For the Pacific Islands region (also known as Oceania), which includes countries like Fiji, Samoa, and Tuvalu, the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is undoubtedly the most important regional organization. PIF creates venues where Pacific Island countries gather to make and issue communal decisions on regional and international issues, and most of the Pacific’s significant statements on climate change, sovereignty, statehood, and a range of other matters are released through PIF. The annual PIF L...| Global Taiwan Institute
Before 1945, the most widely spoken language in Taiwan was Tâi-gí (also known as Taiwanese [台語] or Taiwanese Hokkien). It was used across many of Taiwan’s ethnic communities, especially Taiwan’s ethnic majority population (sometimes referred to as the “Holo” or “Hoklo” population). However, due to almost a century of language repression policies, Tâi-gí use has declined sharply. Over 60 percent of Taiwanese people believe Tâi-gí is at risk of becoming endangered, but onl...| Global Taiwan Institute
In July this year, a Taiwanese court handed down a criminal conviction for the destruction of an undersea communications cable. The Chinese captain of the Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號), a bulk carrier, was sentenced to three years in prison after his vessel loitered in February in a government-designated no-anchor zone (禁錨警戒區) and severed a critical submarine cable between Taiwan and Penghu. The incident caused over NTD 17 million (USD 520,000) in damages to Chunghwa Telecom (中華電...| Global Taiwan Institute
Recent events indicate that Taiwan's Lai Ching-te (賴清德) Administration is strengthening its diplomatic ties with Europe. One factor contributing to this shift is Taipei’s uncertainty and unfavorability towards the Trump Administration's Taiwan policy. This has reduced the Taiwan government’s confidence in the United States as a partner and compelled the Lai Administration to focus on its European diplomacy–particularly in areas such as shared democratic values, defense cooperation...| Global Taiwan Institute
After the January 2024 national elections in Taiwan, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, 民進黨) retained the presidency but lost control of the Legislative Yuan (LY, 立法院). With 60 combined seats, the Kuomintang (KMT, 國民黨)-Taiwan People’s Party (TPP, 民眾黨) coalition now holds the advantage over the DPP’s 51 seats, giving it enough leverage to downplay and block DPP President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) policy proposals.| Global Taiwan Institute
In August this year, the Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) gathered ten analysts in Washington, DC as the “US-Taiwan Economic Relations Working Group” to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the US-Taiwan economic relationship. This article compiles thoughtful insights from the working group, which convened for a one-day workshop to outline key priorities for policy makers in both the United States and Taiwan with the goal of ensuring continued benefits from the US-Taiwan economic ...| Global Taiwan Institute
The Regional Cooperation Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a major trade agreement featuring nations across the Indo-Pacific, with outsized representation from Southeast Asia. However, the RCEP has never included Taiwan. Considering Taiwan’s strong efforts to shift trade from China to Southeast Asia under the 2016 New Southbound Policy (NSP), RCEP members have few obvious economic reasons to exclude Taiwan. Rather, it is the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) economic and political influen...| Global Taiwan Institute
In February 2025, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) outlined for the first time his vision for a “non-Red supply chain” (非紅供應鏈) that could be established among democratic societies to maintain technological leadership across a range of strategic sectors—and thereby reduce the geoeconomic leverage of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The post Better Ahead Than Red: US-Taiwan Cooperation for Non-PRC Tech Supply Chains appeared first on Global Taiwan Institute.| Global Taiwan Institute
Taiwan ranked 52nd out of 61 countries in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI)—an annual assessment that evaluates and compares national climate change mitigation efforts—at the end of 2016. Nearly a decade later, Taiwan remained near the bottom, placing 60th out of 67 countries in the 2025 CCPI. The post Learning from Tsai: Energy Policy Lessons for the Lai Administration appeared first on Global Taiwan Institute.| Global Taiwan Institute
Explosions of missile strikes, civilian screams and bloody shores — this is the grim scenario that Chinese propaganda wishes to relay to the Taiwanese public, one in which “peaceful reunification” is the only path to avoid annihilation. Many Taiwanese fear that they are woefully unprepared for such a situation; three in ten residents express “no confidence” in their armed forces, while fewer than half that number report “strong confidence.”| Global Taiwan Institute
From July 9-18, Taiwan’s military and other supporting government agencies conducted this year’s iteration of the Han Kuang exercise (漢光演習)—a military exercise conducted every year since 1984 to simulate the response to an invasion of Taiwan, and the largest single event on the annual calendar of the Republic of China (ROC) Ministry of National Defense (MND). Iterations of Han Kuang in recent years had followed a roughly similar schedule of events: often opening with ship and ai...| Global Taiwan Institute
There is safety in numbers—such are the rules of the game in Taiwan’s unconventional coalition parliament. Not only is Taiwan navigating a divided government for just the second time in its history, but the most recent election cycle also marks the first occasion since 2004 that the Legislative Yuan (LY, 立法院) lacks a majority party. Coalition building has therefore emerged as a vital electoral strategy in Taiwan’s current political landscape, from adapting to the polarized outcome...| Global Taiwan Institute
On July 26, 24 Kuomintang (KMT, 國民黨) legislators and one Taiwan People’s Party (TPP, 民眾黨) mayor faced recall votes. This high number of recalls was without precedent in Taiwan’s recent political history. Although the number of legislators being recalled was abnormal, the right to recall elected officials in Taiwan is prominently featured in Taiwan’s election law Public Officials Election and Recall Act (POERA, 公職人員選舉罷免法). This article examines the backgroun...| Global Taiwan Institute
Over the past decade, the United States and Taiwan have begun working together to improve governance and bolster democracies in Asia. In 2015, they launched the Global Cooperation Training Framework (GCTF) as “a platform to utilize Taiwan’s strengths and expertise to address global issues of mutual concern” and provide training programs for officials and experts from countries in the Indo-Pacific region. Since then, the GCTF has held over 80 international workshops across a broad range ...| Global Taiwan Institute
