The Taiwan (ROC) Air Force simulated the dispersal of aircraft from their home bases to Chiashan Air Base, eastern Taiwan, on the morning of 8/5, the first day of Exercise Han Kuang 42. Chiashan Air Base has underground aircraft shelters. Photos from Liberty Times

Exercise Han Kuang 42 has begun in Taiwan. The exercise is Taiwan’s largest and will last 10 days.

drawing a line around Ireland, Brittany, and Norway and labeling it 'Greater Britain' and accusing opponents of 'violating national sovereignty and the seven-dashed line'

sarah jeong@sarahjeong.bsky.social · 22h ago

around brexit, when americans were struggling with the difference between britain / uk / british isles, someone on twitter suggested to me (somewhat tongue in cheek) that "the british isles" is unacceptable and that the politically correct term is "these isles"; or "those isles" if you're american

CATO argues Bill Pulte could not legally serve after Jay Clayton was confirmed, so everything Pulte did in the last week (like firing a bunch of people) can be challenged. www.cato.org/blog/william...

William Pulte Served Illegally as Acting Director of National Intelligence for Nearly a Week

William Pulte purported to act as the director of national intelligence for nearly a week after Jay Clayton was confirmed as his successor. That violates the plain text of the Vacancies Act.

cato.org

I think in one sense I agree, but I think it's probably worth noting that paramilitary sub-state violence has a tendency to tilt toward escalatory non-discriminatory violence as people seek to eliminate any potential security rivals. So I think it's fair enough to call for cooler heads to prevail.

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò@olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 4d ago

I think today's liberals in the US are used to a social environment where pogroms are rare and don't realize the role armed self defense plays in that state of affairs www.history.com/articles/red...

Still can’t over the fact that the president of the United States just told an entire state to pound sand after getting cyberattacked by a foreign adversary because they didn’t vote for him and it was treated like a Tuesday lol

Taiwan (ROC) Military Police officers in a Taipei Metro station during the Joint Defense Exercise, July 2026. Note the officer uses the M240 machine gun, which Taiwan received as aid through Biden-era Presidential Drawdown Authority, rather than the T74 machine gun.

A domestic hypersonic missile system will be included in Taiwan’s 2027 defense budget, sources tell Liberty Times.

All members of the Taiwan (ROC) Army’s 137th Infantry Brigade’s first full-strength reservist recall were issued M4A1 rifles, rather than the T65K2 or T91 rifles. Taiwan received the rifles through Presidential Drawdown Administration during the Biden administration.

New democracies across the world in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Africa

Matthew Downhour @matthewdownhour.bsky.social · 5d ago

I like this brainstorm: greatest achievements since 1969. Number one for me: eradicating smallpox What else?

Once again I'll reiterate that the way AIPAC has been transformed into this creeping villain behind every unwanted election result is feeding a resurgence of antisemitism, and that goes triple if the winner is Jewish and was opposed by AIPAC. Please please think about your words here!

China’s new ethnic unity law codifies, “under the guise of civic inclusion,” a requirement that Mongols, Tibetans, and Uyghurs “become part of a single, party-defined Chinese identity,” write James Leibold and Tenzin Dorjee.

The Next Phase of China’s Minority Crackdown

Forced assimilation is now the law.

foreignaffairs.com

TAIWAN MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE: The armed forces will recall over 5,000 reservists during Exercise HAN KUANG 42 and form two brigades, one in northern Taiwan and one in southern Taiwan. The unit in southern Taiwan will be the 137th Infantry "Nan Wei" Brigade. -- China Times

Big step for Indigenous recognition. Siraya are the first Plains Indigenous people to be formally recognised, usually considered more "assimilated" than the recognised Mountain Indigenous peoples. focustaiwan.tw/politics/202...

Cabinet officially recognizes Siraya as Taiwan's 17th Indigenous tribe - Focus Taiwan

Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Thursday approved the official recognition of the Siraya as one of Taiwan's Indigenous tribes, making it the country's 17th officially recognized tribe and the first Plai...

focustaiwan.tw

The responses to this are an argument against populism: it flattens society into artificial groups of "the people" and "the elites." In this flattening, it also forces "the people" to be reactionary. It then discourages questions about "the people's" stances and reframes them as criticism.

Will Stancil@whstancil.bsky.social · last wk.

Politics aside, do people believe city-run grocery stores with deeply discounted prices are a good POLICY idea? What are they intended to accomplish, in your view? What problem do they solve? Would you implement them if not running for election? I'm sincerely curious in people's answers here.

Lai: Drones critical for national security #Taiwan www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/...

Drones critical for national security: Lai - Taipei Times

Uncrewed vehicles are a critical part of maintaining asymmetric warfare capabilities, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he called on all parties to put the nation’s security first and sup...

taipeitimes.com

Looks like all of those Buildsubmarines.com ads during sporting events paid off.

Jeremiah Cushman@jdcushman45.bsky.social · 7d ago

Taiwan-based radio-controlled systems manufacturer Thunder Tiger debuted the SeaShark 600 and SeaShark 800 USVs in Dapeng Bay, southern Taiwan, on 7/29.

To think that we’ve gone from *two* total arms sales packages during the entire Obama administration to bilateral US-Taiwan coast guard patrols is an incredible development for US-Taiwan defense ties.

Yen-han Chen 陳彥翰 🇹🇼🇺🇸🇺🇦@chen-yenhan.bsky.social · last wk.

The American Institute in Taiwan posted an image of Taiwan Coast Guard Administration cutter Taipei (CG5005) operating with US Coast Guard cutter USCGC Midgett on 7/28. The AIT praised bilateral cooperation in a variety of maritime security initiatives.

Downed airman (1944): I wish I could be rescued The humble PBY Catalina:

c0nc0rdance@c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 3w ago

This video clip of a swan landing on a lake is best enjoyed with AUDIO ON. Mute swans (Cygnus olor) are among the heaviest flying birds & require a long runway, which means we get the majestic approach, a few furious moments of webbed feet slapping on water, then the majestic splashdown.

The American Institute in Taiwan posted an image of Taiwan Coast Guard Administration cutter Taipei (CG5005) operating with US Coast Guard cutter USCGC Midgett on 7/28. The AIT praised bilateral cooperation in a variety of maritime security initiatives.

The obvious issues with extrapolating every ongoing US security policy and practice to Taiwan aside, who’s to say Xi Jinping does not envision himself as the US and Taiwan as Iran?

The Taiwan (ROC) Navy's stock of parts for SM-2 surface-to-air missiles is completely exhausted, the National Audit Office finds.

It’s important to note that these types of designations can have huge impacts on the benefits that service members and their families receive. Even if it’s something set up in the future, easy for lawmakers to purposefully or accidentally exclude those who weren’t “real” casualties.

James@gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social · last wk.

What the fuck kind of shit is this. How desperate to create legal fictions and create PR wins can the administration possibly be that they're going to deny that people KIA and WIA were part of the Iran conflict.

i love/hate when people's critiques on modern-day taiwan are just "look at what your country when it was a fascist military dictatorship." yeah i know, that's why i don't support the people who support that, then and now.

ZHUGE LIANG 臥龍 / 伏龍 🌈@shuchancellor.bsky.social · 4mo ago

China is great and Taiwan participated in the genocide of Maya indigenous peoples

the good thing about a democratic society is that we don't have to guess at what taiwanese people think:

isla@demomolos.bsky.social · 2w ago

I do not give a shit about Taiwanese sovereignty because I get the feeling it’s a Chinese parcel of land that’s Temporarily An American Colony.

Saudi Arabia purchased 3,260 drones from Taiwan for US $47.2 million, Chosun Ilbo reports.

this is a good thread tactically/operationally the u.s. military has done everything it was asked to do. strategically, there was almost no impact it's not about "oh we need more drones" or whatever, it's understanding what military force can and cannot achieve

"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux@bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 2w ago

No, No, no. Look, are there lessons to learn from this debacle? Sure. Drone warfare, mag depth, etc. But the solution here is not 'yet more tactical excellence or tech.' It is 'the president asked the impossible of the military and they should have said so.' www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

Attack submarine ROCS Hai Kun conducting its 17th sea acceptance test (11th diving test) while escorted by a Taiwan (ROC) Navy Cheng Kung-class frigate, Kaohsiung, 7/23/2026.

I think a party that can welcome anti-Trump Republicans can also embrace members of the DSA. I think it should, actually