https://www.scmp.com/rss/522724/feed The latest news and top stories on Chen Binhua. He currently serves as Director and Spokesperson of the Information Bureau of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. With a career spanning decades at Xinhua News Agency, he gained experience covering cross-strait relations, including being one of the first mainland journalists stationed in Taiwan. His background includes roles as deputy director of various bureaus within the Taiwan Affairs Office. He is known for his deep understanding of... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Phoebe Zhang Phoebe Zhang Authorities in Beijing say peaceful reunification will solve Taiwan’s energy supply fears sparked by the hostilities in the Middle East, emphasising that “the removal of barriers between the two sides of the [Taiwan] strait will ensure the smooth flow of resources”. Chen Binhua, spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Wednesday that peaceful reunification would create enormous opportunities for the island’s economic and social development and bring tangible benefits to the people... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3347012/mainland-china-says-taiwan-can-ease-iran-energy-supply-anxiety-peaceful-reunification?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3347012/mainland-china-says-taiwan-can-ease-iran-energy-supply-anxiety-peaceful-reunification?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 08:34:51 +0000 Amber Wang Amber Wang The People’s Liberation Army ramped up aircraft sorties near Taiwan over the weekend, ending two weeks of relative calm just as a defiant speech by Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te drew a strong rebuke from Beijing. From 6am on Saturday to 6am on Sunday, Taiwan detected 26 PLA aircraft sorties operating around the island. Sixteen of these entered the island’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ), according to data released by Taiwan’s defence ministry on Sunday. The 26 sorties marked a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346774/pla-ramps-taiwan-patrols-after-lull-beijing-slams-lais-independence-confession?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3346774/pla-ramps-taiwan-patrols-after-lull-beijing-slams-lais-independence-confession?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 11:19:06 +0000 Lawrence Chung Lawrence Chung Talks between the US and Chinese presidents on Taiwan and arms sales have fanned fears on the island that it is slipping down the ladder of Washington’s strategic priorities in an era of great-power bargaining. The concern compounded unease raised by the release last month of the US’ National Defence Strategy, which made no mention of Taiwan. In a phone call on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping told his American counterpart Donald Trump that Taiwan was the “most important” question in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3342534/xi-trump-and-why-their-talks-are-stoking-unease-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3342534/xi-trump-and-why-their-talks-are-stoking-unease-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Feb 2026 12:00:15 +0000 William Zheng William Zheng Beijing has condemned Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te’s New Year’s Day speech – including his vow to boost the island’s defences – as full of “lies, falsehoods, hostility and malice” and an attempt to “mislead the Taiwanese people and international public opinion”. Chen Binhua, spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), said on Thursday that Lai’s speech “once again peddled the fallacy of ‘Taiwan independence’, incited cross-strait confrontation and reiterated the old tune of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3338396/beijing-slams-taiwanese-leader-lais-new-years-speech-lies-and-malice?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3338396/beijing-slams-taiwanese-leader-lais-new-years-speech-lies-and-malice?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Jan 2026 08:25:50 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick Venezuela criticised the United States on Monday over its decision to approve a large-scale arms sale to Taiwan, aligning itself with Beijing as tensions escalated around the island. In a statement issued by the foreign ministry, the Venezuelan government said the sale interfered in China’s internal affairs and breached international commitments undertaken by Washington. It reiterated its support for the one-China principle and said Taiwan is “an inalienable part of China’s territory”. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3338080/venezuela-condemns-us-arms-sale-taiwan-echoing-beijings-position?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3338080/venezuela-condemns-us-arms-sale-taiwan-echoing-beijings-position?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2025 21:59:44 +0000 Xinlu Liang Xinlu Liang Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an has cut short his planned visit to a joint forum in Shanghai to better focus on security concerns following a deadly stabbing incident in the Taiwanese city last week. Chiang was originally scheduled to attend the Shanghai-Taipei City Forum over Saturday and Sunday. He will now only fly over for the main forum on Sunday morning before returning to Taipei to oversee heightened security operations, according to a press release from the municipal government on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3337640/taipei-mayor-cuts-shanghai-visit-short-oversee-security-following-deadly-stabbing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3337640/taipei-mayor-cuts-shanghai-visit-short-oversee-security-following-deadly-stabbing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Dec 2025 11:00:09 +0000 Dannie Peng Dannie Peng Beijing on Friday accused Washington of using its new US defence policy act to hype up the so-called China threat and interfere in its internal affairs. It also urged Washington to view their relationship “rationally” and refrain from enforcing negative China-related provisions. The latest National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), signed into law by President Donald Trump on Thursday, restricts US outbound investment in Chinese technology and curbs federal contracts with Chinese biotechnology... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3337124/us-defence-policy-act-overstates-china-threat-beijing-says-urges-rational-view?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3337124/us-defence-policy-act-overstates-china-threat-beijing-says-urges-rational-view?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Dec 2025 13:14:59 +0000 Mark Magnier Mark Magnier The US State Department’s approval this week of a US$11.1 billion weapons package for Taiwan – reportedly the largest in the island’s history – dovetails with Taipei’s effort to show US President Donald Trump it is doing more to defend itself, even as it shifts towards a less conventional “porcupine” strategy, analysts said. “These are asymmetric weapons that are focused on bolstering the capability of Taiwan’s military to prevent a PLA invasion,” said Bonnie Glaser, vice-president of the German... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3336978/us-arms-deal-supports-taiwans-effort-reassure-trump-defence-burden?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3336978/us-arms-deal-supports-taiwans-effort-reassure-trump-defence-burden?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Dec 2025 22:32:20 +0000 Dannie Peng Dannie Peng Beijing has condemned Washington for its decision to sell about US$11 billion in weapons to Taiwan, calling it a grave violation of its sovereignty and a dangerous signal to separatist forces. Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua said on Thursday that the sale amounted to “flagrant interference in China’s internal affairs”. Chen said it also “gravely violates” the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques, particularly the August 17 communique –... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3336961/beijing-condemns-washingtons-landmark-us11-billion-arms-sale-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3336961/beijing-condemns-washingtons-landmark-us11-billion-arms-sale-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Dec 2025 14:07:46 +0000 Lawrence Chung Lawrence Chung A proposal to invite Taiwan to next year’s US-led Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) military exercises has been removed from defence policy legislation progressing through Congress, raising concerns in Taipei that Washington’s political calculus may be shifting. Some analysts have warned that the removal of language approved by the US Senate in the 2026 National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) could even pave the way for Beijing’s return to the world’s largest naval exercise. For the first time, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3336217/why-has-reference-taiwan-attending-rimpac-been-removed-us-defence-bill?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3336217/why-has-reference-taiwan-attending-rimpac-been-removed-us-defence-bill?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Dec 2025 12:40:02 +0000 Yuanyue Dang Yuanyue Dang Taipei mayor Chiang Wan-an is set to visit Shanghai for a joint forum, an event that will be watched closely by Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Chiang will travel to Shanghai on December 27 and 28 for the Shanghai-Taipei City Forum, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported on Thursday. On Friday, mainland state news agency Xinhua said the annual forum would convene in Shanghai on December 28 and be based on the theme “Technology Transforming Life”. The forum, which was first... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3336251/taipei-mayor-chiang-wan-attend-annual-forum-shanghai-under-taiwans-watch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3336251/taipei-mayor-chiang-wan-attend-annual-forum-shanghai-under-taiwans-watch?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Dec 2025 11:00:18 +0000 Phoebe Zhang Phoebe Zhang Mainland Chinese police are offering a cash reward for tips on possible crime-related behaviour by two Taiwanese online influencers, saying their separatist activities are having a “terrible influence”. The Quanzhou police department in Fujian province, on the southeastern Chinese coast, said on Thursday that Wen Tzu-yu and Chen Po-yuan were first identified by the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) in March as henchmen and accomplices for the island’s independence. “According to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3332605/mainland-chinese-police-offer-cash-rewards-tips-taiwans-terrible-influencers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3332605/mainland-chinese-police-offer-cash-rewards-tips-taiwans-terrible-influencers?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Nov 2025 08:00:19 +0000 Phoebe Zhang Phoebe Zhang A religious ceremony honouring the Chinese sea goddess Mazu, which was promoted by Beijing as a symbol of cross-strait ties, has caused fresh concerns in Taiwan. The goddess is revered as a protector of fishermen and sailors and has millions of worshippers in eastern and southeastern parts of the Chinese mainland as well as in Taiwan. Last Wednesday, the authorities in Meizhou, a city in the mainland province of Fujian where Mazu is believed to have been born, staged a celebration to mark the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3331591/why-ceremonies-honouring-chinese-sea-goddess-mazu-spark-concerns-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3331591/why-ceremonies-honouring-chinese-sea-goddess-mazu-spark-concerns-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Nov 2025 08:00:11 +0000 William Zheng William Zheng The Chinese public has come out in force to pay tribute to Communist Party undercover agents who perished during the 1940s civil war, inspired by a television drama that gained a passionate following and sparked an outpouring of praise. The fervour centres on Silent Honour, the first mainland TV series to chronicle the Communist Party’s espionage activities in Taiwan in the war’s final months. It was when one of the party’s major intelligence operations was systematically crushed by the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3329472/popular-chinese-spy-drama-silent-honour-inspires-outpouring-praise-real-life-agents?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3329472/popular-chinese-spy-drama-silent-honour-inspires-outpouring-praise-real-life-agents?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Oct 2025 02:00:11 +0000 Lawrence Chung,Zhao Ziwen Lawrence Chung,Zhao Ziwen The spectacular collapse of Taiwan’s mass recall campaign against opposition lawmakers over the weekend has averted an immediate cross-strait crisis, according to analysts. Yet the ripple effects are reverberating across the Pacific – casting fresh uncertainty over Taiwan’s defence ambitions, complicating its ties with the US, and recalibrating the island’s delicate political balance amid escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington. Saturday’s unprecedented recall vote, which targeted 24... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3320282/taiwan-recall-cross-strait-crisis-averted-now-new-uncertainty-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3320282/taiwan-recall-cross-strait-crisis-averted-now-new-uncertainty-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Jul 2025 12:00:09 +0000 William Zheng William Zheng Beijing has criticised Taiwan’s failed recall vote as a “political manipulation” that was “completely contrary” to the will of the people. In Saturday’s vote, all 24 lawmakers from the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) survived the recall attempt backed by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Chen Binhua, a spokesman for mainland China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, criticised the DPP for “repeatedly provoking political strife” at the expense of Taiwanese people’s well-being, state news... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3319749/mainland-china-says-taiwans-failed-recall-vote-shows-how-political-manipulation-failed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3319749/mainland-china-says-taiwans-failed-recall-vote-shows-how-political-manipulation-failed?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Jul 2025 11:01:07 +0000 Vanessa Cai Vanessa Cai Beijing has pledged to punish those who enforce Taiwan’s residency restrictions for mainland Chinese spouses, with Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily slamming Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te’s recent remarks about “removing impurities” on the island. On Wednesday, Chen Binhua, a spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, described the island’s tightened residency rules as “a typical case of illegal abuse of power” and accused Taiwanese authorities of “discriminatory treatment... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3318477/beijing-vows-punishment-over-taiwans-tightened-residency-rules-mainland-spouses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3318477/beijing-vows-punishment-over-taiwans-tightened-residency-rules-mainland-spouses?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Jul 2025 12:13:06 +0000