Politics

People dine outdoors at a restaurant during the Dragon Boat Festival, the first public holiday in the city since the lifting of the lockdown for the COVID-19 outbreak, in Shanghai on June 3.
Your Week in Asia

More reopening in Shanghai, Japan opens to tourists, Singapore security summit

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

5 June 2022
U.S. President Joe Biden at a news conference in Tokyo on May 23.
Biden's Asia policy

Biden's Taiwan comments a dual warning for Beijing and Taipei

U.S. seeks to lower cross-strait tensions ahead of delicate political season

3 June 2022
A medical worker rests at a drive-through test site in Taipei during mid-May. Taiwan has reported more than 2 million coronavirus cases to date. 
Coronavirus

Taiwan's COVID success story hits snag with shift to reopening

Taipei committed to easing border controls even as cases reach all-time highs

2 June 2022
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee on defense in Washington on May 3.
Interview

U.S. willing to expand military aid to Taiwan: defense secretary

Austin sees China-Solomons security pact as a 'concerning precedent' for region

1 June 2022
The European Union is set to upgrade economic ties with Taiwan -- home to major semiconductor companies such as TSMC. (Source photos by Shinya Sawai and Reuters) 
International relations

Taiwan, EU to boost economic ties to secure chip availability

Both sides focus on supply chain resilience in light of Ukraine war and COVID

1 June 2022
Outnumbered by Chinese forces in the South China Sea, the U.S. is working on its game plan for a potential invasion of Taiwan by Beijing in the near future. It hopes to call on treaty allies Japan and Australia for support.
The Big Story

All for one: U.S. enlists its Asian allies in defense of Taiwan

Washington fears a possible Chinese invasion by 2027. It will need all the help it can get

1 June 2022
A logo of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. at its headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan: Semiconductor sanctions require commitment from only a handful of companies.
Opinion

Sanction semiconductors to deter China's Taiwan ambitions

China spends more on microchips than crude oil

30 May 2022
A screenshot from Taiwan Center for Mandarin Learning YouTube site showing an instructor teaching the Chinese language.
International relations

Taiwan makes soft power grab for Europe's Mandarin learners

Push comes as China's Confucius Institutes face global headwinds

30 May 2022
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, left, and U.S. President Joe Biden at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo on May 23.
Politics

Kishida's approval rating peaks after Biden summit: Nikkei poll

More than 90% feel Japan needs to prepare for Taiwan emergency

30 May 2022
Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden, Fumio Kishida and Narendra Modi at the Prime Minister's Office of Japan in Tokyo on May 24: The Quad's moment of truth has arrived.
Opinion

Biden's empty Taiwan rhetoric reveals Quad's core weakness

Group will have to move fast if it is to maintain status quo in the Indo-Pacific

25 May 2022
A graduate of the U.S. Naval War College, Tom Shugart served for more than 25 years in the U.S. Navy as a submarine officer. He has been in his current position since 2020. (Photo courtesy of CNAS).
Interview

China tests missile targeting for specific planes: CNAS' Shugart

Mock-ups in Xinjiang may be a message to Japan over Senkaku Islands

25 May 2022
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on May 23.
Biden's Asia policy

Biden's Taiwan comment sparks uncertainty over 'strategic ambiguity'

Third statement by president on island defense not dismissed as a gaffe

24 May 2022
Semiconductors, a critical component in products ranging from cars to smartphones, are one of Taiwan's most important industries.
Politics

Taiwan sets 12-year prison term for stealing tech secrets

Taipei bolsters protection of critical semiconductor industry

20 May 2022
The center object in this satellite photo is believed to be a model of an advanced-radar-equipped plane of Japan's Self-Defense Forces. (Photo by 2022Planet Labs PBC)
Indo-Pacific

Satellite photos suggest China training to attack Japan's aircraft

Exclusive: SDF's early warning system seen as target in case of Taiwan contingency

20 May 2022
Taiwanese soldiers hold rifles during a training session at a camp base in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on March 25.
International relations

U.S. Congress weighs plan to finance Taiwan weapon purchases

American lawmakers increasingly concerned about potential China invasion

19 May 2022
Tsai Ing-wen visits army reservist troop in Nanshipu on March 12: Their training is likely insufficient in the event of an all-out Chinese invasion.
Opinion

Ukraine war is motivating Taiwan to better secure its own future

Implications of successful resistance to Russia sure to give Beijing something to worry about

13 May 2022
A man gets a COVID test at a newly open drive-through COVID venue in Taipei on May 4
Coronavirus

Taiwan's record COVID rates fail to slow drive to open up

Tsai administration faces down critics as it deals with lockdown fatigue

11 May 2022
The Taiwan Pavilion in the World Expo Park in Shanghai in 2010 and an illustration of the World Expo 2025 in Osaka. (Source image by AP and Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition)
Technology

Taiwan beats exclusion from World Expo with Tokyo startup

Island uses new corporate vehicle to raise profile, counter China at Osaka event in 2025

11 May 2022
The Liaoning,  a Chinese navy aircraft carrier, is seen in this photo taken on April 6  by the Japanese Defense Ministry off the southern coast of the Japanese island prefecture of Okinawa. 
International relations

China says it conducted military exercises near Taiwan

Taiwan air force scrambled planes on Friday to warn away Chinese aircraft

9 May 2022
The Singapore Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at-large says countries are increasingly taking an issue-by-issue approach to diplomacy, rather than simply aligning themselves with one big power or another.
Interview

ASEAN's Ukraine split shows desire for space between powers: envoy

Singapore's Chan Heng Chee says neither West nor China should take others for granted

6 May 2022
American troops prepare to fire Stinger missiles from an armored vehicle during a drill. The U.S. agreed to deliver 250 of the missiles to Taiwan by 2026.
Indo-Pacific

Taiwan faces delays in U.S. arms deliveries due to Ukraine war

Likely postponement of howitzers and Stingers impacts Taipei's defense strategy

4 May 2022
Taiwanese troops demonstrate a dual-mount Stinger missile system in Taipei on August 11, 2005. The missiles' effectiveness in Ukraine has put them in high demand.
International relations

Taiwan presses U.S. regarding risk of Stinger missile delays

Demand heats up for weapons that have kept Russian aircraft at bay in Ukraine

3 May 2022
The guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd transits the Taiwan Strait in August 2021.  (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy)
Indo-Pacific

U.S. holds high-level talks with U.K. over threat to Taiwan: FT

White House consults European allies over how to deter China

1 May 2022
Demonstrators in Taipei protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
International relations

Half of Taiwanese don't believe U.S. would send troops if China invades

Negative views double from October as response to Ukraine war stirs doubts: poll

27 April 2022
The rush for tech M&As in Asia has slowed to a crawl in China and South Korea. (Source photos by Reuters)
26 April 2022