Assignment Desk

When a typhoon approaches Taiwan, how does a newsroom prepare? Assignment editor Yvonne Yang takes you behind the scenes of TaiwanPlus' coverage, from deciding where to deploy reporter Irene Lin for live reports to balancing the need to tell the story with keeping crews safe. Plus, a look at how people across Taiwan prepare before the storm arrives. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn

From China's new ethnic unity law and Taiwan's new workplace anti-bullying protections to contactless metro payments, July 1 brought several significant changes. It also marked the 20th anniversary of the Taiwan Broadcasting System, of which TaiwanPlus is a part. Assignment editor Stacy Hsu joins us to explain how our newsroom covered these stories and why they matter. -- Hosting provided by Sound...

Assignment Editor Chia Chang takes us through coverage of the RIMPAC exercise now underway off Hawaii and Taiwan’s five-day combat readiness drills closer to home. Meanwhile, another kind of drill is being planned to help the public prepare for potentially deadly summer heat waves. And speaking of hot, Taiwan’s stock market continues to hit record highs, prompting concerns from regulators about th...

From COMPUTEX and Jensen Huang's Taiwan tour to flood-hit communities in eastern Taiwan and political reporting in Washington and New York, TaiwanPlus reporters have had a busy month. Laurel Stewart takes us behind the scenes of recent assignments, explaining the planning, logistics and challenges involved in covering stories across Taiwan and around the world. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn

Assignment editor Laurel Stewart walks us through the top stories of the week in Taiwan, including the 17-year prison sentence handed down to Taiwan People’s Party founder and former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je for corruption and embezzlement, the response to which has underscored the polarized nature of Taiwan’s politics. And with Taiwan’s surging demand for electricity to power its tech industry, cou...

In this week’s Assignment Desk, Jeremy Olivier talks us through the takeaways for Taiwan from Nvidia’s annual AI conference in California. Plus, a new US intelligence report concludes China does not plan to invade Taiwan in 2027, as has been feared in some quarters. And an Australian woman who was trafficked from Taiwan as an infant is back in the land of her birth fighting for her right to citize...

Taiwan thought it had negotiated a solution to US tariffs in the form of its trade deal with Washington. But this week the country finds itself the target of a Section 301 investigation over alleged failure to prevent forced labor. The legislature manages to approve a stopgap measure to keep the purchase of US weapons systems moving along despite a wider deadlock over defense spending. And the esc...

How do you cover the World Baseball Classic when you don’t have the broadcast rights? Get creative. For this Assignment Desk, we talk with assignment editor Chia Chang, who walks us through how we sent one reporter to Japan to interview Taiwan’s players competing in the tournament and another to join fans at watch parties in Taiwan to capture the excitement on the ground. We also look at the fan t...

Assignment editor Chia Chang talks us through the newsroom’s coverage of two of the week’s biggest stories: the signing of a long-awaited trade deal with the US and the 20-year prison sentence that a Hong Kong court handed to Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai for offenses under the territory’s national security law, a development Lai’s long-time business partner told TaiwanPlus should be seen as a “ca...

A newly seated lawmaker is putting Taiwan’s citizenship rules under the spotlight. On today’s Assignment Desk, we look at the first legislator known to still hold PRC citizenship — and the questions her case is raising about identity, legal status and political trust. Also: a new round of interaction between Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party at a cross-strait forum, an...

Chia Chang picks over the events of the week with Charlie Storrar, including TaiwanPlus News’s field coverage of the military’s spring drills, an opposition counterproposal on defense spending and talks with the US bearing fruit. Plus, Nvidia boss Jensen Huang is back in Taiwan in a week when the company’s dealings with China have been the subject of rumor and scrutiny. -- Hosting provided by Soun...

Assignment editor Laurel Stewart joins Andrew and Charlie for a look back on the week’s events. Taiwan’s recently announced trade deal with the US and its prospects for ratification have taken center stage domestically, with the government pressing the agreement as a strategic tech partnership amid opposition concerns of a “hollowing out” of the country’s chip sector. Meanwhile, a week of drama as...

After weeks of rumors, a long-teased trade deal finally materialized on Thursday, bringing Taiwan’s tariff rate down to 15% in return for US$500 billion in investment. Chip giant TSMC looks set to double its existing investment in Arizona, the company appearing bullish of the AI boom continuing at its first-quarter earnings meeting. Taiwan’s stock market seemed to agree, setting new record highs....

Jeremy Olivier breaks down a dramatic first full week of the year, from concerns sparked by US actions in Venezuela to US President Donald Trump’s latest comments on Taiwan in a New York Times interview. We also touch on two other major developments: Taiwan’s new designation as a super-aged society and the nation’s stock exchange surpassing the 30,000-point mark for the first time in history. -- H...

Assignment editor Chia Chang discusses the newsroom’s planned coverage for the year ahead, with Taiwan on the cusp of officially becoming a super-aged society. In diplomacy, the Pacific Island Forum may offer opportunities for Taiwan, hosted by staunch ally Palau, but the APEC Summit in Shenzhen, China could be fraught, with Beijing seeking to place conditions on Taiwan’s participation. And what d...

For the final Assignment Desk of the year, we go behind the scenes of TaiwanPlus’s 2025 Year-in-Review. Producer Eric Tsai walks us through how the team planned the project, sifted through a year’s worth of footage, and decided which moments best captured 2025. He also talks about building the graphics, the toughest editorial calls, and why condensing an entire year of news into a single video is...

Assignment editor Laurel Stewart walks us through the opposition’s attempt to impeach President Lai Ching-te, what happens next, and why it’s not likely to pass. We also check in on the Twin Cities Forum, and the steps being discussed to keep Taipei safe after a recent deadly stabbing that left multiple people dead. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn

Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang is suing five Constitutional Court justices who ruled against legislation regulating the court’s quorum rules. Laurel Stewart helps unpack the latest developments in Taiwan’s unfolding constitutional crisis, as well as the fallout from Friday’s deadly stabbing rampage in downtown Taipei. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn

Taiwan’s Constitutional Court has issued a surprise ruling, finding that a move intended to prevent it from functioning was itself unconstitutional. In today’s Assignment Desk, host Stacy Hsu breaks down a dramatic day that put Taiwan’s young democracy to the test — from an opposition push to impeach the president, to a late Friday court decision from a body that hadn’t been operating at all this...

Charlie Storrar talks with editor Stacey Hsu about the top stories of the day, including the guilty verdict for Jimmy Lai in the Hong Kong media mogul’s landmark national security trial, why Taiwan’s government gave a defense contract to a shoemaker and new rules intended to make it harder to secure an exemption from compulsory military service on medical grounds. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn

A new US-led coalition aims to shake up the world’s semiconductor supply chain, yet Taiwan has not been named as a partner. Time Magazine hails the “Architects of AI” as Person of the Year. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister reportedly made a recent trip to Israel and the presidential election in Honduras has yet to be revolved, which could have diplomatic ramifications for Taiwan. -- Hos...

In addition to today’s top story about Chinese military activity in the region, we’re also focusing on a major domestic story about labor rights. Migrant workers held their annual march in Taipei over the weekend, calling for fairer visa rules — including opportunities to stay in Taiwan longer. Right now, most blue-collar workers can stay for up to 12 years (14 for caregivers) and are limited to c...

A bipartisan group of senators is moving to stop President Donald Trump from easing current limits on AI chip sales to China. Assignment Editor Chia Chang explains the clash in Washington, and why we had tech and business reporter Chris Gorin do a live cross from the newsroom to quickly break down what each side wants—and what’s at stake as the global AI race heats up. -- Hosting provided by Sound...

Assignment Editor Laurel Stewart is tracking a new move in US-Taiwan ties after US President Donald Trump signed the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act into law. The bill tells the State Department to review its rules for engaging with Taiwan at least every five years. Supporters say it could lead to more US interaction with Taiwan, even as some are watching closely after Trump’s recent talks wit...

With US–Taiwan trade talks said to be entering the final stretch, Taipei officials rolled out a bold “Taiwan Model” they hope will clinch the deal—built on private-sector investment, one-stop industrial clusters, and tighter tech cooperation. Assignment Editor Chia Chang explains the decision to send Chris Gorin to the legislature for a live cross, where he broke down the plan for viewers and capt...