Ashish Valentine

Weeks after deadly floods, many Amis Indigenous residents of Hualien held a rally outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei to protest disaster recovery measures currently being discussed by KMT lawmakers that they worry could force them to relocate from their homes.

'Like ice melting': Journalists warn press freedom is in decline across Asia China's jailing of citizen journalist Zhang Zhan highlights a deeper press freedom crisis across Asia.

My latest for @npr.org : Doxxing, death threats, and detentions are becoming routine threats for journalists across Asia. Here's a look at how reporters from the Philippines, Indonesia and other places adjust to the new realities - and even start to fight back. www.npr.org/2025/09/30/n...

Nepal's prime minister KP Sharma Oli is now the second South Asian leader to be driven out of office by youth-led protests in just over a year. He joins neighboring Bangladesh's Sheikh Hasina, who fled the country on a helicopter amid mass protests last August.

KMT lawmakers claim victory as recall vote count continues - Focus Taiwan Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers have declared they survived recall votes to remove them from office Saturday, although official results are still pending as the vote counting continues.

Taiwan’s opposition KMT scored big today: early results show that all remaining 7 lawmakers who faced recall challenges have kept their seats. President Lai Ching-te faces an uphill battle on pledges to raise defense spending to 3.32% of GDP next year and 5% by 2030.
focustaiwan.tw/politics/202...

U.S. and China extend tariff truce deadline for another 3 months President Trump's executive order extends a reprieve from the threat of rising tariffs between the world's two largest economies.

My latest for @npr.org : With hours left on the clock, the US and China extended a truce that limits tariffs between the world's two largest economies by a further 90 days. Analysts expect further talks and a face-to-face meeting between Trump and Xi later this year. www.npr.org/2025/08/12/n...

Taiwan warns of toxic wild mushrooms | Taiwan News | Aug. 6, 2025 09:53 Food and Drug Administration says 33 poisoned over 5 years as rain spurs new mushroom growth | Aug. 6, 2025 09:53

Heavy rains that caused dozens of injuries, power outages and 5 deaths in southern Taiwan have led to an unexpected result: a surge of wild mushrooms. Authorities are removing them from roadsides and warning that toxic mushrooms are hard to tell apart from edible ones. taiwannews.com.tw/news/6172548

Glad you appreciated it Brian!

Deadline nears for Taiwan's Chinese immigrants to prove no China household registration Amid a wave of national security measures, immigrants from China must prove they've given up their household registration in China by June 30. Many are Chinese women married to men from Taiwan.

My latest for @npr.org : Today is the deadline for thousands of Chinese immigrants in Taiwan to prove they gave up household registration in China, or potentially face deportation. Many immigrants feel they've become victims of worsening cross-strait tensions.
www.npr.org/2025/06/29/g...

Super interesting, thanks for sharing. I've seen a couple of examples of these sorts of names while traveling around Indigenous communities but hadn't properly known the context til now

Glad you appreciated the piece Michael

Glad you appreciated it Mark

And indeed re: a university literally named after the "Great Han" becoming such a hub for Indigenous students, I feel Taiwan is full of these kinds of contradictions

Glad you appreciated the piece! There's Dong Hua for 4-year studies and Tzu Chi for some career track subjects. But many of the programs tailored to Indigenous communities (training to do cultural tours in your community, or open a restaurant making your culture's cuisine etc) won't be replaced.

8/8 When schools like Dahan close, Taiwan's ministry of education finds alternative places for students to finish their degrees further away from home. But as more schools shut their doors, communities like the Truku student Chen's village may be left with fewer educational opportunities.

7/8 Higher ed researcher Angela Yung-chi Hou says elite colleges can handle low enrollment by taking more international students. But those with fewer resources - like Dahan - can't compete. Taiwan's less developed southern and eastern areas will continue to lose local schools as a result.

6/8 An alum of Shih Hsin, and the executive secretary of Taiwan's higher education union Zhang Zhi-lun argues some private universities are using the pretext of low enrollment to run themselves more like a business - harming students and teachers' rights in the process.

5/8 But even in Taipei, schools are feeling pressure. Students at Shih Hsin university are protesting a decision to close any undergrad course with fewer than 30 students. The students say it's unnecessary cost-cutting. The college says, facing funding issues, it needs to save money where it can.

4/8 One of You’s former students, Chen Xiao-dong, said young people from his Truku Indigenous community relied on Dahan for career-track education. When Dahan closes, they'll be left without a nearby alternative. Most school closures are happening in less-developed areas in Taiwan's south and east.

3/8 Professor You Li-fang told me what made Dahan Institute special was that 2 out of every 5 of its students were from the nearby Indigenous communities. When the school closes, “I think the poor will become much poorer because they will lose opportunities,” You said. “I’m so mad about that.”

As Taiwan’s birth rate falls, universities shut down one after the other - The World from PRX Due to Taiwan's falling birth rate, enrollment at many universities and colleges has been declining for years, forcing many higher education institutions to shut their doors or merge with other univer...

2/8 Dahan Institute of Technology, near the east coast city of Hualien, will shut its doors in just a few months. Once home to over 7,000 students mostly studying career-track subjects, the campus now lies empty, hosting just a handful of classes. theworld.org/stories/2025...

Taiwan's colleges closing amid dropping enrollment - The World from PRX Due to Taiwan’s falling birth rate, enrollment at many universities and colleges has been declining for years, forcing many higher education institutions to shut their doors or merge with other univer...

🧵 1/8 My latest for @theworld.org: Taiwan's birthrate is among the lowest in the world. Fewer babies means fewer kids going to school, and fewer still onwards to university. 15 colleges have closed here in the past decade as a result - four of them just last year. theworld.org/segments/202...

On The World 🌎 today:

🌐 @orlabarry.bsky.social: Poland votes this weekend in an election seen as a test for democracy

🌐 @ashishval.bsky.social: Taiwan colleges closing amid enrollment drops

🌐 The rush to buy metal detectors in Syria, as search for gold heats up

Tune in 📻 bit.ly/3xyRRfD

Record numbers of pilgrims are accompanying a figure of the goddess Mazu on a roughly 400-km route through western Taiwan. I stopped by on the goddess's return journey to the home temple in Baishatun, Miaoli, as her carriage rested in a rice farming village in Yunlin.

YouTube video by TaiwanPlus News Southeast Asian Bookstore in New Taipei Closes After a Decade｜TaiwanPlus News

Very sad to see Brilliant Time books is closing. More than a bookstore, a space for Southeast Asian communities and anyone who wanted to learn about them. They often hosted talks on Southeast Asian literatures and free classes for Bahasa Indonesia and other languages. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqej...

Musicians protest through song at festival in Taiwan At Taiwan's premier music festival, artists went political with their tunes and lyrics.

Latest for @npr.org : Taiwan's premier music festival, Megaport, draws tens of thousands of fans each year to the southern port city of Kaohsiung. This year, several artists used their platforms to share concerns about an escalating threat from China. www.npr.org/2025/04/05/n...

Hip hop artist Yang Shu-ya 楊舒雅 takes the stage at Taiwan's premier independent music festival, Megaport 大港開唱. She's performing her single "2045", about the fears of a potential Chinese invasion and Taiwan's uncertain future.

Taiwanese chip giant's investments in U.S. stir 'silicon shield' security worries TSMC's plan to invest $100 billion into U.S. production facilities raises concerns that its leverage in securing protection from China may be weakened.

My latest for @npr.org: TSMC's $100 billion investments in the US have some in Taiwan worried that their global advantage in semiconductor manufacturing could be compromised. And with it - the "silicon shield" that many believe helps deter a Chinese invasion. www.npr.org/2025/03/12/g...

At a recent protest in support of Ukraine, Taiwanese volunteer Deng Ruei-yun said "It's not a good idea Trump may sacrifice the interests of the Ukrainian people." She thinks Taiwan should figure out what to pitch the US "so they can offer us more help instead of selling us out."

Taiwan's legislature votes to cut defense spending as US support remains uncertain A fierce debate in Taiwan over defense spending comes at a time when China continues to pressure the island and Washington's support is in question.

On the campaign trail Trump called on Taiwan to spend more on defense. Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te recently vowed to raise defense spending to 3% of Taiwan's GDP, but doing so will be tough without concessions from the opposition-controlled legislature. www.npr.org/2025/02/10/n...

For its part, Taiwan is considering ways to avoid tariffs, including buying LNG and billions of dollars' worth of weapons from the US. Co-editor of US Taiwan Watch and Soochow University professor Chen Fang-yu says "For Mr. Trump, it seems there's no concept of allies. Everything is transactional."