Trump administration

North Korea Threatens To Call Off Talks With US Over John Bolton

Brian Hioe
News that North Korea has cancelled planned talks with South Korea should be nothing surprising for those skeptical that peace had been achieved on the Korean Peninsula following a meeting between South Korean president Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. North Korea now also threatens to call off talks with the US, specifically raising issue with comments by American National Security Advisor John Bolton...
EnglishInternationalMay 2018Regional Tensions6 min read

Trump-Kim Meeting Increasingly Uncertain After America Withdraws From Iran Nuclear Deal

Brian Hioe
A great deal of uncertainty would seem to be ahead for the planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and American president Donald Trump, which is scheduled to take place on June 12th in Singapore. This is particularly seeing as Trump has decided abruptly to withdraw from a nuclear deal with Iran that lifted long-standing economic sanctions on Iran in 2015 in return for Iran dismantling aspects of its nuclear weapons program...
EnglishInternationalMay 2018Regional Tensions6 min read

Enthusiasm Regarding North Korea Rapprochement Likely Premature

Brian Hioe
With North Korea and South Korea moving towards diplomatic rapprochement after some seventy years of being officially at war, this has been hailed as a historic turnaround. North Korea and South Korea have vowed an end to the Korean War and North Korea has agreed to nuclear disarmament. However, many assessments to date have likely been too optimistic...
April 2018EnglishInternationalRegional Tensions11 min read

TPP Reversal A Sign Of Incoherency, Not Grand Mastery Of Negotiation By Trump

Brian Hioe
Reports that Donald Trump intends to reverse course on the TPP are vaguely humorous. Namely, withdrawing from the agreement was not only a key campaign promise of Trump’s but literally one of Trump’s first actions in office. But there will no doubt be those that claim that the Trump administration's reversal is the Trump administration engaging in high-risk negotiation tactics rather than simple incoherency...
America and the Asia PacificApril 2018EnglishInternational8 min read

Should Taiwan Celebrate Bolton and Navarro Appointments While The Rest Of The World Recoils In Terror?

Brian Hioe
The return to power of John Bolton and Peter Navarro in the Trump administration, after a period in which both were relegated to lesser roles in favor of other political actors, have been celebrated by some in Taiwan. But such appointments are signs of the incoherence and irrational hawkishness of the Trump Administration much more than they are indications of any more supportive policy of Taiwan...
America and the Asia PacificEnglishInternationalMarch 201819 min read

Misunderstandings Abound Regarding Taiwan Travel Act

Brian Hioe
The passage of the Taiwan Travel Act has been hailed as a triumph by pro-Taiwan groups in the US as representing a step forward in advancing US-Taiwan relations. On the other hand, media coverage of the passage of the Taiwan Travel Act by western media has oftentimes acted as though the move is dangerously provocative of China. Both polarized positions may miss part of the point...
America and the Asia PacificEnglishInternationalMarch 20189 min read

The Return Of Peter Navarro?

Brian Hioe
The return to power of Peter Navarro, the formerly influential Trump trade advisor known for his hostility towards China, may be welcomed by some in Taiwan that perceive Navarro as a “friend of Taiwan” who has been steadfastly supportive of Taiwan. But this is a mistake...
EnglishMarch 2018Politics8 min read