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Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 4 Apr 2025
    • China
    • Taiwan

    What’s in a name? China tests Trump’s resolve on Taiwan

    Sophie Wushuang Yi
    Beijing is seeking to normalise pressure on Taipei and at the same time see just how transactional the United States has become.
  • 29 Jan 2025
    • China
    • Taiwan

    How much of the world really backs Beijing’s claim to Taiwan?

    Benjamin Herscovitch
    The widespread adoption of Beijing’s stance might constrain US-led deterrence efforts and could provide the PRC with extra licence to escalate military aggression.
  • 18 Dec 2024
    • Aid & Development
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • Southeast Asia
    • Taiwan
    • Russia
    • Trade
    • Climate change
    • Technology
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Solomon Islands
    • United States

    What I’ll be watching for in 2025

    Susannah Patton , Melanie Pill , Sam Roggeveen , Robert Walker , Mihai Sora , Hilman Palaon , Oliver Nobetau
    Lowy researchers gaze at their crystal balls – with questions, more than answers, for the year ahead.
  • 16 Dec 2024
    • Taiwan
    • Defence & Security

    Taiwan and Ukraine: Learning the right lessons

    Mick Ryan
    The Ukraine experience has turbocharged Taiwan's learning about modern war.
  • 25 Sep 2024
    • Taiwan
    • United States
    • US Elections

    Bargaining chips: What the Vance Doctrine means for Taiwan

    Jordan McGillis
    With Taiwanese chips integral to the US economy, the would-be vice president is promoting his own brand of restrained nationalism.
  • 12 Sep 2024
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Defence & Security

    The implausibility of a Taiwan blockade

    John Quiggin
    If all-out war is an inevitable consequence of a blockade, why wouldn't China cut to the chase and start the war immediately?
  • 10 Sep 2024
    • Taiwan
    • Pacific Islands

    Beijing’s "one-China principle" is spreading

    Benjamin Herscovitch
    It is untrue that Taiwan is an "inalienable part" of China, but that's not stopping governments from Kiribati to Honduras from saying it.
  • 26 Aug 2024
    • Taiwan

    The right side of history: Taiwan and its “real estate”

    Jenny Bloomfield
    Democratic freedoms in Taiwan have been hard won and deservedly supported strongly by Australia.
  • 14 Aug 2024
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Australia

    No, Taiwan is not PRC real estate

    Denny Roy
    There is no legal or moral justification to not support Taiwan’s survival as a democracy.
  • 26 Jul 2024
    • China
    • China's Government
    • Taiwan

    Why Taiwan should embrace multiculturalism

    Grant Wyeth
    With a birth rate below replacement level, Taipei has many reasons to boost its workforce from Southeast Asia.
  • 9 Jul 2024
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Europe

    China-Taiwan, and a Vatican conversion

    Abhishank Mishra , Ananya Sharma
    A shift in diplomatic recognition by the head of the Catholic church would carry global consequences.
  • 20 Jun 2024
    • China
    • Taiwan

    How Taiwan fights the disinformation war

    Huynh Tam Sang , Tong Thai Thien , Le Thi Yen Nhi
    Newly inaugurated president Lai Ching-te will need to collaborate inside and outside the state to counter China’s cognitive warfare.
  • 22 May 2024
    • Taiwan

    We can help keep Taiwan safe by deepening engagement  

    Jenny Bloomfield
    As new Taiwan President William Lai takes office, Australia and partners should support democratic Taiwan in maintaining regional peace.
  • 17 May 2024
    • China
    • Taiwan

    The most important factor hardening China’s stance on Taiwan

    David Cheng-Wei Wu
    And that is China itself.
  • 2 May 2024
    • Taiwan
    • Australia

    Fostering Indigenous cooperation between Australia and Taiwan

    Jenny Bloomfield
    Understanding only grows with knowledge of rich histories and traditions that extend back thousands of years.
  • 24 Apr 2024
    • China
    • Taiwan

    Three factors hardening China’s stance on Taiwan

    Tarik Solmaz
    Beijing might not soon invade, but its “grey-zone” threats are set to escalate.
  • 23 Apr 2024
    • Taiwan
    • Sex and Gender

    In the Olympics of Drag, Taiwan just took the gold

    Kazimier Lim
    Nymphia Wind’s victory on RuPaul’s Drag Race is historic, with implications for Taiwanese politics and international relations.
  • 17 Apr 2024
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    Why China remains unlikely to invade Taiwan

    Denny Roy
    Xi Jinping didn't reach the top of Chinese politics by gambling.
  • 13 Mar 2024
    • China
    • Philippines
    • South China Sea
    • Taiwan

    Understanding China’s efforts to bridge the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait disputes

    Sophie Wushuang Yi
    Regional problems are challenging enough without lumping them together.
  • 12 Feb 2024
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Defence & Security

    What constrains and restrains China on Taiwan?

    Jared McKinney
    This is the better question to ask when assessing the prospects of a war over the Strait in the coming decade.
  • 5 Feb 2024
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Pacific Islands
    • Nauru

    From “poop diggers” to allies: Chinese social media reacts to Nauru’s switch

    Shuo Luan , Graeme Smith
    Echoes of past positions continue to influence views of the Pacific Island nation.
  • 22 Jan 2024
    • Taiwan

    Taiwan: To what good is the status quo?

    Grant Wyeth
    The global system is caught short while China enforces the absurdity that Taiwan cannot be considered a country.
  • 11 Dec 2023
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Australia

    The Beijing blowback should Australia get closer to Taiwan

    Richard McGregor
    Bilateral initiatives are not the only way for Australia to bolster Taiwan and signal its support.
  • 11 Dec 2023
    • China's Economy
    • China's Government
    • Chinese Trade
    • Taiwan
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia and Asia
    • Australia's Trade
    • Australian Diplomacy

    Don’t let China veto Australia’s ties with Taiwan

    Benjamin Herscovitch
    Canberra should not let increased trade and political engagement with Taipei be held hostage to Beijing’s sensitivities.
  • 24 Nov 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Pacific Islands
    • Sex and Gender

    China and Taiwan are big Pacific donors – but not for gender equality

    Jessica Collins
    More clarity on the flows of funds would help to assign what little credit is due.
  • 15 Sep 2023
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Defence & Security
    • Energy
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Sustainability

    Beijing’s plan for Taiwan challenges its offshore wind push

    Joseph Webster , Zoe Leung
    Fujian’s coast hasn’t kept up with wind power in other provinces – and military strategy seems to be blowing the other direction.
  • 15 Aug 2023
    • Asean
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • Malaysia
    • Philippines
    • Taiwan
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam
    • Energy

    Pipe dreams: Turning an interconnected ASEAN gas market into a reality

    Massita Ayu Cindy Putriastuti , Nadira Asrifa
    An old idea for a regional network might hold the answer for energy demand into the future.
  • 17 Jul 2023
    • China
    • Japan
    • Taiwan
    • Australia
    • United States

    The emergence of “collective strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan

    Rupert Schulenburg
    With a change in language, has Washington over-promised on its allies’ appetite for conflict with China?
  • 6 Jun 2023
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Defence & Security
    • International law
    • United States

    US-China: A Cold War lesson to apply “rules of the road” at sea

    Donald R Rothwell
    Soviet and American warships had a code to prevent dangerous encounters and the US and China should have the same.
  • 18 May 2023
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Coronavirus
    • Multilateral Institutions

    Why the WHO needs Taiwan

    Joel Keep
    Taiwan’s early warning and pandemic response should be offered as a model to the world, not hostage to China’s whim.
  • 26 Apr 2023
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Australia

    The two big flaws in Penny Wong’s talk of deterrence over Taiwan

    Hugh White
    It’s wishful thinking to dismiss debate on the most difficult and important foreign policy question as a “parlour game”.
  • 13 Apr 2023
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • European Union
    • France

    Taiwan: Far from lost in translation, Macron said exactly what he meant

    David Vallance
    The French President’s comments are the latest example of his consistent call for Europe to set its own path.
  • 22 Mar 2023
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Australia
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    AUKUS commits Australia to fight China if America does, simple

    Hugh White
    Whatever the flag, Washington would not sell nuclear-powered boats unless it could count on them in war over Taiwan.
  • 6 Feb 2023
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Defence & Security

    A Chinese invasion of Taiwan isn’t inevitable

    Daniel R. DePetris
    The logistics pose a momentous challenge. And more so, Xi Jinping knows a war will entail enormous costs.
  • 1 Feb 2023
    • Indonesia
    • Malaysia
    • Taiwan

    Indonesia gets the ball rolling on domestic worker rights

    Ratih Kabinawa , Pamungkas A. Dewanto
    Jakarta’s call to legislate its informal workforce should be a model for all countries that receive migrant workers.
  • 30 Dec 2022
    • China
    • Taiwan

    How to Interpret 2022: A Taiwan crisis

    Daniel Flitton
    One of Asia’s flashpoints again tested regional relations, as well as analysts.
  • 18 Oct 2022
    • India
    • Taiwan
    • Geo-economics

    Will the three Ts tie India and Taiwan?

    Melissa Conley Tyler
    If New Delhi wants Taipei to help build supply chain security, it should expect Taiwan to ask for more political support.
  • 26 Sep 2022
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • United States

    Taiwan: Biden risks talking himself into a war he cannot win

    Hugh White
    The military balance is shifting China’s way, and half-abandoning a policy of strategic ambiguity won’t change that.
  • 20 Sep 2022
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • The Biden Presidency
    • United States

    What does Biden mean on Taiwan?

    Robert Ayson
    When Washington doesn’t speak with one voice, its powers of strategic ambiguity are slowly chipped away.
  • 24 Aug 2022
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • United States

    What are the prospects for stability across the Taiwan Strait?

    Jade Guan
    A democratic Taiwan has considerable agency and capacity to affect the dynamics of power in East Asia.
  • 19 Aug 2022
    • China
    • China's Government
    • China's Military
    • Taiwan
    • United States

    The social media spectacle of China’s Taiwan military exercises

    Manya Koetse
    The whole world’s a stage when it comes to promoting the power behind the “one China” narrative.
  • 17 Aug 2022
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Defence & Security

    Why can’t Beijing renounce force against Taiwan?

    Jade Guan
    History, nationalism, the Party, deterrence and the military make for a heady mix.
  • 16 Aug 2022
    • China
    • Taiwan

    China’s Taiwan policy in the “new era”

    Cherry Hitkari
    Beijing’s latest white paper on Taiwan is a marked shift in tone from the more accommodating versions past.
  • 16 Aug 2022
    • China
    • Philippines
    • Taiwan
    • United States

    What the Philippines has at stake in Taiwan

    Susannah Patton
    Strategic choices by Manila will matter to Washington and Beijing.
  • 9 Aug 2022
    • China
    • China's Government
    • China's Military
    • Taiwan
    • United States

    When serious, careful US management of China–Taiwan policies … isn’t

    John Culver
    The status quo in the Strait has changed. But is anyone really tuning in as the drama unfolds?
  • 2 Aug 2022
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • United States

    Will Pelosi’s trip trigger the next Taiwan crisis?

    Adam Lockyer
    The speaker has a long history of standing against Beijing. But Asia’s balance of military power has changed.
  • 30 Jun 2022
    • Taiwan
    • China
    • Australian Public Opinion
    • Public Opinion Polling

    Australians worry about China and muscle-flexing over Taiwan

    Natasha Kassam
    New polling shows Beijing and its intentions have overtaken climate, Covid and cyberattacks as major concerns.
  • 28 Jun 2022
    • China
    • Japan
    • North Korea
    • South Korea
    • Taiwan
    • United States

    Contingency plans: South Korea and cross-Strait security

    Henry Storey
    Seoul’s new administration faces critical choices over Taiwan and its relationships with Washington and Beijing.
  • 25 Jan 2022
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Hong Kong

    China’s new reality

    Evan Freidin
    Forget geopolitics and military muscle flexing. Reality TV is where Beijing and Taipei can put aside their differences.
  • 23 Dec 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • United States
    • South China Sea
    • Australia
    • China
    • Taiwan

    Myths that stir trouble in the South China Sea

    John Quiggin
    A major shipping route, yes, but vital? False claims about the value of these waters only make diplomacy harder.
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