The powerful earthquake that shook Taiwan on Wednesday, 3^rd of April, was the strongest earthquake to hit the renegade Chinese province in 25 years. The 7.4+ earthquake has killed at least nine people and injured more than a thousand, and has sent a different type of shockwave throughout the world, particularly the west…

In the complex game being played by the major world powers in connection with the Taiwan issue, a remarkable event took place at the beginning of April this year, which attracted the attention of media around the world. This is about a tour of the PRC (or “Mainland China”) by former President Ma Ying-jeou accompanied by a certain Taiwanese youth group. Between May 2008 and May 2016 (i.e., two consecutive four-year terms), Ma Ying-jeou…

Since the onset of the 21^st Century, tensions around the world have been simmering. Great power rivalry has reached to a new apex since the culmination of the Cold War. The rivalry between China and the United States is considered one of the most significant and appalling issues of the era. Given the importance of maritime trade, the South China Sea and the Southeast Asian countries have emerged as the strategic focus of the rivalry between the two sides…

The Taiwan issue was last discussed in the NEO in the context of the increasingly visible presence of two new centres of influence emerging in the Indo-Pacific, namely India and Japan. The latter is particularly active there. However, the two major world powers, China and the United States, remain the main players in the games around Taiwan. And from the point of view of the former, everything that is somehow related to Taiwan concerns only China and no one else. Washington’s official position can be described by the formula “Yes, but…”, which has three main components…

The two leading world powers, the United States and the People’s Republic of China, are the main players in the games over Taiwan. At the same time, the presence of other recently emerging “power centres” is becoming increasingly visible. First of all, Japan and India. Of these, the former’s relations with Taiwan are now of an ordinary interstate nature. This is also true of Japan’s relations with its “big brother”, the United States…

A recent op-ed appearing in Foreign Affairs titled, “The Taiwan Catastrophe,” helps paint a clear picture of US motivations behind its growing confrontation with China and the increasingly unrealistic nature of Washington’s desired outcome. The premise of the op-ed is built on a now declassified top-secret memo by US General Douglas MacArthur in 1950 describing Taiwan as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier,” essential not to protect the continental United States, but to preserve US primacy over Asia-Pacific thousands of miles from US shores…

Many international affairs observers are aware of the results of the January 2024 elections in Taiwan and the reactions of major world powers. However, in today’s international relations, the stance of smaller players holds greater significance than it did in the past. This article provides an overview of how state authorities in Central Asian countries and Mongolia reacted to this event. On January 14, 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan issued a statement confirming their firm support…

So, on 13 January, one of the most notable events of the current stage of the “Great World Game” took place, which was the “calendar” general election in Taiwan. According to their results, the island will now be governed by a new president (since Tsai Ing-wen, who held this post for two consecutive terms, could not once again run for office) and a completely renewed parliament. It seems appropriate to express at once the author’s assessment of this whole action, which, however, has already been outlined earlier. Its significance was rather overestimated by months-long efforts of the leading actors…

There is an increasing number of conflict situations in the world today. Most of them are caused by unilateral actions of the US, which has claimed the right to interfere in the affairs of other states. In a unipolar world, Washington continued to enrich itself at the expense of other countries and people by fomenting conflicts in various parts of the globe. In the Pacific, the US is creating tension around Taiwan, using it to “contain” China, its main economic competitor. At the same time, it is provoking strife between the DPRK and the Republic of Korea…

On January 16th, President Biden of the United States invited leaders of the US Congress to meet with him to discuss military assistance to Ukraine and Taiwan. On July 29^th, 2023, the USA announced that it was providing a military aid package to Taiwan of 345 million dollars to be used to allocate already existing US stockpiles of weapons and ammunition including missile, manpad air defence systems, intelligence and surveillance equipment to “maintain Taiwan’s self-defence against China”…

The election of a candidate from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which supports Taipei’s independence and closer ties with the United States, may result in increased tensions with Beijing. The situation regarding the conflict around Taiwan is becoming increasingly complex. On January 13 of this year, international experts were making preliminary forecasts for the general elections on the island and possible developments…

Taiwan is one of the states that are going to hold presidential elections on 13^th January 2024. Taiwan is one of the most contentious issues between China and the United States. The island was ruled by Japan for almost 50 years. However, it was handed over to the Chinese Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek in 1949. After Mao Zedong’s victory over the mainland, the Kuomintang, the Nationalists, relocated to the island. Since then, this island has been a matter of contention between China and the United States…