Written by Elena Yi-Ching Ho. Taiwan’s energy security has once again been under the spotlight amid the current surge in energy risk stemming from the US–Israeli war with Iran. This article argues that the Taiwanese government should treat it as a strategic opportunity to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy and strengthen the information resilience needed to support Taiwan’s energy transition.
Written by Khadar Nouh Yonis. This article compares the media framing of the Taiwan-Somaliland partnership in Taiwan and Somaliland, and in China and Somali media. It found that the media discourse surrounding Taiwan-Somaliland relations is strategically built. The contrast between these discourses demonstrates that media do not only report events; they actively construct competing interpretations of legitimacy, power, and strategic interest.
Written by Gita T. The latest phase of the Southern Taiwan Science Park expansion in Tainan signals a clear shift toward high-tech integration in a city long associated with temples and tradition. This article argues that the question is not whether technology belongs in Tainan, but how this transition is narrated.
Written by Meng Kit Tang. The piece examines how two recent Taiwanese comics: White Prison Shadows 2 (2025), grounded in Ye Shitao’s White Terror experiences, and White Rebellion 1 (2024), a speculative thriller; reveal the White Terror’s most enduring legacy: not the prison cell itself, but a “prison outside the prison” sustained through surveillance, social stigma, and internalized self-censorship.
Written by Meng Kit Tang. This article examines how Taiwan, under mounting pressure from Beijing, risks drifting toward legal and administrative overreach at home. Drawing on recent high-profile detentions, national security legislation, and institutional gridlock, it argues that while today’s Taiwan bears no resemblance in scale to the White Terror, it increasingly echoes its methods: vague laws, procedural shortcuts, and media-driven stigma.
Written by Aleksandrs Gross. This final piece of the special issue reflects on the challenges and approaches to studying Taiwan for the scholars interviewed. Despite the lack of institutionalised academic pathways and fragmented funding compared to other regional studies, there are approaches that, while not guaranteeing academic success, do significantly increase one’s chances of making a passion for Taiwan academically viable.
