Josh Wilkes

No, the U.S. Didn’t Just Give China Grounds to Invade Taiwan - Domino Theory China has always seen itself as entitled to rule Taiwan, and to annex it however it pleases.

As an antidote to the stoopid now filling Bluesky on Taiwan #Taiwan and the PRC, see this piece by J Wilkes. Send it around whenever you see someone complaining that Trump greenlit an invasion, or similar.
dominotheory.com/no-the-u-s-d...

In China, Victims of Abuse Are Told to ‘Keep It in the Family’

In China, victims of abuse are told by local authorities to ‘keep It in the family’ – The New York Times: ‘often clashes with the broader goal of the Communist Party to promote marriage and childbearing to raise the falling birth rate.’

UK's MI5 warns politicians they are targets of Russia and Chinese spying Britain's domestic spy agency MI5 issued a rare public warning to members of parliament on Monday that they are being targeted by spies from China, Russia and Iran in an attempt to undermine the country's democracy.

Finally. Let’s hope this is taken seriously.

‘Britain's domestic spy agency MI5 issued a rare public warning to members of parliament on Monday that they are being targeted by spies from China, Russia and Iran in an attempt to undermine the country's democracy.’

www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks...

I don't want to get over my skies.

But I don't think Steve Reed will have that full sight by October 21.

So I suspect this is a different way of saying the decision will be delayed.

Which almost anyone could have predicted given current events.

Pastel pink and blue clouds in the sky above Keelung Islet and a container ship on its way to Keelung Port.

But what the TRU is effectively saying is that if *the government* approves the Yilan HSR, then *the government* will eventually have to fire TRC workers due to lost revenue.

It's not necessarily a persuasive argument but it is coherent.

Saving China's finless porpoise from the brink of extinction Scientists are racing to protect what some view as "the most important animal" in the Yangtze.

In case you missed this yesterday from me on saving the last big animal surviving by itself wild in the Yangtze River. #China CLICK ON LINK to read

www.bbc.com/news/article...

new view of Mars, made from images taken by Perseverance

new view of Mars, made from images taken by Perseverance

"Amazing" is a grossly-overused word these days, but sometimes it's the only one to use, and this new view of Mars, made from images taken by Perseverance yesterday, definitely is amazing. I hope you all like it! (Please Share if you do!) Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/S Atkinson

This is very good

It’s kind of funny seeing pro-China types interpret the recall results as meaning that the Taiwanese public, in fact, identifies as Chinese. Er, no, lol

Kind of all summed up by the PA explicitly calling for "reunification" of Taiwan and China.

My sense is that this is bad for the pro-recall camp.

But maybe not!

A Little-Known Microsoft Program Could Expose the Defense Department to Chinese Hackers The Pentagon bans foreign citizens from accessing highly sensitive data, but Microsoft bypasses this by using engineers in China and elsewhere to remotely instruct American “escorts” who may lack expe...

Tiktok got banned despite massive efforts to demonstrate that Beijing wouldn't access US data.

All the while, the U.S. government allowed China-based Microsoft service teams to directly access classified government systems w/ nominal supervision.

www.propublica.org/article/micr...

Exclusive | China lifts its sanctions on retired EU lawmaker Reinhard Buetikofer The move is seen to lead to new engagement between European Parliament and China’s National People’s Congress, which have not met since 2018.

EXCLUSIVE

Beijing has dropped sanctions on Reinhard Buetikofer, the former EU lawmaker it sanctioned in 2021, as it looks to normalise ties with the European Parliament.

www.scmp.com/news/china/d...

Obviously with TW it would need to be done a bit differently, even carefully. But it should be just as reflexive as the others.

I can think of another country as well...

Two firefighters die in rescue mission for man who drowned in restricted waters｜Taiwan News YouTube video by Formosa News (民視英語新聞)

Tragic.

Share of people speaking Mandarin in Taiwan.

Mandarin is one of the four main languages or language groups spoken in Taiwan. It is also the most widely used. However, as shown on the map, Mandarin is primarily spoken in northern and eastern Taiwan. In the south, other languages dominate. I’ll introduce those in a future post.

Source: Military News Agency

The Taiwan Navy has activated the 6th Mobile Company of the Hai Feng Battalion in recent days.

The Hai Feng Battalion operates Taiwan's land-based anti-ship missiles.

Would be nice to see a long-term project to somehow humanize the floodwalls and bring the city back to the rivers.

Actually last night it was Juicy, who I hadn't seen before but personally consider to be a big upgrade

0-4 for Josh's season, but I think they are now 1-8 over the last nine games so it's somehow not surprising

A real "my tshirt answers..." moment

Taiwan asks foreigners to take road safety survey - Focus Taiwan Taiwan's top government watchdog is inviting foreigners living in the country to complete a questionnaire about how well they believe the public sector is working to improve road safety.

This survey is being conducted by the Control Yuan, which I have come to believe is more important than it appears to be. Often it is the government agency that establishes the facts on which policy is built. So please consider completing the survey.
focustaiwan.tw/society/2025...

Taiwan opposition leader Eric Chu compared the DPP to Nazis after opposition supporters forged signatures and faced legal consequences, and Chu doubled down when Germany’s de facto embassy confronted him.

The diplomatic missions of the EU, Netherlands, Belgium, and France have joined Germany.

Since 2 March, no aid has entered the Gaza Strip due to a decision by the Israeli authorities. MSF is running low on essential supplies and fuel needed to sustain its medical response, while the number of critically injured patients continues to rise.

Four former pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong have been released from prison after serving time for their involvement in an unofficial 2020 primary election.

hongkongfp.com/2025/04/29/4... Claudia Mo, Gary Fan, Jeremy Tam, and Kwok Ka-ki are the first group of 45 democrats to be discharged.

https://www.rnd.de/politik/deutschland-china-beziehung-wie-geht-es-weiter-mit-peking-D2XTX5EBWNHJBBIHW4NAHFO35I.html?outputType=valid_amp

https://www.cducsu.de/presse/texte-und-interviews/wadephul-china-will-eine-andere-weltordnung

https://x.com/jowadephul/status/1554447402567929858?s=46

If TableMedia is right, Merz will appoint a foreign minister highly critical of Beijing.

Johann Wadephul has called Xi a dictator & criticised China’s violations of int’l law & human rights. He’s said the HK crackdown damaged Beijing’s credibility. And on Taiwan: “The free world stands together.”