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Cross Strait

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China is in dispute with many neighbours, but Taiwan relations improve
Feb 21, 2014 (WiC 226)

A decade and a half ago the Taiwan Strait was regarded as one of the world’s most dangerous potential flashpoints. Today, it looks like a calmer spot, albeit in a region seething with diplomatic tension. The latest evidence was two ...

Gambia ends diplomatic relations with Taiwan
Nov 22, 2013 (WiC 217)

The last time Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou visited Gambia in 2012, his counterpart Yahya Jammeh challenged him to a press-up contest. Jammeh won, but it seems his strong-arm tactics did not end there. Last Thursday Gambia announced ...

President Xi says he’s willing to engage more with Taipei
Oct 18, 2013 (WiC 212)

When President Obama no-showed at the APEC meeting earlier this month (see Talking Point), he left much of the spotlight at the gathering of Asian leaders to Chinese president Xi Jinping. And with Taiwan’s major backer absent, Xi took the ...

New balls, please

How a tennis victory led to a cross-strait row
Jul 19, 2013 (WiC 202)

We’ve mentioned ping-pong diplomacy a few times before, following a celebrated tour in the early 1970s when Mao Zedong invited the American table tennis team to China. During the visit the US lifted its 20-year trade embargo, and in February ...

Lot of hang ups

China Mobile gives up Taiwanese acquisition
Apr 26, 2013 (WiC 190)

Back in 2010, the Hong Kong-listed battery maker China Strategic led a consortium hoping to acquire Nan Shan, one of Taiwan’s largest life insurers, from an ailing AIG. But the $2.5 billion deal soon flashed up red on the radar of Taiwanese ...

Taiwanese banks for sale, but not newspapers
Apr 12, 2013 (WiC 188)

You can own a little more of our banks, but stay away from our newspapers. That was the message for mainland China this month, as the Taiwanese sent conflicting indicators across the Strait. First the more welcoming step, with Taiwan’s ...

Not so cross Straits

Ordinary Chinese fascinated by Taiwan election. Beijing pleased Ma won
Jan 20, 2012 (WiC 135)

In December, Guo Zhiyong, a 35 year-old man from Xinjiang, was so excited by Taiwan’s upcoming presidential election that he decided to travel to the island to see the contest up close. Guo then spent seven hours paddling out from the mainland ...

Plane speech in US

Taiwan opposition leader sparks controversy
Sep 23, 2011 (WiC 123)

It was an unusual statement for a leader of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to make. But Tsai Ing-wen struck an unexpected tone in Washington last week, on a visit to drum up support for her presidential campaign. Asked about ...

Meeting halfway

Prestigious Chinese painting is finally reunited in Taipei museum
Jun 17, 2011 (WiC 111)

Looking for a painting with plenty of political symbolism? In the Chinese context, it would be hard to better Huang Gong-wang’s Dwelling in the Fu Chun Mountains. Ranked among the 10 greatest Chinese paintings, the masterpiece was ...

“I want to be alone”

New visa rules to allow mainland Chinese to visit Taiwan on their own
Apr 1, 2011 (WiC 101)

Cross-straits relations are blossoming, if tourist numbers are anything to go by. Before the launch of regular direct flights between mainland China and Taiwan in 2008, there were just 100,000 mainland tourists visiting Taiwan each year, ...

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