By:
Mina Chen
Karyn Kao
For the past 20 years, the National Communications Commission (國家通訊傳播委員會) has served as a significant regulatory force in Taiwan’s telecommunications and media environment. Yet in recent years, its operations have been considerably compromised, as the Legislative Yuan’s (LY, 立法院) voting majority has vetoed every new commissioner proposed by Taiwan’s Executive Yuan (EY, 行政院) since 2024. As of the beginning of August, all commissioner seats in the NCC are now vacant as a result of this impasse between the EY and the majority caucus in the LY. As long as the NCC lacks a quorum of commissioners, it cannot function, and Taiwan’s national security is at risk: in these circumstances, both critical communications infrastructure and drone initiatives cannot receive the regulatory certainty needed for stable development.
By:
Ryan Shih
Semiconductor chips may be the smallest manmade object in human history. The smallest production size of 2 nanometers matches the scale of human DNA. By the end of 2026, Taiwan will have five fabs capable of mass-producing 2nm chips, setting it apart from any other country. It is commonly believed that Taiwan’s chip manufacturing is the product of immense R&D investment and gigafabs. However, this view overlooks Taiwan’s 40-year spatial transformation, spearheaded by TSMC. Indeed, in order to manufacture the world’s most advanced chips, the Taiwanese have had to design not just gigafabs, but also entire cities—and perhaps, their whole nation.
By:
Francis Annagu
The Republic of China (Taiwan) has done much to reset how diplomacy stands as a viable approach in Southern Africa. In a region where it runs fewer embassies or representative offices and faces intense pressure from the People's Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan has followed a familiar playbook, that of building influence through economics as opposed to competing through politics. This is not unique to Southern Africa alone, Taiwan uses the same logic behind the New Southbound Policy in dealing with matters towards Southeast and South Asia, where formal diplomacy is the same, narrow. What sets Southern Africa apart is the extent of the economic footprint in terms of the massive production facilities, businesses, skills and supply chain presence that exist beyond trade ties alone. This type of industrial diplomacy strategy often will lead to the integration of Taiwan into the production systems of partner economies in the region.
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