Taiwanese Government Continues to Flounder on Transgender Rights in 2025 Amidst Continued Transphobia

Written by Yo-Ling Chen. This article reviews the year 2025 for Taiwan, which saw growing civil society support for transgender rights alongside intensifying anti-gender mobilisation, often echoing U.S. conservative politics. Yet the government failed to deliver substantive policy reform, maintaining compulsory surgery for legal gender change while sidelining transgender needs in assisted reproduction and conscription policy. The result was political stagnation amid expanding grassroots advocacy.

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Shovel Superheroes: Taiwan’s Person of the Year—Social Resilience Under Political Deadlock

Written by Thung-Hong Lin. In 2025, Taiwan confronted overlapping crises, from political deadlock and geopolitical strain to extreme weather and public violence. As formal institutions slowed under polarisation, civic networks filled the gap. Volunteer mobilisation after the Hualien landslides and civilian intervention during the Taipei Main Station attack showed how everyday collective action became a quiet but decisive source of resilience.

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Beyond Taiwan’s auspicious economic growth in 2025: industrial polarisation poses a challenge to income equality

Written by Min-Hua Chiang. This article examines Taiwan’s 2025 growth surge, driven by ICT exports, capital formation, and booming semiconductors, while showing stagnant consumption, rising inequality, inflation, and housing burdens. It argues that concentrated income in tech undermines social cohesion and urges government spending, diversification, and AI-enabled upgrading across lagging industries for sustainable growth ahead. 

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Taiwan-UK 2025: A year of significant engagement

Written by Max Dixon. The year 2025 has seen the most significant uplift in engagement between the United Kingdom and Taiwan in the history of the bilateral relationship. This article reviews efforts to include Taiwan in British foreign policy-making, including the first explicit consideration of Taiwan in the National Security Strategy, and the mutual visits of former leaders.

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US-Taiwan Relations 2025 Review and 2026 Outlook

Written by Chieh-Ting Yeh. This article reviews an eventful year of 2025 in Taiwan-US relations. Defence and trade continue to be the most important issues of the bilateral relationship under the Trump administration. It argues that the narrative surrounding it is fundamentally reactive and does not inspire hope or action. We need a more robust, imaginative, positive, optimistic, uplifting, inspiring, forward-looking, and hopeful narrative for US-Taiwan relations. 

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