Where business has slowed, the main reason appears to be economic factors. Ever since Beijing angrily terminated official communications with Taiwan’s then newly installed Tsai Ing-wen government in June last year, political relations with China have plunged to their coolest point in nearly a decade. But the cross-Strait political chill over Taiwan’s unwillingness to accept a…
The government is seeking to strengthen trade, investment, tourism, education, and cultural relations with South and Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia may be close to Taiwan geographically, but Taiwanese traditionally tended to see its people as little more than a source of cheap labor. Even in academia, says Edwin Yang, an instructor in the College of…
The Taiwan economy has undergone a sea change over the past four decades. From the first seed team sent to the United States to learn integrated circuit (IC) technology in 1976, to the dense network of small personal computer (PC) component suppliers developed in the 1980s, to companies that accounted for 70% of global PC…
The organization provides a platform for interaction with others in the region. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, is an economic forum comprising 21 economies on both sides of the Pacific. Its members are home to around to 2.8 billion people and account for nearly 60% of global GDP and half of world trade. But…
Previously home to light, assembly-type industries, the zones now mainly serve tech-oriented electronics operations. Free trade zones of one kind or another have been around since at least the 1930s, but when the Taiwan government created an export-processing zone (EPZ) in Kaohsiung in December 1966 – half a century ago this month – it…
In both technological capabilities and local implementation, Taiwan is taking the lead in “smart city” development. On October 19, the think tank Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) announced that five communities in Taiwan were among the 21 recipients of the ICF Smart21 2017 awards. The prize recognizes communities that apply “information and communications technology (ICT) to create…
Many consider Taiwan to be East Asia’s friendliest country for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders. Many people know Taiwan for its rapid economic growth. As one of the Four Asian Dragons, Taiwan – along with Singapore, South Korea, and Hong Kong – quickly industrialized from the 1960s to the 1990s. Much of Taiwan’s identity has…
As this year’s “World Design Capital,” Taipei aims to forge a new, forward-looking image. Designated the “2016 World Design Capital” by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID),Taipei has embarked on a comprehensive initiative to mark this year by instilling design elements into numerous aspects of urban life. “The WDC project aims…
In the face of persistent pressure from Beijing, foreign aid has helped Taipei bolster formal relations with countries in need. Can that strategy endure? Taiwan has long provided technical and financial assistance to other countries as a means of boosting its limited international profile. Given the relentless efforts of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)…
Cooperation with the United States will be a cornerstone of the island’s increasingly ambitious forays into space. Taiwan is stepping up cooperation with the United States in satellite technology in a bid to broaden the scope of its little known 25-year-old space program. Washington and Taipei will jointly fund the US$400 million FORMOSAT-7 mission (known…
