Min Chao
@wordsfromtaiwan.bsky.social
independent #Taiwan writer • #TaiwanResources #TaiwanArchives • https://wordsfromtaiwan.medium.com
Governments must assume they are under permanent AI attack. The target of the July attempt was Taiwan, likely from China, given the use of simplified Chinese in internal comms. When one attack path failed, the AI team would scour the web for info and devise a new approach as a human hacker would.
Niao Collective@niaocollective.bsky.social · 4h ago<shocked pikachu face>
"We are not here to be bombastic because we hold a title." Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu yesterday lambasted Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi for failing to attend cross-caucus negotiations and suggested that Fu step down from the position if he continued to miss meetings.
Brian Hioe@brianhioe.bsky.social · yesterdaySigns of a split between Han and Fu? udn.com/news/story/6...
#TaiwanArchives: 1873 Crosses mark where the English Presbyterian missionaries, first planted in 1865, work in the south and center of the island, and where the Canadian Presbyterians are up north. The west, in yellow, is inhabited by Chinese migrants. The east, in green, is Indigenous territory.
Misinformation abounds when it comes to the "mobile internet slowdown" portion of Taiwan's national resilience drills this week: ❌ Internet blackout ✅ 30 mins of slow mobile access ❌ Bricked phone ✅ Cellular calls, text services unaffected ❌ Communications wipeout ✅ Ethernet, WiFi uninterrupted
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges KMT-TPP legislators to drop the proposed budget cuts to Taiwan's public broadcasters, a crucial means for citizens to access accurate news. PTS and TaiwanPlus must be given sufficient resources to fulfil their mission and their independence must be guaranteed.
Chen Chien-jen, head of the nation's top research body, and Annie Lee, daughter of Lee Teng-hui, discuss the potential of AI to utilize the manuscripts, oral recordings, and recollections of "Mr. Democracy," the first directly elected president in Taiwan history. Emphasis on accuracy, human review.
Min Chao@wordsfromtaiwan.bsky.social · 3mo agoTo commemorate the 30th anniversary of direct presidential elections in Taiwan, Chunghwa Post is releasing a souvenir sheet this month containing one stamp with a denomination of NT$30. The design embodies the democratic spirit of "sovereignty belongs to the people." www.post.gov.tw/post/interne...
Huzzah! Grass owls have been spotted in Taichung for the first time in 50 years. Rewilding efforts like seeding Dadu Plateau with the grasses that the endemic owls like to weave their nests with have helped extend their current range from southern to central Taiwan. 🦉 footage: youtu.be/D4fu8O1V6e8
Min Chao@wordsfromtaiwan.bsky.social · 4mo agoGrass #owlets have been discovered in grasslands along Linbian River in Pingtung, marking their southernmost breeding grounds to be uncovered in #Taiwan. The indigenous bush-dwelling owls average a clutch of 3 to 5 owlets, but only 2 were in this nest (tagged for conservation and research purposes).
Ukraine is not an issue. It is Europe's domino. If it falls, the rest of Europe is next.
Min Chao@wordsfromtaiwan.bsky.social · 5d agoFinland's ex-PM: "We need to understand that the matter of Ukraine, just like the matter of Taiwan, isn't an issue of a single country." Sanna Marin warned that if Russia goes unpunished, "it will set an example for others to use aggression to get what they want." focustaiwan.tw/politics/202...
"What we fear most is a public that grows numb to this," Joseph Wu, head of Taiwan's National Security Council, said repeatedly during this interview. "China wants to establish a fait accompli. Over time, people would start to think this is just how things are — that's the most dangerous outcome."
Michael Turton@michaelturton.bsky.social · last wk.Commonwealth mag on #Taiwan always has great stuff. Interview with NSC Sec Joseph Wu english.cw.com.tw/article/arti...
Canada's ex-deputy PM: "Article 63 [of China's new law] is particularly sinister for me, given its dark kinship with Russia's malign use of linguistic, cultural and ethnic ties to justify illegal encroachment on the sovereignty of its neighbours, including the bloody full-scale invasion of Ukraine."
Steven Chase@stevenchase.bsky.social · 5d agoFreeland, in Taiwan, warns new Chinese ethnic unity law has ‘dark kinship’ with Putin invasion rationale www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...
Met him once: very inspiring.
Min Chao@wordsfromtaiwan.bsky.social · 6d agoFred Chin left Malaysia to study in Taiwan, unaware of the island nation's martial law realities in the late 1960s. He served 12 years in an offshore penal colony after being tortured and forced to sign a fake confession. He now devotes his life to defending human rights. www.bbc.com/audio/play/w...
Fred Chin left Malaysia to study in Taiwan, unaware of the island nation's martial law realities in the late 1960s. He served 12 years in an offshore penal colony after being tortured and forced to sign a fake confession. He now devotes his life to defending human rights. www.bbc.com/audio/play/w...
BBC Audio | Witness History | When Taiwan’s ‘White Terror’ ended
In 1987 Taiwan finally lifted martial law after nearly four decades of authoritarian rule
bbc.com
Of course fraudsters existed before AI but AI is a fraudster's dream.
Min Chao@wordsfromtaiwan.bsky.social · 6d agoUsing public TV interviews, educational videos, speeches, and radio recordings, fraudsters now train AI models to replicate a physician's face and voice. Deepfake videos hijack the reputation of Taiwan's trusted doctors to promote medical products made in China. en.tfc-taiwan.org.tw/doctors-impe...
Using public TV interviews, educational videos, speeches, and radio recordings, fraudsters now train AI models to replicate a physician's face and voice. Deepfake videos hijack the reputation of Taiwan's trusted doctors to promote medical products made in China. en.tfc-taiwan.org.tw/doctors-impe...
The Xiaohongshu ("Little red book") ban in Taiwan explained.
Min Chao@wordsfromtaiwan.bsky.social · last wk.Taiwan enacted a one-year ban on Xiaohongshu, effective Dec. 4, 2025. The ban disables access to the web platform, not the app, nor does it criminalize users for having downloaded the app before the ban. Plenty of guides on how to circumvent the ban, including using VPN. 3c.ltn.com.tw/news/64163
Taiwan enacted a one-year ban on Xiaohongshu, effective Dec. 4, 2025. The ban disables access to the web platform, not the app, nor does it criminalize users for having downloaded the app before the ban. Plenty of guides on how to circumvent the ban, including using VPN. 3c.ltn.com.tw/news/64163
下載沒刪、VPN翻牆會被罰嗎？台灣封鎖小紅書懶人包一次看懂 - 自由電子報 3C科技
不少台灣年輕人愛用中國社群APP「小紅書」，用來查旅遊、美妝或穿搭攻略，小紅書在台灣也擁有超過300萬用戶。不過，內政部近日點名小紅書「15項資安全數不合格、兩年內捲入1,706件詐騙」，造成逾2.4億元財損，又因無法依法調取必要資料，依《詐欺犯罪危害防制條例》第42條，下令封鎖小紅書至少一年
3c.ltn.com.tw
The Ministry of the Interior cites a lack of response from the parent company in China over fraud crimes as the reason for the ban. The ministry reminds all firms, including Google, to act responsibly and stop showing rednote ads, but as far as I can tell, has not enacted punishment for doing so.
The irony of the Taipei Times website reporting on China's "united front" activities to influence Taiwan while allowing for Xiaohungshu (rednote) ads 🚩
Czech pitcher Ondřej Satoria, who struck out Ohtani at the 2023 WBC in Taiwan, is back to promote Taiwanese carrier STARLUX's first European route connecting Taipei with Prague. Chen Chieh-hsien, captain of Taiwan's national baseball team, takes Satoria and his family on a sightseeing adventure. 🧋🇨🇿
ZERO DAY ATTACK A ten-part series on China's infiltration of Taiwanese society through grey zone tactics, from elite capture in the military to funding social media influencers and local politicians. Commendable focus on how people who have business or family in China may react in a strait crisis.
"May we both win gold" 🥊🥇 Boxer Lin Yu-ting endorses the DPP's candidate for New Taipei mayor, revealing a decades-long sisterhood with Su Chiao-hui — who secured better facilities and funding for New Taipei's youth athletes, and comforted Lin when she was under attack. youtube.com/shorts/C3Hxh...
奧運拳擊金牌得主林郁婷 ：「我人生中的低潮，當時大家看到都閃很遠，巧慧卻公開為我發聲。」「我們一起努力，希望我們可以在各自的主場拿到金牌！」
YouTube video by 蘇巧慧
youtube.com
Each time a "historical claim" by the CPP appears in media, it should be followed with: "Historians say that this claim is false." Editors have no trouble doing that for many similarly bogus claims, from conspiracy theories to flat earth. The lack of such correctives helps legitimate China's lies.
Michael Turton@michaelturton.bsky.social · last wk.My column for Monday. Inspired by Macabe Keliher's excellent paper on how Taiwan became "Liuqiu", I glance at the problem of how the PRC's Taiwan history is a construct scholars know is fake, but is seldom challenged in the media. www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...
THE DAY THE WAR ENDED A documentary on Taiwan's fate during WWII. Rockstar politician Freddy Lim interviews the Taiwanese who fought, protested, or survived the war and witnessed Aug 15, 1945 — the day Taiwan went from being Japan's colony 🇯🇵 to the Republic of China's island 🇹🇼 youtu.be/JDQbvobNVeM
《終戰那一天》正式預告｜8.14 時代回望
YouTube video by 牽猴子電影粉絲俱樂部
youtu.be
Stuart Fairchild 費仔, a Taiwanese American baseball player with the Seattle Mariners who scored Team Taiwan's third-ever WBC grand slam earlier this year, shares a video celebrating Taiwan's Indigenous heritage. His maternal grandmother is an Indigenous Amis from Hualien on the Taiwanese east coast.
Yang Jun-Dah@yangjundah.bsky.social · 3w agoStuart Fairchild pitching Indigenous People's Day in Taiwan and 30th anniversary of Council of Indigenous Peoples 原住民族委員會: www.facebook.com/share/r/1BhB...
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 · 2w 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.
Taiwan'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.
Mark Harrison@mhar4.bsky.social · 2w agoThe outcome of many decades of campaigning by Siraya people and a milestone for indigenous reconciliation in Taiwan. The PRC rejects the concept of indigenous and defines all 17 tribes as a single "ethnic minority" and would dismantle all this if it annexed Taiwan. focustaiwan.tw/society/2026...
Washington's cutters in frontline service to bolster partners facing coercive activities from Beijing's maritime forces. U.S. and Taiwanese officials revealed this week that a joint exercise was held at an unspecified time between their respective Coast Guard agencies. news.usni.org/2026/07/29/u...
"Their brains were half the size." 🦑 Ocean acidification significantly damages squid brains. Taiwanese-Canadian research found neural shrinkage and behavior changes in tested squid caused by an inability in their brains to properly send or receive information. www.courthousenews.com/ocean-acidif...
Ocean acidification could be shrinking squid brains
A Taiwanese-Canadian research project on intelligent cephalopods produced worrying results.
courthousenews.com
In a Taiwan Strait blockade scenario: • China will try to label it as a "quarantine" to avoid declaring outright war • Taiwan will suspend all tech operations and redirect resources for civilian survival; power to last 200+ days • Emergency reserves, self production of food can sustain 10 months
Michael Turton@michaelturton.bsky.social · 2w agoMy man Kitsch Liao and others on China's Blockade potential youtu.be/hgYk2uxk1VU?...
Yang: My biggest worry is that Taiwanese people will give up on our current way of life and the pursuit of democracy, equality, and freedom that lasted more than a century. We only gained the right to choose who governs us directly thirty years ago. Are we really going to give that up so quickly?
NPR@npr.org · 2w agoThe author and translator of Taiwan Travelogue, the winner of the 2026 International Booker Prize, discuss identity and history amid the debate over Taiwan's colonial ties to Japan and escalating geopolitical pressure from China. n.pr/4x7x783