Free Republic

With brilliant intelligence and close U.S. and Israeli cooperation and coordination, Operation Epic fury is systematically dismantling the terrorist regime of Iran’s ayatollahs. And as if in a game of chess, the war has reshaped the Middle East, (a consistent source of hostilities), into a more peaceful and orderly part of the world. It has also demolished fears of Russian and Chinese intervention on behalf of the regime. (Russia’s too broke and China’s grasp is less than its reach.) Indeed China, which depended on Iran and Venezuelan oil, is unlikely to make good for a while if ever on its...

If China invades Taiwan and cuts off its chip exports to American companies, the tech industry and the U.S. economy would be crippled.Federal officials have for years tried to wean Silicon Valley from its dependence on Taiwan, an island democracy roughly the size of Maryland that makes 90 percent of the world’s high-end computer chips. In secret briefings held in Washington and Silicon Valley, national security officials warned executives from companies like Apple, Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm that China was making plans to retake Taiwan, which Beijing has long considered a breakaway territory. A Chinese blockade of Taiwan, the...

Apple is beginning to bring its semiconductor manufacturing supply chain back to the United States. Nearly all of the most advanced chips are made in Taiwan, which China has threatened to annex. Concentrating chip supplies on an island that could be invaded, or face steep U.S. tariffs from Trump, is a big risk to Apple's business. To find out how far the company still has to go, WSJ reporter Rolfe Winkler visited several of the company's suppliers including TSMC, ASML and Foxconn in the Southwest. Inside Apple's Multibillion-Dollar Push to Make Chips in the U.S. | WSJ | 10:37 The...

A Lunar New Year celebration in Taiwan took a revolting turn when an elderly temple chief vomited over the country's president in full view of disgusted onlookers. Shocking footage captures the moment Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te is caught in the unfortunate blast as Lin Pei-huo, head of the Sacrificial Rites Martial Temple, falls visibly unwell during the public appearance. The pair had been standing side-by-side among local dignitaries when Lin began to show signs of distress. Wearing a red hoodie, President Lai appears oblivious at first as the temple chairman blinks repeatedly, clenches his fists and slowly turns his head,...

Taiwan has told Washington that its proposal to move 40% of the island’s semiconductor supply chain to the U.S. was “impossible,” Taipei’s top tariff trade negotiator said in an interview. Speaking on a local television broadcast Sunday, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun said she had made it clear to Washington that the island’s semiconductor ecosystem, built over decades, could not simply be relocated. Taiwan’s international expansion, including its investments in the U.S., is predicated on the notion that the industry remains’ rooted in Taiwan and continues to expand domestic investments, she said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

Tariffs Fall and Investment SurgesTrade shapes power structures, and when two economies tighten bonds, the ripple spreads far beyond shipping lanes and customs desks. On Feb. 12, 2026, the Trump administration finalized a sweeping trade agreement with Taiwan that cuts tariffs, boosts American exports, and pours hundreds of billions into U.S. industry.Taiwan agreed to eliminate or sharply reduce tariffs on nearly all American goods, as duties on U.S. beef, dairy, and corn were reduced immediately to 0%. Pork belly tariffs fell from 40% to 10%, and ham fell from 32% to 10%. Taiwan also removed non-tariff barriers on motor vehicles,...

Taiwan will use a range of joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance methods, as well as intelligence-sharing, to "grasp" China's possible intentions, says its defence minister.Taiwan is monitoring what it called "abnormal" changes to China's military leadership after its most senior general was put under investigation, and will not lower its guard as the threat level remains high, the defence minister said on Monday (Jan 26). China announced on Saturday that Zhang Youxia, second-in-command under President Xi Jinping as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, and another senior officer, Liu Zhenli, were under investigation ⁠for suspected serious violations of discipline and...

“IN AN UNCERTAIN world, China is the biggest certainty.” So proclaimed a Chinese spokesman in December. Amid a war in Europe, turmoil in the Middle East and America’s rewriting of the geopolitical order, some in the West may be inclined to agree. As The Economist went to press, Britain’s prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, was visiting China’s president, Xi Jinping, the latest among a series of Western leaders who have headed to Beijing in search of deals and dependability. Yet in recent days politics in China has proved anything but certain. On January 24th the defence ministry said that the...

Nicholas Kristof has a column today about China's desire to seize Taiwan and what it might actually do to make that happen. The column opens with a scenario in which China goes all in on a military invasion of the island, including some kind of attack on nearby US bases as a way to hinder our response. But Kristof and the people he's spoken with (he's in Taipei at the moment) don't think that's the most likely scenario.The more likely scenario is going to be something like what China did with Hong Kong. Not an invasion, exactly, but a gradual...

Japan’s new prime minister Sanae Takaichi made waves last fall after saying her country might intervene if China invaded Taiwan. In response, China launched state-organized boycotts against Japan — canceling concerts, restricting seafood imports, and even recalling pandas. Today on the show, what does it look like for a state to organize a boycott, and does it work? For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

Given all that’s at stake, how would Japan respond in a scenario that could lead to the world’s first great power war since 1945?Imagine this scenario: it’s finally happening. China is moving to take Taiwan by force. Chinese warships are blockading the island of Taiwan and the surrounding area, while missiles and UAVs rain down destruction on the Taiwanese people from above. In this hypothetical scenario, what is Japan doing? This is a question of some urgency for Tokyo these days. For one thing, Japan’s westernmost island is only about 110 kilometers away from Taiwan – much closer than...

According to the Chinese foreign ministry, the sanctions entail freezing the companies’ assets in China and banning individuals and organisations from accessing them. China has imposed sanctions against 20 US defense-related companies and 10 executives, a week after Washington announced large-scale arms sales to Taiwan. According to the Chinese foreign ministry, the sanctions entail freezing the companies’ assets in China and banning individuals and organisations from dealing with them. “We stress once again that the Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests and the first red line that must not be crossed in China－US relations,” the...

Three people were killed and at least five more were injured in a knife attack in Taipei on Friday. A 27-year-old suspect ignited smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails at Taipei's main metro station, then ran to a nearby shopping district station, stabbing multiple people, according to Premier Cho Jung-tai. Cho stated that the suspect fell from a building and later died. The motive is still unknown. The attack took place during Taipei's evening rush hour, in the station that linked to a crowded underground shopping area. Taiwanese President William Lai pledged a rapid investigation. Such attacks are uncommon in Taiwan,...

The Trump administration announced on Wednesday $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, the largest ever U.S. weapons package for the island which is under increasing military pressure from China. The Taiwan arms sale announcement is the second under U.S. President Donald Trump's current administration, and comes as Beijing ramps up its military and diplomatic pressure against Taiwan, whose government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims. The proposed arms sales cover eight items, including HIMARS rocket systems, howitzers, Javelin anti-tank missiles, Altius loitering munition drones and parts for other equipment, Taiwan's defence ministry said in a statement. "The United States continues to...

The US has approved a package of arms sales to Taiwan worth up to $11 billion — one of its biggest ever — a move that will likely draw a sharp response from Beijing. The approvals announced late Wednesday by the State Department cover a broad range of equipment, including missiles, drones and artillery systems aimed at strengthening the democracy’s defenses. The package includes a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, valued at up to $4.05 billion, as well as self-propelled howitzers worth about

The leak of the Pentagon’s classified “Overmatch Brief” has produced a familiar reaction. Headlines announce that China would defeat the United States in a war over Taiwan. Pundits conclude that American deterrence has failed. Some urge accommodation. Others demand vast new military spending. Both responses misunderstand what the assessment actually shows, and more importantly, what it does not. The central mistake is confusing the ability to impose costs with the ability to win a war. China may be able to seize Taiwan, an island roughly 100 miles from its coast. That does not mean China can win a war with...

Military strategists have long compared warfare to chess, where grand masters plot moves and countermoves across a global board. But what happens when you discover you’ve been studying chess while your opponent has been perfecting an entirely different game? For decades, America’s military might has stood unchallenged, our aircraft carriers projecting power across every ocean, our technology the envy of the world. Yet behind the Pentagon’s classified doors, a disturbing pattern has emerged in recent years. The rise of China as a military power has transformed from a distant concern to an immediate challenge. While American forces remain spread across...

Regrets, he has a few. John Cena recalled to Joe Rogan on Friday how he upset Communist China in 2021 by referring to Taiwan as a country only to roil America with his groveling Mandarin-language apology. The backdown came as the former WWE star and actor confessed on the Joe Rogan Experience it was a difficult learning experience with plenty of Americans then – and now – wondering just what he was aiming at by kowtowing to the Communist dictatorship in Beijing, as Breitbart News reported. Cena had apologized to China for calling Taiwan a country while promoting his film...

Washington Times columnist Maochun "Miles" Yu (余茂春), one of the nation’s leading China experts, incurred the wrath of the Chinese Communist Party recently, highlighting the global reach of his reports. Mr. Yu appears to have hit a political nerve with his recent opinion article listing 10 reasons why Peking’s call for reunification with Taiwan is “a hoax.” His list includes the fact that Taiwan was never part of Communist China and that Taiwan’s current sovereignty is not an extension of the 1949 civil war between communists and nationalists. “China’s ‘reunification’ slogan,” Mr. Yu wrote Oct. 27, “is a hoax sustained...

On Oct 25, Xue Jian, Consul General of China in Osaka, used “beheading” language toward U.S. @SecWar Pete Hegseth. This must be translated and reported to the U.S. government. A China diplomat threatening to behead a U.S. official should be widely exposed!