Tsai Ing-wen

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As Taiwan Welcomes New Leader, China Flexes Muscles

Island scrambles jets after China conducts military exercises as a 'powerful punishment'

(Newser) - Taiwan scrambled jets and put missile, naval, and land units on alert Thursday over Chinese military exercises being conducted around the self-governing island democracy, where a new president took office this week. China's military said its two-day exercises around Taiwan were punishment for separatist forces seeking independence, per the...

Taiwan's Election May Put China to the Test

Citizens will head to the polls Saturday to elect a new president, legislature

(Newser) - Taiwan is preparing to elect a president and legislature Saturday in what many see as a test of control with China, which claims the self-governing island republic as its own territory to be unified with force if necessary. The presidential race is tight, and both China and Taiwan's key...

After McCarthy Meets With Taiwan Chief, a 'Serious Warning'

China sends warships, more than 70 planes near self-ruled island in apparent retaliation for meeting

(Newser) - China sent warships and dozens of fighter jets toward Taiwan Saturday, the Taiwanese government said, in retaliation for a meeting between US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Tsai Ing-wen, president of the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory. The AP reports eight warships and 71...

China Warns of 'Serious' Consequences if Taiwan Prez Meets McCarthy

President Tsai Ing-wen arrived in the US Wednesday

(Newser) - Taiwan’s president is beginning a swing through the United States and Central America, a visit aimed at showing that her self-ruled island has allies as it faces a rising threat from China. Taiwan was carefully calibrating President Tsai Ing-wen's stops in the United States, and, as always, forgoing...

Taiwan Changes Mandated Military Service to One Year

'Peace does not come from the sky,' President Tsai says of new conscription plan

(Newser) - Taiwan will extend its compulsory military service from four months to a year starting in 2024, President Tsai Ing-wen said Tuesday, as the self-ruled island faces China's military, diplomatic, and trade pressures. Taiwan, which split from the mainland in 1949 during a civil war, is claimed by China. The...

Taiwan President Quits as Party Leader

Tsai Ing-wen's party suffered heavy defeats in local elections

(Newser) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen resigned as head of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party following local election losses on Saturday suffered by her party. Voters in Taiwan overwhelmingly chose the opposition Nationalist party in several major races across the self-ruled island in an election in which lingering concerns about threats from...

China's Latest Take on Taiwan: It Is 'Not Ukraine'

But comparisons between the 2 geopolitical conflicts are nervously being noted

(Newser) - The world is currently hyperfocused on tensions between Russia and Ukraine , but some eyes are starting to turn to another geopolitical tussle: that between Taiwan and China, with the latter scoffing at any comparisons made between the two conflicts. The New York Times reports that Tsai Ing-wen, the president of...

Taiwan Defense Chief: China Could Soon Mount 'Full-Scale' Invasion

Chiu Kuo-cheng says tensions are worst in 40 years

(Newser) - After a weekend incursion of Chinese fighter jets into Taiwan's air defense zone, relations between the two states are—well, not great. In fact, Taiwan's defense chief on Wednesday said that military tensions with China are the "most serious" they've been in more than four decades,...

Sorry, China: Taiwan's Leader Re-Elected

Warns China that 'Taiwan and our democratically elected government will never concede to threats'

(Newser) - Tsai Ing-wen was reelected Taiwan's president by a landslide Saturday in a victory that signaled strong support for her tough stance against China among voters determined to defend their democratic way of life. Tsai, from the Democratic Progressive Party, soundly defeated Nationalist Party candidate Han Kuo-yu, receiving 57.2%...

First Asian Country to Ban Dog, Cat Meat

Taiwan's legislature passes the measure

(Newser) - A big win for animal rights activists—and a bigger win for dogs and cats—in Taiwan. With the legislature's approval of an amendment to the country's Animal Protection Act, Taiwan appears on track to become the first country in Asia to ban the possession, sale, purchase, and...

Fortune Names World's 10 Best Leaders
Fortune Names
World's 10
Best Leaders

Fortune Names World's 10 Best Leaders

Theo Epstein, Jack Ma top the list

(Newser) - The world's greatest leaders aren't necessarily heading countries. Indeed, the greatest leader is US politics is an Army general, according to Fortune 's fourth annual list of the world's 50 greatest leaders. However, each individual on the list—43 of whom appear for the first time—...

Texas Gov Gave Taiwan's President a 'Humiliating' Gift

It was a clock, which symbolizes end of life to Taiwanese

(Newser) - Texas Gov. Greg Abbott managed to not only slight China by meeting Taiwan's president on Sunday, he managed to step in it with Taiwan's president, too, reports Mashable . During the meeting, Tsai Ing-wen gave Abbott a vase, and Abbott in turn presented her with a clock decorated with...

Ted Cruz Irks China, Meets Taiwan Leader

Move comes amid tense relations after Trump phone call

(Newser) - Ted Cruz has joined his rival-turned-ally Donald Trump in tweaking China . The Texas senator met with Taiwan's president Sunday when she stopped in Houston on her way to Central America, reports the AP . Cruz made a point to show that he was defying the wishes of China in doing...

Insiders Say Taiwan Call Was Part of Trump's Plan
Trump Steps Up
Criticism of China
THE RUNDOWN

Trump Steps Up Criticism of China

Insiders say Taiwan call was part of the plan

(Newser) - The Donald Trump phone conversation that led to an official complaint from Beijing was a calculated move, not an innocent congratulatory call or a blunder made by a man with no knowledge of foreign policy, insiders tell the Washington Post . Instead, the provocative conversation with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen was...

Taiwan President 'Extreme' Because She's Single: China Op-Ed

Tsai Ing-wen also labeled 'emotional,' 'erratic' in 'chauvinistic' Xinhua opinion piece

(Newser) - Tsai Ing-wen was sworn in Friday as Taiwan's first female president, and she's already been labeled "extreme" by the news agency for China's Communist Party—in large part because she's not married, the Guardian reports. The Xinhua-run International Herald Leader ran an opinion piece accusing...

Taiwan Elects First Female President

Pro-independence president-elect promises 'new era'

(Newser) - Tsai Ing-wen promised a "new era" for Taiwan on Saturday after being elected as the island's first female president. The 59-year-old, from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, defeated the Nationalist Party's Eric Chu with around 60% of the vote, reports the Los Angeles Times . Tsai will take...

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