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Taiwan

This Month

Donald Trump declared a national economic emergency to launch the tariffs, expected to produce hundreds of billions in annual revenues.

Trump unveils 10pc tariffs on all imports, higher for 60 countries

The president used aggressive rhetoric to describe a global trade system that the US helped to build, saying “our country has been looted, pillaged, raped, plundered”.

Hong Kong-based Jardine Matheson was once called the “most remarkable firm of traders to be involved in the opening up of China”.

Jardine Matheson, giant of Hong Kong commerce, charts new course as investor

The storied Anglo-Asian conglomerate was founded as an opium trader in 1832 and famous as an inspiration for James Clavell’s novels. The shift marks a new incarnation.

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PM, Dutton trade barbs; Star’s lifeline fails; Investors too calm

Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.

This image released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense shows China’s Shandong aircraft carrier sailing near Taiwan on Monday.

China holds military exercises around Taiwan in fresh warning

Warships and fighter planes practiced drills, in what Beijing said was a warning to Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te.

RBA governor Michele Bullock

RBA won’t join desperate guessing game

Central banks are as much on edge as markets, as the world waits to learn the impact and extent of Donald Trump’s tariffs. Caution reigns at the Reserve Bank.

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March

Factor Bikes was founded in 2008. The interest from a Chinese buyer highlights the appeal of premium cycling brands.

Point King, Skip Capital in $111m payday by selling down Factor Bikes

The Australian investors will partially cash out their stake in the premium bicycle maker, selling a 21 per cent holding to Chinese manufacturer Zhonglu.

Australian Navy ensign and United States Navy ensign, side by side during Exercise Cyber Sentinels in 2023.

Australia’s Indo-Pacific destiny up for grabs in a new world order

Australia may have to give up on the idea of a strategic equilibrium and settle for something messier and less grand.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull became testy when questioned over his timing and judgment for criticising Donald Trump.

Treating Trump as economic illiterate on tariffs is the wrong strategy

Malcolm Turnbull is right that trying to negotiate an exemption from a volatile president is foolhardy. But many are assuming there is no reason to Donald Trump’s trade policies.

Peter Hegseth:

Hegseth hits back after China declares ‘we’re ready’ for war

The US defence secretary says “those who long for peace must prepare for war”.

We have seen how Trump deals with countries he views as free riders. At the same time as the White House was melting down over Zelensky, Australia was meekly observing three Chinese war ships circumnavigating our continent.

Labor says supporting Ukraine an easy choice, but what about Taiwan?

The Chinese live-fire fiasco showed the government’s short-term domestic political considerations are hampering our ability to deter and damaging our credibility as an alliance partner.

Donald Trump, with TSMC boss C.C. Wei and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, at the White House.

Chipmaker TSMC to invest $161b in US to appease Trump

The Taiwanese company’s announcement comes as the president threatens to slap tariffs on the sector to try and boost American manufacturing.

A Taiwanese coast guard vessel chases after a Chinese ship off the coast of Hualien, eastern Taiwan in December.

Is Taiwan next? China keenly watches Trump dump Ukraine

The US president’s dramatic meltdown with Volodymyr Zelensky raises urgent questions about whether America would support the island if Beijing invaded.

February

Jensen Huang has built Nvidia into the world’s most valuable company.

The ‘insane’ question Nvidia must answer in earnings spotlight

One month after Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek wiped $US600 billion off Nvidia’s valuation, Jensen Huang needs to prove the show is still on the road.

In this photo made from video released by the Taiwan Coast Guard, Taiwanese Coast Guard vessels prepare to board Togolese-flagged cargo ship Hongtai suspected of severing an undersea communications cable in waters between its main island’s west coast and the outlying Penghu islands.

Taiwan detains Chinese-crewed ship after undersea cable severed

Taiwan is preparing for the worst in an escalating subsea infrastructure battle after authorities detained a Chinese-crewed cargo vessel suspected of sabotage.

China tests Australia’s, Trump’s resolve on Taiwan

The shifting geopolitical landscape has opened new opportunities for Xi Jinping in his plans to wrest back control of Taiwan. Australia is increasingly exposed.

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DeepSeek, a Chinese-owned open-source artificial intelligence platform, was developed with far less investment, time, and infrastructure than its US big-tech competitors.

Why China’s state control is a hidden advantage in global AI race

While Western tech giants struggle with AI safety, China’s top-down, censorial approach might be creating more trustworthy systems for business use.

Soldiers manoeuvre a missile onto a Taiwan fighter jet in Taichung City.

US enrages China after suggesting support for Taiwan independence

The United States Department of State has dropped a phrase from its online fact sheet that stated Washington does not support Taiwan’s independence.

Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida, left, and Toshihiro Mibe, Honda CEO, this week confirmed merger talks.

Honda reports higher profits as it ends merger talks with Nissan

The carmakers finalised their decision to abandon negotiations on a $US58 billion combination.

Nissan vehicles on the production line at the Renault Nissan plant in Chennai, India.

Foxconn confirms eyeing stake in Nissan

The Taiwanese iPhone maker says it would consider a deal only as part of co-operation on electric vehicles.

As the world is consumed by Donald Trump’s trade war, China is quietly gathering backers against Taiwan.

China’s stunning new campaign to turn the world against Taiwan

Seventy countries have recently backed “all Chinese efforts” to take the island. They adopted that new wording in the past 18 months, after a Chinese diplomatic offensive across the global south.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/taiwan-fq0