David on Formosa

Issue 11: October – December 2025

The latest issue of @freedomhouse.bsky.social's China Dissent Monitor reports that protest activity in China increased significantly in 2025

freedomhouse.org/report/china...

In addition to promoting entertainment, X's feed algorithm tends to push more conservative content to users' feeds. Seven weeks of exposure to such content in 2023 shifted users' political opinions in a more conservative direction, particularly with regard to policy priorities, perceptions of the criminal investigations into Trump and views on the war in Ukraine. The effect is asymmetric: switching the algorithm on influenced political views, but switching it off did not reverse users' perspectives on policy priorities or current political issues.

We show that exposure to algorithmically curated content led users to follow conservative activist accounts. In contrast, when the algorithmic feed was switched off, users continued to follow the accounts they had engaged with previously. This indicates that exposure to feed algorithms has a lasting impact on users' feeds and their political attitudes.

This is a very interesting new paper in Nature about the role that feed algorithms on X play in influencing political attitudes.

No paywall: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The story of a Malaysian student who was imprisoned in Taiwan for 12 years on false charges during the White Terror period

[Warning: descriptions of torture]

mekongreview.com/cautionary-t...

Hong Kong ex-media tycoon Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in prison in national security case Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media tycoon and a fierce critic of Beijing, is sentenced to 20 years in prison in one of the most prominent cases prosecuted under a China-imposed national security law.

BREAKING: Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media tycoon and a fierce critic of Beijing, is sentenced to 20 years in prison in one of the most prominent cases prosecuted under a China-imposed national security law.

Australia-Taiwan relations: Policy options and priorities for engagement

New report on Australia-Taiwan relations by @usstudiescentre.bsky.social advocates for Australia to deepen its relationship with Taiwan

www.ussc.edu.au/australia-ta...

I am thrilled to share our newest peer-reviewed work, "Feeling Blue: Public Support for Taiwan’s Bluebird Movement and Legislative Reform" with @poscwty1.bsky.social & Hannah June Kim, out now at China Quarterly!

A🧵on Taiwanese public opinion & independent voters:
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

On Doing Small Things Towards Change – A Book Review Andréa Worden, January 31, 2026 Xu Zhiyong (许志永),  美好中国 (published in Chinese by Bouden House, NY, 2025).[1] English translations of the 24 essays comprising A Beautiful China are available on the …

Two books on civil society & how change will likely happen in China, and why advocates for human rights and democracy shouldn't lose hope. Imprisoned organizer of the Citizens Movement, Xu Zhiyong, is an eloquent writer whose book will soon be released in English. chinachange.org/2026/01/31/o...

Op-ed by Taiwan's representative in Australia Douglas Hsu, in response to PRC ambassador Xiao Qian:
www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/u...

Q&A: Amid the Chinese Communist Party’s Authoritarian Rule, How Does Freedom House Uncover Dissent in China?

The China Dissent Monitor, a project of @freedomhouse.bsky.social, is the only public database of protest events in China. It helps to explain economic, social, and political trends in China

freedomhouse.org/article/qa-a...

The 10 Best Taiwanese Movies of 2025 - No Man Is An Island Discover the top Taiwanese movies from 2025 across genres like action, historical, family drama, romance, and more—streaming links included when available.

2025’s Top Ten Taiwanese films, as selected by the editors of New Bloom and Cinema Escapist!

nomanisanis.land/the-10-best-...

Japan:
“military exercises”
“increase tensions”
“dialogue”

Philippines:
“coercion”
“intimidation”
“distorted rule of international law”
“fragile geopolitical environment”

The Philippine text names the pathology, not just the symptom.

A good example of how "lefties" are totally down for imperialism and war, if the PRC is doing it.

The US isn't trying to pry Taiwan from China, because China doesn't own it. Rather, the Taiwanese don't want to be annexed to the PRC, and nations around them are supporting them.

Notes from Central Taiwan: The threat to Taiwan’s liberal values - Taipei Times Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan

My column for today on the illiberal ASPI piece on the possibility of erosion of liberal democracy by the Lai administration.
www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...

Notes from Central Taiwan: Okinawa as Taiwan - Taipei Times Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan

My column today on Okinawa and Taiwan
www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...

The fall of civil society in #HongKong is chilling. SD's earlier study on how NGOs, unions, media, and religious groups were shut down in 2021 reveals the earlier steps, with the recent closure of its main opposition continuing the fall of free HK.

safeguarddefenders.com/en/blog/ccp-...

Book Review: Making Punches Count Batto and Beaulieu take sordid tales of legislators punching, pushing and shoving and turn it into data to explore the who, why, where and a bit of how legislative brawls happen

I review Nathan Batto and Emily Beaulieu's book about brawling in legislatures in #Taiwan, #Ukraine and beyond!

laorencha.substack.com/p/book-revie...

Constitutional crisis For all the hand-wringing about the controversial recall efforts in early 2025, there was never any question about their legality. The procedures for our recalls were clearly laid out in the electi…

Frozen Garlic explains how Taiwan has entered a constitutional crisis

frozengarlic.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/c...

In full: The 855-page guilty verdict against media tycoon Jimmy Lai The full verdict: Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai has been found guilty of collusion and sedition in his national security trial.

📎 The full verdict against Jimmy Lai runs to 855 pages

hongkongfp.com/2025/12/15/i...

Jimmy Lai conviction is ‘death knell’ for Hong Kong press freedom, says Amnesty – live Group says guilty verdicts against incarcerated media tycoon also show city’s national security laws designed not to protect but ‘to silence’ people

The guilty verdict against Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai has been strongly condemned by rights groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists

www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Notes from Central Taiwan: Blocking China’s Trojan horse(s) - Taipei Times Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan

My column for today. The Rednote ban in Taiwan boils down to one simple fact: it has no offices in Taiwan, and cannot be regulated under local law. That imposes an either/or choice on the authorities.
www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...

A new museum/library in Taichung with innovative architecture

#HongKong: With short notice, 2 years after his sham trial began, the verdict in Jimmy Lai’s trial is set for Monday, 15/12. Given his age, prison conditions, and deteriorating health, every day he stays in jail risks his life. It’s time for democracies, especially 🇬🇧 and 🇺🇸, to act for his release.

Sexually explicit letters about exiled Hong Kong activists sent to UK and Australian addresses Exclusive: Letters with deepfake images of Carmen Lau in UK and targeting of Ted Hui in Australia part of growing harassment

The sexual harassment of @carmenlau.bsky.social, Ted Hui and his family marks a sordid new low in the #HongKong government’s campaign of #transnationalrepression against activists.

We stand with them and call for protection against this despicable behaviour.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

The World #Indigenous Traditional Games kicks off in #Taiwan today!

The mascot is inspired by the Formosan wild boar, a symbol of strength, endurance, and bravery. Tribal markings represent cultural identity and exchanges. The design reflects the perseverance and vitality of Indigenous communities.

Speaker from Tibetan community at Human Rights Day protest against CCP

ANZ Alliance for Victims of the Chinese Communist Regime protest on Human Rights Day in Sydney

Groups participating in Human Rights Day protest against CCP in Sydney

Uyghurs and Tibetans at Human Rights Day protest against CCP in Sydney

Human Rights Day protest against the CCP in Sydney. Participants included Chinese, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hongkongers and other groups

Loved ones fear for pro-Tibet student activist detained in China Zhang Yadi's plight illustrates the risk of going home for Chinese nationals who displease the state, as it increasingly tightens control over issues it considers sensitive -- such as that of Tibet.

Zhang Yadi's plight illustrates the risk of going home for Chinese nationals who displease the state, as it increasingly tightens control over issues it considers sensitive -- such as that of Tibet. In full: buff.ly/EfBmfWe

Australians do not fully understand what’s at stake if Taiwan’s democracy is threatened by China.

👉 Read the full story: theconversation.com/what-is...

YouTube video by Taiwan Salad I went to the most dangerous place on earth

Excellent video explaining and dispelling the common myths about Taiwan perpetuated by western media.

Hint: Ranked 4th in the world with regard to safety, it definitely is not ‘the most dangerous place on earth.’

Great thanks to @honghongtinn.bsky.social for sharing channel

Notes from Central Taiwan: Beijing’s strategic temper tantrums... - Taipei Times Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan

I wrote on the PRC campaign of words against Japan/Takaichi this week. It's infuriating that after so many years of PRC fauxspeak the int'l media still reaches for the "victims provoke" trope, like complaining that Benes provoked Hitler.
www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...

Kerry Brown’s “Why Taiwan Matters” Simply Argues That Taiwan Does Not Matter in the Face of China | New Bloom Magazine With increased international attention on Taiwan in past years–particularly with the rise in tensions in the Taiwan Strait–one now sees a curious phenomenon: that of the China hand who wishes to get…

"Kerry Brown's 'Why Taiwan Matters' Simply Argues That Taiwan Does Not Matter in the Face of China" by @brianhioe.bsky.social