A Dueling Paralysis
NEED TO KNOW
A Dueling Paralysis
TAIWAN
Just before Christmas, Taiwanese lawmakers duked it out on the legislature’s floor, in what was the latest physical clash over power involving thrown fists, chairs, water bottles, and even pig’s guts.
This time around, the president’s pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had broken into the legislature overnight by removing windows, to stop all voting by the legislative majority coalition, headed by the pro-China Kuomintang (KMT). Later, the KMT forced their way in past makeshift barricades of chairs and other furniture to evict them, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.
The brawl, however, was really about a few bills the KMT was trying to push through, including one that critics say would give the legislature control over the Constitutional Court and that legal scholars believe is unconstitutional. Another bill would make it harder to recall elected officials by voter petitions, a long but contentious tradition in the country.
Then in January, another fight erupted over the budget – a move by the KMT to freeze defense spending. This occurred on the same day that its main ally, the United States, inaugurated a president who says Taiwan should “pay” more for US protection.
The turmoil arose after neither the DPP nor the KMT won a majority in the legislative elections a year ago, so the KMT, which won slightly more seats, formed a coalition with a minor party, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), to take control of the legislature. This coalition has been at loggerheads with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te of the DPP ever since.
This ongoing political duel is paralyzing Taiwan, say observers, and it is doing so just as China is increasing its aggression against the country it views as a part of its territory, and as the United States seats a president that is possibly less committed to defending it.
The political situation is creating turmoil on the streets, too. Thousands of the DPP’s supporters have protested the court and petition bills over the past few months. Then in January, new protests broke out over the prosecution of the head of the TPP, Ko Wen-je, for corruption. Protesters blamed the president.
When Taiwan’s parliament voted on Jan. 20 to freeze billions of dollars in defense spending, that included funding for half of Taiwan’s submarine program and its expenditure on military operations, making up 44 percent of the defense budget. The US is the country’s main arms supplier, and the country’s main threat is China, which despite never having controlled Taiwan, has pledged to take it by force.
Over the past year, China has accelerated its diplomatic and military efforts to isolate and intimidate the island: Chinese military activity in Taiwanese waters and airspace is now near daily occurrences. China has the world’s largest standing army and spends about 11 times more on defense than Taiwan.
As a result, the budget freeze set off tremors within the government. The move was “suicidal,” said Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai, echoing other officials who lamented it also sent “the wrong signal to the United States.”
The US has maintained a close security partnership with Taiwan for decades even though the two don’t have formal diplomatic relations. The US, by law, is obligated to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. However, the law is vague regarding a reaction to an invasion, something known as “strategic ambiguity.”
Some Taiwanese, meanwhile, worry the US won’t live up to its commitments. Others are more sanguine.
“I don’t think there is panic in Taipei because we dealt with this situation before and we have confidence in our congressional support in the US,” Lai I-Chung, president of the Taiwan-based Prospect Foundation think tank, told VOA. “The mood (in Taiwan) is we will be careful and watchful.”
But many say they worry that the political bickering, turmoil, and divisions are undermining the country’s image of stability and prosperity, giving China a victory.
“The nation’s interests are being undermined,” said Cho, adding that a “hostile China will be very satisfied.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
‘Mutually Assured Destruction’
CANADA/ MEXICO
Canada and Mexico over the weekend said they would implement a series of retaliatory tariffs in response to US President Donald Trump’s sweeping import levies, escalating a trade war that could have far-reaching economic consequences between the allies and on global trade, ABC News reported.
The US tariffs, set to take effect this week, include a 25 percent tax on all Canadian and Mexican imports, with Canadian energy facing a lower rate of 10 percent. There is already a 10 percent tariff on all China exports to the US.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would impose 25 percent tariffs on more than $106 billion worth of US goods, with an initial $20 billion taking effect Tuesday and the remainder within three weeks, according to the BBC.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also announced countermeasures, including tariffs on pork, cheese, steel, and fresh produce. She emphasized that Mexico was forced to defend its economic interests and called the US tariffs “one of the heaviest attacks Mexico has received in its independent history.”
Meanwhile, Beijing announced plans to challenge the tariffs at the World Trade Organization and issue a series of unspecified “countermeasures,” noted the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
The White House claimed the tariffs are necessary to pressure China, Mexico, and Canada to crack down on drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
Trudeau dismissed the justification, claiming that less than one percent of the fentanyl going to the US comes from Canada. Sheinbaum rejected the allegations that the Mexican government is allied with drug cartels as “slander.”
She reiterated her administration’s record of cracking down on the drug trade, pointing to the seizure of 20 million fentanyl doses and the arrest of more than 10,000 drug traffickers, Reuters wrote.
Economists warned the tariffs could drive up prices for American consumers, particularly for food, gasoline, and automobiles. Mexico and Canada supply 70 percent of crude oil imports into the US, with analysts estimating that the tariffs could raise gas prices by as much as 70 cents per gallon.
Prices of fresh produce, dairy, and auto parts are also expected to rise.
Christopher Sands, director of the Wilson Center’s Canada Institute, told the BBC that the tit-for-tat tariffs were “mutually assured destruction,” warning that the economic impact would be immediate.
Trudeau urged Canadians to shift their purchasing habits in response, encouraging them to buy domestic products instead of US imports, while reconsidering vacations to Florida. Still, he also acknowledged that “our nation could be facing difficult times in the coming days and weeks.”
Observers estimated that if the tariffs remain in place for a year, Mexico’s gross domestic product could contract by four percent due to a projected 12 percent decline in exports.
Despite the mounting economic pressure, Trump has signaled that additional tariffs could be imposed if Canada and Mexico continue to retaliate, which could further upend North America’s deeply integrated economy.
No, Thanks
ISRAEL/ WEST BANK & GAZA
Thousands of Egyptians protested near the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip over the weekend against US President Donald Trump’s proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan, a plan that has received widespread condemnation across the Arab world, Africanews reported.
Demonstrators waved Egyptian and Palestinian flags and voiced support for Palestinian statehood, rejecting what they viewed as an attempt to force Palestinians from their land and what they labeled as “ethnic cleansing.”
The protests came a week after Trump called on regional leaders to accept displaced Palestinians following 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza that left much of the territory in ruins.
On Saturday, a number of Arab nations and entities, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Authority, and the Arab League, issued a joint statement rejecting the proposal, CBS News added.
The statement warned that such plans “threaten the region’s stability, risk expanding the conflict, and undermine prospect for peace and coexistence among its people.” Arab diplomats also called on the international community to support Gaza’s reconstruction to ensure Palestinians remain in their homeland.
Last week, the US president had told reporters that he urged Jordan’s King Abdullah and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to take in displaced Gazans because the Palestinian enclave is “a mess.”
Initially, el-Sissi firmly rejected the idea, calling it an “act of injustice,” with officials raising security concerns about a potential influx of Palestinians into the Sinai Peninsula. Egyptian officials also worry about the discontent among their own population if the country takes in Palestinian refugees.
Jordan, which already hosts more than two million Palestinian refugees, warned that any forced relocation would have severe economic and political consequences.
Trump’s proposal has sparked fears that Palestinians who leave Gaza will not be allowed to return, echoing historical concerns about permanent displacement. Amid a fragile ceasefire, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have begun returning to the north of Gaza, but the long-term fate of those displaced remains uncertain.
Despite the backlash, Trump and el-Sissi held a phone call Saturday, where they reportedly discussed consolidating the Gaza ceasefire and increasing humanitarian aid, Reuters noted.
The Egyptian president said the discussion was positive but did not mention whether the two leaders addressed Trump’s displacement proposal.
The weekend meeting came a few days after Trump responded to criticism by Egypt and Jordan that “we do a lot for them, and they are going to do it” – in reference to US aid to Egypt and Jordan.
Upending Progress
ARGENTINA
Thousands of Argentinians took to the streets of the capital Buenos Aires and other major cities to protest President Javier Milei’s recent comments disparaging the LGBTQ community and announcing plans to remove the crime of femicide from the penal code, Euronews reported.
Saturday’s protests – dubbed the “Federal March of Anti-Fascist and Anti-Racist Pride” – saw participants draped in rainbow flags and carrying banners reading “rights are not negotiable.”
During last month’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Milei criticized “sick wokeism,” feminism, social welfare, and the fight against climate change. He compared homosexuality to pedophilia.
He also criticized the concept of femicide – when a man murders a woman because of her gender – claiming that “equality before the law already exists in the West. Everything else is just seeking privileges,” according to the Guardian.
Soon after his comments, the Argentinian government announced plans to remove femicide as an aggravated crime from the country’s penal code. Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona defended the move, saying that “no life is worth more than another,” and that feminism had “distorted the concept of equality.”
The rollback would eliminate femicide – a category that has existed since 2012 and is punishable by life imprisonment – as an aggravating factor in homicide cases. Numerous countries in Latin America have enacted femicide laws.
The government says these measures are necessary to make sure Argentina offers a level playing field.
However, protesters and critics complained that the decision ignores the reality of gender-based violence – official data recorded 295 femicides in Argentina last year, with Amnesty International warning that most women are killed by partners or family members.
Since taking office in December, Milei has rapidly dismantled gender-equality policies, eliminated the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, and dissolved programs supporting victims of gender-based violence. The country has also voted against a United Nations resolution to prevent violence against women.
Until now, Argentina had been at the forefront of such policies in the region.
Human rights groups and legal observers have criticized the administration’s policies as dangerous, warning they could increase the risk to women and minorities, and are setting the country back decades.
Milei’s administration has also come under scrutiny for slashing funding for historical memory initiatives, which would delay trials for crimes against humanity perpetrated during Argentina’s military dictatorship.
Some protesters also expressed concern that Milei’s policies could have a ripple effect across the region, the Argentina-based Buenos Aires Herald wrote.
DISCOVERIES
Decision Digits
Researchers from the University of Alberta in Canada recently discovered that all that swiping, tapping, or scrolling on the smartphone leave more than just fingerprints.
It also provides insight into how a human makes decisions, according to a new study.
“We can actually understand a lot of what’s going on inside someone’s head by carefully measuring what’s going on outside their head,” said lead author Craig Chapman, an associate professor at the university’s Actions in Complex Environments Laboratory (ACELab), in a statement.
Traditionally, decision-making studies focus on final choices – what we click, buy, or select – without tracking how those decisions are made, according to Digital Trends.
“Most other research has just focused on the what: What did you choose? What was the end result? But my lab really likes to focus on the how,” Chapman explained. “How did you choose? How did your body physically move to enact that decision for you?”
To determine these factors, Chapman and his colleagues gave participants everyday Android devices and asked them to complete tasks that involved swiping or tapping to compare numbers, verify statements, or choose images.
The researchers observed the reaction time, movement speed, and trajectory curvature to determine how users physically interacted with the screen while making decisions.
Their findings showed that touchscreen gestures mimic real-world actions like reaching for an object, unlike using computer mice.
The team also found that when decisions were more difficult, participants took longer, made less direct swipes, and hesitated more – suggesting the brain is taking more action to “control the swiping movements as though they are real reaching movements.”
The authors said the study demonstrates that everyday technology – smartphones and tablets – can be leveraged for large-scale behavioral research without requiring lab environments.
Chapman added that the research could become transformative for a variety of industries.
During hiring assessments, movement tracking could supplement traditional questionnaires, providing deeper insights into how candidates handle indecision.
Healthcare professionals could also use this approach to monitor rehabilitation progress, while app developers could use these insights to optimize button placement, reducing hesitation and improving user experience.
“There’s this wealth of data that people aren’t grabbing,” Chapman said. “The scalability of research implied by this work is massive.”