Joint statement between President Juan Carlos Varela and Beijing says ‘Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory’

Panama has switched diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China, handing a huge victory to Beijing in its drive to isolate the self-governing island it claims as its own territory.

Panama’s president, Juan Carlos Varela, ( Read more... )

Yen Lee was 39 when a bullet ended his life on March 6, 1947. He was among 50 Taiwanese journalists executed that day for criticizing the Nationalist government of China, which had taken back Taiwan from Japan at the end of World War II ( Read more... )

okay for those of you who decided to turn off teh television this weekend Trump made all sorts of drama by announcing via Twitter that the President of Taiwan had called and congratulated him on his win. Annnd we have not "officially" talked to Taiwan since like, 1970 when Nixon decided to BFF China. So it may be a tiny little snowball rolling ( Read more... )

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The globalization god has feet of clay

Recent statements from Beijing and Tokyo suggest that China and Japan may be pulling back a bit from the brink of confrontation over the Senkaku/Diaoyutai islets. Let's hope it's true, but regardless of whatever diplomatic settlement evolves, we must recognize that the whole affair undercuts a central premise ( Read more... )

China carrier a show of force as Japan tension festers

China sent its first aircraft carrier into formal service on Tuesday amid a tense maritime dispute with Japan, a show of naval force that could worry its neighbors.China's Ministry of Defense said the newly named Liaoning aircraft carrier would "raise the overall operational strength of the ( Read more... )

Six Chinese surveillance ships briefly entered waters around islands claimed by both Japan and China, amid a bitter territorial dispute.

China said the ships were carrying out "law enforcement" to show jurisdiction over the islands, called Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan.Three vessels left after a short time and the other three have now also ( Read more... )

Divided Memories: History Textbooks and the Wars in Asia
Some common assumptions about history textbooks used in Japan turn out to be ill-founded. Far from inculcating patriotism, as many overseas observers assume, Japanese high school textbooks tend to dryly present a chronology of historical facts, with little interpretive narrative added. This ( Read more... )