Significant from @TheEconomist
There is serious concern about the impact the KMT’s domestic strategy is having upon international appetite for cross-strait escalation deterrence.
Casting doubt on Taiwan’s willingness to defend itself is an extraordinary act of self-harm.
Taiwan began the 10-day Han Kuang military drills, simulating counter-offensive operations with assault boats and drones to test defense capabilities https://t.co/Dpp7yup2i1
Today is the 47th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act. It has for almost five decades ensured Taiwan’s security and bolstered U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific. The TRA still stands today as a bulwark against Chinese Communist Party aggression.
Hello to our new Taiwanese fans! 👋🏻🇹🇼 We’ve heard this video from the 2024 Formosa Series has become pretty popular lately. 🤭 Hope to see you soon, Team Taiwan!
#baseballczech#formosaseries
President Trump has now secured trade agreements with major U.S. trading partners covering more than half of global GDP:
🇦🇷 Argentina
🇧🇩 Bangladesh
🇰🇭 Cambodia
🇨🇳 China
🇪🇨 Ecuador
🇸🇻 El Salvador
🇪🇺 European Union
🇬🇹 Guatemala
🇮🇳 India
🇮🇩 Indonesia
🇮🇱 Israel
🇯🇵 Japan
🇱🇮 Liechtenstein
🇲🇾 Malaysia
🇲🇰 North Macedonia
🇵🇭 Philippines
🇰🇷 Republic of Korea
🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇹🇼 Taiwan
🇹🇭 Thailand
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇻🇳 Vietnam
Our security, our democracy—our responsibility. Today I announced major initiatives to safeguard peace in the Taiwan Strait, including a landmark special defense budget of US$40 billion. This multi-year package will vastly enhance #Taiwan's asymmetric capabilities.
Taiwan’s President @ChingteLai : I Will Boost Defense Spending to Protect Democracy
🔺 40 Billion USD supplementary spending to fund acquisitions from the US
🔺 3.3% of GDP in 2026
🔺 5% of GDP by 2030
https://t.co/i25DDTYXLK
It's sickening that a member of Taiwan's opposition KMT appeared in front of prosecutors in a Nazi badge while performing Nazi salutes - during fraud investigations. Both Nazism & communism have no place in Taiwan. Such behavior contradicts the core values of our free society.
@IsraelTaipei Taiwan embodies freedom, democracy, and human rights. The pro-China political party KMT and its recall leaders stand against these values and cannot speak for our nation.
“This guy and KMT cannot represent Taiwan!
This guy is the leader of the KMT recall campaign. KMT is a pro-China political party in Taiwan.
Taiwan stands for freedom, human rights, and democracy.”
Statement by Legislator Huang Jie https://t.co/Yj9sH0TAld
Taiwan’s Constitutional Court is under attack.
In May, it struck down a KMT-led legislature’s unconstitutional power grab. In retaliation, the legislature is dismantling the Court—refusing to approve new justices and rewriting the rules to block its operation.
Here’s how: The Court needs 15 justices, but with 7 vacancies this year, only 8 remain. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem. But the legislature passed a new law requiring a 10-member quorum for the Court to convene—a rule that didn’t exist before.
By refusing to confirm new justices and imposing an impossible quorum, the KMT-led legislature is silencing the Court entirely. The motive? To pass unconstitutional laws unchecked, like easing Chinese influence in Taiwan or stripping citizens of their recall rights.
Public understanding of this crisis is low, and conspiracy theories about judicial bias have further muddied the waters.
Tomorrow, the legislature votes again. If this law passes, Taiwan’s Constitutional Court may lose its ability to safeguard democracy.