Five years after Myanmar’s military coup, a scene that once would have seemed surreal has become routine: soldiers in full uniform dance to propaganda songs on TikTok, racking up tens of thousands of likes. What appears to be harmless entertainment is, in fact, the latest face of an authoritarian project that has killed at least… Continue reading Dancing soldiers on TikTok and warfare on Telegram: The new normal of the Burmese military’s digital influence
During the author’s recent research stay in Taipei, conversations about China rarely began with military exercises. They began with law, constitutional interpretation, amendments to national security legislation, and judicial independence. In Taiwan, however, the law is not a technical matter; it is a frontline. Key takeaways: Cross-strait tensions are not only military but also legal.… Continue reading Lawfare across the Strait: Taiwan’s legal resilience and China’s expanding rule-of-law narrative
Excluded from Interpol, Taiwan is building a network of bilateral legal cooperation mechanisms to combat transnational crime, protect its nationals from extradition to China, and expand its international space. Key takeaways: Without access to Interpol databases, intelligence-sharing tools, and Red Notices, Taiwan must rely on bilateral channels to address cross-border crime. While Taiwan has informal… Continue reading Bilateral cooperation helps Taiwan to offset Interpol exclusion
Taiwan is widely celebrated as one of Asia’s leading democracies. Yet its treatment of Tibetan Buddhist monks reveals a quieter contradiction. While religious practice is permitted, access to basic rights remains restricted—driven less by legal status than by a security logic shaped by cross-Strait tensions. The result is a system in which monks can enter,… Continue reading The Securitized Monk: Tibetan Buddhism between China’s persecution and Taiwan’s democratic contradictions
For many students from Myanmar, studying in Europe has become one of the few remaining routes to safety and a future. Yet their path is increasingly blocked not by academic merit or financial criteria, but by a dangerous bureaucratic requirement: the police clearance letter. Key takeaways: The police clearance letter forces applicants into direct contact… Continue reading When paperwork becomes a barrier: Burmese students and European visas
