Politics – Page 26 – Taiwan Insight

Wave Makers on Netflix: A Vision of Taiwanese Politics Not ‘Amid Tensions’

10 May 2023 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Chieh-Ting Yeh. “Wave Makers” (2023; 人選之人-造浪者) is a new drama on Netflix about political staffers trying to win a presidential election in the last few months of the campaign. This may sound like the premise of many television shows in the political intrigue genre, but it is the first of its kind from Taiwan to be available to a worldwide audience. The drama addresses various political issues relevant to contemporary Taiwan, including environmental concerns, energy policies, and workplace sexual harassment, reflecting the ongoing public debates on these topics. But it is glaring in what it is missing: Taiwan-China relations.

Can Democracy be fed (or fed up)? Economic Factors Towards Democratic Development and Political Efficacy in Taiwan Presidential Election (1996-2020)

9 May 2023 Adrian Chiu

Written by The Fengze Strategy. Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election is approaching. Although candidates from different major parties have yet to stand out representing their parties, economic development has been considered an essential issue in every campaign. Some political entrepreneurs thought that democratic values could not be sufficient for economic development; in other words, citizens who prefer economic development the most would consider the so-called democratic value to be “a castle in the sand”. In this article, we will examine the presidential elections in Taiwan from 1996 to 2020 through the basic factor of economic development, the gross domestic product (GDP).

How Does Recipients’ Corruption Taint the International Image of Taiwan’s Foreign Aid?

24 April 2023 Adrian Chiu

Written by Ernie Ko. Taiwan’s foreign aid, officially known as official development assistance (ODA), has rarely been mentioned as a good practice in the circle of international press and international aid agencies. On the contrary, corruption, inefficiency, non-transparency, and unaccountability are often associated with the recipient countries of Taiwan’s aid. So, the question is, does this negative stereotype unavoidable?

Europe’s Dream of Strategic Autonomy

21 April 2023 Adrian Chiu

Written by Gunter Schubert. Slowly, the dust settles after French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarkable performance during his state visit to China from April 5-7. However, it is a safe bet that his statements on the danger of the European Union (EU) being drawn into a war by the US because of Taiwan, a place of no interest to Europeans, will have long-lasting repercussions for the transatlantic relationship.

Not A New Story: Tracing the History of Corruption in Tainan

20 April 2023 Adrian Chiu

Written by Jonathan Leung. Earlier this year, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Tainan City Council, Chiu Li-li and Lin Chih-chan, were arrested on suspicion of involvement in a bribery case related to the speaker election last December. However, this is not the first time incidents concerning the speaker election in Tainan City Council have made headlines. Accidents and controversies have arisen several times, drawing attention to the Tainan City Council’s speaker election held every four years in December.

From Kuomintang to Democracy: The Evolution of Clientelism and Its Legacy

18 April 2023 Adrian Chiu

Written by Matthew Yi-Hsiu Lee. The democratic performance in Taiwan today is evident, but this does not mean that it does not have a dark side. Recently, during the by-election of a legislator in Nantou, some people held cameras to supervise whether others voted, which violated the privacy and rights of the general public. These people are brokers and part of a more extensive authoritarian legacy. They monitor whether voters go to vote, which may also involve vote-buying fraud and serving so-called “local factions.” However, what are the mysterious “local factions”? Why do they appear? And what impact do they have on democracy?

Recognising the ‘Taiwan Issue’: Analysing the Impact of the UK Government’s Integrated Review Refresh

17 April 2023 Adrian Chiu

Written by Max Dixon. The British Government’s ‘refreshed’ foreign policy document, released in March 2023, emphasised the increasing parallels drawn between the plight of Ukraine amidst Russian aggression and the threat posed to Taiwan by increasing Chinese assertiveness. The Integrated Review Refresh 2023, the first clear enunciation of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s foreign policy approach, sought to revise the 2021 Integrated Review. The Refresh formally recognises tensions in the Taiwan Strait for the first time in British foreign policy yet addresses Taiwan with a degree of tentativeness that will necessitate greater clarity in the future.

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.”

Chinese Military Drills After Tsai-McCarthy Meeting Will Be Used for Political Ammo by Both Camps

13 April 2023 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Brian Hioe. One of the striking effects of Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last August was to what extent it highlighted the perception gap within Taiwan as compared to outside Taiwan.

At the time, much international discourse acted as though the Pelosi visit could be a prelude to World War III. Drama ensued from the visit’s onset, with the flight that Pelosi took to Taiwan followed by over 700,000 users on flight tracking website FlightRadar24–setting new records. Op-eds in international media outlets such as the New York Times framed Pelosi’s visit as unnecessarily provoking China.

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.

Japanese Colonial/Occupational Histories in the National Museums: A Comparison Between Taiwan and Singapore

5 April 2023 Yi Yu Lai

Written by Pin-Yi Li. In the postcolonial Asian context, national museums reflect the countries’ colonial histories and their transformation, offering the country’s incumbent political elites the opportunity to reinvent or adjust the initial museum discourses framed by the colonisers. For example, respectively built by the Japanese and British colonial governments, both the National Taiwan Museum and the National Museum of Singapore are the oldest public museums in each country.

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