Politics – Page 63 – Taiwan Insight

The EU and Taiwan – Realpolitik Trumps ‘Values Diplomacy’

28 July 2020 Editor

Written by Michael Reilly. The European Union’s relations with China are currently at their lowest level since at least the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989, if not earlier. Growing disillusion with China’s economic and predatory business policies under Xi Jinping had already led to the EU branding China a ‘systemic rival’ in 2019. Since then, unease has only grown and relations further soured, most recently over China’s crude attempts to use the Coronavirus pandemic for propaganda purposes, followed by its imposition of a draconian National Security Law on Hong Kong in disregard of its obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984.

Taiwan and Europe: An Uneasy History

27 July 2020 Editor

Written by Ian Inkster. The historical relations of Taiwan with Europe are by no means unproblematic. When free of Chinese imperial power, Taiwan became subject to the western Great Powers and then to an expanding, industrially founded Japanese colonialism and militarism. At this point, relations with Europe were commercially close but politically and culturally distant. Led by Britain, the European involvement in Taiwan was never truly benign. After the war of 1937-45, Europe’s interest in Taiwan was principally as a developing economy that traded in a range of complementary goods and services.

Prospect of Malaysia as the Gateway for Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy (NSP) Push

23 July 2020 Editor

Written by Karl Chee Leong Lee. Despite lingering pessimism surrounding the impact of COVID-19 on Southeast Asia’s economy, Malaysia has unexpectedly enjoyed a new wave of Taiwanese investment. According to official figures released by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) last April, the value of inbound manufacturing-based investment from Taiwan has increased seven-fold. In 2019 Taiwan became the fourth largest FDI source for Malaysia’s manufacturing sector after China, the US and Singapore.

Beyond Economics: The Value and Meaning of the New Southbound Policy

22 July 2020 Editor

Written by Dr. Alan H. Yang and Tung Cheng-Chia. Great power competition between the United States and China has intensified under the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. Whether in the World Health Organization or the United Nations, this intensification is compelling states to reorient their political alignment. Taiwan needs to reflect on and strategically reposition itself in this geopolitical tug-of-war. A top priority for the island-nation is to strengthen its links and influence in Asia.

Why Do Taiwan’s Environmentalists Oppose Renewable Energy Facilities?

13 July 2020 Editor

Written by Ming-sho Ho. Upon winning the re-election in January 2020, Tsai Ing-wen’s Democratic Progressive Party government is set to realise the goal of abolishing nuclear energy by 2025. At the same time, they wish to raise the proportion of green energy in the electricity mix to twenty per cent. While the dream of “nuclear-free homeland” has been championed by Taiwan’s environmentalists for more than three decades, the top-down push for renewable energy has unexpectedly met some opposition from the same camp.

Taiwan and 21st Century Chinese Realpolitik

7 July 2020 Editor

Written by Aidan Hall. The existence of China’s impressive military and economic strength is nothing new. It seems long ago that Beijing abandoned Deng Xiao Ping’s “hide your strength and bide your time” principle. To be sure, China is now more comfortable than ever being placed alongside the US and Russia as one of the world’s major powers. Awareness of China’s geopolitical significance is also nothing new (…) What is new, however, is China’s use of its military and economic muscle to improve its geopolitical position in profoundly aggressive ways.

Taiwan and the EU ‘safe list’

6 July 2020 Editor

Written by Ian Inkster. It will now be well-known to our readers that the European Union has excluded Taiwan from ‘a safe list,’ which allows citizens unhindered travel to-and-fro the Eurozone. It is important to note that there is no obligation for the EU to give full, or even sensible reasons, for this decision. Still, we can nevertheless examine the evidence for ourselves.

AMERICA SHOULD RESURRECT THE FORMOSA RESOLUTION

2 July 2020 tianran1

Written by Bill Sharp. The Trump administration has signed into law a number of pieces of legislation that reduce the traditional strategic ambiguity colouring the US commitment to the defence of Taiwan.

Migration from Hong Kong and Taiwan’s Overheated Housing Sector – is there a Strategy?

30 June 2020 Editor

Written by Yao-Hung Huang. On May 28th, 2020, China approved the controversial national security law for Hong Kong. It is expected that Beijing’s latest intervention could well be the last straw that prompts many of its residents to leave the special administration region, and this has arguably already began to occur.

Can Taiwan Replace Hong Kong as Asia’s Premier Financial Services Hub?

29 June 2020 Editor

Written by Lee Faulkner. The imposition of national security laws appears to be the final straw for Hong Kong. Such is the level of decline in in the city that formerly set the standard for jurisprudence in Asia that we don’t even know which legal system the new laws will fall under, nor which bodies will enforce them.

Taiwan can help!

26 June 2020 Editor

Written by Chun-yi Lee and Yu-ching Kuo. The world changed this year. Covid-19 appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan, and gradually spread to Europe and the United States. At the time of writing (June 14), there are nearly 8 million confirmed cases of the virus worldwide. The global death toll is 431,225, with the United States suffering the most deaths (115,578). Yet Taiwan, a small, self-ruled island that is geographically close to mainland China, had seen only 443 confirmed cases and 7 deaths by June.

Taiwan’s Mask Diplomacy and the International Responses

25 June 2020 Editor

Written by Najee Woods. In early April, President Tsai Ing-wen announced that the nation would donate 10 million masks to nations in need, particularly to the United States and European countries. These countries being the two hardest hit by COV-19. The news was welcomed by both the governments of the United States and the Europe Union. The U.S. Department of State lauded Taiwan for being a true friend in a time of need, while the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen personally thanked Taiwan via her official Twitter account.

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