Written by Jordan Laramore. This article analyses the past and present of Thai-Taiwan relations. Despite the challenges posed by China’s growing ties with Thailand, this article argues that Thailand and Taiwan can build on their strong historical ties and have many opportunities for cooperation, including expanding health cooperation and soft-power exchanges between civil societies.
Written by Yu-Han Huang. Reflecting on formative undergraduate experiences, the author traces how studying Japanese colonial Taiwan and reading Leo Ching’s Becoming “Japanese” shaped his academic path. Ching’s analysis of colonial identity formation, despite criticisms, offered a framework to understand Taiwan’s complex identity and revealed how colonial legacies continue to influence Taiwanese self-consciousness.
Written by Catherine Tsai. This article examines Chou Wan-yao’s study of kōminka policies in colonial Taiwan. The author argues that Chou’s work on the relationships between assimilation, identity formation, and wartime mobilisation has served as foundational to Taiwan-centred historiography in both Sinophone and Anglophone contexts.
Written by Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley. The article compares Simon Long’s 1991 book, Taiwan: China’s Last Frontier and Chris Horton’s recent publication, Ghost Nation: The Story of Taiwan and Its Struggle for Survival (2025). The author traces Taiwan’s transformation from an authoritarian frontier within a China-centric framework to a democratic, identity-driven political subject central to global geopolitics, yet still diplomatically constrained. By examining the two frameworks, the author reveals both profound change and enduring discourse on Taiwan’s self-determination and the limits of international recognition.
Written by Yoshitaka Ota. This article argues that the first step toward contributing to Taiwanese peace is to stop creating a common enemy between Taiwan and Japan and to start taking Taiwanese agency seriously. Japan should also exercise its agency to recognise and depart from the permanence of coloniality, which continues to create China as a common enemy, rather than looking at itself as the enemy once.
Written by Martin G. Arranz IV. This article discusses the growing influx of Taiwanese capital into the Philippine real estate market in 2026. Driven by high rental yields and strategic infrastructure projects, investors are prioritising high-quality developments, while appreciating the unique Japanese-influenced designs. This shift positions Metro Manila as a vital hub for wealth preservation and regional economic growth.
