@TaiwanFCC Chair | @NikkeiAsia Correspondent | Formerly Myanmar, Thailand
Joined April 2016
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9 Mar 2022
🇲🇲✈️🇹🇼 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
theguardian.com/global-devel…
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Jun 12
And here by @heguisen on the background of those budget cuts, and how the KMT is justifying the depravation of funds to the drone industry.
KMT leader Cheng Li-wun ust visited China, whose primary objective was to "derail" Taiwan's special defense budget. asia.nikkei.com/opinion/dron…
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Jun 12
Happy to be a @NikkeiAsia subscriber as the paper is second to none in its coverage of Taiwan's drone industry.
Here by @tchau01 on how the opposition's budget cuts are threatening the great potential for both security and economy via exports. asia.nikkei.com/politics/int…
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Jun 11
Chinese harassment around Itu Aba (Taiping): right after in Taiwan's east
Chinese two vessels' first intrusion into Taiping Island's prohibited waters reflects a continuous escalation of provocations. Totally unprovokes, China is systematically harrassing Taiwan. It also proves that what China did in waters east of Taiwan should be dealt with as a challenge to international order; Japan-Philippines talks was just an excuse.
#TaiwanCoastGuard #OACROC
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Jun 13
“Xi knows that a robust Taiwanese defence industry that can produce the drones and other items that it needs at scale would significantly increase the difficulty of an invasion.” @heguisen
Drones hover at centre of Taiwan’s defence debate - @NikkeiAsia
asia.nikkei.com/opinion/dron…
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Jun 12
One impact of Cheng Li-wun's current US trip: many China observers have updated their views of the KMT.
The anti-communist KMT of the Cold War is gone.
This KMT is now aligned with its former nemesis, the CCP, against Taiwanese sovereignty.
More here:
asia.nikkei.com/opinion/the-…
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Jun 10
Looking forward to this one!
The Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club will organize a conversation with Foreign Minister Lin Chia-Lung and International Cooperation and Development Fund Secretary General Huang Yu-Lin on June 17.
Taiwan’s national aid agency TaiwanICDF marks its 30th anniversary this year.
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Jun 11
Drones hover at center of Taiwan's defense debate s.nikkei.com/3QjZ1xV
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Apr 28
Action is the Most Powerful Response to Cognitive Warfare: Building the Indo-Pacific Peace Chain
At our inaugural international media exchange, Minister Kuan Bi-ling delivered a clear message: Taiwan stands at the front line of global ocean governance.
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Jun 11
NEW: Taiwan’s growing drone industry has been plunged into uncertainty after the opposition-led legislature axed domestic production programmes from the government’s flagship defence budget.
In Taichung, drone companies find themselves in a fog. 1/3
asia.nikkei.com/politics/int…
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Jun 11
“It’s definitely disappointing to see the drone portion of the budget cut out,” said AUVSI CEO Michael Robbins, who visited Taichung.
“Obviously it sends the wrong signal to the domestic industry that is seeking to scale manufacturing… and invest.” 2/3
asia.nikkei.com/politics/int…
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Jun 11
An analyst told @NikkeiAsia “Taiwanese companies are unable to commit to partners like US companies Auterion and Shield AI because these Taiwanese firms cannot guarantee local procurement of a certain number of software modules to be equipped.” 3/3
asia.nikkei.com/politics/int…
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Thompson Chau retweeted
Jun 11
"For Taiwan, a two-year procurement standstill is more than a delay... It is a forfeiture of the country's positioning within an international non-red supply chain architecture that will define unmanned systems competition over the next 10 years." asia.nikkei.com/politics/int…
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Jun 11
Cathy Fang, an analyst with the think tank DSET, warned that moving the drone components to the annual budget will cost the drone industry two years in time.
asia.nikkei.com/politics/int….
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Jun 10
Pretty normal KMT behavior. Just last year, the previous KMT chair compared life in Taiwan under Lai to Germany under Hitler.
Both the German Israeli missions protested, and got a non-apology in return.
taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/…
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Jun 9
KMT Party Chair Cheng Li-wun casually dropping the anti-semitic trope of Jewish control of the United States government during her speech in the US:
"如果猶太朋友可以對美國有怎麼關鍵的影響力, 我們華人的智慧,華人的努力,華人的平德, 絕對不輸給他們."
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The Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club will organize a conversation with Foreign Minister Lin Chia-Lung and International Cooperation and Development Fund Secretary General Huang Yu-Lin on June 17.
Taiwan’s national aid agency TaiwanICDF marks its 30th anniversary this year.
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Prior registration is necessary. The event is open to TFCC members.
TFCC Chair and Nikkei Asia correspondent Thompson Chau @tchau01 will be moderating the session. Details have been sent to members via email.
RSVP via forms.gle/Y27C9K4xofiiHbUG7
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Jun 9
Not wrong, but:
- Approved is not the same as delivered.
- Biden armed Taiwan directly through Presidential Drawdown Authority (giving from U.S. stockpiles), too. That's not captured here.
Jun 9
In its first year and a half, the second administration of US President Donald Trump has approved 36% more arms sales to Taiwan than Joe Biden’s administration did during its full four years. @NikkeiAsia asia.nikkei.com/politics/int…
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Jun 9
In its first year and a half, the second administration of US President Donald Trump has approved 36% more arms sales to Taiwan than Joe Biden’s administration did during its full four years. @NikkeiAsia asia.nikkei.com/politics/int…
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Jun 9
The current Trump administration approved an $11.4 billion package in December 2025. If an additional $14 billion package wins approval, total arms sales to Taiwan under Trump’s second term would reach about $25 billion.
asia.nikkei.com/politics/int…
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