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May 25, 2025
 

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Ben Blanchard
Taiwan said in January it suspected a China-linked ship of damaging an undersea cable off its northern coast; the ship owner denied the accusations.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Apr 11, 2025
In a first, Taiwan charges Chinese ship captain with damaging undersea cables
The captain, surnamed Wang, has claimed innocence, but refused to provide details of the ship's owner and "had a bad attitude," Taiwanese prosecutors said.
Kids view the area from a lookout point over cranes and containers at the Port of Keelung, Taiwan, on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2025
Taiwan eyes zero tariffs with U.S. and pledges more investment
The U.S. is Taiwan's most important international backer and main source of arms, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties.
Members of Taiwan's armed forces, riding on a M60A3 tank, participate in a drill as part of a demonstration for the media to show combat readiness, at a military base in Taitung, Taiwan, on Jan. 31, 2024.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 18, 2025
Taiwan considering multibillion dollar arms purchase from U.S., sources say
Taipei is hoping to win support from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump as China continues to apply military pressure on the island.
A Taiwanese coast guard ship (left) monitors a Chinese coast guard ship a few nautical miles from Taiwan's northeastern coast on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Dec 13, 2024
China's 'drills that dare not speak their name' put Taiwan on alert
Analysts say that Beijing's activities, conducted in near silence and followed by an opaque statement, are meant to create confusion.
A giant TV screen shows news footage of military drills conducted in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan, by the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, in Beijing on Oct. 14.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 3, 2024
Taiwan watching Chinese carrier movements as drills could start over weekend
Beijing could launch large-scale drills to coincide with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's trip to the Pacific this week that includes visits to Hawaii and Guam.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te waves to the crowd on the island's national day in Taipei on Oct. 10.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 27, 2024
China could launch military drills near Taiwan over president's Pacific visit
President Lai Ching-te will start a visit to diplomatic allies in the Pacific on Saturday, and was also planning stops in Hawaii and possibly the U.S. territory of Guam.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te is planning a stopover in Hawaii as part of an overseas trip starting in the coming weeks, sources said.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 15, 2024
Taiwan president plans Hawaii visit on sensitive trip to Pacific, sources say
Six sources briefed on the visit said that the president is planning a stopover in Hawaii as part of an overseas trip starting in the coming weeks.
Taiwanese flags are seen at the Ministry of National Defense of Taiwan in Taipei on Dec. 26, 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 29, 2024
'Taiwan independence' explained
A brief look at the history of the island and its status in the world today.
A man spreads fertilizer on a paddy field in Ilan County, Taiwan, in 2008.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 23, 2024
Preparing for a Chinese blockade, Taiwan maps out wartime food plans
China's latest war games around the island, carried out last week, included blockading key ports and areas, and assaulting maritime and ground targets.
Former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (left) and current President Lai Ching-te wave during the latter's inauguration ceremony outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei on May 20.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 7, 2024
Former Taiwan President Tsai to make sensitive Prague visit, sources say
Tsai will visit Prague and deliver a speech at Forum 2000, which begins on Oct. 13, according to the three sources.
Japanese radio equipment maker Icom director Yoshiki Enomoto shows its model IC-V82 device, which the company said they stopped production in 2014, during an interview at its headquarters in Osaka on Thursday.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Sep 21, 2024
Hack of Hezbollah devices exposes dark corners of Asia supply chains
Counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product.
The Chinese navy aircraft carrier the Shandong in the Pacific Ocean southeast of Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture, on Tuesday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 11, 2024
Taiwan monitors surge of Chinese warplanes headed to Pacific carrier drills
The Chinese military exercises coincide with a NATO summit in Washington, where a draft communique says Beijing continues to pose systemic challenges to security.
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te visits soldiers and air force personnel in Hualien, Taiwan, on May 28.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 24, 2024
Autocracy is 'evil,' Taiwan president says after China threatens death for separatism
China, viewing Taiwan as its territory, openly opposes Lai, labeling him a "separatist" and conducting military exercises shortly after his inauguration last month.
Taiwanese soldiers run during the annual Han Kuang anti-landing drill in New Taipei City last July.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 23, 2024
Taiwan war games to mimic combat as closely as possible
A senior Taiwan defense official said there was an urgent need to rethink how the drills were conducted.
A nuclear-powered Type 094A Jin-class ballistic missile submarine of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy is seen during a military display in the South China Sea on April 12, 2018. The submarine that surfaced in the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday appeared to be one of this class.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 18, 2024
Taipei keeping watch after Chinese submarine surfaces in Taiwan Strait
Pictures of the surfaced craft, which appears to be a nuclear-armed Jin-class ballistic missile submarine, were taken by Taiwanese fishermen.
A giant screen showing news footage of military drills conducted in areas around the island of Taiwan by the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), in Beijing on May 24
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 30, 2024
Taiwan says China is 'nibbling away' at its space, trying to create a new normal
Chinese pressure keeps Taiwan out of most international bodies, causing it to face a huge amount of obstruction in its attempts to take part in international organizations.
Taiwanese soldiers participate in battlefield rescue training in Taipei on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 1, 2024
Taiwan on alert for post-inauguration Chinese drills
China has a strong dislike of Taiwan's President-elect Lai Ching-te, believing him to be a dangerous separatist.
A demonstrator holds flags of Taiwan and the United States in support of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen during an stopover after her visit to Latin America, in Burlingame, California, in January 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 4, 2024
'Staunch friend' of Taiwan to become top U.S. envoy in Taipei: sources
Sources have said that Raymond Greene, currently deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, will take on the role.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Taiwan Navy chief Tang Hua attend the delivery ceremony of six made-in-Taiwan Tuo Chiang-class corvettes at a port in Yilan, Taiwan, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 30, 2024
Taiwan's navy chief to visit U.S. next week, sources say
Tang Hua will visit the United States from next week to attend a military ceremony and discuss how to boost bilateral naval cooperation.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visits army bases ahead of the Lunar New Year in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Feb. 6.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 21, 2024
Citing safety risk, Taiwan president skips South China Sea visit
The official said the South China Sea had been highly militarized, and that the trip may cause international controversy.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
Trump announces Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel ‘partnership’ deal
U.S. President Donald Trump points as he boards Air Force One en route to New Jersey, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Friday.
Travelers avoid trips to Japan over viral comic book’s quake prediction
Visitors walk along Nakamise-dori as they visit Sensoji Temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district in March.
Tokyo's Yamanote Line resumes suspended train operations
All services on East Japan Railway's Yamanote Line in Tokyo were suspended for early Friday morning due to wire trouble.
Onosato set for yokozuna promotion after clinching Emperor’s Cup
Onosato after defeating Kotozakura at Ryokugikan in Tokyo on Friday. The win gave him a 13-0 record and clinched the Emperor's Cup, assuring him of promotion to yokozuna next week.
AI fiction is already here. Are humans ready?
After last year’s controversy over using AI to write about 5% of her novel, Rie Qudan was asked by an advertising magazine to write a short story where she uses AI for 95% of it. The resulting short story, “Kage no ame” (“Rain Shadow”), was published March 25.  
Six short films that capture our world in mere minutes
“Marion” provides a glimpse into the lives of bull dodgers, who perform a nonlethal version of bullfighting.
As Taiwan looks to boost ‘unofficial ties,’ Paraguay’s leader offers facilitator role
Paraguayan President Santiago Pena speaks during an interview with The Japan Times in Tokyo on Thursday.
GCAP next-gen fighter joint venture likely to be running by this summer
A concept model of the Global Combat Air Program's fighter jet is displayed during the DSEI Japan defense exhibition in the city of Chiba on Wednesday.
NTT develops world's first 'flying lightning rod' using drones
NTT's drone — aimed at triggering, then redirecting lightning — is described as a "flying lightning rod."

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb
By Alex K.T. Martin

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