Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and Chinese leader Xi Jinping both gave speeches over the weekend that addressed the future of Taiwan. Xi described “Taiwan independence” as a “grave hidden danger” to his future plans, while Tsai insisted, “nobody can force Taiwan to take the path China has laid out for us.”
Another Chinese for-profit after-school tutoring company is in trouble after Beijing’s blanket ban on the industry.
Meanwhile: Wu Lei's 95th-minute goal gives China 3-2 win over Vietnam in crucial World Cup qualifier.
A contingent of about two dozen U.S. troops have been conducting training in Taiwan in secret for over a year, the Biden administration revealed publicly for the first time via a Wall Street Journal report.
A rural county in Hunan Province has made a plan to encourage local women to stay in the area and look for love amongst its many bachelors. But commenters are worried that the authorities could eventually restrict women’s ability to move away.
Taiwan’s Minister of National Defense, Chiu Kuo-cheng, recently warned that China will have the capability to invade Taiwan by 2025. But everyday people don't seem worried.
The news of an expected virtual meeting came on the same day as a six-hour in-person meeting in Zurich between top U.S. and Chinese officials, after which both sides released statements assuring the world that they are being responsible.
In a statement yesterday, China's banking regulator urged more funding to coal mines and plants to tackle energy shortages, but also made an unrelated but important demand to reduce excessive loans. A few peculiar types of loans were specifically named, including “graveyard loans,” to pay for a deceased relative’s burial site.
Some are alarmed by the number of Chinese military planes that flew near Taiwan over the weekend. But Taiwan's ADIZ (air defense identification zone) is not the same as its sovereign airspace: there have been no PLA jets over Taiwanese land, a fact that has been lost in some of the breathier news coverage.