Meet the male contestants in what is believed to be Taiwan's first ever mermaiding contest.

Amid heightened tensions over the sovereignty of the island, Taipei's Defense Ministry said the Shandong aircraft carrier's movements were being "monitored."

As the US tries to halt the slide in relations with China, Beijing’s determination to "reunify" Taiwan with the mainland is still the sticking point. Taiwan's foreign minister, Joseph Wu, talks to DW's Tim Sebastian from Taipei.

China's mass military exercises near Taiwan come at a time when NATO is holding a summit where leaders have called China as an opposing force with its "ambitions and coercive policies."

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said that Taiwan welcomed the final communiqué of the NATO summit, which criticised China's "stated ambitions and coercive policies". He stressed that NATO had "stated the truth" and that Taiwan appreciated that NATO was "paying attention" to the threat posed by Beijing in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Chinese fleet of warplanes marked a forceful display just as Taiwan prepares to conduct an anti-invasion military exercise.

Taiwan held drills at its main international airport in Taipei amid concerns over Chinese aggression towards the island. Taiwan's president said the exercises are necessary in order to protect critical infrastructure.

To prepare for a potential invasion from mainland China, Taiwan updated its annual war games with strategies used by Ukrainians against the Russian military.

The chipmaking giant has said it approved a $3.8 billion plan to build a factory in the German city of Dresden.

Taiwanese Vice President William Lai is on a brief visit to the US before heading to Paraguay. China has condemned this action, and called him a "troublemaker."

The European Union's attempts to bolster free speech in parts of Asia have taken another setback following protests from Muslim-majority countries in response to Quran burnings across northern Europe this year.

William Lai is in Paraguay to attend the presidential inauguration. Beijing, which claims the island of Taiwan as its own, has slammed his foreign trip.