taiwan-europe – Taiwan Insight

Reflection on connectivity between high politics and low politics of Taiwan Studies in Europe

29 September 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Ting-Sian Liu. The author reflects on the annual ERCCT Taiwan-Europe Connectivity Workshop, exploring how Taiwan Studies favours high-politics and geopolitics over low-politics grassroots perspectives. She argues that bridging these competing epistemologies by integrating civil defence, minoritised communities, and feminist perspectives into mainstream security frameworks creates a vital site of productive tension for envisioning Taiwan’s future beyond Western-centric, state-level narratives.

Beyond the Normative Surface: The Role of Connectivity in Taiwan’s Fishery Governance Reforms

28 September 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Hao-Hsiang Hsieh. This article examines Taiwan’s fisheries governance reforms through the lens of Taiwan–Europe connectivity. Challenging the assumption that EU market pressure alone drives regulatory change, he shows how normative power operates through institutional dialogue, supply chains, and civil society networks. Taiwan’s response to the EU’s IUU fishing framework reveals connectivity as a multi-layered process linking regulation, markets, and societal actors.

When Questions Travel: Lived Geopolitics, Intellectual Circulation, and Return

25 September 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Ai Ke. This article reflects on how questions of mobility, identity, and geopolitics travel across ethnographic and academic settings. Following younger Taiwanese professionals working in mainland China, she develops the idea of “contested proximity” to examine how geopolitical tensions permeate ordinary life. Her return to Tübingen shows how intellectual connectivity emerges through ideas that circulate, transform, and return through dialogue.

One Week of Connectivity: Reflections from a Vietnamese PhD Student in Taiwan Studies

24 September 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Vo Thanh Hien. In this reflective essay, a Vietnamese doctoral student based in Taiwan shares how attending a week-long workshop in Tübingen, Germany, redefined their understanding of “connectivity.” Moving beyond formal International Relations theory, he describes how shared logistics, interdisciplinary feedback, and spontaneous moments transformed a room of researchers into a supportive academic community.

Geopolitical Anxiety Factors in Czech Republic-Taiwan Relations

18 September 2026 Adrian Chiu

Written by Wei-Chung Chen. This article examines Taiwan-Czech relations through the lens of geopolitical anxiety, identifying five periods in Czech political discourse on Taiwan. Taiwan has become a political symbol through which Czech actors negotiate tensions between liberal and authoritarian identities. The relationship’s future, however, remains uncertain amid renewed political divisions.

Taiwan’s Delicate Balance: Navigating Trump’s America, Europe’s Hesitations, and China’s Shadow

24 March 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Guido Gargiulo. This article describes how Taiwan, under President Lai Ching-te, navigates mounting geopolitical pressures from China while balancing relations with the United States under Donald Trump and the European Union. It explores Taipei’s strategy of bolstering defence, securing trade deals, and expanding diplomatic outreach to deter Beijing and strengthen global partnerships amid growing uncertainty in the Taiwan Strait.