The View from Taiwan

Future President Obama sent a congratulatory letter to Taiwan's new President: ++++++++++ Dear President Ma: Please accept my warmest co...

First, from Reuters, is a very long piece on China's response to Ma's speech . The key point is right up front: China vowed on Thurs...

In the latest Nelson Report Rupert Hammond-Chambers of the US-Taiwan business council explains the reasoning behind the choice of Paul Wolfo...

I've decided to go over Ma's inaugural address. Most of these insights, including all of the translation stuff (make your own judgme...

WSJ transposes a couple of consonants in the print edition of Shelly Rigger's commentary on the new President. Stuff piling on thick and...

Todd waits for me to finish a shot as Cathy looks for bugs to photo. Another gorgeous central Taiwan day dawned on Sunday, so my friend Drew...

It's truly a day of new beginnings. Later today new President Ma is sworn in and will speak. What will the future bring? To get a sense ...

Japan Focus has a couple of good articles this week. For WWII buffs, Herbert Bix has a great article on Hirohito's role in WWII . But of...

The other day my wife got a call from a woman claiming to be from Taishin Bank, who said someone, Mrs. X, was trying to clear out the $900,0...

Apologies: I'm working on migrating the blog and comments may be off from time to time. If you can't post, return later. +++++++++++...

Things to pass on.... ...Tsai Ing-wen has won the DPP Chairmanship with 57% of the vote. I'm not sure about the numbers yet, sources dif...

The FAS blog has a great piece on US nuclear weapons deployments to Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia in the '50s, '60s and '70s .......

Ian Johnson has amazingly nuanced article in WSJ on the politics of the National Palace Museum expansion.... The palace museum is in the mi...

At first I thought I must be hallucinating when I read the headline in the China Post : U.S. defends Taiwan arms sales, upbraids China . ...

Did a lot of hiking in Ta-ken this weekend. Today I wandered out on Trail 4, according to the sign, the most difficult of the 10 Ta-ken tra...