TOPICS’ first editorial, published in March 2002 – The situation has improved, but some of the content remains relevant 18 years later. The recent formation of Taiwan’s new Cabinet provides a good opportunity to review the difficulties faced by international companies attempting to implement a globalized business model in Taiwan. Much has been done to…

One of Taiwan’s biggest struggles is getting its voice heard in a noisy world. That’s partly because so few global news companies have offices here staffed with full-time, seasoned correspondents. Many of the big-named media brands – AP, Dow Jones, Reuters – slashed their budgets and started closing or drastically downsizing their bureaus in Taiwan…

Going through the magazine archives is a reminder of what has changed – and what hasn’t – over the past half-century in the Taiwanese economy and environment for multinational business. This is the 434th issue of TOPICS magazine published by AmCham Taipei. Launched as a bimonthly publication in November 1970 – half a century ago this year – the magazine was then known…

If not for TOPICS, much of AmCham Taipei’s past – including the story of the Chamber’s founding – would likely be unknown to us. In fact, aside from what was later written about in the magazine, very little information survives about the organization’s activities and leadership from the period before TOPICS began publication in late 1970.   Fortunately, details of…

For all its horrendous implications, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought Taiwan the rare opportunity to gain widespread acknowledgment and respect around the globe for its accomplishments.   Few major news organizations maintain full-scale bureaus on the island, and Taiwan normally receives only occasional attention from the international media. But the scourge of COVID-19 thrust Taiwan into…