X Marks the Spot
Elon Musk’s new messaging app was built with Chinese users in mind. It was censored before it ever reached them, with related news coverage from state media also pulled down.
Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits
The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (海峽兩岸關係協會), or ARATS, is a government-organized non-governmental organization established in 1991 by the CCP’s Taiwan Affairs Office to conduct ostensibly civilian cross-strait negotiations. Despite presenting itself as a semi-official body handling technical and business matters, ARATS functions as a united front organization advancing Beijing’s political agenda under the guise of practical cooperation. Its counterpart is Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (海峽交流基金會), or SEF. Talks stalled from 1999 to 2008, resuming under Taiwan’s KMT administration to produce agreements like the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement. The president of the association in 2025 was Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), who previously served as director of the Taiwan Affairs Office, underscoring ARATS’s direct Party control.
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