🚨 Very excited to be joining DW News this month as their East Asia Correspondent! Looking forward to covering more stories from Taiwan and across the region.

New Philippines national security document published today: Conflict over Taiwan a "major concern": PH "concerned about its economic stability, a potential influx of refugees, and the welfare of overseas populations." (More than 150,000 Filipinos in TW.) reuters.com/world/asia-pac…

BBG: Huawei building network of secret chip manufacturing facilities, which the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) says could be used to evade US sanctions. SIA says Huawei is getting $30 billion in state funding. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

TFCC also hopes to sit down with president Tsai Ing-wen 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen, with whom we had two fruitful briefings during her first term. We have yet to meet during her second term, which ends next May.

It’s that time of year again…

Screenshots from my lives this a.m. w interlocutors in Tel Aviv, Kyiv, Taipei, Jerusalem, and Berlin. Topics: Hamas-Israel war, their ceasefire deal, humanitarian conditions in Gaza, Russia-Ukraine war, and North Korea's satellite launch. Another intense day on the DW anchor desk

Some weird bot activity around the air raid alert today

In interview with DW News's Richard Walker & tsoutsouhan, former KMT Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou says: – when it comes to cross-strait relations, "you have to" trust Xi Jinping; – and that "he doesn't think [Xi Jinping] is pushing for unification".

THREAD 1/ Former Taiwan Pres Ma Ying-jeou: “You can never fight a war with the mainland. You can never win” DW interview: - Blames DPP for China tensions - Rejects⬆️mil spending/conscription - Doubts US wd aid Taiwan in an attack - "Have to trust" Xi on cross-strait relations

3 hours into the vote count. The mood is **very** optimistic at the DPP HQ.

Lai Ching-te has won Taiwan’s presidential election, after the opposition candidates conceded. As he arrives at the DPP HQ, the crowd chants “總統好” - “Hello, Mr. President.”

So here he is, Taiwan’s next president. William Lai 賴清德 beat expectations with 40% of the vote, after an unpredictable 3-way race. Beijing won’t be happy. But he’s firmly committed to not shaking up the status quo. His message: This was Taiwan’s choice and nobody else’s.