Kevin Wei Luo

The unintended consequence, as ex-minister Lin mentioned in the op-ed in the first post, is that the PRC unwittingly lent fuel to the populist anti-China backlash post 2016 in TW, and as a result ended with no productive results for its grand plans for reunification in the past decade. 6/6

I think it's unlikely things would have turned out that differently given the partisan dynamics in TW, but this moment in 2016 was an important moment of foreshadowing: the PRC's personalistic cooptation of KMT politicians, as well as the complete stonewalling of the DPP 5/6

a timely discussion given the recent recall campaigns directed against KMT legislators, which is going to somewhat damage the KMT's credibility in cross-strait relations. The other question is whether there was a 'lost opportunity' for the Tsai admin in terms of cross-strait policy 4/6

台灣政客為私利「阻止兩岸破冰」？恐怖內幕曝　他點1警訊：實在十分無奈 | 即時 前海基會董事長李大維卻在新書中爆料，蔡英文曾有機會讓兩岸破冰，卻因部分「前政治人物」基於私利從中作梗而破局，引起各界高度關注；對此中華戰略學會資深研究員張競指出，李大維此舉恐「毀其清譽惹來是非」。疑遭台灣政客攪局　蔡英文「兩岸破冰」無望李大維在近日出版的新書《和光同塵：一位外交官的省思》中透露，前總統蔡英文2016年就職時的兩岸論述，獲得中方智庫正面反饋、甚......

This revelation is sourced from a recent memoir published by former TW rep to the US Lee Da-wei, who mentioned that he was told this by a 'retired friend from American intelligence.' Lee is widely considered to be more of a career diplomat and not very partisan 3/6

www.storm.mg/lifestyle/11...

In addition to the debates within the PRC's Taiwan affairs system, think tanks, and nat sec circles, one recent revelation is that 'several former politicians' from the Taiwan side lobbied Beijing to not accept Tsai's olive branch. The speculation is that these were folks from the KMT camp. 2/6

interesting retrospection on cross-strait relations lately. from Lin Chong-pin, ex deputy defense minister of the ROC: The Tsai admin's proposal to re-initiate cross strait talks early in her presidency was quasi rebuffed by Beijing, due to a combo of interpersonal relations behind the scenes. 1/6

A social media post from Michael Bennet Enjoyer shows a stylized map of New York City's five boroughs colored in two distinct schemes - Staten Island and the Bronx appear in teal/blue, while Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens are shown in orange and brown tones. Positioned on the left side of the map is a formal portrait of Andrew Cuomo in military dress uniform with ornate decorations and medals. The post text reads: "BREAKING: Cuomo has fled the NYC mainland following its fall to socialist Zohran Mamdani. Sources say he will establish a new govt on Staten Island with the goal of eventually reclaiming the entire city. Mamdani has promised to purge all remaining Cuomintang on the mainland." Borough labels visible on the map include "Bronx," "Manhattan," "Queens," and "Staten Island." (ALT Text by Claude AI)

LOL

A great service to anyone who will want to work with this data down the road. A big thank-you to whoever did this.

Doing the lord’s work. Back on the syllabus next semester!

Disclaimer: I contributed nothing of substance as an audience member! But congrats on getting this out.

a meticulous revisiting of Yuhua Wang's 2022 APSR piece by @linsantu.bsky.social on Song dynasty kinship networks and state building. Bookmarked.

wgntv.com/news/pope-le...

South Side!

consider, they picked whichever Pope would piss off Vance the most

NOVA KNICKS

BRUNSON, BRIDGES, HART, POPE LEO XIV

surprisingly smooth democratic transition at the Vatican

Thanks for coming Jeff! I can't believe we forgot to take a group photo at dinner, but here is a nice shot of you with Ann:

as a former Wilson Center grant recipient and beneficiary of its resources, I have some strong feelings about its dismantling. My gloomy prediction though is that there will never be a strong enough bipartisan consensus to take Asia (and China) seriously, until actual disaster strikes.

quote: "It’s rare that in retrospect US foreign policy failures turn out to be the result of listening too carefully to area specialists. Avoiding rule by experts doesn’t imply destroying all expertise, nor does pursuing efficiency require gutting valuable institutions for a pittance of savings."

training for his lungs!

YouTube video by MrOldMajor 毛主席暢游長江 Chairman Mao Swims in the Yangtze ― 賈世駿 Jia Shijun (1968年) | ⦇EN CC⦈

Chairman Mao swims in the Yangtze River: www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Xf...

It's the 10 year anniversary of this post about another leader trying to talk with was out of and into a stock market crisis.

goodauthority.org/news/the-pol...

I have never watched "The White Lotus" but I'm glad American TV is finally paying attention to this anti-Qing Buddhist revolutionary movement.

Gave a talk to our PhD students today, and feeling appreciative of all the recent methods work on improving common practices. Thanks to all the authors who work to make their work accessible, especially on social media.

A few articles we discussed:

South Korea survived this democratic challenge. What’s next? The impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol is a critical first step in reversing the country’s authoritarian slide.

South Korea survived this democratic challenge. What’s next?

The impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol is a critical first step in reversing the country’s authoritarian slide.

goodauthority.org/news/south-k...

though don't discount the possibility that all of this will be blamed on poor Lutnick

Also an important lesson from Chinese politics (e.g. XJP's zero-COVID policy): if you insist that everything is your political responsibility alone, then it becomes very hard to wriggle yourself out of blame.

do we have any guesses as to how the court (afaik not a full court) would vote?

'Neo-feudalism' should be the next great IR school

The pivot to clientelism in all its forms is something to behold. Yes, vote buying, but also patronage hiring into the state, tariffs and exec orders as threats from which to selectively "forbear" in return for political submission, withholding funds from opposition strongholds - the whole package

As @cpsjournal.bsky.social editor I read about 100 peer-reviews per month. A 🧵 on what makes a great review:

1.) Succinct summary of the contribution (puzzle, argument, data, evidence)

2.) State clearly in your first paragraph whether the evidence supports the argument.