They've been hailed as virus success stories – places that have seen virtually zero or single-digit COVID cases since the start of the year.But this month, Singapore and Taiwan have both seen a sudden and aggressive rise in cases – with Singapore logging 248 new cases just last week, and Taiwan 1,200 local infections.Both places have gone into a heightened state of restrictions, limiting the size of social gatherings and closing schools.By global standards, these numbers may seem small –

Taiwan reported 206 new local cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, breaking the previous day’s record high of 180 as authorities brought in the strictest measures yet in a bid to contain the virus.The outbreak, which began about three weeks ago among employees of the national airline and a connected quarantine hotel, has now produced about 85 percent of Taiwan’s total number of locally transmitted cases since the pandemic began.The sudden rise in cases in a country widely considered to have had one o

World health experts issued a grim warning Friday that the second year of COVID-19 was set to be "far more deadly", as Japan extended a state of emergency amid growing calls for the Olympics to be scrapped."We're on track for the second year of this pandemic to be far more deadly than the first," said the World Health Organization's (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.The mood also darkened in Japan where the coronavirus state of emergency took in a

Would the United States (US) be prepared to risk a catastrophic war with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to protect the Republic of China (ROC), better known as Taiwan? President Joe Biden laid out his vision clearly last week.

The South China Sea (SCS), one of the most in-demand waterways in the world, is the object of contention of several claimant-states with overlapping territorial and maritime sovereignty and sovereign rights claims over its disputed waters. The said dispute is still unresolved until today and can be dated back to the 1950s.

For the first time in more than half a century, the United States (US) and Japan are expected this week to make a joint statement on the security of the Taiwan Strait following a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.While largely symbolic, the statement would be an indication of increasing concern about the security of the democratically-run island amid dire public warnings from senior US military officials about the threat of an invasion by Beijin

China has warned the United States (US) “not to play with fire” on Taiwan issues after the Department of State updated its guidelines easing restrictions on meetings between US officials and their counterparts from the island, which Beijing claims as its own.Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian urged the US to “immediately stop any form of US-Taiwan official contacts, cautiously and appropriately handle the matter, and not send wrong signals to Taiw

The United States (US) on Wednesday warned China against what the Philippines and Taiwan see as increasingly aggressive moves, reminding Beijing of Washington's obligations to its partners."An armed attack against the Philippines' armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific, including in the South China Sea, will trigger our obligations under the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters."We share the concer

One month ago, in Myanmar, protesters against the military coup gathered around the United States (US) embassy in Yangon. They called on President Joe Biden to make the generals go back to their barracks and free Aung San Suu Kyi from detention. Her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won a big victory in the 2020 general election, which is why the generals, afraid of losing their privileges, seized power. But is the US embassy the best place to protest?

One week into the job, United States (US) President Joe Biden has sent a clear warning to Beijing against any expansionist intentions in East and Southeast Asia.In multiple calls and statements, he and his top security officials have underscored support for allies Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines, signalling Washington's rejection of China's disputed territorial claims in those areas.On Wednesday, Biden told Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga that his administratio