The likeliest scenario for 2026 is not a full-fledged conflict, but an increase in China’s political, economic and military pressure against Taiwan

The diplomatic row comes after Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi said Japan may intervene if China blockades Taiwan.

Heavyweights clash as election of hawkish PM Sanae Takaichi and US policy unpredictability change calculus in region

Taiwan’s vast surpluses have been years in the making. For decades its central bank, known as the cbc, has kept the currency undervalued, giving manufacturing exporters a competitive boost. According to the GDP -adjusted Big Mac index,

Both sides of the Taiwan Strait are girding for would be the most difficult seaborne invasion since World War II.

Former president and foreign ministers have made trips to Europe as other nations handle contacts more flexibly

With a clear view of China's skyscraper-studded coastline, Taiwanese coastguard captain Huang Heng-chun steers his patrol boat through choppy waters around a group of islands controlled by Taipei.The Taiwanese boats also have water cannon and a 20-millimetre static machine gun,

Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have dramatically soured, with nationalist rhetoric in China and an apparent threat of beheading from one of its diplomats.