In late January 1949 the Australian warship HMAS Warramunga was heading towards China's east coast amid the Chinese Civil War when it received an SOS signal sent from a nearby ship, the Taiping, after a collision with a cargo ship, the Chienyuan.
asserted
it → head → ship
It took the Australian vessel a few hours to arrive where it found only 34 survivors.
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it → take → survivors
Fishermen in nearby waters also rescued about a dozen passengers and reportedly found jewellery and ancestral tablets belonging to more than 1,000 passengers.
uncertain
Fishermen → rescue → passengers
Some of them were upper-class Chinese and officials from the Chinese Nationalist Party, Kuomintang (KMT), fleeing the Communists to Taiwan.
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Some → flee → Taiwan
The SS Taiping, later dubbed the "Oriental Titanic", was operated by a company partially owned by the family of Taiwanese mega-celebrity Kevin Tsai.
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Taiping → dub → Tsai
His father had fled from Shanghai to Taipei after the incident, with other members of the KMT.
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father → flee → KMT
The story of the SS Taiping and Tsai's family has made headlines again after 77 years as he faced a backlash in China last week.
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he → make → China
The younger Tsai is a Taipei-born writer whose books have reportedly sold many millions of copies in mainland China.
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books → bear → China
He has built a career spanning television, literature and cinema across Chinese-speaking regions.
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He → build → regions
He is being targeted by Beijing's censorship machine after being filmed at a campaign event for Puma Shen, a local candidate for the Taipei city mayoral election on behalf of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
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He → target → Party
Shen has been sanctioned by Beijing and labelled as a separatist.
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Shen → sanction → separatist
Tsai has 36 million followers on China's social media platform Weibo.
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Tsai → have → platform
His commercials were withdrawn from Chinese networks, and some clips from his TV shows have disappeared.
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clips → withdraw → shows
Although Tsai mentioned that he would also attend KMT campaign events, Chinese state media still warned him that "reaping profits in the mainland while flirting with the pro-independence camp" in Taiwan would come with "a price they can ill afford".
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they → mention → price
Shock waves went through the Chinese-speaking world as it was widely believed that a celebrity like him, who had deep connections to the mainland, could be safe attending a local campaign.
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who → go → campaign
It again reflects China's intense repression and pressure on Taiwan's internal politics as another round of the island's local elections draws closer.
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round → reflect → elections
A political indicator
Local elections in Taiwan happen every four years, with voters weighing local issues such as transport, urban development and public services.
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voters → happen → transport
The mayoral election in the city of Taipei, where Tsai is a voter, is closely watched by Beijing as an indicator of political sentiment ahead of the presidential election in two years.
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Tsai → watch → years
This is not just because former Taipei mayors Chen Shui-bian and Ma Ying-jeou have gone on to become presidents, but also because the candidates from the two major parties are representatives of increasingly polarised political camps.
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candidates → go → camps
The DPP's Puma Shen was once seen as a prominent voice in Taiwan's pro-independence movement.
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Shen → see → movement
He was sanctioned by Beijing for his activism opposing China's influence and his support for civil defence training.
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He → sanction → training
His rival Chiang Wan-an, from the KMT, is the current Taipei mayor and a political elite who represents voters who favour economic engagement with Beijing.
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who → represent → Beijing
Chiang's great-grandfather was Chiang Kai-shek, the former leader of the Republic of China and the KMT whose followers, like the passengers on the SS Taiping, retreated to the island during the civil war.
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followers → retreat → war
If Chiang can secure another term in the city of Taipei he could emerge as one of the leading contenders for the KMT's next presidential nomination.
uncertain
he → secure → nomination
His success could strengthen the KMT's momentum in challenging the DPP in the 2028 presidential election, which has been held by the DPP since 2016 under Tsai Ing-wen and now William Lai.
uncertain
which → strengthen → wen
The backlash against Kevin Tsai showed how closely China's political elites are watching the local election, even though he had attended the campaign without publicly declaring his preference.
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he → show → preference
His influence in the mainland, through his books and TV appearances, has made his political activities a high-stakes risk that Beijing cannot ignore.
It also signalled to the Taiwanese public which election outcome would be preferred by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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outcome → make → Jinping
Political identity continues to be a primary focus for voters, whether they identify as Taiwanese or Chinese, and whether Taiwan should be formally independent.
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Taiwan → continue → Taiwanese
It is what makes Taiwan's elections unique, as the democracy continues to see the definition of its identity evolve which could potentially trigger a more aggressive reaction from the mainland.
uncertain
which → make → mainland
The latest polling result from Taiwan's National Chengchi University shows 63.1 per cent of people on the island identify as Taiwanese, while 30.7 per cent see themselves both Chinese and Taiwanese.
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themselves → show → Taiwanese
Separately, polling on Taiwan's political future shows growing support for maintaining the status quo indefinitely, which reached 34.4 per cent in June 2026.
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which → show → June
Support for maintaining the status quo while moving towards independence has fallen to 21.7 per cent since 2020.
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Support → maintain → 2020
The figures showed a growing preference for preserving the existing relationship between Taiwan and the mainland, rather than a decisive shift towards either independence or unification.
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figures → show → independence
Although the public seems to favour a more moderate approach the major political parties, the KMT and DPP, have taken increasingly polarised positions in their political messaging.
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parties → seem → messaging
The DPP, which is now in its third consecutive presidential term, supports increased investment in national security including a larger defence budget and measures countering Beijing's alleged interference.
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which → support → interference
The KMT, whose leader Cheng Li-wun visited the mainland earlier this year, supports stabilising engagement with Beijing while rejecting Beijing's One Country, Two Systems proposal.
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leader → visit → proposal
LoadingAmong fragmented public opinion where economic and social issues also carry weight, Beijing has stepped up its propaganda efforts to influence views on the prospect of resuming dialogue across the strait.
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Beijing → carry → strait
Censoring Kevin Tsai is one example.
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Censoring → censor → Tsai
Another is its continuous investment in social media influencers who promote China's rapid economic development and visible improvements in infrastructure, areas in which Taiwan is seen as lagging behind.
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Taiwan → promote → which
Beijing's efforts also show in how it continuously uses trade to coerce the island, alongside its increasingly visible military activities in the waters around it.
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it → show → it
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia