Courtney Donovan Smith 石東文
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donovan-smith.bsky.social
Courtney Donovan Smith 石東文
@donovan-smith.bsky.social
380 followers 320 following 190 posts
Staff Columnist, Taipei Times
Co-publisher, Compass Magazine
Co-founder, Taiwan Report
Central Taiwan correspondent, ICRT
Former Chair, Taichung AmCham
Posts Replies Media Videos
donovan-smith.bsky.social
The CCP isn't a political party; it is a voracious Leviathan.

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: The Chinese Communist Party’s relationship with all-encompassing power - Taipei Times
Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan
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November 1, 2025 at 9:36 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
I keep expecting some sort of realignment, but like a rubber band an equilibrium keeps restoring itself, which it may again soon if the DPP's polling follows on its current trend.

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: Taiwan’s political equilibrium shaken, but not stirred - Taipei Times
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November 1, 2025 at 9:34 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
This has been going on in one form or another for a very, very long time, as Michael Turton explores:

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Notes from Central Taiwan: Disaster reconstruction, disaster colonialism - Taipei Times
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November 1, 2025 at 9:30 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
If someone told me I would be quoted in TIME and that the president likely read it, I would assume that would be good...but no, my quote was used to make the exact opposite point as I had intended:

time.com/7304818/us-c...
The U.S. Must Beware of Taiwan's Reckless Leader
William Lai is lurching toward formal independence, which could trigger a catastrophic U.S.-China war, writes Lyle Goldstein.
time.com
October 25, 2025 at 10:03 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
Some interesting details when one looks deeper into the race:

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: The KMT is less unified than it appears - Taipei Times
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October 25, 2025 at 9:59 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
I swear we do not coordinate our columns! Lol, once again Michael Turton and I wrote pieces that are nicely complementary:

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: The KMT’s retro revival - Taipei Times
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October 25, 2025 at 9:53 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
It just keeps getting worse:

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Notes from Central Taiwan: Taiwan’s intergenerational conflict - Taipei Times
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October 20, 2025 at 7:03 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
A "current state of play" piece.
Correction: they are not necessarily "dying their hair pink" but they are coloring their hair one way or another for social media posts. Still funny, though.

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: Parties grappling with uncertainty in the runup to next year’s elections - Taipei Times
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October 18, 2025 at 8:26 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
Sigh...

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Notes from Central Taiwan: Institutional barriers to renewable success - Taipei Times
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October 16, 2025 at 9:20 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
This is very important, and must be watched carefully:

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Notes from Central Taiwan: PRC narratives and AI discourse - Taipei Times
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October 16, 2025 at 9:19 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
If Cheng wins but Hau does well, it's possible he will challenge the result:

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: Alleged CCP interference in KMT chair race ignites debate - Taipei Times
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October 16, 2025 at 9:17 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
Jaw's presser on Sat turned Hau's post from a vague conspiracy to a major discussion topic, which I've already submitted a column on.

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: Fears of being ‘dumped’ and foreign conspiracies in the KMT chair race homestretch - Taipei Times
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October 14, 2025 at 9:40 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
Never a dull moment. Mirror Media is alleging nefarious behaviour by Huang. Of course, Huang is not guilty of anything in any court of law and we don't live under trial by Mirror Media, but if is true my analysis is...why hasn't this happened before?

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: Huang Kuo-chang’s alleged “puppy squad” hustle - Taipei Times
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October 10, 2025 at 8:30 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
Cheng leads in the polls, Hau leads in big endorsements, Lo is nipping at Hau's heels, Chang is leading a blunt campaign to shape the debate and call out BS, Cho has some...ahem...interesting ideas and Tsai seems like a nice grandpa.

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: A look at the KMT chair candidates - Taipei Times
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October 4, 2025 at 9:46 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
Headline sums it up:

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: Big challenges facing the KMT chair candidates - Taipei Times
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October 2, 2025 at 9:27 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
Post-disaster too many people point fingers and blame over shallow, short-term issues that do not get to the core of the problem. People in govt would do well to follow Michael Turton's work, that puts it all in context:

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Notes from Central Taiwan: Mataian barrier lake flood: Not entirely natural - Taipei Times
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October 2, 2025 at 9:13 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
About time! By Michael Turton:

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Notes from Central Taiwan: Hurray! The AIT finally pushes back on Chinese expansionist fictions - Taipei Times
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September 28, 2025 at 9:20 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
In local Chinese language news, coverage is nuanced and it is possible to follow individual character quirks and character arcs that get washed out in English. Two recent interesting human stories I used as examples:

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: Taiwan’s colorful politicos - Taipei Times
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September 28, 2025 at 9:17 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
The election results from last 4 elections (except pres), they were amazingly stable. Despite KMT slightly losing vote share in 2024 in LY, their seat count skyrocketed. Chu maximized turnout where it mattered for KMT, Lai dropped the ball as DPP chair.

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: A different way of analyzing recent election results in Taiwan - Taipei Times
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September 28, 2025 at 9:13 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
All parties have issues now. In DPP, knives are out for Ker, but not only does this risk ultimately distracting from what the DPP really needs to reflect on following recall debacle, Ker might beat them anyway, making them look toothless ahead of '26.

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: The DPP’s Old Ker, the defiant lamb that refuses to be sacrificed - Taipei Times
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September 17, 2025 at 7:53 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
Update: Jaw and Hau are holding a poll over the next two days to decide which of them will run, which could mean Jaw is in and Hau out. Regardless of who wins, the party will likely move deeper blue.

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: Likely KMT chair candidates a mixed, deep blue bag - Taipei Times
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September 14, 2025 at 9:07 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
I ask an important question near the end:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZFO...
Prosecutors To Appeal TPP Founder Ko Wen-je's Release On Bail｜TaiwanPlus News
YouTube video by TaiwanPlus News
www.youtube.com
September 11, 2025 at 9:16 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
Another great piece by Michael Turton drawing an interesting distinction:

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Notes from Central Taiwan: DPP policy and the Pratas dilemma - Taipei Times
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September 11, 2025 at 9:14 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
Not a cheerful topic, but necessary. By Michael Turton:

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Notes from Central Taiwan: Hot war or blockade: expect the worse - Taipei Times
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September 11, 2025 at 9:12 AM
donovan-smith.bsky.social
Really not entirely sure what Chu will do, but subsequent reporting suggests he may be out of the race. Apparently he discussed it with his family. FYI, KMT chair election is Oct 18.

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Donovan’s Deep Dives: With Eric Chu gone, the KMT faces internal squabbling, but can he be convinced to stay? - Taipei Times
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September 11, 2025 at 9:09 AM