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TAEF BRIEF
August 30, 2021
No. 75 |
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CONTENT
-TAEF Updates
-TAEF Commentaries
-Consortium Updates
-New Southbound Policy News
-Regional Headlines |
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Global Taipei Dialogue XI: Covid-19 & Human Rights of Migrants |
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September 26, 2021
Following the topic on education of the previous edition of Global Taipei Dialogue, the 11th edition of the event, co-organized by Taiwan NexgGen Foundation and Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF), introduced another important issue related to the New Southbound Policy (NSP) countries - migrant workers.
In Taiwan, there are about 700 000 migrant workers and 50 000 undocumented ones. Most of them come from the NSP countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam. From the cases that happened in Singapore and Taiwan, it is noticeable that the global pandemic has made issues related to migrant workers worth discussing, such as their living conditions and the policies regarding undocumented migrant workers.
At this event, you will be hearing insights from:
Speakers
Yung-Ta Chien, Freelance Journalist and Author
Lennon Yi-Da Wong, Serve the People Association
Discussants
Lâm Quế Kim, Taoyuan City New Immigrants Association
Fr. Peter Nguyen Van Hung, The Vietnamese Migrant Workers
and Immigrants Office
Watch the live streaming of the dialogue
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Future of Cross-Strait Relations: Implications for the Region and India |
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August 25, 2021
TAEF executive director Dr. Alan Yang and visiting fellow Dr. Sana Hashmi participated in the Wednesday Seminar on “Future of Cross-Strait Relations: Implications for the Region and India”, co-organized by the Institute of Chinese Studies of India and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung of Germany.
Facing gradual pressure from China, Taiwan should be supported by democracies, especially those playing important roles in the Indo-Pacific affairs. Therefore, it is important to see what the cross-strait relation means to the Indo-Pacific construct and how India, a key member in the construct having tension with China too, would position itself in this matter. In this seminar, Director Yang and Dr. Hashmi were in dialogue with Mr. Ashok Kantha, Director of Institute of Chinese Studies, and Ms. Bonnie Glaser, Director, Asia Program, German Marshall Fund.
Watch the recording of the seminar
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TAEF-ORF dialogue: Taiwan, India, and the Indo-Pacific Order: Current Trends and Future Possibilities |
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August 19, 2021
On August 19, Taiwan Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF) in association with the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), India’s premier think tank, held a half-a-day virtual dialogue on the theme “Taiwan, India, and the Indo-Pacific Order: Current Trends and Future Possibilities”.
The dialogue was inaugurated by Mr. Gourangalal Das, Director General, India Taipei Association and Mr. Bau Shaun Ger, Representative, Taipei Economic and Cultural Center, India. The inaugural session was chaired by Prof. Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao, Chairman, TAEF, where he highlighted the importance of shared values in both Taiwan and India’s foreign policies. Given inclusivity and commitment to a rules-based order are cardinal to both countries’ global outlook, with the emergence of the Indo-Pacific and growing synergies, it has become vital that the engagement between India and Taiwan becomes multidimensional.
Mr. Das mentioned that such exchanges and collaborations between the two think tanks are important as they act as an intermediary between India and Taiwan, and help bridging the information gap. Mr. Ger also highlighted the importance of such exchanges for taking the relations forward. It was the first time that the two Representatives spoke together in the same panel in a think tank event.
Watch the recordings of the dialogue:
- Inaugural session: India - Taiwan Cooperation to be strengthened under the Southbound Policy
- Session one: Contours of the Emerging Indo-Pacific Order
- Session two: Taiwan-India Trade, Investment, Technological and Health Cooperation
- Session three: Taiwan and India in the Indo-Pacific: the Way Forward
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INTERVIEW: India relations developing well: expert |
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August 30, 2021
- Sana Hashmi, visiting fellow of Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation
Sentiment between Taiwan and India has warmed considerably during the five years of the New Southbound Policy, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is a need for deeper engagement in mid-level political and academic circles, a visiting expert on Taiwan-India relations said on Friday.
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Taiwan is considered one of the most important friendly countries for India,” but India is also “
one of the most reluctant countries” when it comes to Taiwan, Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation visiting fellow Sana Hashmi said on the sidelines of a forum on the New Southbound Policy in Taipei organized by the foundation and the Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times).
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Prospect Foundation
2021 Asia-Pacific Security Dialogue |
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August 20, 2021
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Prospect Foundation will hold the Ketagalan Forum—2021 Asia-Pacific Security Dialogue on Tuesday, August 31. The government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) looks forward to strengthening cooperation and dialogue with all parties concerned through the forum and working together to maintain and promote peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.
Due to the ongoing global pandemic and in compliance with domestic antipandemic regulations, the forum will be conducted online. Important guests will be invited to deliver opening remarks and a keynote speech before participating in panel discussions with political figures, scholars, and experts from regional nations on the challenges and opportunities of the postpandemic era. The forum will feature four panels, focusing on regional security issues including Taiwan Strait developments, prospects for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, gray zone coercion, and the postpandemic economic outlook.
Kelly Craft, former US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, will deliver the opening keynote speech. Sixteen political figures and scholars from the United States, Japan, France, Australia, India, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Vietnam, and the Philippines will participate in in-depth panel discussions with Taiwanese officials, scholars, and experts. Panelists include Randall Schriver, Chairman of the Project 2049 Institute; Makishima Karen, Member of the Japanese House of Representatives; Peter Jennings, Executive Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute; Hyun Oh-seok, former Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea; Pham Quang Vinh, former Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Bert Hofman, Director of the East Asia Institute of the National University of Singapore.
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NEW SOUTHBOUND POLICY NEWS |
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Commonwealth Magazine
Taiwan needs an Indo-Pacific policy involving the Pacific Islands
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August 5, 2021
Five years since the initial announcement of the New Southbound Policy—President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) flagship foreign policy initiative aimed at enhancing Taiwan’s regional cooperation—the nation has seen considerable dividends, particularly in trade and education. At the same time, the policy’s quinquennial should serve as an opportunity to reflect upon and critically evaluate impact, effectiveness, efficiency, and the scope of the initiative.
Recognizing Taiwan as an important stakeholder in the emerging dynamics of the Indo-Pacific region, the nation ought to explicitly place its New Southbound Policy within the broader context of its Indo-Pacific policy. By extension, Taiwan needs to review, reevaluate and revamp its strategy for engagement with the Pacific Island countries, which have been inexplicably excluded from Tsai’s New Southbound Policy. After all, there is no Indo-Pacific without the Pacific Islands.
Read more
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The Straits Times
No Cabinet posts for opposition, says Malaysia's New PM Ismail Sabri
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August 24, 2021
Malaysia's Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said opposition leaders would not be appointed to his new Cabinet and that he would announce its members later this week, after the King consents to his proposed line-up.
"I have to present (the list) to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong first. Only after the King has consented to it then I’ll make the announcement," Datuk Seri Ismail told reporters in Yan, Kedah, on Monday (Aug 23).
"They (opposition leaders) have no participation in the Cabinet. There is no unity government with the opposition," he added.
Mr Ismail's comments came after the Palace said last Wednesday that Malaysia's King Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah had "expressed the view that MPs should unite to create unity between all political parties", in what has been interpreted by some to indicate a call for a bipartisan government.
In Mr Ismail's maiden speech on Sunday, a day after he was sworn in as Prime Minister by the King, the newly appointed premier emphasised cooperation across the political divide and invited opposition leaders to join in the effort to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read more
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SCMP
Navies of 21 Countries Kick off US-led Drills in Southeast Asia
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August 24, 2021
The United States is well aware that Asian nations are disinterested in engagement based on a “zero sum” mentality even as it seeks to deepen regional ties to challenge China’s threat to the global rules-based order, Vice-President Kamala Harris said on Tuesday.
In a speech in Singapore outlining the Joe Biden administration’s plan for Indo-Pacific engagement, Harris said Washington’s vision was one of “peace and stability, freedom on the seas, unimpeded commerce, advancing human rights, a commitment to the international rules-based order and the recognition that our common interests are not zero sum”.
“Our engagement in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific is not against any one country, nor is it designed to make anyone choose between countries,” she said.
The vice-president said her tour of Singapore and Vietnam was part of an effort to highlight this vision.
“We will invest our time and our energy to fortify our key partnerships including with Singapore and Vietnam,” Harris said in the speech at Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay.
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Bloomberg
India Said to Plan $81 Billion of Infrastructure Asset Sales
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August 23, 2021
India plans to raise 6 trillion rupees ($81 billion) from selling state-owned infrastructure assets over next four years to help bolster the government’s finances and plug its budget deficit, according to people familiar with the matter.
The plan will include sale of road and railway assets, airports, power transmission lines and gas pipelines, said the people who asked not to be identified as they aren’t authorized to share the details. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to make the road-map public at 5 p.m. Monday.
The planned sales are in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strategic divestment policy, under which the state will retain presence in only a few identified sectors with the rest privatized. The government has budgeted as much as 1.75 trillion rupees from such sales in the year through March 2022 to make up for the pandemic-linked drop in tax revenue.
While broader divestment proposals this year include an initial public offering by Life Insurance Corp. of India as well as stake sales in companies such as Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Air India Ltd., Sitharaman is expected to announce Monday plans only for monetizing infrastructure assets held by 11 ministries.
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