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…
How best to stand up to the authoritarian bully next door? For many young Taiwanese, the answer seems to be humor. Political satire, including spoof news YouTube channel EyeCTV, is rapidly gaining traction online. Their preferred targets: China and Taiwan’s uncertain international status. “Reporting from the Free Taiwan Area on the red bandits’ policies affecting…
By Courtney Donovan Smith U.S. and Taiwan Discuss Bilateral Relations Though Taiwan was disappointed by the delay of an expected visit by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi after she tested positive for COVID-19, other visits and meetings between Taiwan and the U.S. underscored the importance of the bilateral relationship as concerns grew that…
By Dexter Murray Another Evergreen Vessel Stranded Nearly a year after a cargo ship owned by the Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen Maritime Corp. caused a six-day-long traffic jam in the Suez Canal, another Evergreen ship has run aground off the U.S. coast. The ship, called the Ever Forward, hit ground on March 13 in Chesapeake…
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…
By Dexter Murray ROC Citizens, Officials Rally Behind Ukraine The parallels between Ukraine’s and Taiwan’s precarious geopolitical situations – smaller economies facing threats from larger, authoritarian neighbors – have engendered sympathy from many Taiwanese people. On March 2, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) set up a designated fund to accept donations to help Ukrainian…
Shelley Rigger’s latest book describes the role Taiwanese businesspeople played in facilitating China’s rapid economic growth in the 1990s and 2000s. It provides astute analysis and vivid historical detail, but readers should not expect a forecast of what lies ahead for cross-Strait ties. As a leading scholar on Taiwan, Davidson College political science professor Shelley Rigger has shown an impressive grasp…
Nicaragua Severs Ties with Taiwan Nicaragua ended official diplomatic relations with Taiwan in December, stating that it “recognizes that there is only one single China.” It was the eighth country to sever ties with Taiwan since 2016, leaving the island with only 14 diplomatic partners. The break in relations comes as the U.S. and countries…
Taiwan this year experienced its steepest economic growth in more than a decade. But a slower pace is expected in 2022 due to the higher base, more normalized demand, and supply chain adjustments. Despite semiconductor shortages, shipping logjams, energy price hikes, and the uneven distribution of coronavirus vaccines, the global economy in 2021 has bounced…
— By Brian Tsui and Grace Faerber Taiwan Opens Rep Office in Lithuania Taiwan last month opened its Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, the first of the island’s de facto embassies in Europe to use the name “Taiwan.” In response, China has downgraded its diplomatic representation in Lithuania to that of charge d’affaires. According to Lithuanian…
