North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, recently declared his ambitions of making the hermit state the world’s most powerful nuclear force. Taiwan Talks examines how autocracies are challenging the U.S.-led global order and what this means for the region. With a Republican majority of the House, will the U.S. be forced to take a tougher stance on China?
With an increasing focus on strengthening ties with the U.S. from both sides of the Taiwanese political spectrum, with this year’s opening of the Washington, D.C. representative office of Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang, we look at how the Taiwanese diaspora in the U.S. helps enhance support for the island nation.
In this episode, Dennis Weng, Political Science Associate Professor at Sam Houston State University based in Texas, and Alexander Huang, Kuomintang International Affairs Director and Representative to the U.S., discuss rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific and the vital role Taiwanese Americans play in bolstering Taiwan-U.S. ties.
We also hear from Minze Chien, President of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, the largest Taiwanese American political advocacy, and Ming Chiang, President of Hello Taiwan, a grassroots platform that promote Taiwanese culture, based in New York, on how their organizations have increased Taiwan’s visibility in North America.
Topics discussed:
- U.S. policy towards Russia and North Korea with the ongoing war in Ukraine and increased nuclear threats from the Kim Jong-un regime
- How support for Taiwan could change with a Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives
- Could increased trade between Taiwan and the U.S. help bolster Taiwan’s security with the U.S. having a larger stake in its commitment in defending its commercial interests?
- Prospects and timing of a Taiwan-U.S. bilateral FTA
- Will defense provisions in the proposed U.S. Taiwan Policy Act be included in the National Defense Authorization Act?
- How many weapons does Taiwan need to procure and manufacture in building sufficient deterrence capabilities against a Chinese invasion?
- Has the U.S. public lost patience over support for Ukraine, and what parallels can Taiwan draw with the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
- How Taiwanese Americans are enhancing ties between the Taiwan and the U.S. through people-to-people diplomacy and advocating on Capitol Hill and at the state level
- Roles and objectives of the new Kuomintang representative office in the U.S.
- What is behind the U.S.’s ‘rock-solid’ support of Taiwan and the future of the Taiwan-U.S.-China trilateral relationship
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