Showing posts with label #Taiwannews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #Taiwannews. Show all posts

Taiwan's Hot Summer - Recalls, Tariffs and Tensions

 It has been a sweltering few months in Taiwan's political scene with partisanship intensifying in domestic politics, increased cross-strait tensions and unfolding US tariffs.

At the end of June, I was fortunate to meet up with two of Taiwan's leading columnists and political analysts from the central city of Taichung.

Courtney Donovan Smith (X: @donovan_smith ) is a staff columnist with the Taipei Times whose regular column, Donovan's Deep Dives shares in-depth analysis on everything about Taiwan's political scene and geopolitics. He is also the central Taiwan correspondent for ICRT FM Radio. 

Michael Turton (X: @michaelturton ) is also a contributing columnist for the Taipei Times. His column, Notes from Central Taiwan provides incisive commentary informed by three decades of living in and writing about his adoptive country.

I met up with Donovan and Michael to talk about the lead up to the Great Recall vote, President Lai's leadership, party dynamics, trade pressures and what it all means for Taiwan's future.

Date of Recording, June 24th, 2025.



Picture shows Taipei cityscape with the sun shining through an orange sky as Taipei downtown bakes in the summer heat.


DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information on the topics covered in this episode:





#TaiwanPolitics, #CrossStraitTensions, #PresidentLai, #TaiwanPodcast, #USChinaTrade, #USTariffs, #TaiwanRecall, #PartisanPolitics, #EastAsiaPolitics, #TaiwanNews, #TaipeiTimes, #ICRT, #MichaelTurton, #CourtneyDonovanSmith, #NeiloPodcast, #AsiaGeopolitics, Geopolitics 


Taiwan's Great Recall - July 26th Results

On July 26th, nearly one-third of Taiwan’s electorate were eligible to vote in the first wave of what’s being called Taiwan's Great Recall (大罷免) — a rarely used mechanism allowing voters to dismiss nationally elected lawmakers midterm. This marks the first time the process has been deployed on such a large scale with 24 lawmakers from the Kuomintang (KMT) or Chinese Nationalist Party on the ballot.

The vote result is being closely watched as it has the potential to alter the balance of power in Taiwan’s parliament, which has seen months of political deadlock between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government and the opposition KMT and their allies.

In this episode we dive into the outcome of that vote. We break down the results, highlight the key takeaways, discuss the reactions and review how these results are likely to shape the remaining term of Taiwan’s current administration.


Date of Recording: July 26th, 2025




The title Taiwan's Great Recall - July 26th Results sits in front of a backdrop of a picture of protesters and campaigners gathered on a street in Taiwan late in the evening as they all pay attention to a speaker on a stage in the distance.




DIVE DEEPER:


Additional information on the topics covered in this episode:


YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Other episodes in Taiwan's Great Recall series:


#Taiwan, #GreatRecall, #KMTRecall, #DPP, #ChinaInfluence, #Taiwanelection, #RecallVote2025, #TaiwanDemocracy, #PoliticalPodcast, #Geopolitics, #ProDemocracy, #DemocracyInAsia, #TaiwanVotes, #CivicEngagement, #GreatRecall2025, #ProtectDemocracy, #大罷免

Taiwan's Great Recall - Ep4 - Interview with Wang Hung-wei Recall Group

Welcome to the fourth installment in our series on Taiwan’s Great Recall in which we aim to bring you perspectives from all sides of the debate at this important juncture in Taiwan’s democratic journey. 


As we explained in previous episodes, this unprecedented KMT 中國國民黨 recall stems from a public backlash against months of legislative gridlock, budgetary obstruction, and interference with Taiwan’s highest court—including accusations of collusion with the Chinese Communist Party.  


While the recall effort is mostly organized by civil society organizations, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) 民主進步黨 has recently begun to engage more visibly as the first voting day approaches. Taiwan’s President and DPP leader Lai Ching-te 賴清德 has also been conducting a series of 10 speeches at various civic centers around Taiwan which media reports indicate is a likely effort to boost DPP turnout in the voting.


Clearly, if enough KMT lawmakers are unseated and the DPP can reclaim their seats in the follow-on election, it would dramatically shift the balance of power in Taiwan’s parliament.


One of the KMT candidates on the recall ballot for July 26th is Wang Hung-wei 王鴻薇.  She is the deputy secretary general of the KMT legislative caucus and was last elected to the single seater District 3 in Taipei in 2024 with over 52% of the vote. Prior to becoming a national politician she was a Taipei City councillor and before that worked in Journalism.


While Wang Hung-wei is no stranger to controversy, people we spoke to say they are most concerned about her close ties to China. They cite her visit to Beijing in 2024 with KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-Chi 傅崐萁 and their meeting with top CCP politburo official Wang Huning 王滬寧 - a meeting for which they were not able to obtain any readout. 

The reason many constituents worry about such meetings is because Wang Huning is credited with being the CCP’s  leading ideologist since the 1980s and is also the leader of the organization tasked with what the CCP call the  “peaceful reunification of Taiwan". 


At the end of June, I went along to a neighborhood gathering at a small cafe in the Songshan district of Taipei. It was organized by the Wang Hung-wei recall group (Insta @wanghongwei2025gg). 


I was interested to find out more about the group, 

  • hear about the concerns that were causing them to recall Wang Hong Wei and 

  • get their reactions to the questions and accusations from the anti-recall camp, and lots more!


 Date of Recording: June 27th, 2025.



KMT Lawmaker Wang Hung-wei gives a speech with her fist held high in the air while being flanked by two KMT supporters. Listen to our podcast at www.pwneilo.com or by searching for Perspectives with Neilo wherever you get your podcasts.
KMT lawmaker Wang Hung-wei 王鴻薇 who is up for recall vote on July 26th gives a speech during an anti-recall rally.


DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information on the topics covered in this episode:

  • 2025 Taiwanese recall votes - wiki


YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Other episodes in Taiwan's Great Recall series:


#TaiwanPolitics, #TaiwanRecall, #DemocracyinAction, #KMTRecall, #TaiwanElections, #RecallVote2025, #CivicEngagement, #TaiwanDemocracy, #PerspectiveswithNeilo, #politicalPodcast, #TaiwanPodcasts, #GrassRootsMovement, #ProDemocracy, #ElectoralReform, #CivilSocietyVoices, #StopCCPInfluence, #TaiwanVotes, #peoplePower, #July26Recall








Taiwan's Great Recall - Ep3 - Interview with Chance Hsu, KMT

Welcome to the third installment in our series on Taiwan's Great Recall (大罷免) in which we aim to bring you perspectives from all sides of the debate at this important moment in Taiwan's democratic journey.

As the days count down to July 26th, campaigning by both the pro and anti recall groups in Taiwan is gaining momentum. These recall campaigns are a result of a power struggle between different branches of Taiwan's government - the Legislative Yuan which is controlled by the Chinese Nationalist Party or KMT (中國國民黨) with their smaller ally, the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), and, the Executive Yuan which is controlled by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) (民主進步黨).

In the last election back in January of 2024, the KMT won 52 seats in the Legislative Yuan and combined with the 8 seats of the smaller Taiwan People's Party as well as two independents, they command a clear majority over the DPP who currently hold 51 seats.

The KMT and the TPP have, according to critics, used this majority to assert and boost legislative power, and have sought to bock the ruling party's agenda, freeze or cut budgets, undermine Taiwan's constitutional order and weaken efforts to bolster defense capabilities against growing Chinese military threats.

Civil society recall groups also express concerns with KMT lawmakers' frequent visits to China and meetings with senior officials in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) while the parliament was in session. They accuse the KMT of collision with the CCP with some like UMC founder and chip tycoon, Robert Tsao going so far as to say that "Beijing wants to use the KMT to annex Taiwan" and calling the KMT "China's Trojan Horse" - that's according to a report by new outlet Nikkei Asia (see link below).

In this third episode in our series on Taiwan's Great Recall, we speak with Chance Hsu (須予謙) who is the Assistant Director of International Affairs for the KMT. We sat down with him in Taipei in early July to hear the party's official response to these recalls and understand why the KMT think they are politically motivated. We also wanted to hear the KMT's response to the concerns raised by civic groups, talk about their controversial budget cuts and discuss the party's connections with China.

Date of Recording: July 1st, 2025.

Post Interview Update: Taiwan's Central Election Commission announced on July 2nd that recalls for two more KMT lawmakers will take place on August 23rd. This brings the total to 26 KMT lawmakers now facing potential removal.




KMT Chairman is shown on a stage at Rongxing Garden in Taipei. He is flanked by two party colleagues and behind him is a large slogan urging supporters to vote NO in the upcoming recall.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) addresses the crowd at an anti-recall rally in Rongxing Garden (榮星花園) in Taipei on June 22nd, 2025.



DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information on the topics covered in this episode:




#TaiwanPolitics, #TaiwanGreatRecall, #DemocracyInAsia, #KMTvsDPP, #CivicActivism, #Taiwan2025, #PerspectivesWithNeilo, #PwNeiloPodcast, #TaiwanNews, #RecallMovement, #TaiwanCivicGroups, #Geopolitics, #大罷免, #TaiwanRecall, #KMTRecall, #TaiwanDemocracy, #TaiwanLegislativeYuan, #TaiwanPodcast, #July26Recall, #KMTChinaTies

Visit Taiwan !

Welcome back to Perspectives with Neilo.

Many of our recent episodes have been about Taiwan and as it's the time of year when many of us think about our travel plans, we decided to visit the Holiday World Show which took place at the RDS in Dublin recently to find out more about traveling to Taiwan.

Taiwan is an amazing gateway to Asia, whether you want to take an exciting vacation or spend some time learning Mandarin Chinese. In this episode we speak with Taiwan's Ambassador to Ireland, His Excellency Pierre Yang as well as the Director of the Taiwan Center for Mandarin Learning in Ireland, Evan Furlong.

We've included lots of links and information about traveling to Taiwan and the various topics discussed in the Dive Deeper section below.

Date of Recording: January 26th, 2024.




Views of different sights around Taiwan from Sun Moon Lake to Taipei 101 skyscraper to Luye baloon festival to Liberty Square in Taipei
Top Left Clockwise: Sun Moon Lake, Liberty Square Archway (Taipei), Luye Visitor Center, Taipei 101 (from Mirimar Entertainment Park)


DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information and references on the topics covered in this episode. Services and products listed are for information purposes only.

  • Flights
  • Photo Credit: Photos courtesy of the Tourism Administration, Ministry of Transportation and Communications, ROC.

  • Taiwan Center for Mandarin Learning in Ireland - link



Thanks to Evan Furlong for the beautiful inscription!

Safeguarding Taiwan's Democracy from China's Disinformation Deluge

 With Taiwan's presidential election taking place in early January, the island's future relation with the neighboring People's Republic of China (PRC) occupies pole position on the ballot.

The PRC who claim Taiwan as their sovereign territory despite having never occupied or controlled it, have historically launched extensive disinformation campaigns to dissuade voters from supporting the ruling pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

According to a 2022 report by the Digital Society Project, part of the Swedish institute Varieties of Democracy, Taiwan has ranked as the biggest target for foreign disinformation in the world for the last decade. Taiwanese politicians and researchers say the majority of those attacks originate from China.

In recent months, Beijing has been amping up its campaign of intimidation, disinformation and cyber attacks sending ever-increasing numbers of fighter jets into Taiwan's air defense identification zone, as well as exploiting Taiwan's free speech and open internet to manipulate politics and influence public opinion. Among their more popular disinformation tactics are inciting fear of a possible war of invasion and sowing skepticism about the sincerity of the support from Taiwan's allies, most notably the United States.

Disinformation actors also use current international events, such as the ongoing war in Gaza, to remind audiences of the dire consequences of war, sending the message that avoiding war with China is the best option for Taiwan. Beijing aims to convince Taiwanese people that unification is inevitable and irresistible, while balancing its deployment of coercive measures with incentive-driven approaches. 

Thankfully, there are a number of expert organizations in Taiwan that work full-time to investigate and debunk disinformation. One of those is the Taiwan Fact Check Center (@taiwantfc). According to their website, they are a non-profit NGO established by the Association for Quality Journalism and Taiwan Media Watch Foundation. Their mission is to fact-check claims related to public interest issues to promote reliable information, digital literacy, and to make Taiwan a better and stronger democratic society.

We met up recently with their CEO, Eve Chiu (邱家宜) to talk about the organization, examples of their debunking work, China's wumao disinformation army (五毛黨) and much more.


Date of Recording: November 16th, 2023.



Disinformation visualized by a flow of 1's and 0's from a hidden faced character in a hoodie with a CCP government crest in front of his face
Main image courtesy of Pixabay and Taiwan News (see link below)


DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information and references on the topics covered in this episode:

  • Seeing is not believing - deepfakes and cheap fakes spread during the 2024 Taiwan presidential election - Wei-Ping Li, Ph.D., Taiwan Fact Check Center (December 25th, 2023)
  • Additional Fact Check Organizations in Taiwan
  • Shadow Play [pdf download] - Jacinta Keast, Australian Strategic Policy Institute (2023) - see graph below
  • Wumao - 50 Cent Party - wiki

  • Title graphic image courtesy of Pixabay and Taiwan News


Graph of YouTube China propaganda video posting versus China Standard time
From Shadow Play by Jacinta Keast, ASPI, 2023 (see link above)

Taiwan Election 2024 - Interview with Brian Ting, KMT

 In this episode of Perspectives with Neilo, we bring you Part 3 in our mini-series on Taiwan's 2024 Presidential Election as we focus on the Kuomintang (中國國民黨) or KMT Party and their presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜). 

As we mentioned previously, this election outcome will likely have profound implications for Taiwan as it will set the tone for how authoritarian China, who claim Taiwan as their sovereign territory, will advance their expansionist agenda in the future.

The KMT or Blue Party, originally held power in China in the early 1900's but retreated to Taiwan in 1949 under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek following defeat by the communists in the civil war. Chiang Kai-shek declared martial law and retained authoritarian rule over Taiwan until democratic reforms were enacted in the 1980's. The KMT's primary political rival in Taiwan are the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) or Green Party whom we have covered in the previous election episode.

Under the KMT presidency of Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) from 2008 to 2016, the KMT significantly loosened restrictions on cross-strait economic and cultural exchanges and in general are known to favor closer relations with the People Republic of China (PRC). In fact Hou Yu-ih in his election campaigning has recently talked of reviving the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (CSSTA) negotiated with China under Ma Ying-jeou. However, the CSSTA was never ratified in Taiwan due to widespread public protests in what became known as the Sunflower Movement.

Our guest in this episode is Brian Ting. He is a Republic of China (RoC) Legislator-at-large candidate and KMT Young Leadership Committee member. He is also a National Policy Foundation Sun Yun-suan (孫運璿)  (KMT Think Tank) scholar and former special assistant at the KMT USA representative office. We met him on November 22nd just prior to the conclusion of the KMT-TPP alliance discussions to talk about Hou Yu-ih's background, his policies on energy, foreign relations and much more.

After our interview, the KMT and TPP failed to form an alliance by the registration deadline and Hou Yu-ih officially named Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) as his vice presidential running mate. Jaw is a conservative talk show host and media tycoon and previously participated in Taiwan's politics in the 80's and 90's.

We have included additional information on the candidates and the topics covered in this episode as well as the latest polling data from Courtney Donovan Smith's Poll of Polls published in the Taiwan News (Dec 10th) in our DIVE DEEPER section below.

Date of Recording: November 22nd, 2023.



KMT Presidential Candidate Hou Yu-ih shakes hands with his vice presidential candidate Jaw Shaw-kong in front of KMT poster
KMT Presidential Candidate Hou Yu-ih (Left) and Vice Presidential Candidate Jaw Shaw-kong


DIVE DEEPER:

Additional information and references on the topics covered in this episode:

  • Jaw Shaw-kong - wiki
  • The Sunflower Movement - wiki



Important Note:
In our efforts to include as many points of view as possible in this election mini-series, we reached out to the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) for an interview. We visited their office and exchanged several emails, but eventually they declined. 
We also reached out to Terry Guo's campaign but received no response.

Cathal Berry TD Talks Taiwan

 At the end of June, an Irish Parliamentary delegation visited Taiwan on a 5 day trip to exchange views on Taiwan-Ireland relations, economic resilience and the situation in the Taiwan strait. The delegation was led by John McGuinness (FF), chairman of the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Society as well as Brendan Smith (FF), Sean Kyne (FG), Martin Conway (FG) and Cathal Berry (Ind). They met with many of Taiwan's elected representatives across multiple government departments.

I caught up with Deputy Cathal Berry (@BerryCathal) independent TD for the constituency of Kildare South at his office in Portarlington upon his return home to get his impressions from the trip. We talked about Ireland-Taiwan relations, the re-opening of Ireland's trade office in Taipei, the situation in the Taiwan strait, the impact of the incessant cyber attacks and disinformation campaigns by the Chinese Communist Party targeting Taiwan's upcoming presidential election and China influence operations in Ireland.

Additional information and perspectives on the topics discussed can also be found in the DIVE DEEPER section below, as well as my earlier Blogpost on The One China "Consensus".


Date of recording: July 10th, 2023.



Irish delegation including Cathal Berry, John McGuinness and others being welcomed to Taiwan by Government Officials
Irish delegation visiting Taiwan, June 2023 (MOFA photo)


DIVE DEEPER

Additional information and references on the topics covered in this episode;

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