Starting June 30, 2026: Disability Care Eligibility for Taiwan’s Foreign Professionals (permanent residents and dependents)

On June 30, 2026, legal amendments come into effect in Taiwan that will open disability certification to permanent residents (APRC holders) with 10+ years of total residency in Taiwan as foreign professionals. The changes will allow disabled individuals from this group to opt into disability benefi…

Journalist Tim Culpan on Computex and what’s next for Taiwan’s A.I. boom (Culpium)

90% of the world’s AI hardware is manufactured in Taiwan; 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips (they power AI) is made in Taiwan. This gives us a sense of why AI is an industrial priority for Taiwan. Computex (June 2-5) is Taiwan’s flagship industry trade show. (Begun in 1986, it’s…

Asia Pacific is one of the most dangerous regions for journalists: Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

World Press Freedom Index is an annual report released by the international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on the status of press freedom in 180 countries. Its 2026 report, released on April 30, found that press freedom around the world is at a 25-year low. Our gues…

Taiwan-Europe Relations 2026: Matej Šimalčík (CEIAS)

Matej Šimalčík is the Executive Director of CEIAS (Central European Institute of Asian Studies), a think tank that focuses on foreign and security policy issues related to East Asia. Its new report“Partners in need, partners indeed? Tracking Europe-Taiwan relations amidst global disruption” is an u…

“Zero Day Attack”: a TV show on Chinese invasion of Taiwan

We speak to Hsin-mei CHENG, producer of the 2025 television series “Zero Day Attack” (零日攻擊) - a 10-episode drama that imagines Taiwanese internal divide and cohesion after the Chinese PLA have launched an invasion of Taiwan. She speaks about her experience developing the show and the challenges o…

The Great Recall of 2025: Nathan Batto “Frozen Garlic” (Academia Sinica)

On July 26th, a third of Taiwan will vote on recall referendums (大罷免) for 24 legislators throughout Taiwan. Our guest is Nathan F. Batto, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica. Taiwan watchers also know him as the writer of Frozen Garlic wordpress on T…

How China's reshaping the global cybersecurity and digital norms (Article 19)

Michael Caster (Head of Global China Programme) and I-Chen Liu (Asia Programme Officer) are researchers from the international non-profit organization ARTICLE 19, whose report “Cybersecurity with Chinese Characteristics” (2025) outlines PRC’s influence over cybersecurity norms in 3 Indo-Pacific cou…

On classical music and healing: Mimi Yu (cellist, author of “The Unforgetting Body”)

Mimi Yu (尤虹文) is the author of three memoirs, including the 2019 title “The Unforgetting Body” in which she details her recovery from depression. Yu is a cellist who has worked with musicians like Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Paul Katz, and Robert Levin. She played cello while at The Juilliard Schoo…

Jimmy Lai is China's most feared critic: Mark L. Clifford (author of "The Troublemaker")

Jimmy Lai, the 77-year-old media tycoon of British citizenship, has been detained for over five years, mostly in isolation. He is one of over 1,500 political prisoners in Hong Kong. Today's interview contains a clip of a conversation between Jimmy Lai and Natan Sharansky from November 20, 2020, on…

Borders, politics, and identity through nature writing: Jessica J. Lee (author of "Dispersals") (Live on April 11, 2025)

British-Canadian-Taiwanese writer Jessica J. Lee (李潔珂) is the author of three books of nature writing, Dispersals(2024), Two Trees Make a Forest(2019), and Turning (2017), the children’s book A Garden Called Home (2024), and co-editor of the essay collection Dog Hearted (2023). She has a PhD in Env…