Tokyo could play a decisive role in deterring or defeating a Chinese attack on Taiwan, but questions remain about its potential involvement. China’s increasing aggression toward Taiwan has alarmed Japanese policymakers and prompted a rethink in Tokyo about Japan’s approach to cross-Strait security. Though constrained in some regards by its pacifist constitution, Japan is taking…
The risk of a Chinese invasion remains low, but China’s gray-zone provocations are likely to test Taiwan’s mettle. Tensions in the Taiwan Strait reached new levels after U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August. The massive live-fire drills by China that followed the visit have intensified concerns about Taiwan’s security, which…
Beijing is flooding popular social media channels with malicious content aimed at weakening support for Taiwan’s sovereignty and undermining its most important bilateral relationships. “The People’s Liberation Army has taken control of Kinmen! With the conditions of the exchange exposed, the United States is furious!” say the Chinese characters on the thumbnail image of a…
Unencumbered by Taiwan’s strict border controls, the luxury sector’s sales this year are set to reach a new high across a wide range of categories. Times have never been better for Taiwan’s luxury goods industry, which has been insulated from pandemic-induced pain by its reliance on wealthy and high-spending domestic clientele. Data compiled by market…
Despite decreased technology demand and geopolitical challenges, domestic chip designers, led by MediaTek, are posting strong sales while navigating U.S.-China tensions. Taiwan’s semiconductor firms are often referred to as “chipmakers” because many manufacture the computing brains of electronic devices. But some of the island’s most ascendant semiconductor companies do not make any chips at all:…
Though domestic tourism is doing well outside Taiwan’s major cities, a lack of clarity on border reopening has left businesses dependent on the international market in limbo. For the past two-and-a-half years, Taiwan’s travel industry has grappled with an uncomfortable truth: Its reliance on international visitors has become a liability amid broad public support for…
More than two million doses of Medigen’s MVC-COV1901 have been administered domestically, but it has yet to gain traction internationally. Meanwhile UBI Pharma’s UB-612 is pending emergency-use authorization in Taiwan. Early in the coronavirus pandemic, Taiwan made a fateful decision: It would develop its own COVID-19 vaccines and make them a key part of its…
Since the pandemic began, Taiwan has developed several herbal formulas that traditional Chinese medicine doctors say are effective in treating COVID-19. The most prominent of these is Taiwan Chingguan Yihau (NRICM101), marketed under the name Respire Aid and developed by Taiwan’s National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine (NRICM). The treatment is made up of ten…
Aggressive local competition and rising geopolitical risk make the contract electronics manufacturing giant’s China dependency more precarious than ever. Hon Hai Precision Manufacturing Co., better known as Foxconn, is the largest private employer in China and has long depended on the country as its manufacturing base. As recently as 2018, Foxconn assembled half of the…
To capture a greater share of the booming digital assets business, Taiwan needs more comprehensive regulation and proactive government support for the industry. During his four years in office, former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Jason Hsu spoke of turning Taiwan into a “crypto nation.” It was always a long shot; the island’s financial services…
