Written by Laura Bonsaver. This article proposes that Europe should move beyond threat-centric framings of Taiwan and recognise it as an innovative, democratic, and technologically advanced partner. It recommends de-hyphenating Taiwan from militaristic narratives, normalising its role in Indo-Pacific strategies, and reframing Europe-Taiwan relations as mutually beneficial collaborations rather than dependency or crisis management.
Written by Ritika Passi. The article discusses the weaponisation of different chokepoints, using the India-Pakistan water dispute as a case study. It applies these insights to Taiwan, underscoring its vulnerabilities in the Taiwan Strait for trade and subsea cables for data. The author emphasises the need for Taiwan to enhance its economic security and resilience against potential disruptions.
Written by Hsiao-Chen Lin. The article examines how South Asia’s recent strategic developments, particularly Pakistan’s use of integrated C4ISR systems, offer crucial insights for Taiwan’s defense. It highlights China’s export of integrated warfare doctrines and Taiwan’s efforts to enhance its resilience through defence reforms, societal readiness, and strategic realignment amidst evolving Indo-Pacific dynamics.
Written by Sameer Patil. This article discusses how the May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict unveiled a new chapter of cyber warfare and cognitive warfare. As the two nations exchanged conventional blows, an intense battle simultaneously unfolded in cyberspace, targeting digital infrastructure and spreading disinformation. Pakistan aggressively launched cyberattacks and propaganda, while India largely adopted a retaliatory and defensive cyber posture. This highlights the critical and evolving role of cyberspace in modern conflicts and offers key lessons for Taiwan regarding cybersecurity and countering disinformation.
Written by Dominika Remžová and Dominika Urhová. The article begins with the modernisation of China’s military and its implications for Taiwan’s defense strategies. It emphasises the need for Taiwan to adopt asymmetric warfare approaches amid increasing Chinese military pressures and to reform its armed forces. Taiwan’s reliance on its critical semiconductor industry is also highlighted, showcasing its strategic importance.
Written by Ian Murphy. This article critically examines infrastructure warfare and its application to the China-Taiwan conflict. Particularly, China’s development of the China-Kinmen water pipeline and the proposed Kinmen-Xiamen Bridge project raise concerns about its use of infrastructure as a tool of political coercion.
Written by Brian Hioe. Taiwanese civil society groups held a press conference in the legislature on February 2nd to call attention to the third anniversary of the coup in Myanmar, which overturned the democratically elected government and instituted a military regime.
Written by Raian Hossain. Now that the election results are in, the period of intense suspense and electoral speculation has concluded. The issue of cross-strait relations remains unresolved, as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) insists that the Republic of China (ROC), often known as Taiwan, is a separatist province of the mainland and aims for reunification. For the first time in history, Taiwan has re-elected the same political party to govern the democratic island for a third consecutive term. The election of Lai Ching-te on Saturday signifies a strong counter to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) forceful stance and intimidation tactics towards the island. The primary challenge now is how Lai’s new government will maintain its relations with Beijing and navigate the complex triangular dynamics of the US, China, and Taiwan.
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.
Written by Alessio Patalano. On 04 August, Chinese military authorities launched an impressive set of military manoeuvres across the Strait of Taiwan. Compared to prior exercises with a similar operational design in mind held during cross-strait tensions in 1995-96, this iteration lasted longer, pushed the operational envelope in a more aggressive direction, and was significantly larger in scale and commitment of capabilities. Crucially, when the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command announced the end of the second phase of manoeuvres two weeks later, the Chinese military had shown how two decades of unmatched military build-up allowed Beijing to use steel to project statecraft.
Written by Li-Chiang Yuan. To counteract the United States Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, China warned the US that it was “playing with fire” through wolf warrior diplomacy and punishment of Taiwan. After Pelosi left Taiwan, China conducted the largest-ever military exercise against Taiwan since the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis. The People’s Liberation Army’s 4-day live fire exercise from 4th to 8th of August, 2022, has broken the record and set “three firsts”: 1. Missiles directly flying over Taiwan; 2. PLA’s crossing the median line of Taiwan Strait, and 3. Exercise areas encircle Taiwan, and PLA reaches Taiwan’s 12 territorial seas and airspace. Naturally, no one in Taiwan would welcome these “Firsts”.
Written by Tzu-yun Su. As a result of the war in Ukraine, Taiwan’s security has gained more attention and support. So naturally, any assistance in democratic defence is welcome in Taiwan. But honestly, Taiwan’s defence plan is designed for the worst-case scenario: to defend itself alone without foreign military aid. That is to say, with military investment projects and manpower system reform, the island can effectively build asymmetric capabilities to improve defence capabilities. This will have a better chance of defeating the invaders and establishing Taiwan’s security.
Taiwan Insight 