New Southbound Policy

Eswatini Students Forced to Work in Factory is the Latest in Series of Similar Incidents

Reports that 40 exchange students from Eswatini studying in Taiwan were forced to work in a refrigerated factory skinning chickens should be highly concerning. Namely, there have been a number of similar incidents in past years involving students from non-western countries forced to work in factories for low wages by their universities under the auspices of work-study programs or internships...

Talk Of ‘Africa Plan’ Not Likely To Prove Any More Successful Than New Southbound Policy

Following a five-day state visit to Swaziland by Tsai Ing-Wen last week, Tsai has called for creation of an “Africa plan” to develop stronger economic and political ties between Taiwan and Africa. One suspects that, much like the Tsai administration’s “New Southbound Policy”, this would also be with the aim of weaning Taiwan off of economic dependency on China. But one generally suspects that this would encounter many of the same challenges that the New Southbound Policy has. Furthermore, one must keep in mind that, like many of Taiwan's diplomatic allies, Swaziland is a country whose government has a questionable human rights record...