Finance and Economics

How Economic Development and Academic Circles Are Raising the Country's Profile

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By TaiwanPlus

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As the world’s 21st largest economy, Taiwan punches way above its weight. Despite Chinese suppression of the island nation’s international space, decades of aid, from technological, industrial, agricultural, to financial assistance has garnered global attention from universities and research institutes around the world. Most recently, the University of Oxford opened its Taiwan Studies Program, an addition to many existing centers in North America and major European cities. In this episode, Chun-yi Lee, University of Nottingham Taiwan Studies Program Director, and Lenoard Chao, former Taiwan Ambassador to Eswatini, and currently National Tsing Hua University Adjunct Professor, shares with Taiwan Talks how such programs and helping to raise Taiwan’s international profile. We also hear from Taiwan-born Iwen Chu, New York’s first Asian American female state senator-elect and how the country can best navigate its diplomatic dilemma through means such as people-to-people diplomacy. Topics discussed: - How Taiwan studies programs are raising the country’s profile in academic circles and industries around the world - Impact of academic exchanges in enhancing Taiwan’s soft-power amid an ever-growing authoritarian China - What spurs interest in Taiwan? Is it being the world’s semiconductor foundry or other innovative advantages, such as biotech and eco-farming? - Taiwan Can Help: Difference between the country’s development assistance and its neighbor, China, and how meaningful cooperation has won it friends from afar - Has backlash from China’s wolf-warrior diplomacy and increased assertiveness led to more visibility and support for Taiwan? - Taiwan’s economic might and ways the world is learning from Taiwan’s success story - Local ambassadors: How Taiwanese diplomats leverage the diaspora and locals who have an understanding of the country to advance Taiwan’s interests - At what rate are Taiwan’s Mandarin Learning Centers replacing China’s Confucius Centers?