The national Committee on Climate Change: Also a security issue  

Written by Paul Jobin. This article discusses the challenges and strategic priorities of Taiwan’s national committees placed in the Presidential Office, addressing the issues of climate change, defence resilience, and health. This article reviews the first meeting of the National Climate Change Response Committee to assess the government’s stance on nuclear energy, the priorities of different stakeholders in climate policy, and the potential synergies with Taiwan’s defence and health strategies.  

Assisted Reproductive Act Amendment: The Testing Ground for the New Taiwanese Parliament’s Power Dynamics

Written by JhuCin Rita Jhang, Ph.D. The 2024 Taiwanese presidential election has garnered substantial international attention due to the ever-intricate US-Taiwan-China relationship. However, this election means more to the Taiwanese than just how they want to engage with China. Contrarily, domestic issues carried much more weight than usual, including housing prices, economic policies, transportation infrastructure, and, for the first time in the centre of the competition, the Assisted Reproductive Act (ARA).  

“Governing by Memes”: COVID-19, Conspiracy, and Digital Democracy in Taiwan 

Written by Wen Liu and Hsin-I Sydney Yueh. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly rearranged our social relations and affective connections. Amid disinformation and virus-origin conspiracy theories circulating across the social landscape, governmental responses to the pandemic have included various public health measures, such as lockdowns and mask mandates, and political measures, such as escalating geopolitical conflicts between the United States and China. Around the world, fear has been one of the most prominent affective responses to the pandemic, as driven by disinformation practices, intensified geopolitics, and our raw psychic fear about the unknown.