My latest: a report from Fort Magsaysay, as record numbers of Australian troops train alongside their U.S. and Philippine allies during Exercise Balikatan.

NEW: These are the battlegrounds that could decide a US-China war over Taiwan. Working with Kathrin Hille and Demetri, our latest visual story explores five military contests that would help define the outcome of a conflict. ft.com/taiwan-battleg…

China's Taiwan Affairs Office's comments on Taiwan's new President Lai Ching-te's inaugural address -- is exactly in line with expectation. TAO has two focus. First, it insists on the 1992 Consensus which embodies the One China Principle (体现一个中国原则的“九二共识”). /1

NEW: #Taiwan has been plunged into a political showdown just as its new president settles into office, with the opposition attempting to ram through bills that could amount to a power grab. Leading lawyers have publicly warned against the rush. 1/6 asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Taiwa…

Worth reading in full

#breaking First video of China military exercises around Taiwan via CCTV/Weibo. PLA statement: "Taiwan independence”and peace across the Taiwan Strait are incompatible The Eastern Theater Command launches the "Joint Sword-2024A" exercise. It is a powerful punishment for the

49 PLA aircraft, 19 PLAN vessels, and 7 CCG vessels operating around #Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. today. 35 of the aircraft crossed the median line of #Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's SW ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and responded accordingly.

Waiting for Julian

Julian Assange arrives for his plea hearing in Saipan, bringing him one step closer to a return to Australia.

In the court room where Assange's case is being heard. Now that the guilty plea has been entered and accepted, sentencing will begin very shortly.

BREAKING: Judge sentences Julian Assange to "time served" in prison in Belmarsh. He'll walk free.

New British PM Keir Starmer has visited Taiwan twice in 2016 & 2018. The topic he raised in Taiwan was the death penalty, not Taiwan-China relations. Anyway, it’s very rare that the UK PM has an experience of Taiwan. Photo credit: ROC Presidential Office, Oct 1, 2018

Tie for the highest single-day total of ADIZ violations on record. MND report states that 66x PLA aircraft and 7x PLAN vessels were tracked around Taiwan today. 56 of the aircraft entered the de facto ADIZ. Tied with 56 aircraft on 4 Oct 2021.

Taiwan has escaped the worst of the global cyber outage, according to Ministry of Digital Affairs 數位發展部 🇹🇼: "The government's important and critical information systems are operating normally and have not been affected by this crash."

Air raid sirens go off across Taipei as part of yearly drills aimed at readying people to take shelter if #Taiwan comes under attack. Traffic is halted, streets emptied. For 30 minutes the city mostly comes to a stop.

"Authorities say hundreds of people were injured" Sky News Australia's Asia Correspondent, Staś Butler | 貝德旭 has the latest from Taiwan as Typhoon Gaemi has now passed the country and heading towards China More ➡️ trib.al/Rx0iR33 📺 Sky 501 and YouTube

As per rules set by the 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, ROC(Taiwan) 🇹🇼, I can now say that I was part of a group of journalists that met with Taiwan's Defense Minister, Wellington Koo... and here's what we talked about: