Taiwan Policy Initiative

Mission

Established in 2020, the Taiwan Policy Initiative (TPI) provides policymakers and international observers of Taiwan a diverse perspective in grasping the complexity of Taiwan’s domestic politics and foreign relations. The policy articles here aspire to inspire and inform policy proposals for decision-makers concerning the future development of Taiwan. The four founding members are political scientists trained in the United States with rigorous methodological and reasoning training. For the past decades, they have been active in writing for various policy outlets in both English and Mandarin.

Serving its mission, TPI hopes to be a bridge between the founding members and other collaborators to deliver policy-relevant writings. Additionally, TPI can also be an academic research incubator of innovative ideas and thoughts. For the public, TPI aspires to rekindle the public’s interests in Taiwan’s domestic and foreign policy and attract international attention to Taiwan’s challenge in the international society.

Founding Members (Alphabetically Ordered)

Fang-Yu Chen (陳方隅) is Postdoctoral Research Fellow of the Research Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, MOST, Taiwan.

Austin Wang (王宏恩) is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Charles K.S. Wu (吳冠昇) is PhD Candidate of Political Science at Purdue University.

Yao-Yuan Yeh (葉耀元) is Associate Professor and Chair of International Studies & Modern Languages at the University of St. Thomas, Houston.

Policy Writings (In English)

The opinions reflected in the articles are the authors’ only and do not represent their academic institutions and professional organizations.

  1. May 17, 2021. “The Alliance of Democracy Foundation and Its Survey Findings in China and Taiwan.” AppleDaily. By Austin Wang, Fang-Yu Chen, Yao-Yuan Yeh, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  2. May 8, 2021. “G7 Meeting Paved the Foundations to Confront China.” AppleDaily. By Yao-Yuan Yeh, Fang-Yu Chen, Austin Wang, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  3. May 2, 2021. “Positioning Taiwan after the Leaders Summit on Climate.” AppleDaily. By Fang-Yu Chen, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Austin Wang, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  4. April 25, 2021. “From Disapproval to Approval: The Public Support for Counter-China Cooperation with the United States and Japan.” AppleDaily. By Austin Wang, Fang-Yu Chen, Yao-Yuan Yeh, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  5. April 18, 2021. “From New Guidelines for U.S. Government Interactions with Taiwan Counterparts to ‘Unofficial’ U.S. Former Government Officials’ Visit to Taiwan.” AppleDaily. By Fang-Yu Chen, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Austin Wang, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  6. April 12, 2021. “What is the 1992 Consensus Plus from KMT?” AppleDaily. By Yao-Yuan Yeh, Fang-Yu Chen, Austin Wang, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  7. March 27, 2021. “The US and Its Allies Are Sanctioning China for Violations of Human Rights: Taiwan Must Stop Hedging.” AppleDaily. By Fang-Yu Chen, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Austin Wang, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  8. March 21, 2021. “US-China Competition will continue under the Biden administration.” AppleDaily. by Yao-Yuan Yeh, Fang-Yu Chen, Austin Wang, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  9. March 15, 2021. “The most consensual issue against China among the US public is promoting human rights.” AppleDaily. By Austin Wang, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Fang-Yu Chen, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  10. March 10, 2021. “How Taiwan Tacitly Promotes its National Security Agenda.” E-International Relations.By Austin Wang, Charles K.S. Wu, Yao-Yuan Yeh, and Fang-Yu Chen.
  11. March 7, 2021. “New Public Consensus in the US: Pro-Taiwan and Anti-China.” AppleDaily. By Austin Wang, Fang-Yu Chen, Yao-Yuan Yeh, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  12. February 28, 2021. “From Freedom of Navigation to Taiwan’s Sovereign Claim in the South China Sea.” AppleDaily. By Fang-Yu Chen, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Austin Wang, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  13. February 21, 2021. “How Taiwan Could Learn from Texas’ Winter Storm Disaster.” AppleDaily. By Fang-Yu Chen, Austin Wang, Yao-Yuan Yeh, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  14. February 8, 2021. “Myanmar’s Failure in Democracy and Crisis of US Policy in Promoting Democracy Worldwide.” AppleDaily. By Yao-Yuan Yeh, Charles K.S. Wu, Fang-Yu Chen, and Austin Wang.
  15. February 5, 2021. “Will China and Taiwan Go to War Under the Biden Administration?” The National Interest. By Charles K.S. Wu, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Fang-Yu Chen, and Austin Wang.
  16. January 31, 2021. “How would the US gain support from Europe to counter ‘Human Rights with Chinese Characteristics.” AppleDaily. By Austin Wang, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Fang-Yu Chen, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  17. January 27, 2021. “Omens for US-Taiwan Relations in the Biden Administration.” E-International Relations.By Charles K.S. Wu, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Fang-Yu Chen, and Austin Wang.
  18. January 23, 2021. “Continuity of Current US-China-Taiwan triangular relations under Biden’s administration.” AppleDaily.By Yao-Yuan Yeh, Fang-Yu Chen, Austin Wang, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  19. January 16, 2021. “The US State Department Lifting Self-Imposed Restrictions on the US-Taiwan Relationship: Another Sign of Stable Progress in US-Taiwan Relations.” AppleDaily.By Fang-Yu Chen, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Austin Wang, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  20. January 11, 2021. “The US-China-Taiwan Wrestling over the US Pork Import Policy in Taiwan.” AppleDaily.By Austin Wang, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Fang-Yu Chen, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  21. January 4, 2021. “Is Taiwan an electoral authoritarian country?” AppleDaily.By Yao-Yuan Yeh, Austin Wang, Fang-Yu Chen, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  22. December 28, 2020. “Watch Out China’s New Weapons from Finance Industry.” AppleDaily.By Fang-Yu Chen, Charles K.S. Wu, Yao-Yuan Yeh, and Austin Wang.
  23. December 18, 2020. “The US must stop China’s oppression of Hong Kong.” AppleDaily.By Yao-Yuan Yeh, Charles K.S. Wu, Fang-Yu Chen, and Austin Wang.
  24. December 13, 2020. “Will Taiwanese accept the 92 Consensus?” AppleDaily.By Austin Wang, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Fang-Yu Chen, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  25. December 7, 2020. “Taiwan shall pay attention to US State Department’s Policy Planning Staff.” AppleDaily.By Fang-Yu Chen, Charles K.S. Wu,, Austin Wang, and Yao-Yuan Yeh.
  26. November 26, 2020. “The Hong Kong factor keeps Taiwan further away from China.” AppleDaily.By Austin Wang, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Charles K.S. Wu, and Fang-Yu Chen.
  27. November 23, 2020. “Surprise! Biden’s China Policy Will Look Like Trump’s.” AppleDaily. By Charles K.S. Wu, Fang-Yu Chen, Yao-Yuan Yeh, and Austin Wang.
  28. November 13, 2020. “Will the Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue be a Flash in the Pan?” AppleDaily. By Yao-Yuan Yeh, Austin Wang, Fang-Yu Chen, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  29. November 10, 2020. “The future of US-China-Taiwan Relationship under Biden.” AppleDaily. By Yao-Yuan Yeh, Fang-Yu Chen, Austin Wang, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  30. October 30, 2020. “US Arms Sales to Taiwan Boost Defense, Bring Prospect of Cross-Strait Peace.” AppleDaily. By Charles K.S. Wu , Fang-Yu Chen, Yao-Yuan Yeh, and Austin Wang.
  31. October 27. 2020. “Why Is China Threatening To Use Force Against Taiwan?” The National Interest. By Charles K.S. Wu, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Fang-Yu Chen, and Austin Wang.
  32. October 26, 2020. “Does American Public Opinion Affect US Foreign Policy Toward Taiwan?” AppleDaily. By Austin Wang, Charles K.S. Wu, Fang-Yu Chen, and Yao-Yuan Yeh.
  33. October 18, 2020. “The Three Pillars of the US Strategic Ambiguity Policy toward the Strait.” AppleDaily. by Yao-Yuan Yeh, Austin Wang, Fang-Yu Chen, Charles K.S. Wu.
  34. October 9, 2020. “Can Taiwan unilaterally alter US-Taiwan relations?” AppleDaily. By Yao-Yuan Yeh, Austin Wang, Fang-Yu Chen, Charles K.S. Wu.
  35. September 29, 2020. “Why Strategic Ambiguity Is No Longer Viable For U.S.-Taiwan Relations.” The National Interest. By Yao-Yuan Yeh, Charles K.S. Wu, Austin Wang, and Fang-Yu Chen.
  36. September 4, 2020. “China vs. America: A New Cold War Means New Great Power Blocs.” The National Interest. By Yao-Yuan Yeh, Charles K.S. Wu, Austin Wang, and Fang-Yu Chen.
  37. August 22, 2020. “How does the public perceive the diplomatic isolation of Taiwan?” East Asia Forum. By Yao-Yuan Yeh, Charles K.S. Wu, Austin Wang, and Fang-Yu Chen.
  38. July 19, 2020. “Analyzing Support for #TweetforTaiwan.” E-International Relations. By Fang-Yu Chen, Austin Wang, Charles K.S. Wu, and Yao-Yuan Yeh.
  39. June 17, 2020. “Why Taiwan Continues to Fear a Chinese Invasion.” The National Interest. By Fang-Yu Chen, Austin Wang, Charles K.S. Wu, and Yao-Yuan Yeh.
  40. May 29, 2020. “What Do Taiwan’s People Think About Their Relationship to China?” THE DIPLOMAT. By Fang-Yu Chen, Austin Wang, Charles K.S. Wu, and Yao-Yuan Yeh.
  41. April 25, 2020. “The pandemic and passport change.” TAIPEI TIMES. By Chin B. Su and Yao-Yuan Yeh.
  42. February 4, 2020. “Behind the Democratic Progressive Party’s Convincing 2020 Win.” East Asia Forum. By Fang-Yu Chen, Austin Wang, Charles K.S. Wu, and Yao-Yuan Yeh.
  43. January 10, 2020. “Hong Kong Repression Pushes Taiwan Away from China.” East Asia Forum. With Fang-Yu Chen, Austin Wang, Charles K.S. Wu, and Yao-Yuan Yeh.
  44. November 11, 2019. “Is Free Speech Being Crushed by the U.S.-China Confrontation?” The National Interest. With Charles K.S. Wu, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Fang-Yu Chen, and Austin Wang.
  45. September 13, 2019. “Debunking Myths about US-Taiwan Arms Sales.” The Pacific Forum, PacNet#52. With Fang-Yu Chen, Charles K.S. Wu, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Austin Wang, and Kuang-Shun Yang.
  46. April 10, 2019. “Meet the New Taiwan: Trained for War and Ready to Fight.” The National Interest. With Yao-Yuan Yeh, Charles K.S. Wu, Austin Wang, and Fang-Yu Chen.
  47. April 5, 2019. “Self-Defense in Taiwan: New Findings from Surveys.” The Pacific Forum, PacNet #21a. With Fang-Yu Chen, Yao-Yuan Yeh, Austin Wang, and Charles K.S. Wu.
  48. March 22, 2019. “Are Taiwan’s Citizens Willing to Fight Against China?” THE DIPLOMAT. With Yao-Yuan Yeh, Charles K.S. Wu, Austin Wang, and Fang-Yu Chen.
  49. December 17, 2018. “Four Key Takeaways from Taiwan’s Recent Election Surprises.” The Monkey Cage at Washington Post. By Kevin Luo and Fang-Yu Chen.
  50. December 9, 2018. “Would Taiwan Fight China Without U.S. Support?” The National Interest. With Yao-Yuan Yeh, Austin Wang, Charles K.S. Wu, and Fang-Yu Chen.
  51. November 10, 2018. “What Does the 1992 Consensus Mean to Citizens in Taiwan?” THE DIPLOMAT. With Austin Wang, Charles K.S. Wu, Yao-Yuan Yeh, and Fang-Yu Chen.
  52. November 15, 2017. “Taiwan’s Constitutional Reform: Proposals and Obstacles.” Global Taiwan Brief, 2(40). By Fang-Yu Chen.
  53. June 21, 2017. “Marriage Equality in Taiwan: Challenges Ahead (and Behind).” Global Taiwan Brief, 2(25). By Fang-Yu Chen
  54. May 17, 2017. “The Social Context of the Sunflower Movement.” Global Taiwan Brief, 2(20). By Fang-Yu Chen.
  55. January 2, 2017. “The Taiwanese see themselves as Taiwanese, not as Chinese.” The Monkey Cage at Washington Post. By Fang-Yu Chen, Wei-ting Yen, Austin Horng-en Wang, and Brian Hioe
  56. November 6, 2015. “Taiwan and mainland China in talks? Here are the 5 things you need to know about what Taiwanese people are thinking.” The Monkey Cage at Washington Post. By Austin H. Wang, Wei-Ting Yen, Jung-Feng Tsai, Greg Sheen, Fang-Yu Chen, and Jaw-Nian Huang.

Links to Policy Writings and Media Appearances in Mandarin by the Founding Members

Fang-Yu Chen (陳方隅)

Austin Wang (王宏恩)

Charles K.S. Wu (吳冠昇)

Yao-Yuan Yeh (葉耀元)

For TPI releveant inquries, please email Dr. Yao-Yuan Yeh at yehy@stthom.edu or yeh2sctw@gmail.com.