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Apart from the first arms sales approval for Taiwan since US President Donald Trump took office, last month also witnessed another milestone for Taiwan-US relations. Trump signed the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act into law on Tuesday. Its passing without objection in the US Senate underscores how bipartisan US support for Taiwan has evolved. The new law would further help normalize exchanges between Taiwanese and US government officials. We have already seen a flurry of

Following China’s “wolf warrior” attack on Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, with Chinese Consul General in Osaka Xue Jian (薛劍) threatening on social media to chop her head off, Beijing has doubled down through intimidation and coercion. In addition to sending drones into Japan’s southwestern waters near Taiwan, China has employed its favorite tool: holding its tourists hostage by officially discouraging travel to Japan, all to attack Takaichi’s response in parliament t

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi late last month made ripples throughout Japan and the region with her charm offensive during US President Donald Trump’s Tokyo visit. Their camaraderie appeared as if it was a reunion of old friends, despite being their first in-person meeting. The leaders vowed to deepen economic and security cooperation and signed a framework agreement on the supply of critical minerals and rare earths. Noteworthy is not only how the supply of such min

Japan’s parliament made history yesterday as it elected Sanae Takaichi, president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), as the country’s first female prime minister.DP), as the country’s first female prime minister. What was seen as a crisis just a week ago after the pacifist Komeito party exited the ruling coalition has turned into a decisive victory, with Takaichi securing 237 of the 465 seats in the lower house. Her outreach to new smaller parties paid off after su

Following the resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba from the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party, Sanae Takaichi was elected president of the party on Oct. 4. Takaichi is familiar to many Taiwanese due to her many visits to and support for the neighboring island nation. She is widely seen as a protege of late former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, also a staunch ally of Taiwan. President William Lai (賴清德) congratulated Takaichi as news broke that sh