Tsai Ing-Wen

Why Is AIT so Anxious About an Independence Referendum in Taiwan?

Milo Hsieh
Responding to a call for progress towards an independence referendum, the American Institute in Taiwan, America’s de facto embassy in Taiwan has explicitly rejected efforts to change Taiwan’s status quo. The move is paradoxical. While the US praises Taiwan for its democracy and states that the decisions to island’s future should be left to the people of Taiwan, it at the same time hopes to discourage the people of Taiwan from making a decision on their political future...
America and the Asia PacificEnglishFebruary 2019International8 min read

American Opposition to a Referendum on Taiwanese Independence Should Not Surprise

Brian Hioe
A group of Republican senators recently called on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to invite Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen to speak at a session of the US Congress. However, this notion would be criticized by former AIT head Richard Bush, among others. Bush would later also criticize the notion of the holding a referendum on Taiwanese independence, something later backed up by comments from AIT stating that America would not be in support of a referendum...
America and the Asia PacificEnglishFebruary 2019International10 min read

Now is Time for President Tsai to Focus on Renewing Taiwanese Identity

Milo Hsieh
A fierce confrontation took place between Chinese president Xi Jinping and Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen over the new year. In response to statements by Xi on the 40th anniversary of the “Message to the Compatriots of Taiwan,” which could be described as a threat, Tsai’s quick and immediate response rallied the Taiwanese public and pressured the media and forced politicians across the political spectrum to affirm their stances in response. But what now?...
EnglishJanuary 2019Politics13 min read