Taiwan has the lowest birth rate in the world — which is an existential vulnerability for a country countering China. Wu, an OB-GYN who helps babies come to this world, explains why she and many other Taiwanese women have decided not to have children.
Taiwan’s shrinking population is a national security threat
An OBGYN in Taipei explains why Taiwanese women are not having kids, and why that could mean danger for the island's future.
counteroffensive.news
To be fair, it's the mercenaries at the Liberty Times who are doing the "allowing".
Min Chao@wordsfromtaiwan.bsky.social · yesterdayThe irony of the Taipei Times website reporting on China's "united front" activities to influence Taiwan while allowing for Xiaohungshu (rednote) ads 🚩
Aged like some bad swill
Aron Lund@aronlund.bsky.social · yesterdayIran has now gobbled up nearly all U.S. ATACMS and PrSM ballistic missiles, plus half of Tomahawk cruise missiles and a very considerable share of the THAAD and Patriot interceptors, sources tell @reuters.com’s Erin Banco, Jonathan Landay, and Michael Stone. www.reuters.com/world/us-has...
A measure of how low Jackie Chan's stock is in Hong Kong. No mention of his attendance at Nansun Shi's memorial... unlike for Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia, Tsui Hark,Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Carina Lau, Chow Yun-fat, Sammo Hung, Zhou Xun, Li Bingbing, Jia Zhangke, Feng Xiaogang, Kevin Tsai and Gwei Lun-mei.
Celebrities and industry figures pay tribute at Nansun Shi’s memorial
More than 100 celebrities and industry figures from Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan gathered on Sunday (Aug 2) to bid farewell to veteran film producer and media executive Nansun Shi, who died la...
thestandard.com.hk
Dylan Cheung@dylancheung.bsky.social · 3d agoRare Jackie Chan sighting in Hong Kong yesterday at Nansun Shi's memorial service. Always fascinated by who in Hong Kong he'll still give face to, a list I'm sure gets shorter and shorter each passing year.
Massive Attack “surprised” Why are Westerners always shocked to find there’s no freedom of speech in Singapore? FWIW the SG government was persecuting my husband on his death bed, over a blog article and at the same time a govt crony was suing him for speaking out against Islamophobia. RIP Kenneth 💔
Massive Attack respond after Singapore ban over Palestine display
The UK band says they are "surprised and disappointed" by their treatment over shouting "free Palestine" at a concert there.
bbc.co.uk
Life as a J2 when you just completely give up and start crowdsourcing response options from random E4s
Shipwreck@shipwreck75.bsky.social · 2d agoA senior officer in US Central Command’s (CENTCOM) intelligence branch emailed a broad group of military analysts seeking “new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran.” A second source indicated a similar request went out the prior week.
The Tibetan community in NSW and supporters rallied at Martin Place in Sydney today. The event was to commemorate the death of Lobga Rangzen and to oppose China's "ethnic unity" law
a republican congressman allegedly broke his two-year-old daughter's collarbone and he somehow hasn't been run out of congress. there really is no bridge too far for these ghouls.
‘Platner on steroids’: Max Miller abuse claims have Republicans silently sweating
The Ohio lawmaker denies the allegations as an Aug. 5 deadline to drop off the ballot approaches.
politico.com
After the Japanese-era term "savages" was discarded, but before the KMT's civic-minded plains/mountain "mountain compatriots", the KMT used the equally essentialist term Gaoshan 高山族. The same dismissive term now used by Beijing for all 17 tribes/nations – out of date by two naming cycles.
Min Chao@wordsfromtaiwan.bsky.social · 4d agoTaiwan's Indigenous peoples are the original owners of this land. Yet new settlers referred to them as "savages" and "mountain compatriots." Name rectification came in 1997 through a constitutional amendment. Aug 1 declared Indigenous Peoples' Day in 2005. Siraya just recognized as the 17th tribe.
One of my first PhD fieldwork stops in 1998 was an event at CKS Memorial supporting Siraya recognition ... wondering if some of the youngsters I photographed then are in these photos, dressed the same but in their early 40s.
Min Chao@wordsfromtaiwan.bsky.social · 4d agoIt took over three decades of campaigning by Siraya for official recognition, thereby securing a legal basis for the preservation of their culture, as they are now covered by legislation encompassing Indigenous languages development and heritage preservation. www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/a...
Italy orders the closure of the country's sea and air borders with Spain, temporarily suspending the Schengen free movement agreement between the two countries. www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...
Italy suspends Schengen with Spain over Ceuta migrant crisis
The temporary suspension of the Schengen agreement was prompted by concerns over the migrant crisis in Ceuta. #EuropeNews
euronews.com
Obligatory: In this house, we are Jackie Chan haters. His films are good but the man is a homophobe, a hypocrite, a bootlicker. There are other HK action stars.
Need people to remember how much, how long the city fought against exactly this fate. I hope those who weren't convinced in 2019-2020 by the umbrellas and arrows of fire are now. All of that anger and desperation was justified.
Index on Censorship@indexoncensorship.org · 6d ago#HongKong: The authorities continue their crackdown on independent bookshops. We are saddened to hear that Greenfield Bookstore has announced its closure a few weeks after a police raid, becoming the third bookshop to shut this month: hongkongfp.com/2026/07/29/5...
Rare backbone from the highly corruptible AFC. www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer...
Infantino’s World Cup sell-off plan on brink of collapse after Asia joins revolt
The Asian confederation, of which Australia is a member, says it will not support a plan to privatise the World Cup – effectively meaning it will not pass, as it stands.
smh.com.au
Fascinating development – and a credit to Australia-based Indians – especially in contrast to non-responses of the fence-sitting Chinese diaspora to outrages in the old country. White Australian politicians, meanwhile, will continue to be bemused, confused and bored. www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
The Sydneysiders joining a global protest against India’s politicians, in their own words
In Parramatta Square, Sydney’s Indian diaspora joined their peers around the world to have their say.
smh.com.au
Credit the ABC for this, and Safeguard Defenders' hard work. Finally seeing some action on these matters, perhaps, but D(FA)T's attitude of "Shut TF up, we know better 'cos we don't say anything" remains in force. If it weren't for journalists and families, D(FA)T would settle for complete silence.
Safeguard Defenders (保护卫士)@safeguarddefenders.bsky.social · 7d ago"The Chinese embassy in Canberra called the Safeguard Defenders report "pure fabrication", but declined to respond to the ABC's detailed questions." #BehindBars, SD's new report on prison conditions, now out. Find it on our website. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07...
And disgustingly under the radar. "Concerns of fairness" after a *year*?! Where are interventions by democratic states? Oh, that's right, the interests of expat chambers of commerce override all. 😡
Eli Friedman@elifriedman.bsky.social · 7d ago"police alleged Au had colluded with an unspecified anti-China group outside the city" As with HK book shop, detaining people for unspecified activities. Cowardly, deeply insecure, behavior.
To those of you who wondered why that unmitigated asshole Hasan Piker simply parroted Chinese state propaganda, look no further than this clip from the Hellsite. x.com/thestustustu...
Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) on X
TIL that Hasan Piker’s interviews are researched behind the scenes by Eric Hovagim, a socialist producer who now lives in China and has been featured by Chinese state media for his pro-Beijing comment...
x.com
INBOX: There are reports circulating that multiple Hong Kong residents legally in the United States on Deferred Enforced Departure status have been detained by ICE agents while boarding domestic flights www.uscis.gov/humanitarian...
DED Covered Country – Certain Hong Kong Residents | USCIS
DHS may provide travel authorization as a discretionary benefit of DED for eligible Hong Kong residents. You must file for advance parole if you wish to travel outside of the United States temporarily...
uscis.gov
There are great things happening over at the new InfoWars.
InfoWars@realinfowars.bsky.social · 7d agoWHISTLEBLOWER TELLS ALL: Tim learns the history and culture of Japan is bigger than ANYONE realizes.
Who Owns #Taiwan? This magnificent classic from the Yale Law Review is packed with information and new and old perspectives. The footnotes are a must. I first read it 40 years ago, and still return to it periodically for inspiration and understanding. digitalcommons.nyls.edu/fac_articles...
Who Owns Taiwan: A Search for International Title
By Lung-chu Chen and W.M Reisman, Published on 01/01/72
digitalcommons.nyls.edu
Has Tibet slipped from the world’s attention? This commentary argues that while Beijing has intensified its campaign to reshape #Tibetan identity, international focus has become harder to sustain. bitterwinter.org/is-the-tibet...
Is the Tibetan Cause Fading from the World’s Attention?
The tragedy of Lobga Rangzen is a reminder of how easily unresolved questions can fade from international discourse without ever truly being resolved.
bitterwinter.org
Taiwan to stop buying PNG gas on spot market over 'One China' spat
Taiwan to stop buying PNG gas on spot market over 'One China' spat
Taiwan suspends some liquefied natural gas purchases from Papua New Guinea as part of an escalating diplomatic dispute over the future of its representative office in Port Moresby.
abc.net.au
Hoo boy, wait until our ultra-nationalist Han cousins find out where the mother of the last Ming poster boy came from.
Michael Turton@michaelturton.bsky.social · last wk.Taipei Times editorial on The Belief, arriving right as the PRC, an ethnonationoalist, Han-centered state, is reconsidering the non-Chinese Manchu Qing empire and idealizing the lost Ming, the last Chinese empire. www.taipeitimes.com/News/editori...
Colby like many other American leaders and analysts is fundamentally Cakeist in assuming that the United States can sustain the same level of authority it had in Europe during the Cold War while contributing far less to European security
Ulrike Franke@rikefranke.bsky.social · last wk.US undersecretary of defence Colby announces that the US forces’ “Europe Posture Review” has begun. This is about creating a “NATO 3.0”, aka NATO with less US.
Time again for Taiwan's wonderful people to start collecting donations.
MW Hyde@mwhyde.bsky.social · last wk.
