2026

By Yimou Lee

TAIPEI, Jan 1 (Reuters) – Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Thursday the island is determined to defend its sovereignty and boost its defence in the face of China’s increasing expansion, after Beijing fired rockets towards the island as part of military drills.

The international community is watching to see whether the Taiwanese people possess the resolve to defend themselves, Lai said in a New Year’s speech broadcast live from the presidential office in Taipei.

“As president, my stance has always been clear: to resolutely defend national sovereignty and strengthen national defence,” Lai said, noting China had targeted Taiwan’s newly added combat capabilities as a “hypothetical adversary” in their drills this week.

He said that demonstrated the need for increasing defence procurement, urging opposition parties to support his plan to boost Taiwan’s defence spending by $40 billion, a proposal currently stuck alongside other issues in a political deadlock in the opposition-controlled parliament.

“Whether China can achieve its goals on schedule is one thing,” Lai said when asked about a U.S. report saying China was preparing to have the capability to win a fight for Taiwan by 2027.

“The coming year, 2026, will be a crucial one for Taiwan,” he said, adding Taiwan must “make plans for the worst, but hope for the best.”

“We are willing to engage in exchanges and cooperation with China on an equal and dignified basis, promoting a peaceful and shared environment across the strait,” Lai said. “As long as China acknowledges the existence of the Republic of China, respects the Taiwanese people’s desire for a democratic and free way of life.”

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, and it has not ruled out using force to take it under Chinese control. Taiwan rejects China’s claims.

CHINA FIRED DOZENS OF ROCKETS AS PART OF DRILLS

Lai’s speech came just two days after the Chinese exercises named “Justice Mission 2025”. China fired dozens of rockets towards Taiwan and deploy a large number of warships and aircraft near island in a show of force that drew concern from Western allies including the European Commission and Britain.

Taipei condemned the drills as a threat to regional security and a blatant provocation. Beijing announced late on Wednesday that it had completed the drills, saying its military would continue to strengthen their combat-readiness.

China’s President Xi Jinping struck a familiar tone on Taiwan in his New Year’s address late on Wednesday, repeating last year’s warning to what Beijing considers as separatist forces that China’s “reunification” with Taiwan can not be stopped.

The drills, China’s largest by area and the closest yet to Taiwan, forced the island to cancel dozens of domestic commercial flights and dispatch military jets and warships to monitor the exercises.

The Chinese manoeuvres began 11 days after the United States had announced a record $11.1 billion arms package for Taiwan. China’s military said for the first time that the drills were aimed at deterring outside intervention.

(Reporting by Yimou Lee, Writing by Liz Lee, Editing by Chris Reese and Neil Fullick)

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Jan 1 (Reuters) – 10…nine…eight…

As Wednesday turned to Thursday, people around the world said goodbye to a sometimes challenging 2025 and expressed hopes for the New Year to come.

Midnight arrived first on the islands closest to the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean, including Kiritimati (Christmas Island), Tonga and New Zealand.

FIREWORKS LIGHT UP SYDNEY

In Australia, Sydney began 2026 with a spectacular fireworks display, as per tradition. Some 40,000 pyrotechnic effects stretched 7 km (over 4 miles) across buildings and barges in its harbour and featured a waterfall effect from the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

This year, it was held under an enhanced police presence, weeks after gunmen killed 15 people at a Jewish event in the city.

Organizers held a minute’s silence at 11 p.m. local time for the victims of the attack, with the Harbour Bridge lit up in white and a menorah – a symbol of Judaism – projected onto its pylons.

“After a tragic end to the year for our city, we hope that New Year’s Eve will provide an opportunity to come together and look with hope for a peaceful and happy 2026,” Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore said ahead of the event.

In Seoul, thousands gathered at the Bosingak bell pavilion, where a bronze bell was struck 33 times at midnight – a tradition rooted in Buddhist cosmology, symbolizing the 33 heavens. The chimes are believed to dispel misfortune and welcome peace and prosperity for the year ahead.

DRUMS AT THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

An hour to the west, there were celebrations and a drum performance at the Juyong Pass, at the Great Wall of China just outside Beijing. Revellers wore headgear and waved boards emblazoned with “2026” and the symbol of a horse. February will mark the arrival of the Year of the Horse on the Chinese lunar calendar.

In Hong Kong, the annual New Year’s fireworks display was called off after the apartment complex blaze in November that killed 161 people. Instead, a light show with the theme of ‘New hopes, new beginnings’ transformed facades in the Central district.

In Croatia, celebrations got off to an early start. Since 2000, the town of Fuzine has held its countdown at noon, a tradition that has since spread across the country. Crowds cheered, toasted each other with champagne and danced to music – all in the middle of the day. Some brave souls in Santa hats took a plunge into the icy waters of Lake Bajer.

BRAZIL LOOKS TO BREAK RECORD

On Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro – locals welcomed in the New Year in warmer weather with a music and fireworks party known as “Reveillon.” Organizers were hoping to beat their 2024 Guinness World Record for the biggest New Year’s Eve celebration.

Elsewhere, preparations got under way for the more traditional midnight toast. In subzero temperatures in New York, organizers began putting up security barriers and stages ahead of the crowds that will flock to Times Square for the annual ball drop. 

Greece’s ancient Parthenon Temple on the Acropolis had a quiet New Year. The mayor of Athens said silent, environmentally friendly fireworks were used, citing distress caused by loud displays to pets, animals and some people.

In snowy Kyiv and Moscow, both Ukrainians and Russians saw in the New Year, expressing hopes of peace after nearly four years of conflict.

“I wish for the war to end, I think that this is the main and most important topic for our country,” said a woman in central Moscow who gave her name only as Larisa and said she had traveled from distant Altai Krai to see the Russian capital in the winter holidays with her family.

Many Ukrainians lamented that peace still seemed a distant prospect.

But wrapped up warm and visiting a Christmas tree set up in front of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, nine-year-old Olesia was more optimistic.

“I think there will be peace in the New Year,” she said.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Rosalba O’Brien; Editing by Rod Nickel, Daniel Wallis and Neil Fullick)

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In a breakneck digital era, the ancient art of Peking opera works hard to keep flourishing.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

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