International

Reflexive Defensiveness Of The Trump Administration From Western Commentators On Taiwan?

It is strange to observe the means by which many otherwise sharp western observers on Taiwanese politics, particularly Americans, continue to cling to strange delusions regarding Trump’s potential positive influence on Taiwan or at least his lack of any harmful influence on Taiwan. Such views may ultimately be reflexive in nature for many...

Are There Lessons From South Korea’s Presidential Election For Taiwan?

The victory of Moon Jae-In as president of South Korea draws strong parallels to Taiwan, with the election of a center-left president put into power after a social movement which galvanized much of society. But we can observe where structural parallels between Taiwan and South Korea end, given that as a center-left political candidate, Moon is skeptical of closer ties between South Korea and the US...

Australia Conference Debacle Actually Opportunity For Taiwan

With a recent incident in Australia last week in which the Taiwanese delegation to the Kimberley Process conference on blood diamond trafficking was expelled following the demands of the Chinese delegation and affiliated African delegations, however counterintuitively, we can observe an opportunity for Taiwan to make its plight known to the international world. The real question is whether the Tsai administration is willing to take action to make Taiwan’s plight better known to the international world...

Chinese Asylum Seeker Denied Application To Stay By Tsai Administration

The rejection of Chinese asylum seeker Zhang Xiangzhong’s application for asylum in Taiwan illustrates the Tsai administration’s unwillingness to rock the boat on cross-strait matters at present. This is likely indicative of a highly conservative impulse in the Tsai administration’s current attempts to maintain a stable relationship between Taiwan and China...

What Can Taiwan Learn From China’s Boycott Of South Korea Over THAAD?

As another country in the Asia Pacific which faces the threat of China using its large economy as a political weapon, Taiwan stands to learn greatly from the effects of the Chinese boycott on South Korea due the deployment of the American-manufactured Terminal High Altitude Area Defense antimissile defense system in South Korea. But the lessons Taiwan stands to take away are, in fact, counterintuitive...