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Taiwan: 2024 elections
On 13 January 2024, voters in Taiwan will go to the polls to cast their votes for a successor to Tsai Ing-wen, the current independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) president, who is term-limited, and for 113 members of the Legislative Yuan. Alongside the future of cross-strait relations and regional peace and stability amid growing US-China strategic competition, Taiwan's economic vulnerabilities, its reliance on energy imports, high youth unemployment, stagnant wages and high housing ...
Changing defence posture in Japan
In December 2022, Japan announced important changes to its defence policy, including a strong rise in its defence expenditure in the period up to 2027. Although Japan had already introduced some changes to its foreign policy-making process under late Prime Minister Abe, the new security and defence strategies, together with the planned strong rise in defence spending – if implemented – would constitute the most drastic changes to Japan's post-war order since at least 1960 (US-Japan Security Treaty ...
US Congress approach to US-Taiwan relations
The first year of the 117th US Congress (2021-2022) under a 'unified government', where President Biden's party holds a majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate, saw strong bipartisan support for shaping closer security, economic and political ties with Taiwan. Perceived as a vibrant democracy, worth protecting to secure peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region, the Biden administration invited Taiwan to the 2021 US Summit for Democracy, defining shared values rather ...
The misuse of social media platforms and other communication channels by authoritarian regimes: Lessons learned
Disinformation has continued to spread in recent years, receiving a significant boost during the COVID-19 pandemic and constituting one of the most pressing threats for democratic countries. Authoritarian regimes have played their part in the proliferation of manipulated content, particularly disinformation. This paper analyses recent instances of the misuse of social media platforms and other communication channels perpetrated by authoritarian regimes in Iran, China, and Russia to influence the ...
Intensificar la cooperación de la UE con Taiwán
Desde que comenzó su transición política en la década de 1980, Taiwán se ha convertido en una democracia dinámica y se ha unido a los países de renta alta. Las relaciones económicas entre la Unión y Taiwán están prosperando, como lo demuestra que la Unión sea la principal fuente de inversión extranjera directa de Taiwán. El Parlamento Europeo ha pedido reiteradamente a la UE que dé los primeros pasos hacia un acuerdo bilateral de inversión. Durante el período parcial de sesiones de octubre II, se ...
China: Partner or rival? [What Think Tanks are thinking]
Formally, the EU and China have been strategic partners since 2003 – a partnership that was broadened five years ago by the EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation. However, more recently, EU officials and politicians have been expressing increasing concerns over China’s economic expansionism and human rights violations. The current coronavirus pandemic and developments in Hong Kong have had a marked negative impacted on EU-China relations. This note offers links to recent commentaries, studies ...
Taiwan in 2020 and beyond
The Taiwanese went to the polls in early 2020 and overwhelmingly elected President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for a second term, while navigating pervasive disinformation and influence operations and closely watching events in Hong Kong. The Covid-19 pandemic was an opportunity for Taiwan to leverage its robust virus containment policy for global outreach. The self-ruled democratic island somewhat reduced its economic overreliance on mainland China through diversification ...
China tightens its grip over the South China Sea
Of all the disputed areas claimed by China, the South China Sea (SCS) has been the most prominent in recent years, since it involves the largest number of actors with overlapping claims to maritime features and waters, as well as non-claimant countries, owing to its strategic importance as one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. In 2020, China stepped up its salami-slicing tactics to assert its sweeping 'historic' rights, while Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam dismissed them in ...
Taiwan's political survival in a challenging geopolitical context
Since the landmark victory of Tsai Ing-wen from Taiwan's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the 2016 presidential elections, mainland China has intensified the island's international isolation and intimidation through political pressure, economic coercion and military drills. In a January 2019 speech commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1979 'Message to Compatriots in Taiwan', China's President, Xi Jinping, alluded to the inevitability of unification based on a 'one country ...
Asia Oriental
Asia es el continente de mayor extensión y el más poblado del mundo, y reviste una gran importancia geoestratégica para la Unión. La Unión tiene tres socios estratégicos en Asia Oriental: China, Japón y la República de Corea, y se enfrenta a problemas de seguridad en la región, como el desafío nuclear en Corea del Norte y el disputado mar de China Meridional. La Unión es un agente económico fuerte y un importante donante de ayuda y al desarrollo que realiza una labor de promoción de la consolidación ...