Thompson Chau

@TaiwanFCC Chair | @NikkeiAsia Correspondent | Formerly Myanmar, Thailand

[Thompson Chau @tchau01]

🇲🇲✈️🇹🇼 Belated personal news: I left Yangon at the end of 2021 after calling Myanmar home for more than half a decade, moving to Taipei to cover news in Taiwan and Burma. Here’s my goodbye essay. 1/3
https://t.co/a90hos1DWN

[Philip Shetler-Jones @shetlerjones]

Has 🇯🇵 had enough of being a spy paradise because of its constrained counter-espionage capabilities? What are the wider implications of current intelligence reforms? Find out at this @RUSI_org Briefing: Japan’s Intelligence Reforms – Paradise Lost?
https://t.co/Oex8frweNX

[Suvam Pal শুভম পাল शुभम पाल 蘇旺 @suvvz]

A must read explainer.

[michaelturton @michaelturton]

TFCC booktalk on Okinawa/Taiwan comparison, an interesting topic

https://t.co/9Z5m0b6Pne

[Thompson Chau @tchau01]

But some observers such as KMT President Ma Ying-jeou’s former adviser Rex How warn that the KMT may be confusing the growing sense of national identity in Taiwan with a push to declare de jure independence.

4 things to know - @NikkeiAsia 4/4
https://t.co/27JAVqEVTL

[Thompson Chau @tchau01]

What, exactly, does “Taiwan independence” mean? Trump’s comments about independence threw a rhetorical grenade onto Taiwan’s political battlefield.

@NikkeiAsia’s explainer about what this term means (hint: many things), w/ input from @poscwty & others 1/4
https://t.co/27JAVqEVTL

[Thompson Chau @tchau01]

KMT leader Cheng Li-wun has publicly egged Trump on to oppose Taiwan independence.

KMT politicians “could frame Trump’s comments as referring to de jure independence and then associate that position with the DPP,” commented Wei-ting Yen @poscwty. 3/4
https://t.co/27JAVqEVTL

[Philip Shetler-Jones @shetlerjones]

"Taiwan has always been a staunch maintainer of the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, not a party seeking to change it," Lai said, adding that there "is no 'Taiwan independence' issue." https://t.co/jFwhHau9WY via @NikkeiAsia

[Thompson Chau @tchau01]

@ssimon_chelsea @NikkeiAsia Thanks Scott! 🙏

[Scott Simon 史國良 @ssimon_chelsea]

This is a good primer. "Taiwan Independence" is a floating signifier because it means different things to different people & in different contexts.
Trump roils waters on 'Taiwan independence': 4 things to know https://t.co/VdyJrDsGbX via @NikkeiAsia

[Gary Sands @ForeignDevil666]

"U.S. officials are looking for Taiwan to invest more in its defense, but the KMT often appears to be obstructing and offering excuses rather than trying to play a positive role: either supporting increased defense spending or offering an alternative positive vision for how to defend Taiwan," Mattis told Nikkei Asia.
https://t.co/A9jzPO3jFn.

[Jojje Olsson @jojjeols]

"Anyone who opposes Beijing's claim to sovereignty over Taiwan, or simply supports the current equilibrium, is branded an advocate of 'Taiwan independence' or a dangerous 'separatist.'" https://t.co/S914jHvxLr

[Jojje Olsson @jojjeols]

Taiwan's government wants to preserve the status quo, whereas China wants to change it:

"China, for its part, wants to change the status quo and force Taiwan to give in to its territorial claim -- an ambition backed by a massive military buildup in recent years."

[Chris Horton 何貴森 @heguisen]

More here:
https://t.co/tL5fJk9e17

[Thompson Chau @tchau01]

The senior diplomat added: “In Lu’s case, we may see this a confirmation of her presidential candidacy ambition, and for Cheng, as part of her power-centralising efforts and, potentially, the temptation to run for the presidency herself.” 4/4
https://t.co/fzQemxaq2R

[Thompson Chau @tchau01]

Fresh from the KMT HQ presser via @NikkeiAsia:

Cheng Li-wun, who’s due to embark on a US tour, said she wants the US to understand that “the Chinese Kuomintang is the most loyal & responsible.”

She talked about defence, cross strait & DPP’s problems. 1/4
https://t.co/fzQemxaq2R

[Thompson Chau @tchau01]

Feisty and media-savvy, Cheng faces rivalries such as Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen.

“It’s hard not to see it as a tug-of-war over who is the face and the voice of the KMT. Of course, egos and interests play a role,” a senior diplomat told @NikkeiAsia. 3/4
https://t.co/fzQemxaq2R

[Andy Sharp @sharp_writing2]

Chengapoolza Part 2

Taiwan's KMT leader set for US trip amid scrutiny of party's defense cuts https://t.co/JvNLN8yEkF via @NikkeiAsia

[Thompson Chau @tchau01]

“It is the Chinese threat to Taiwan, which sits between the three countries, that is the primary accelerator of the rapidly warming ties between the Philippines and Japan.”

How China’s threat to Taiwan is redefining East Asian geopolitics @heguisen
https://t.co/OlEN4XR7u3