The US midterm elections have shifted control of Congress to the Democrats, raising new questions over who will shape Washington's Indo-Pacific strategy under President Donald Trump. Japan is watching whether alliance commitments remain firm, the Philippines is focused on military support, India wants deeper cooperation without sacrificing strategic autonomy and Taiwan is looking for signs that bipartisan backing will translate into weapons delivered on time. Beijing, meanwhile, may see a politically weakened Trump as an opportunity to press harder on Taiwan and Japan ahead of the next Trump–Xi meeting. In this episode, we examine how much Congress can actually change US foreign policy, whether the election strengthens or weakens deterrence and how Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and India should read the competing signals coming from Washington.
*Recorded on November 10, 2026 at 4:30pm Taiwan Standard Time
Host: Rath Wang
Producer: Miguel Yang
Videographer: Damon Lin
Our guests:
Su-Mei Kao
- Formosan Association for Public Affairs National President
Sana Hashmi
- Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation Fellow
Renato Cruz de Castro
- De La Salle University Department of International Studies Distinguished Professor
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