ROC

Lai Strikes Conciliatory Tone to China, KMT in National Day Speech

Lai Ching-te delivered the first National Day address of his presidency today. Very little surprised about the speech, in that Lai made no surprising statements on Taiwan’s sovereignty or about Taiwan’s relationship with China. What one does observe from Lai’s speech, however, is the contours of a new historical perspective bridging adherence to the ROC and the resistance against authoritarianism that occurred in the course of Taiwan’s democratization...

KMT Denies Considering Name Change for Party

KMT chair Johnny Chiang rejected suggestions that the party was considering changing its name last week, with signs of a growing internal split in the KMT. Chiang was asked about the issue after the party passed a resolution to seek to reestablish formal diplomatic ties between the ROC and the US. The resolution surprised, because of the KMT’s historical advocacy of unification between Taiwan and China...

New Passport Design Announced by Tsai Administration, Following Passport Contest by NPP

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed a new design for the Taiwanese passport on Wednesday. The new passport design was unveiled under the auspices of preventing confusion between Taiwan and China, a particularly salient issue during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tsai administration cited cases of Taiwanese travelers being mistaken for Chinese travelers in the course of the pandemic—due to the words “Republic of China” on the passport—to justify the change...

China’s Isolation Of The DPP Feeds Taiwanese Independence

As we see in Panama's breaking of diplomatic ties with Taiwan or the kidnapping of Lee Ming-Che, does China think international bullying of Taiwan is effective? What is the end goal? We can assume the CCP's eventual end goal is "reunification", but it is difficult to comprehend how political and economic bullying will win over the hearts and minds of the Taiwanese people...