Ashish Valentine

新年快樂 🔥 🐎

My latest for @npr.org : In China, the year of the horse has taken on an uncanny association with Draco Malfoy. Take a listen to find out why: www.npr.org/2026/02/18/n...

I regularly offer advice to aspiring journalists from marginalized communities on navigating the industry. The Washington Post layoffs are just the latest in a series of events that have genuinely left me wondering what to say to these people today.

Incredible graphic from NYT showing the depth of Xi Jinping's purge of China's military leadership in recent years: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Glad you appreciated the piece!

I'll do my best

Thanks "Puddles"! Your game livestreams are so wholesome too

Inside Taiwan's 'butterfly kingdom,' a rare natural wonder takes place every year Every winter, a marvelous spectacle occurs as hundreds of thousands of butterflies travel south across Taiwan in one of the world’s most rare migrations.

Taiwan is home to over 400 butterfly species, 55 of which are found nowhere else in the world. For National Geographic, I reported on the migratory purple crow butterflies, which gather in the tens of thousands in valleys like Maolin in southern Taiwan every winter.

The Taiwanese president's proposal to hike defense spending faces gridlock at home Opposition parties are slamming the brakes on billions in defense funding as the China escalates military pressure.

My latest for @npr.org : Taiwan's president Lai Ching-te has promised billions in additional defense spending to counter escalating military threats from China. But his ambitions have stalled in the legislature, where opposition parties have blocked his special defense budget eight times so far.

China's economy is rising, but many citizens are left behind, analysts say China's National Bureau of Statistics released data on its 2025 GDP growth Monday. Analysts say it reveals strong economic growth for the country, but ordinary people still face deep challenges.

Latest for @npr.org : Based on today's economic data "China hasn't just survived the trade war with the US, it has in fact thrived," says @eurasiagroup.net analyst Dan Wang. But that strength isn't reflected in Chinese consumer spending. www.npr.org/2026/01/19/n...

Migrant workers marched to the Legislative Yuan in Taipei this afternoon, calling for an end to the 12-year time limit to how long they can live in Taiwan. They dressed up as expired meat and bombs with 12-year fuses, arguing that the time limit treats their bodies and labor as disposable.

Weeks after deadly floods, many Amis Indigenous residents of Hualien held a rally outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei to protest disaster recovery measures currently being discussed by KMT lawmakers that they worry could force them to relocate from their homes.

'Like ice melting': Journalists warn press freedom is in decline across Asia China's jailing of citizen journalist Zhang Zhan highlights a deeper press freedom crisis across Asia.

My latest for @npr.org : Doxxing, death threats, and detentions are becoming routine threats for journalists across Asia. Here's a look at how reporters from the Philippines, Indonesia and other places adjust to the new realities - and even start to fight back. www.npr.org/2025/09/30/n...

Nepal's prime minister KP Sharma Oli is now the second South Asian leader to be driven out of office by youth-led protests in just over a year. He joins neighboring Bangladesh's Sheikh Hasina, who fled the country on a helicopter amid mass protests last August.

KMT lawmakers claim victory as recall vote count continues - Focus Taiwan Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers have declared they survived recall votes to remove them from office Saturday, although official results are still pending as the vote counting continues.

Taiwan’s opposition KMT scored big today: early results show that all remaining 7 lawmakers who faced recall challenges have kept their seats. President Lai Ching-te faces an uphill battle on pledges to raise defense spending to 3.32% of GDP next year and 5% by 2030.
focustaiwan.tw/politics/202...

U.S. and China extend tariff truce deadline for another 3 months President Trump's executive order extends a reprieve from the threat of rising tariffs between the world's two largest economies.

My latest for @npr.org : With hours left on the clock, the US and China extended a truce that limits tariffs between the world's two largest economies by a further 90 days. Analysts expect further talks and a face-to-face meeting between Trump and Xi later this year. www.npr.org/2025/08/12/n...

Taiwan warns of toxic wild mushrooms | Taiwan News | Aug. 6, 2025 09:53 Food and Drug Administration says 33 poisoned over 5 years as rain spurs new mushroom growth | Aug. 6, 2025 09:53

Heavy rains that caused dozens of injuries, power outages and 5 deaths in southern Taiwan have led to an unexpected result: a surge of wild mushrooms. Authorities are removing them from roadsides and warning that toxic mushrooms are hard to tell apart from edible ones. taiwannews.com.tw/news/6172548

Glad you appreciated it Brian!

Deadline nears for Taiwan's Chinese immigrants to prove no China household registration Amid a wave of national security measures, immigrants from China must prove they've given up their household registration in China by June 30. Many are Chinese women married to men from Taiwan.

My latest for @npr.org : Today is the deadline for thousands of Chinese immigrants in Taiwan to prove they gave up household registration in China, or potentially face deportation. Many immigrants feel they've become victims of worsening cross-strait tensions.
www.npr.org/2025/06/29/g...

Super interesting, thanks for sharing. I've seen a couple of examples of these sorts of names while traveling around Indigenous communities but hadn't properly known the context til now

Glad you appreciated the piece Michael

Glad you appreciated it Mark

And indeed re: a university literally named after the "Great Han" becoming such a hub for Indigenous students, I feel Taiwan is full of these kinds of contradictions

Glad you appreciated the piece! There's Dong Hua for 4-year studies and Tzu Chi for some career track subjects. But many of the programs tailored to Indigenous communities (training to do cultural tours in your community, or open a restaurant making your culture's cuisine etc) won't be replaced.

8/8 When schools like Dahan close, Taiwan's ministry of education finds alternative places for students to finish their degrees further away from home. But as more schools shut their doors, communities like the Truku student Chen's village may be left with fewer educational opportunities.

7/8 Higher ed researcher Angela Yung-chi Hou says elite colleges can handle low enrollment by taking more international students. But those with fewer resources - like Dahan - can't compete. Taiwan's less developed southern and eastern areas will continue to lose local schools as a result.

6/8 An alum of Shih Hsin, and the executive secretary of Taiwan's higher education union Zhang Zhi-lun argues some private universities are using the pretext of low enrollment to run themselves more like a business - harming students and teachers' rights in the process.

5/8 But even in Taipei, schools are feeling pressure. Students at Shih Hsin university are protesting a decision to close any undergrad course with fewer than 30 students. The students say it's unnecessary cost-cutting. The college says, facing funding issues, it needs to save money where it can.

4/8 One of You’s former students, Chen Xiao-dong, said young people from his Truku Indigenous community relied on Dahan for career-track education. When Dahan closes, they'll be left without a nearby alternative. Most school closures are happening in less-developed areas in Taiwan's south and east.

3/8 Professor You Li-fang told me what made Dahan Institute special was that 2 out of every 5 of its students were from the nearby Indigenous communities. When the school closes, “I think the poor will become much poorer because they will lose opportunities,” You said. “I’m so mad about that.”