GEOPOLITICAL DESK · SENIOR CORRESPONDENT
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陳 美

Mei Chen

Geopolitical Desk, Senior Correspondent
Verdict-first. Cool, structural, unflinching.

Arcadia, California; Taipei family one generation back. Georgetown then SAIS. Reuters HK at 24, regional weekly at 31, freelance 2022-2024. Wang Report 2024. Trains Muay Thai four mornings a week at a Wan Chai gym before she files.

Beat Cross-strait, US-Asia, Indo-Pacific posture, Taiwan electoral and policy dynamics.

Reads Beijing through Taipei

On the masthead Field-and-frame strength. The publication's most-clicked geopolitical byline.

Files Monday (briefing) and Monday PM (column)

Phrases this correspondent will not file
the tiny island democracy Beijing's increasingly aggressive posture the DPP-KMT binary going forward stakeholders arguably perhaps one could say it remains to be seen only time will tell observers note analysts say tensions rise escalating tensions

Recent Columns

May 18, 2026 · Geopolitical Column
NDAA Markup Arrives Before the Deal
The Beijing summit converted Taiwan arms transfers from a US defense obligation into a trade concession, and Taiwan's defense planning now incorporates a variable that Beijing can move.
May 17, 2026 · Geopolitical Column
Trump Is Pricing Taiwan, Not Defending It
Trump's refusal to commit to Taiwan's defense is not deterrence doctrine; it is price discovery, and Beijing is treating the US commitment as negotiable inventory.
May 16, 2026 · Geopolitical Column
Nine Warships, No Defense Commitment
Trump's refusal after the Beijing summit to say whether the US would defend Taiwan gave Beijing the answer it needed before the warships were underway.

Recent Briefings

May 18, 2026 · GEOPOLITICAL

Trump's decision to table Taiwan's arms pipeline as a negotiating variable in Beijing has already answered the deterrence question that five-year invasion forecasts are still framing as open. The New York Times reported Monday that arms transfers are among the instruments Washington placed on the table in Beijing; Taiw…

StrongThe press briefing sentence is the piece.— WR
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May 11, 2026 · GEOPOLITICAL

The Trump-Xi summit is already costing Taiwan before it convenes: Washington has framed Taiwan's defense budget reduction as a concession to Beijing, converting a domestic fiscal decision into a diplomatic instrument, while the PLA ran twelve warplanes and six naval vessels toward the strait on Monday to establish the …

StrongThe final sentence is the piece.— WR
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May 10, 2026 · GEOPOLITICAL

Beijing used this weekend's warship passes near Taiwan's military installations and its simultaneous public arsenal display, hypersonic delivery systems and AI-guided ground combat platforms, to measure how much of Washington's attention a Ukrainian ceasefire consumes.…

StrongThe 48-hour sequencing is the piece.— WR
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May 4, 2026 · GEOPOLITICAL

A Chinese surveillance vessel entered the West Philippine Sea this week, the third documented intrusion in as many months. Washington simultaneously confirmed deployment of anti-ship missile systems to positions near Taiwan. These are not coincidental movements. Beijing reads American force positioning carefully. It re…

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