January 13th was a celebration of democracy in Taiwan. The small island country, which emerged in the 1990s from authoritarian rule (having experienced one of the longest periods of martial law in the world), held joint presidential and parliamentary elections. The current ruling party maintained the presidency; however, the new president will face a hung… Continue reading Taiwan Elections 2024 Explained: What to Expect?
The Russian weaponisation of gas supplies has sparked a renewed interest in Taiwan’s energy security, placing the DPP’s anti-nuclear policies at the centre of attention. On the one hand, both energy and national security experts have criticised the DPP’s continuing nuclear phase-out for pushing Taiwan, which in 2022 imported more than 97% of its energy, into an increasingly precarious position. The… Continue reading Neither Green Nor Just: The DPP’s Reckoning With Environmental Justice
Last November, adding further suspense to Taiwan’s gripping election campaigns, presidential candidates presented their running mates and registered as pairs with the national election authorities. The presidential candidates based their choices on very different considerations. Presidential front-runner Lai Ching-te (賴清德), from the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was the first to reveal what many had… Continue reading Balancing and partnering – Why we should pay attention to Taiwan’s vice-presidential candidates
Taiwan enjoys formal diplomatic relations with only a handful of countries, a result of China imposing its one-China policy on its bilateral relations. Taiwan’s diplomatic allies are all small and relatively weak countries; the Holy See (Vatican) is its only official diplomatic ally in Europe. However, this does not mean that Taiwan’s foreign policy is… Continue reading Taiwan’s quasi-diplomatic interactions with Europe: representative offices
A few days prior to this year’s EU-China summit, the Financial Times published an opinion piece by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Secretary-General of NATO, calling for the Union’s stronger support for Taiwan. The article singles out security considerations as the main reason for such a principled stance, which the author acknowledges has been taken up by only… Continue reading The EU-China Summit And The Future of EU-Taiwan Relations: Reconstructing the Normative Agenda
