michaelturton
@michaelturton
Playing boardgames. Writing about Taiwan every Monday in the Taipei Times.
Its not different here in Taiwan. We are on track for less than 100k babies this year. In 25 years that cohort will have only 40000 children even at current birth rates.
The projected sharp decline in mainland China’s population merits serious examination in the context of the “Peak China” theory. What is particularly noteworthy is that current demographic trends suggest China’s population could decline to the level it was during World War II.
Everyone of these dots is also a national security threat. All Chinese organized crime is connected with and monitored by the CCP.
Each dot on this map represents a residential, multifamily or commercial property flagged by DHS as linked to Asian Transnational Organized Crime. In my view, this map radically underestimates the scale of control Chinese drug and human trafficking cartels have in Maine.
Swimmers celebrated this wonderful Sunday by swimming from Yilan to Turtle Island - that's at least 11 km. Video: Ziting #Taiwan
The failure of the mass recall campaign targeting Kuomintang lawmakers was the result of strong opposition mobilization in blue-leaning districts and the campaign's eventual framing as a partisan showdown, scholars said Saturday. focustaiwan.tw/politics/20250…
Taiwan ruling DPP's "great recall" against opposition @kuomintang legislators, all 24(+1 TPP mayor) were defeated yesterday by oppose votes. This would not surprise anyone following our polls past months, which consistently found majority TW public are opposed to the recalls.
I’m quoted in the @nytimes discussing the results of yesterday’s recall vote: nytimes.com/2025/07/25/wor…
Ambassador Alexander Yui, Taiwan’s Representative to the United States, met with North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong, where the two discussed ways to enhance cooperation in the fields of agriculture, energy and UAV between Taiwan and North Dakota during the 2025 summer meeting…
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the onset of the 1995–96 Third Taiwan Strait Crisis. The cycle of tension began in response to then–Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui’s visit to the United States, and escalated into a sustained pressure campaign in the lead-up to Taiwan’s…
Other Key Takeaways ⬇️ Cross-Strait Relations: Taiwan concluded its annual Han Kuang military exercises on July 18. The PRC held military exercises and increased its ADIZ incursions around Taiwan during the exercises, likely to protest the Han Kuang exercises. The PRC stated…
NEW: Taiwan will hold special legislative recall votes in the coming days and weeks. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) — the party President William Lai Ching-te—could take control of the Legislative Yuan (LY) at least temporarily if enough opposition legislators are…
A total of 33 violations had been reported as of 4 p.m. Saturday when polls after a day of voting in recall elections around Taiwan, the National Police Agency said. focustaiwan.tw/society/202507…
This is the expected outcome It was a long shot to begin w/ to expect voters w/in historically KMT dominated districts to wake up 1 day & suddenly change their minds… Oh well…let’s see if they feel the same after another 2 yrs of dysfunctional gov
Update: Taiwanese voters appear to be rejecting *all* the recalls, in what looks to be the biggest electoral win for the KMT since 2018
If the friends of Taiwan... @AEI @Heritage @committeeonccp @SenateForeign @SFRCdems @HouseForeign @ASD_IndoPacific & others want to help Taiwan... stop showing up with the "we love you Taiwan" message and start in with the "What we expect of you", which is an open & growing…
Taiwan's DPP says the defeat of the recall campaign should not be interpreted in party-political terms. taiwannews.com.tw/news/6164816
Good point: Almost all Recalls to remove pro-Chinese legislators came near the legal threshold. The difference is KMT legacy funding plus CCP infiltration which organized opposing votes. Wealthy political parties vs citizen volunteers is inherently an asymmetric resource battle
我剛剛再仔細看了一次，我認為我們沒有失敗，#幾乎同意票全數都超過門檻。差異就是，藍白政黨利用組織資源，甚至中共的資源也進到台灣，滲透網紅，政黨對付全國公民團體，本來就是不對稱資源的作戰，公民大概都是曹董和志工在支撐，我覺得值得驕傲，這次大罷免，也看到 #藍白的全力組織能力底線在哪
Dr. Shelley Rigger (@DavidsonCollege) explains that Taiwan’s #GreatRecall is partially a result of Taiwan’s imperfect constitution. 🌐Learn more at #GTI’s #GreatRecall webinar as the elections take place this Saturday, July 26 : ow.ly/zOkS50WuSAL
Having all members survive today’s recall may not end up being a good thing for the @kuomintang. The recalls were largely for LY district seats that r traditional KMT strongholds. The results just mean the same KMT voters r unfazed by the party’s pro China stance, as expected.
Here's me on the outcome of the Great Recall Movement in my latest for @Diplomat_APAC. Honestly, quite a surprise for many, given the substantial momentum that went into the recalls thediplomat.com/2025/07/taiwan…