Taiwan-US – Taiwan Insight

Taiwan’s Trade Dynamics in 2023: Challenges and Partners Shifting

14 February 2024 Yu-Chen

Written by Yun-Chieh Wang. In 2023, Taiwan’s international trade experienced a decline in growth because of global economic challenges, with a notable dependency on semiconductor exports. Despite this downturn, Taiwan’s trade gap widened positively, attributed to the reshoring of Taiwanese enterprises, and increasing foreign investment. Meanwhile, the Taiwanese government is actively diversifying its trade partners, reducing its reliance on China and forging ties with the U.S. and U.K. through trade agreements.

US-Taiwan Trade Agreement: It is More of Politics than Economic

27 October 2023 Adrian Chiu

Written by Raian Hossain. Taiwan has severe military security concerns, and the island has over-trade and investment dependency towards the PRC, which raises the question of economic security. As of 2022, the PRC accounted for 25% of Taiwan’s exports and 20% of its imports, making Beijing still the largest trading partner of Taipei. However, Taiwan made significant progress in growing trade by 25% with the U.S. in 2021 and expanded its trade volume with New South Bound countries under President Tsai Ing-wen. After a year of negotiations aimed at diversifying trade and commerce, the U.S. and Taiwan signed the first part of the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade. Meanwhile, the second round of negotiations has already started.

Taiwan-US Trade Initiative: A good start, but the beginning of a long road

25 October 2023 Adrian Chiu

Written by Chieh-Ting Yeh. In 2005, I understood the FTA to be an aspirational long-shot—something that we can press for but not something we should expect to see in the foreseeable future. Recent developments such as the 21st Century Trade Initiative are milestones for sure, but milestones to mark just the beginning of a long road for a true free trade agreement with the US, as well as meaningful participation in regional trade blocs.

The Prospect of a US-Taiwan BTA in an Era of Heightened Political Exchanges

23 October 2023 Adrian Chiu

Written by Brian Hioe. The US and Taiwan signed the first stage of the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade in June, paving the path for both to streamline customs and taxation procedures between both sides. The trade agreement will also boost economic cooperation regarding small-to-medium-sized enterprises, while implementing anti-corruption measures. Progress on the trade agreement has continued, with the second negotiating round of the agreement starting in August. In particular, an end to double taxation between the US and Taiwan is a concrete outcome that both sides may pursue, long a stumbling block for those that work and do business in both the US and Taiwan. As progress on the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade has continued, legislation to this effect has been introduced in the US Senate.

Taiwanese American as an Aesthetic/Academic/Activist Concern

25 September 2023 Chee-Hann Wu

Organized by I-Lin Liu. Taiwanese American is not a given status but a process of becoming. For first and second-generation Taiwanese Americans, the experience of living in a foreign land and becoming a member of an ethnic minority group often creates occasions for rethinking or reconceptualizing the meanings of being Taiwanese or Taiwanese American. This article focuses on the meaning(s) of Taiwanese American identity, community building, and the future of the Taiwanese American identity.

NATSA: Repositioning Taiwan

22 September 2023 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Chee-Hann Wu. The North American Taiwan Studies Association (NATSA) is a registered nonprofit organization and the largest scholarly association dedicated to Taiwan Studies in the United States and Canada. It was founded in 1994 when Taiwan Studies became a booming field of research that attracted international attention during the 1990s, a period of rapid political, economic, social, and cultural change in Taiwan. The growing academic interest in Taiwan called for a regular and interdisciplinary academic forum. To establish such a forum, the North American Taiwan Studies Association’s constitution was drafted and ratified at the first annual conference at Yale University in June 1994.

Defence spending: Where is the Taiwanese public at?

26 June 2023 Adrian Chiu

Written by Timothy S. Rich and Miriam Dawson. With a delicate security situation due to its complex relationship with China, Taiwan must reevaluate its defensive capabilities, including military spending. However, such policies would not be without controversy, as public opinion plays a crucial role in shaping the trajectory of Taiwan’s defence policies.

Han-Heterosexual-Male Supremacy across the Pacific? A Critique of The Taiwanese Reminiscence Acrobatic Show

22 June 2023 Yi Yu Lai

Written by Mark Hsiang-Yu Feng. Busy as usual was Highway number eighty, but Mother’s Day made downtown San Jose unexpectedly quiet. However, in front of the California Theatre, lively chat sounded out of the silence, marking this celebratory moment for the twentieth anniversary of the Taiwanese American Center of Northern California during Asian and Pacific Islander heritage month. Families came to fill most of the seats, and three languages—Hoklo Taiwanese, Taiwanese Mandarin, and English—were spoken to express the identity of these participants. To honour the culture of Taiwanese and Taiwanese Americans, the overall narrative of Taiwanese Reminiscence contextualises a mixture of stunts, acrobatic movements, and dance into a condensed representation of the twentieth history of Taiwan.

Reflecting on the Laguna Woods Shooting Tragedy: One Year Later

20 June 2023 Yi Yu Lai

Written by Wayne Huang. On May 15, 2022, a fatal shooting occurred at the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California. During a lunch reception, the gunman locked the doors and opened fire with approximately a hundred people present. The church has been recognised for its significant role in Taiwan’s democratisation and independence movements since the 1970s. It has led to the suspicion that this historical connection motivated the assailant to travel over a hundred miles from Las Vegas to target the church. The shooting resulted in six individuals being shot, including Dr John Cheng, who lost his life while attempting to disarm the gunman.

Graduation Trip: From Bland Bureaucrat to Madame Liberty

14 April 2023 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Chieh-Ting Yeh. In 2011, a relatively unknown politician in Taiwan named Tsai Ing-wen became the presidential candidate for the Democratic Progressive Party, which was at the time the opposition. She was a capable bureaucrat that was most notable for her blandness; she had close to zero personal charisma to speak of.

Ironically, this was also her strength. The last DPP president, Chen Shui-bian, was seen by American policymakers as an unpredictable populist. He used his charisma to play to his base’s anti-China stance. As a result, when the US was trying to engage China, Chen and the DPP were seen as “troublemakers”, raising “tensions.”

President Tsai Ing-wen’s successful travels, in spite of a Chinese headwind: Solidifying Central American and US relations

12 April 2023 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Gerrit van der Wees. From late March through early April 2023, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen made her seventh foreign trip since becoming President in May 2016. The destinations were the Central American countries Guatemala and Belize, with stopovers in New York (on the way out) and Los Angeles (on the way back). The 10-day trip was her first foreign travel after Covid-19 made it sheer impossible to make such trips during the period 2020 – 2022. This trip became headline news because the CCP government in Beijing voiced major objections, particularly against a planned meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles. The objections are a continuation of the protests by Beijing against the August 2022 visit to Taiwan by McCarthy’s Democratic predecessor, Nancy Pelosi.

What A 2nd Trump Term Would Mean to Taiwan (and the US)

11 April 2023 Adrian Chiu

Written by Daniel Jia. Taiwan does not need and must avoid having a Taiwanese version of Donald Trump. However, Taiwan must be ready for a second Trump term unfavourable to Taiwan’s security. The new Trump administration would resume the economic-centred relationship with China as it did in the first term, likely at the cost of Taiwan’s international status and sovereignty. Taiwan cannot change Trump. But Taiwan can and must show the free world its resolve to defend itself like what Ukraine has been doing. With this unwavering resolution, Taiwan would have the chance to rally international support in the event of a China invasion. Then, and only with this determination, could Taiwan bring the US public and Congress to its side and mandate the lukewarm Trump to act as Biden in the current Ukraine-Russia war.

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