By:
Russell Hsiao
The Indo-Pacific is a dynamic region and this center of gravity for global economic growth has become the focal point for strategic competition between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Governments throughout the Indo-Pacific region are recalibrating how to navigate US foreign policy with the return of President Donald Trump, and the island-nation of Taiwan is no exception. For the Indo-Pacific region, the most transformative event in regional geopolitics over the past decade has been how US foreign policy began under the Obama Administration to “pivot” to Asia in the mid-2010s. This was followed by the launching of the Trump Administration’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy, which the Biden Administration then built on and expanded. Coupled with the 47th president’s unpredictable nature, regional actors will naturally wonder what may come with the second Trump Administration. As Taiwan upgrades its New Southbound Policy (NPS, 新南向政策) to “NPS+” under President Lai Ching-te (賴清德)—who was inaugurated in May this year—it is worth thinking about how Trump 2.0 may approach its own IPS and Taiwan’s potential role in it.
ustaiwan feature
By:
Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao
Alan H. Yang
In recent years, the Indo-Pacific region has emerged as a focal point of global geopolitics, with major powers actively seeking to engage as stakeholders in the region’s evolving dynamics. Notable examples include Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy” and “Indo-Pacific Vision,” the United States’ “Indo-Pacific Strategy,” Canada’s “Indo-Pacific Strategy”, India’s “Act East Policy” and “Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI),” Korea's “Strategy for a Free, Peaceful, and Prosperous Indo-Pacific,” and ASEAN’s own “Indo-Pacific Outlook.” Additionally, countries located in the southern hemisphere portion of the Indo-Pacific—such as New Zealand and Australia—have been developing their own Indo-Pacific strategies, with Australia recently launching its new “Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040.” Beyond these regional actors, European powers such as the European Union, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania have also formulated their own Indo-Pacific policies.
Lai Inauguration Feature
By:
Seong-Hyon Lee
“The Republic of Korea is an Indo-Pacific nation. Our national interests are directly tied to the stability and prosperity in the region,” reads the opening sentence of South Korea’s Indo-Pacific Strategy. South Korea's Indo-Pacific Strategy explicitly integrates the Taiwan Strait into its vision for a “free, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.” This inclusion underscores Seoul's recognition of Taiwan's critical role in regional stability and security. Introduced in December 2022 under President Yoon Suk Yeol (윤석열), the strategy represents a significant shift from earlier foreign policy priorities, which largely focused on inter-Korean relations. The deepening US-South Korea alliance, upgraded in 2022 to a “global comprehensive strategic alliance” (글로벌 포괄적 전략동맹), further reflects this broader strategic alignment. Concurrently, Taiwan's New Southbound Policy (NSP, 新南向政策) complements these regional dynamics by fostering closer ties with Southeast Asia and beyond.
Taiwan SouthKorea Feature

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The Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) is pleased to announce the publication of a new occasional report titled The Chinese Communist Party’s Ideological Frameworks for Taiwan Policy.

This report was written by GTI Deputy Director John Dotson. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) employs a series of official ideological frameworks that inform and direct its Taiwan policies—to include its political warfare efforts intended to subvert Taiwan society, and to weaken the resistance of the island’s citzens to annexation on the terms of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Under the tenure of CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping, the party has steadily ramped up coercive pressure on Taiwan for “reunification,” and the CCP’s “ideological work” focused on Taiwan has intensified accordingly.

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