The Taiwan risk gorilla kicks Kim to Asia's sidelines

Beijing clampdown on Hong Kong has put Taipei on edge

William Pesek

April 22, 2021 05:00 JST

A Taiwanese fighter aircraft in foreground flies on the flank of a Chinese bomber as it passes near Taiwan in February 2020: the real audience is officials in Tokyo and Washington. © Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense/AP

William Pesek is an award-winning Tokyo-based journalist and author of "Japanization: What the World Can Learn from Japan's Lost Decades."

Kim Jong Un is either loving 2021 or feeling terribly ignored, now that Taiwan has usurped North Korea's dubious honor as Asia's top geopolitical flashpoint.