Our vision is to raise awareness, deepen affinity, and create opportunities for strengthening the relationship between Taiwan and the international community| 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
Over the last half-decade, militaries around the world have executed a shift towards incorporating mass precision strike, with weapons such as loitering munitions and glide bombs becoming globally ubiquitous. These weapons are relatively low-cost, easy to mass-produce, and are reasonably accurate, able to partly replicate the expensive “precision strike complex” employed by Western militaries. Countries like Azerbaijan, Sudan, Iran, Ukraine, Russia, Myanmar have already employed such weap...| Global Taiwan Institute
In late March 2025, a delegation of Taiwanese trade experts landed in Nigeria’s commercial hub of Lagos. The arrival of high-profile dignitaries was not televised and no press conference was arranged, but it marked the second mission in five months. The visits are a telling sign of Taiwan’s intensifying effort to maintain a vital relationship with Africa’s largest economy. The post Taiwan’s Soft Power Gamble in Nigeria appeared first on Global Taiwan Institute.| Global Taiwan Institute
Due to the fact that tourism is primarily seen through an economic lens, people do not usually give much thought to tourism when discussing foreign policy and international relations. However, tourism plays an essential role in politics—namely in the realm of soft power, defined as a country’s ability to influence others without resorting to coercive pressure. When it comes to tourism, the idea is that through shared positive experiences facilitated by in-person visits, people will develo...| Global Taiwan Institute
At the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Taiwanese director Shih-Ching Tsou’s (鄒時擎) solo directorial debut, Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), earned the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution—an accolade commissioned to help new filmmakers distribute their first feature films across France. Taiwan’s increased visibility at renowned international independent film festivals like the Cannes Film Festival is much welcomed. Indeed, independent films’ reputation for prioritizing storytellin...| 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
Taiwan has long been an important geopolitical player in international decisions regarding economic security. The island nation draws attention for its importance to the Indo-Pacific, its economic prowess in technology—especially semiconductors—and its complex relationship with China. Much of the ongoing discourse on Taiwan’s foreign relations focuses on its diplomatic isolation or trade partnerships, leaving Taiwan’s defense and security cooperation with Middle Eastern nations unexpl...| Global Taiwan Institute
Beijing’s Reactions to Lai Ching-te’s Position on Taiwan Sovereignty| Global Taiwan Institute
Between 1932 to 1945, women and girls throughout the world were forced to provide sexual services to members of the Japanese military as so-called “wartime comfort women” (jugun ianfu in Japanese). This system of institutionalized sexual slavery, carried out through so-called “comfort stations” across Asia, was state-organized and has since become one of the most controversial historical and human rights issues in Asia. Over the decades, women and advocates in different countries have...| Global Taiwan Institute
GTI is a policy incubator dedicated to insightful, cutting-edge, and inclusive research on policy issues regarding Taiwan and its place in the world.| Global Taiwan Institute
“The Republic of Korea is an Indo-Pacific nation. Our national interests are directly tied to the stability and prosperity in the region,” reads the opening sentence of South Korea’s Indo-Pacific Strategy. South Korea's Indo-Pacific Strategy explicitly integrates the Taiwan Strait into its vision for a “free, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.” This inclusion underscores Seoul's recognition of Taiwan's critical role in regional stability and security. Introduced in Decemb...| 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