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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · 7d

My latest for @npr.org : Doxxing, death threats, and detentions are becoming routine threats for journalists across Asia. Here's a look at how reporters from the Philippines, Indonesia and other places adjust to the new realities - and even start to fight back. www.npr.org/2025/09/30/n...

'Like ice melting': Journalists warn press freedom is in decline across Asia

China's jailing of citizen journalist Zhang Zhan highlights a deeper press freedom crisis across Asia.

www.npr.org

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · 29d

Nepal's prime minister KP Sharma Oli is now the second South Asian leader to be driven out of office by youth-led protests in just over a year. He joins neighboring Bangladesh's Sheikh Hasina, who fled the country on a helicopter amid mass protests last August.

Reuters @reuters.com · 29d

Nepal PM Oli resigns after violent anti-corruption protests, his aide says reut.rs/4gzoNqN

Nepal PM Oli resigns after violent anti-corruption protests, his aide says

Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned on Tuesday, his aide Prakash Silwal said.

reut.rs

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · Aug 23

Taiwan’s opposition KMT scored big today: early results show that all remaining 7 lawmakers who faced recall challenges have kept their seats. President Lai Ching-te faces an uphill battle on pledges to raise defense spending to 3.32% of GDP next year and 5% by 2030.
focustaiwan.tw/politics/202...

KMT lawmakers claim victory as recall vote count continues - Focus Taiwan

Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers have declared they survived recall votes to remove them from office Saturday, although official results are still pending as the vote counting continues.

focustaiwan.tw

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · Aug 12

My latest for @npr.org : With hours left on the clock, the US and China extended a truce that limits tariffs between the world's two largest economies by a further 90 days. Analysts expect further talks and a face-to-face meeting between Trump and Xi later this year. www.npr.org/2025/08/12/n...

U.S. and China extend tariff truce deadline for another 3 months

President Trump's executive order extends a reprieve from the threat of rising tariffs between the world's two largest economies.

www.npr.org

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · Aug 6

Heavy rains that caused dozens of injuries, power outages and 5 deaths in southern Taiwan have led to an unexpected result: a surge of wild mushrooms. Authorities are removing them from roadsides and warning that toxic mushrooms are hard to tell apart from edible ones. taiwannews.com.tw/news/6172548

Taiwan warns of toxic wild mushrooms | Taiwan News | Aug. 6, 2025 09:53

Food and Drug Administration says 33 poisoned over 5 years as rain spurs new mushroom growth | Aug. 6, 2025 09:53

taiwannews.com.tw

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · Jun 30

Glad you appreciated it Brian!

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · Jun 30

My latest for @npr.org : Today is the deadline for thousands of Chinese immigrants in Taiwan to prove they gave up household registration in China, or potentially face deportation. Many immigrants feel they've become victims of worsening cross-strait tensions.
www.npr.org/2025/06/29/g...

Deadline nears for Taiwan's Chinese immigrants to prove no China household registration

Amid a wave of national security measures, immigrants from China must prove they've given up their household registration in China by June 30. Many are Chinese women married to men from Taiwan.

www.npr.org

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · May 30

Super interesting, thanks for sharing. I've seen a couple of examples of these sorts of names while traveling around Indigenous communities but hadn't properly known the context til now

Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · May 30

Glad you appreciated the piece Michael

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · May 30

Glad you appreciated it Mark

Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · May 30

And indeed re: a university literally named after the "Great Han" becoming such a hub for Indigenous students, I feel Taiwan is full of these kinds of contradictions

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · May 30

Glad you appreciated the piece! There's Dong Hua for 4-year studies and Tzu Chi for some career track subjects. But many of the programs tailored to Indigenous communities (training to do cultural tours in your community, or open a restaurant making your culture's cuisine etc) won't be replaced.

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · May 30

8/8 When schools like Dahan close, Taiwan's ministry of education finds alternative places for students to finish their degrees further away from home. But as more schools shut their doors, communities like the Truku student Chen's village may be left with fewer educational opportunities.

Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · May 30

7/8 Higher ed researcher Angela Yung-chi Hou says elite colleges can handle low enrollment by taking more international students. But those with fewer resources - like Dahan - can't compete. Taiwan's less developed southern and eastern areas will continue to lose local schools as a result.

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · May 30

6/8 An alum of Shih Hsin, and the executive secretary of Taiwan's higher education union Zhang Zhi-lun argues some private universities are using the pretext of low enrollment to run themselves more like a business - harming students and teachers' rights in the process.

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · May 30

5/8 But even in Taipei, schools are feeling pressure. Students at Shih Hsin university are protesting a decision to close any undergrad course with fewer than 30 students. The students say it's unnecessary cost-cutting. The college says, facing funding issues, it needs to save money where it can.

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · May 30

4/8 One of You’s former students, Chen Xiao-dong, said young people from his Truku Indigenous community relied on Dahan for career-track education. When Dahan closes, they'll be left without a nearby alternative. Most school closures are happening in less-developed areas in Taiwan's south and east.

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · May 30

3/8 Professor You Li-fang told me what made Dahan Institute special was that 2 out of every 5 of its students were from the nearby Indigenous communities. When the school closes, “I think the poor will become much poorer because they will lose opportunities,” You said. “I’m so mad about that.”

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · May 30

2/8 Dahan Institute of Technology, near the east coast city of Hualien, will shut its doors in just a few months. Once home to over 7,000 students mostly studying career-track subjects, the campus now lies empty, hosting just a handful of classes. theworld.org/stories/2025...

As Taiwan’s birth rate falls, universities shut down one after the other - The World from PRX

Due to Taiwan's falling birth rate, enrollment at many universities and colleges has been declining for years, forcing many higher education institutions to shut their doors or merge with other univer...

theworld.org

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · May 30

🧵 1/8 My latest for @theworld.org: Taiwan's birthrate is among the lowest in the world. Fewer babies means fewer kids going to school, and fewer still onwards to university. 15 colleges have closed here in the past decade as a result - four of them just last year. theworld.org/segments/202...

Taiwan's colleges closing amid dropping enrollment - The World from PRX

Due to Taiwan’s falling birth rate, enrollment at many universities and colleges has been declining for years, forcing many higher education institutions to shut their doors or merge with other univer...

theworld.org

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Reposted by Ashish Valentine

The World @theworld.org · May 29

On The World 🌎 today:

🌐 @orlabarry.bsky.social: Poland votes this weekend in an election seen as a test for democracy

🌐 @ashishval.bsky.social: Taiwan colleges closing amid enrollment drops

🌐 The rush to buy metal detectors in Syria, as search for gold heats up

Tune in 📻 bit.ly/3xyRRfD

orlabarry.bsky.social @orlabarry.bsky.social · May 29

Two very different candidates are running for president of Poland in elections this weekend. Whoever wins could determine the future direction of the country. My report up shortly on @theworld.org Join us: theworld.org

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · May 4

Record numbers of pilgrims are accompanying a figure of the goddess Mazu on a roughly 400-km route through western Taiwan. I stopped by on the goddess's return journey to the home temple in Baishatun, Miaoli, as her carriage rested in a rice farming village in Yunlin.

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · Apr 11

Very sad to see Brilliant Time books is closing. More than a bookstore, a space for Southeast Asian communities and anyone who wanted to learn about them. They often hosted talks on Southeast Asian literatures and free classes for Bahasa Indonesia and other languages. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqej...

Southeast Asian Bookstore in New Taipei Closes After a Decade｜TaiwanPlus News

YouTube video by TaiwanPlus News

www.youtube.com

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · Apr 7

Latest for @npr.org : Taiwan's premier music festival, Megaport, draws tens of thousands of fans each year to the southern port city of Kaohsiung. This year, several artists used their platforms to share concerns about an escalating threat from China. www.npr.org/2025/04/05/n...

Musicians protest through song at festival in Taiwan

At Taiwan's premier music festival, artists went political with their tunes and lyrics.

www.npr.org

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Ashish Valentine @ashishval.bsky.social · Mar 30

Hip hop artist Yang Shu-ya 楊舒雅 takes the stage at Taiwan's premier independent music festival, Megaport 大港開唱. She's performing her single "2045", about the fears of a potential Chinese invasion and Taiwan's uncertain future.

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