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TAEF BRIEF
October 14, 2022
No. 97 |
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CONTENT
-TAEF Updates
-TAEF Commentaries
-New Southbound Policy News
-Regional Headlines |
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Press Release: 2022 Yushan Forum - Global Leaders Gather for an Agenda Beyond Recovery |
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Date of Event: October 7, 2022
Established to gather great minds to brainstorm on the regional development agenda, the 2022 Yushan Forum: Asian Dialogue for Innovation and Progress took place October 7. When opening the Forum, President Tsai Ing-wen remarked that to sustain the democracy that Taiwan has long worked to uphold, a new regional framework that advances collaboration between like-minded countries is needed. And in the case of Taiwan, the New Southbound Policy (NSP) will be at the center of its Indo-Pacific strategy.
Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF) organized the Yushan Forum in 2022 by setting its theme on “Revitalizing, Reorienting, and Reconnecting,” aiming to extend the discussions of resilience building and regional cooperation during the darkest times of COVID-19 to more pragmatic revitalization practices today, with a particular focus on the collaboration between Taiwan and the NSP target countries and like-minded allies. This year, the Forum welcomed 31 international speakers from 13 countries, including the Republic of Palau, New Zealand, Japan, Australia, Canada, the United States, India, the Philippines, Malaysia, Germany, Thailand, Indonesia, and Luxembourg through a hybrid format.
President Tsai Ing-wen and Chairman Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao of TAEF commenced the forum with their remarks. Also speaking during the opening were leaders from the Republic of Palau, New Zealand, and Japan.
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Press Release: Inaugural Taiwan-India Dialogue - Exploring Avenues to Deepen Bilateral Ties |
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Date of Event: October 8, 2022
Jointly organized by Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF), the first Inaugural Taiwan-India Dialogue took place on October 8th right after the 2022 Yushan Forum, bringing together a panel of leading experts to explore avenues for deepening Taiwan-India ties.
TAEF and ORF entered into a three-year partnership by signing an MoU in May this year. An important initiative agreed upon in the MoU is the organization of an annual dialogue that will take place alternatively between Taiwan and India.
This year’s dialogue in Taiwan welcomed over 30 guests and panelists in total, including Chairman Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao of TAEF, Vice President Harsh V. Pant of ORF, Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Szu-Chien of the National Security Council, Deputy Minister Tien Chung-Kwang of Foreign Affairs, India’s Member of Parliament Sujeet Kumar, Director General Gourangalal Das of the India Taipei Association, President and Chief Executive Officer Ajit Manocha of SEMI, and India’s Former Secretary of Ajay Prakash Sawhney of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
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TAEF x KAS-Japan: "The Future of Work for Young People" Conference Registration Starts Now |
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Date of Event: November 4, 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has hurt young people more than any other age group (International Labour Organization, 2022). According to ILO's report, the global number of unemployed youths aged between 15 and 24 is estimated to reach 73 million in 2022.
The youth are particularly vulnerable to the disruptive changes taking place in the global economy, education, and the job market. Pre-pandemic trends such as automation, digitalization, and globalization have changed the way people live and work. In addition, COVID-19 has further complicated young people’s lives by affecting them deeply and disproportionately.
Given these circumstances, Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF) and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS)'s Regional Economic Programme Asia (SOPAS) are organizing the conference, "A Better (Re)Start: The Future of Work for Young People," which will discuss in-depth the trends and patterns within the Asian youth education and labor environment.
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The First-Ever NSP Film Festival Starts Running this October |
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Date of Event: October 28 to October 30, 2022
Culture is an important window into the broader world. In promoting the New Southbound Policy (NSP) in recent years, Taiwan has striven to broaden and deepen relations with member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), South Asian countries, and Australia and New Zealand. The level of cultural exchanges in particular has stood out. A flurry of Taiwanese films, dramas, and documentaries have recently taken root in NSP partner countries.
To further enhance mutual understanding and expand two-way interactions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has organized the first ever NSP Film Festival in 2022, and TAEF is one of the co-organizers. Through the magic of movies, we hope to write a new chapter in cultural exchanges between Taiwan and NSP partner countries.
In its inaugural year, the NSP Film Festival will feature six films from Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, India, and Taiwan.
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The Diplomat
To ‘Give Taiwan a Voice,’ Enlist the New Southbound Policy |
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October 7, 2022
-Dr. Alan H. Yang, Executive Director, Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation
-Dr. Sana Hashmi, Postdoctoral Fellow, Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation
In the past decade, China has attempted to unilaterally shrink Taiwan’s international space by poaching its diplomatic allies; Taiwan has only 14 left as of October 2022.
Despite China’s attempts to isolate Taiwan, the island nation has been trying to maintain its diplomatic allies along with reaching out to like-minded countries. In 2021, for example, Taiwan launched the “Give Taiwan a Voice” campaign to protest its exclusion from the United Nations.
To make Taiwan’s voice heard, it has become all the more compelling for Taiwan to look beyond its formal diplomatic allies and employ non-conventional methods of diplomacy. The New Southbound Policy, introduced by Tsai in 2016, has been instrumental in Taiwan’s regional strategy for Asia, and this could be further clubbed with the “Give Taiwan a Voice” campaign to accrue benefits in the Indo-Pacific region.
In a process to enrich its engagement with Asian countries based on cross-sectoral partnerships, Taiwan has focused on non-governmental platforms such as civil society and think tanks.
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Sunday Guardian Live
Think Tanks are Leading Taiwan’s Overseas Outreach from the Front |
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October 2, 2022
-Dr. Alan H. Yang, Executive Director, Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation
-Dr. Sana Hashmi, Postdoctoral Fellow, Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation
Think tanks and civil society organizations have become key vehicles of Taiwan’s public diplomacy. Over the years, a range of Taiwanese think tanks have contributed in numerous ways to meeting the foreign policy objectives and realizing the foreign policy agenda of its policymakers. Think tanks play a particularly crucial role when state-to-state relations have either not fully bloomed or are facing diplomatic constraints due to historical reasons, as is the case with Taiwan. However, there is little information and awareness of Taiwan’s dynamic think tank culture.
When Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, her focus was on adding a new dimension to Taiwan’s international presence and moving its overseas outreach to the next level. With that objective in mind, the New Southbound Policy (NSP), the centerpiece of Taiwan’s contemporary foreign policy, was introduced by her administration in 2016. Taiwan’s relations with the countries of South, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand started to become more multifaceted and institutionalized with the NSP. Taiwan is aiming to engage nations that were previously not on its radar.
Appreciating the role think tanks have played and the potential that they have, think tank diplomacy has been identified as the fifth pillar of the New Southbound Policy that is forging regional links. Seemingly, the Taiwanese government is cognizant of the potential benefits think tank diplomacy could accrue.
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Newsweek
Beyond Meeting Putin, Xi Promotes China as Asia's Security Leader at Summit |
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September 15, 2022
-Dr. Sana Hashmi, Postdoctoral Fellow, Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation
Xi's tour into the heart of Asia, first to Kazakhstan and then Uzbekistan, where the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is being held, marks his first trip abroad in nearly 1,000 days. And, at a time of international unrest stemming from crises over Taiwan and Ukraine, both backed by the U.S. in challenges to China and Russia, respectively, Beijing is looking to sow the seeds of a new security order in Asia.
Global instability has brought with it economic uncertainties, including sanctions levied by a broad coalition led by the U.S. and its allies against Russia, and new threats of economic restrictions mounted by Washington against Beijing over its claims to Taiwan.
"In parallel," Mok, a senior fellow at the Beijing-based Center for China and Globalization said, "the economic dimension of the SCO is likely to become more important to its participants." He cited recent reporting by the
Tehran Times showing that Iran's imports from SCO countries have increased by some 68% over the past year.
Sana Hashmi, a fellow at the TAEF in Taipei, told
Newsweek that Tehran's accession to SCO membership "will be beneficial for Iran as it is looking to deal with sanctions." She noted that the bloc's expansion began years earlier with the membership of nuclear-armed South Asian rivals India and Pakistan, whose leaders were both in attendance at the SCO summit despite their tortured bilateral ties.
On the issue of security, however, Hashmi, who previously served as a Taiwan Foreign Affairs Ministry fellow at National Chengchi University's Institute of International Relations and as a consultant to the Indian External Affairs Ministry, said that the "dominant" group was still the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
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NEW SOUTHBOUND POLICY NEWS |
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Nikkei Asia
Taiwanese Companies in China Flocking to Southeast Asia: Survey |
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October 8, 2022
Taiwanese companies in China are increasingly moving to Southeast Asia, a new survey shows, a trend that reflects the potential importance of President Tsai Ing-wen's flagship foreign policy.
Over a quarter (25.7%) of the surveyed companies with business in China had already shifted some of their production or sourcing out of China, and another third were considering doing so.
Of those on the move, a substantial majority (63.1%) were going to Southeast Asia, but slightly over half were moving some of their business back to Taiwan.
"There is no doubt that the New Southbound Policy was timely given the expense and reliability issues we have increasingly seen with doing business in the People's Republic of China," said Chen Kuan-ting, CEO of Taiwan NextGen Foundation, a Taipei-based think tank.
The NSP has been "one piece of a larger strategic shift for Taiwan" in which Taiwanese investors seek to support economic development of Southeast Asian nations, Chen said.
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Taiwan News
Taiwan President Talks New Southbound Policy at 2022 Yushan Forum |
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October 7, 2022
President Tsai Ing-wen highlighted Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy (NSP) as the core of its Indo-Pacific strategy and approach to forging closer economic ties with Southeast Asia at the 2022 Yushan Forum on October 7.
Tsai said that the NSP has borne fruitful results in economic and trade investment partnerships, technological and medical cooperation, education and non-governmental exchanges, and technological and medical cooperation, with Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. This has gained recognition from like-minded nations, she said.
Tsai pointed out that bilateral trade volume between Taiwan and New Southbound partner countries reached a record high of US$149 billion (NT$ 4.71 trillion) in 2021. From January to July this year, Taiwan's investment in 18 New Southbound countries exceeded US$2.2 billion, accounting for 43.9% of total foreign investment, she added.
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The Manila Times
William Dar, Former Agriculture Secretary of the Philippines: Agriculture Cooperation within ASEAN and Taiwan |
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October 6, 2022
Taiwan is currently pushing the New Southbound Policy (NSP) with the 10 member countries of ASEAN, six states in South Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Meanwhile, the ASEAN is pushing the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF). The aim of NSP, from what I have observed, is to level up Taiwan's relations with the ASEAN and South Asian countries, including Australia and New Zealand.
So, what does Taiwan bring to the table when it comes to the development of the agriculture sector of the ASEAN member countries including the Philippines?
For one, Taiwan has already attained high self-sufficiency in rice, or 110 percent, which is laudable as it devotes only 22 percent of its land to agriculture. Taiwan is also among the countries in Asia where efforts to apply artificial intelligence (AI) in agriculture are happening at a fast pace.
An article published in smartcitiesdive.com titled "Agricultural Transformation: Taiwan combines HI and AI to double farmers' income" showed that to increase domestic dragon fruit production, Taiwan's Industrial Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs has partnered with private communications company U-Sync Internet Service Co. to establish a smart demo field with Dragon Digital Farm Co., the country's largest dragon fruit farm, located in Pingtung.
The article added that the AI-based dragon fruit system is being applied in Indonesia and Malaysia, and will be scaled up. I will not be surprised if years from now, more ASEAN and South Asia nations will seek Taiwan's expertise in applying AI in their agriculture sectors.
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The Diplomat
Malaysia’s Mahathir, 97, to Run in Malaysia’s General Elections
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October 11, 2022
Malaysia’s 97-year-old former leader Mahathir Mohamad announced on October 11 that he will defend his seat in the general elections expected next month, though he wouldn’t say whether he would be prime minister a third time if his political alliance wins.
Though unlikely, he would be the oldest ever candidate for the post, which has a five-year term.
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob dissolved Parliament on Monday for snap polls, caving in to pressure from his United Malays National Organization party, which is hoping for a big win on its own amid feuds with allies in the ruling coalition. The Election Commission will meet on October 20 to fix a date for the vote, which must be held within 60 days of Parliament’s dissolution.
Despite his age and a health scare this year, Mahathir said he will defend his parliamentary seat in Langkawi island. He also warned that a win by the ruling UMNO party could see imprisoned ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak pardoned and let off the hook.
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The Diplomat
India-Australia Ties: Assessing Jaishankar’s Australia Trip
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October 11
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India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar traveled to New Zealand and Australia from October 5-11. While this was the minister’s first visit to New Zealand, it was his second visit to Australia this year as he was in Canberra in February for the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting.
The visit comes against the backdrop of significant geopolitical turmoil, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to China’s continuing harassment of its neighbors and heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait. India and Australia, both Quad members, have had a difference in approach as far as the Russian invasion is concerned, but that difference appears not to have affected bilateral relations or Quad engagements.
While addressing the Australia-India Leadership Dialogue, Jaishankar rightly acknowledged links in trade and education, with increasing numbers of Indian students choosing Australia as their destination. This is a vital contribution to the bilateral relationship, but the Indian foreign minister pointed out that “it is really in the realm of politics and strategy that the transformation has been the sharpest.”
Read more
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Nikkei Asia
Stadium Disaster Threatens Indonesia's Global Soccer Ambitions
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October 6, 2022
The deaths of at least 125 fans at the end of an Indonesian soccer match on Saturday shine a harsh light on the troubled past and uncertain future of the nation's favorite sport.
Indonesia's dark evening unfolded when there was stampede at a league match between Arema Malang and Persebaya Surabaya at the Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, East Java. Security forces fired tear gas into the crowd after some fans had entered the playing field. A crush formed at an exit and many people died from asphyxiation.
The incident has shocked a nation that has seen a fair share of soccer violence -- some estimates put fan deaths between 1994 and 2019 at 74.
Fans such as Putera Kusumatoro were not surprised, and point to long-standing issues of mismanagement, corruption, heavy-handed policing and hooliganism. "We have had the police using tear gas a lot to control the crowd inside or outside football stadiums," the Jakarta-based supporter told Nikkei Asia.
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