% in April as domestic sales slump. By @ThomasHHChan
https://t.co/GRy2MSE21M

[Byron Wan @Byron_Wan]

University of Oxford postgraduate student Catherine Xu, the Oxford Union’s President-Elect for Michaelmas 2026, has been removed from the position and permanently barred from holding office at the Society after an Election Tribunal found that she committed electoral fraud by orchestrating a scheme to impersonate legitimate voters at the Hilary Term 2026 election.

Xu was found to have distributed union membership cards to non-members to vote on polling day.

Tribunal documents state that Xu was found guilty of procuring “the impersonation of members of the society at the poll … by supplying an instrument and/or the Oxford Union membership card … for the purpose of enabling other persons to cast ballots at the poll in the names borne on them”.

During the tribunal, which sat on April 25-26, Xu was found to have handed out a stack of union membership cards on polling day to people not entitled to vote and told them to cast ballots in other members’ names.

A number of students were caught on Mar 6 voting using the identification of other members by Leo Zhou, a candidate for the secretary’s committee, who confronted them.

They were reportedly voting in favor of Xu and other candidates of Asian origin, the document stated.

Yolanda Liu, a candidate for the secretary’s committee, was found to have received six cards from Xu and handed at least one out on polling day.

The pair discussed the process of “finding people” on 🇨🇳 WeChat, while Xu told Liu to be “especially careful”.

She also sent a voicenote to Liu a few days after the election in which she asked whether she still had “the cards”, which the tribunal found to be “particularly damning”.

Celine Li also wrote a witness statement, in which she claimed she had given a membership card belonging to Lisa Chung and told to vote on her behalf for Ea Ventura Marty and Xu.

A total of seven charges were brought against Xu, including threatening and intimidating another student named Zhou “with the purpose and/or effect of deterring him from reporting electoral malpractice to the returning office”.

Following the outcome of the tribunal, Xu has been disqualified from the Hilary Term 2026 election, and from nominating in any current or future election in the Union. She has further been “permanently barred from holding any Office, Appointed role, or official position in the Society”, “permanently barred from sitting on any Committee of the Society, with the exception of Consultative Committee”, and “suspended as a Member until the end of 9th Week Trinity Term 2026”.

Liu’s membership has likewise been suspended, and she has also been disqualified from the Hilary Term 2026 election.

Xu denied the allegations levelled against her and dismissed them as “political drama”.

She said: “I strongly reject the findings against myself and deny that any conspiracy existed. I am deeply concerned that the decision appears to rely on evidence I believe to be fabricated or materially unreliable, yet imposes an extraordinarily severe and disproportionate penalty.

“The union has seen increasing political drama and decisions based on contested evidence in recent years, and such a verdict risks encouraging more anonymous and fabricated allegations. This case must receive strict appeal review, with full procedural fairness and transparency.”

A re-poll to choose the president is to take place on Monday May 11. 

Xu was elected to the role in March, winning ahead of Liza Barkova, Gareth Lim and Hamza Hussain. In her manifesto, she had proposed a new access membership fund, moving procedural motions away from Thursday debates and inviting more female speakers.

Before the election, Xu had said: “The union is way bigger than its scandals, but the perceived dysfunction keeps drowning out the good. I want to help fix that.”

https://t.co/KvEU89NYWt

https://t.co/QLfN70oqTK

[E. Eduardo Castillo @EECastilloAP]

Trump's deal making with Xi next week may determine Hong Kong jailed activist Jimmy Lai's fate. By @kanis_leung
https://t.co/w3WEcoWkcN

[E. Eduardo Castillo @EECastilloAP]

A Taiwanese town embraces a slow pace of life through a snail race. By @SiminaMistreanu & @gerarddelorient https://t.co/m974p2QmzG

[Louis Duclos @ObsDelphi]

🇹🇼🇸🇿Retournement de situation incroyable du président taïwanais !

Il a réussi à rejoindre l'Eswatini malgré les menaces énormes de la Chine qui pensait avoir réussi à annuler sa visite d'État.

C'est une humiliation pour Pékin qui se félicitait d'avoir utilisé sa superpuissance économique contre les petits pays de l'Océan Indien pour les forcer à interdire le passage à l'avion du président taïwanais Lai Ching-Te.

C'est aussi et surtout un symbole énorme : quand la Chine adopte un comportement extrêmement agressif et menaçant, Taïwan parvient malgré tout à mener sa visite diplomatique et le tout en faisant preuve de respect et d'humilité, tout le contraire de Pékin.

Dans ce contexte, Taïwan apparaît plus que jamais comme un partenaire fiable et respectueux du droit international. Pendant que la Chine continue de s'imposer comme une dictature hégémonique qui veut à tout prix écraser la petite démocratie taïwanaise, sans jamais y parvenir.

J'espère qu'un jour l'Europe privilégiera sa relation avec la démocratie exemplaire qu'est Taïwan plutôt qu'avec la dictature communiste néo-totalitaire qu'est la Chine aujourd'hui. Taipei nous livre une nouvelle leçon de résilience dont nous pourrions tous nous inspirer.

Cet épisode de la visite du président Lai, c'est David contre Goliath, et David a gagné. Bravo Taïwan 👏🇹🇼

#Partenariat

[Taijing Wu @gerarddelorient]

@rationalposts @AP She was lifting 30kg when she was filmed. Her coach said she is capable of lifting more. Gym is good!

[Taijing Wu @gerarddelorient]

@christinelu The the videographer who made this video would have found a purpose! Gym is good to people of all ages!

[The Associated Press @AP]

WATCH: Taiwanese grandmothers aged 89 and 91 train at the gym. An increasing number of elderly people in Taiwan’s super-aged society are hitting the gym to stay healthy, both physically and mentally.

[Brigitte Devésa - Sénatrice des Bouches du Rhône @DEVESA3]

L'intimidation de la #Chine bloquant le voyage du président taïwanais @ChingteLai en #Eswatini est inadmissible
Je soutiens #Taïwan 🇹🇼
@MOFA_Taiwan @ProvenceTaiwan @protect_taiwan @chia_lung @DidierMandelli @Senat @MoNDefense @TaiwanEnFrance @francediplo @ElseJOSEPH @afpfr