By:
Souhardya De
William Budd
Recent diplomatic developments in the Indo-Pacific, notably the People Republic of China’s (PRC) official condemnation of interactions between Narendra Modi and Lai Ching-te (賴清德) in June, have signaled Chinese discontent concerning the increasingly deepening bilateral ties between India and Taiwan. With the diplomatic outreach under the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) New Southbound Policy (NSP, 新南向政策) reciprocated by the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) “Act East” approach, the two economies have come closer than ever—with India becoming the hub for supply chain relocations from China, and a migration and mobility agreement facilitating labor-engagement for Indians in a range of Taiwanese sectors. Despite this, the informal nature of the relationship, and India’s traditional posture of non-alignment, raises serious questions about its security commitments.
India Taiwan Flags Feature
By:
Cathy Fang
Taiwan is stuck in a strategic messaging problem. Despite its determined pursuit of greater self-defense capabilities—improving both the quality and quantity of its men and munitions—the island democracy struggles to tell a compelling story about its efforts. This has led to a paradoxical “do-say” gap, in contrast to the more common “say-do” gap. While the latter often involves lofty words with little action, the former is more subtle: real progress hidden from view. As the threat of conflict evolves from a distant possibility to a near reality, staying quiet is no longer a viable strategy—and silence risks becoming a lethal dagger in maintaining the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. Without a clear, consistent, and confident narrative about its self-defense improvements and the success of its reforms, Taiwan risks weakening two key pillars of its security: its own people’s will to stand firm and fight, and its allies’ commitment to show up and provide support.
ustaiwan feature
By:
Amrita Jash
From May 23-24, 2024, three days after the inauguration of Taiwan’s new president William Lai Ching-te (賴清德), China’s Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) carried out military drills code-named Joint Sword-2024A, involving the army, navy, air force, and rocket force. Exercise activity occurred in the Taiwan Strait and around Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu, and Dongyin Islands, and operations were comprised of [S]ea assaults, land strikes, air defense and anti-submarine [operations] in the airspace and waters to the north and south of Taiwan Island, in a bid to test the multi-domain coordination and joint strike capabilities of the theater command’s troops.
PLA Airforce Feature

Read our latest occasional report

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.

This report is the second of five planned reports in GTI’s Counter Ideological Work and Political Warfare research series. Subsequent papers in this series, forthcoming throughout the course of 2024, will delve into these aspects of political warfare in further detail.

Contributor: John Dotson

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