The Strait Up Podcast
Chris Gorin, Rti
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Host Chris Gorin interviews experts about global affairs with a focus on East Asia and offering a perspective from Taiwan.
The Strait Up Podcast is the successor to Taiwan Today hosted by Natalie Tso.
Available episodes
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Nov 17, 2023
U.K. Parliamentary support for Taiwan with House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Alicia Kearns
Today, I am very honored to have on the show Alicia Kearns, Chairperson of the U.K. House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. Alicia’s committee released a report a few weeks back which contained some very strong language regarding Taiwan’s sovereignty and how the U.K. government should handle the Taiwan issue moving forward. We talk about that along with a few other issues such as the government’s still-classified China policy, the expansion of Indo-Pacific defense arrangements, and the conflict in Gaza.
This episode is shorter than most as our time was limited. There’s also no video component to this episode, but I’ll still be releasing the audio version on YouTube podcasts. It was great speaking with Alicia, so let’s get right to it.
YouTube episode
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Nov 2, 2023
Why are wages in Taiwan so low? With Roy Ngerng
Today I bring you another episode focusing on what is, on its face at least, a domestic issue in Taiwan, but I bring it to you with a comparative international perspective. That issue is Taiwan’s minimum wage, and why is it so low compared to other developed countries?
My guest today is Roy Ngerng, a researcher and writer who has worked on issues such as the minimum wage for many years. Roy is from Singapore and currently resides in Taiwan where he writes for The New Lens. Roy’s work as an activist and writer in Singapore actually got him into a bit of hot water over there, which you will hear about in the interview. But the focus of the interview is on wages in Taiwan, especially the minimum wage.
This is the first episode which will be released along with video on YouTube podcasts. So hello to any new viewers and listeners who are looking at this in the new format, and hello to my old-time audio-only listeners as well. For those of you who are interested in watching on video, I have included the link here. Feel free to reach out to me with any comments or suggestions as I try to move into the world of YouTube.
My goal in my conversation with Roy was to try and answer a question that many people in Taiwan have, which is, why are the wages in Taiwan so low? Most people in Taiwan have a pretty good quality of life, but the anomaly of why its wages have stagnated compared to its economic growth, especially when compared to its other East Asian neighbors with similar economic and social factors, is a question worth digging into. The issue of the minimum wage has also made its way into the debate among the candidates for Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election, which is only a few months away now. As you’ll hear in the interview, I was hoping to try and get at the specific factors about Taiwan’s economy that make its low wages so unique among highly developed countries. Roy certainly provides a lot of insight, data, and perspectives on what factors may be playing a role in this issue.
In this interview, we discuss Roy’s troubles as an activist in Singapore, how Taiwan’s minimum wage compares to that of other developed countries, how the cost of housing and food in Taiwan has far outpaced wages, how wages and migrant labor play into Taiwan’s domestic politics, and many other topics.
For those of you watching on YouTube, just a quick note, all the graphs and charts you see in this video come from Roy’s articles for the News Lens, and I’ve provided a link to his work there in the comments if you are interested.
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Oct 4, 2023
Taiwan's presidential candidates with TJ Ting
Hello and welcome to the Strait Up Podcast, a show about international affairs with a focus on East Asia and of course Taiwan. That focus on Taiwan will be much tighter in the next several episodes including today, as I take a look at several issues that affect Taiwan, but which have an international component. And today, that topic is Taiwan’s upcoming 2024 presidential election.
The election will see current president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) reach her term limit which means there will be new blood in the Presidential Office one way or the other. Tsai’s vice president Lai Ching-te (賴清德) appears to be the front runner looking to carry on the legacy of Tsai’s presidency and keep her Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, in power. But there are a few others in the running splitting the opposition vote, including a sitting mayor, a former mayor, and the founder of one of Taiwan’s largest companies.
To discuss the candidates, I’ll be speaking with the Senior Editor at the online news outlet The News Lens, TJ Ting. TJ writes in both English and Chinese about Taiwanese politics and has some interesting insights into the election. As I mention during the interview, my original plan for this episode was to serve as an introduction to the candidates for an international audience, who might otherwise not be that familiar with a lot of these characters. However, in the end this became a slightly more casual conversation with TJ providing plenty of interesting takes on the election.
[Note: This episode was recorded on September 21, 2023. Some events related to the election may have changed by the time of release]
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Sep 19, 2023
The effectiveness of China's coercion against Taiwan and Singapore-Taiwan relations with Ian Chong
Today I bring you a conversation with Ian Chong, associate professor at the National University of Singapore and Nonresident Scholar at Carnegie China, which is part of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC. Ian’s research has focused on topics such as the international relations of Northeast and Southeast Asia, and important for our discussion, Taiwan politics and cross-strait relations.
Ian has done quite a bit of fascinating research which covers a lot of ground. Likewise, my conversation with him also covers quite a bit of ground, with a few too many topics to list upfront. In essence, the conversation can be broken into two main sections.
The first half of our conversation focuses on an article titled “‘Stand up like a Taiwanese!’: PRC coercion and public preferences for resistance,” written by Ian and co-authors David W. F. Huang and Wen-Chin Wu at Academica Sinica. The article utilizes public opinion data to examine China’s economic coercion and military threats toward Taiwan and their effects on Taiwanese public opinion about how to deal with China. In other words, is the coercion having the effect that China presumably intends it to have?
In the second half of the conversation, we discussed several topics related to Singapore and its relationship with both Taiwan and China. This includes the ethnic, cultural, and historical connections between Taiwan and Singapore, Taiwan-Singapore military cooperation, whether Taiwan can become a financial hub in Asia, and how ethnically Chinese people in Singapore view modern-day China.
As you can probably tell, this was a very wide-ranging conversation, so I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. One production note, Ian was recording from abroad and there were some technical issues with the recording, so the audio quality is certainly less than ideal. I’ve done my best to clean it up a bit, but I hope that you won’t find it too distracting.
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Aug 25, 2023
Rightsizing the China threat with Michael O’Hanlon
In the 2022 U.S. National Security Strategy, the U.S. refers to China as “America’s most consequential geopolitical challenge.” Certainly, the confrontation between the two sides has played out on numerous fronts, most notably regarding Taiwan. But is America taking its diplomatic rhetoric and policy changes too far in attempting to address the challenge of China? Is it missing opportunities to improve its relationship with China that could lead to more long-term stability? Is it overstating the risks of a war in the Taiwan Strait? These are all questions researchers and diplomats have been asking themselves for the past several years, and I have one such expert on the show today.
Today, I’ll be speaking with Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow and director of research in Foreign Policy and Phil Knight Chair in Defense and Strategy at the Brookings Institution. O’Hanlon has recently published the book “Military History for the Modern Strategist: America's Major Wars Since 1861”, which addresses what prior U.S. wars can teach us about modern warfare. O’Hanlon is also the author of two reports for Brookings which are at the center of our conversation today. One is “Getting China right: Resoluteness without overreaction”, and the other is “Can China take Taiwan? Why no one really knows.” These two reports cover different aspects of how the U.S. should think about China as it moves forward with its defense and overall grand strategy. I’ll include links to all three of the pieces in the show notes.
In this conversation, we cover several topics, including what the U.S. is getting right and wrong in its China policy, whether the U.S. should consider Taiwan a top defense priority, Mike’s modeling of a cross-strait conflict, the differences between war games and military modeling, how AI might affect military planning in the future, and how the U.S. should modify its military budget. It was a fascinating conversation to which Mike brings an incredible amount of expertise. So I hope you enjoy this conversation with Michael O'Hanlon.
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Aug 3, 2023
The Geopolitics of Cross-Strait Tourism with Ian Rowen
Hello, welcome to the Strait Up Podcast, the show where we talk about international affairs with a focus on East Asia and of course Taiwan. I’m your host Chris Gorin, coming to you from Taipei, Taiwan.
Obviously, there are now and always have been significant political tensions between China and Taiwan. But what about people-to-people relations and contacts? For example, how do tourists on either side of the strait view the people and land on the other side? Well, like all things about cross-strait relations, it’s complicated. Luckily, I had the chance to interview an expert on this topic, Ian Rowen (Twitter: @iirowen) who has a new book out titled “One China, Many Taiwans: The Geopolitics of Cross-strait Tourism.” Ian is an Associate Professor in the Department of Taiwan Culture, Languages, and Literature at National Taiwan Normal University. He previously served as an Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has been a visiting scholar at universities in China, Taiwan, and Germany. Importantly, Ian also served as a tour guide in China in the past, which is one of the experiences that led him to begin his research into cross-strait tourism.
In this interview, we cover several topics related to cross-strait tourism, including Ian’s experience joining a Chinese group tour leaving from Shanghai to visit Taiwan. In this way, Ian was able to see firsthand how both Chinese tourists and their Taiwanese hosts experience, and as Ian puts it, “perform” for each other in the context of tourism. Ian’s trip which he writes about in the book took place in 2014, and as I was reading it I was struck by how much different Taiwan feels now without almost any tourists for several years in a row.
This interview was recorded here in our Taipei studios back in early May. Topics we discuss in this interview include Ian’s framing of tourism as a “performance”, the peculiar language used in cross-strait tourism, how commission-based shopping creates most of the profits for Chinese tour groups, the difference in experience between Chinese group tourists and independent tourists, how the Falun Gong interact with Chinese tourists, and many other topics. It was a great conversation about an important issue. So, it’s a pleasure to bring you, Ian Rowen.
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Jul 7, 2023
Former AIT Chairman Richard Bush on US-Taiwan Relations
Well, today we have a very special guest indeed. My guest is none other than Richard Bush. Bush has had a long and storied career. Bush served as the chairman and managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the unofficial US embassy in Taiwan, from 1997-2002. He is currently a nonresident senior fellow in the Center for East Asia Policy Studies (CEAP) and the John L. Thornton China Center, both at Brookings Institution. Prior to his stint at AIT, he served as an advisor to a number of U.S. legislative and governmental bodies. Close followers of Taiwan-focused research are likely quite familiar with Mr. Bush.
He has just co-authored a new book along with Ryan Hass and Bonnie Glaser titled, “U.S.-Taiwan Relations: Will China's Challenge Lead to a Crisis?” Richard was nice enough to come on my show to discuss the new book. We tackle many topics related to U.S.-Taiwan relations. It's my great pleasure to you this episode.
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Jun 30, 2023
Asia's views of US-China competition with Zuri Linetsky
Hello and welcome to the Strait Up Podcast, the show about international affairs with a focus on East Asia and of course Taiwan.
Tensions between the United States and China have been at historic highs recently. Taiwan is of course at the center of much of the tension. But how do other countries who have relations with both China and the United States feel about the tensions?
Well one good way to answer these questions is through public opinion surveys. And my guest today is someone who has done just that. Zuri Linetsky is a Research Fellow at Eurasia Group Foundation. He is also the co-author of a recent survey and analysis which asked people in three countries, South Korea, the Philippines, and Singapore, how they feel about US-China tensions. These countries were chosen because they are all in the Indo-Pacific region and all have fairly strong relationships with both the United States and China. I spoke with Zuri just after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing.
This interview is a relatively long one and focuses specifically on the research methods and findings of the survey. I would encourage those who are able to look at the survey results themselves, as they have many useful graphs to help understand the findings. The survey can be found here.
The survey not only asks how people in the three countries feel about US-China tensions but also more general questions about their positive and negative views of the US and China individually. I found some of the results quite surprising, but I'll let Zuri explain the rest.
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Jun 19, 2023
Taiwan Independence Advocate Minze Chien
This week, I bring you the last of my interviews conducted during a recent trip to Washington DC. This time we have the President of FAPA (Formosan Association for Public Affairs) Minze Chien (簡明子). FAPA is a DC-based organization whose mission is to educate US policymakers about Taiwan, with the goal of establishing official diplomatic relations between the US and Taiwan. They also advocate for full Taiwanese independence. We interviewed Chien in-person at FAPA’s Washington office. Given the less-than-perfect recording environment, you will hear some background street noise during the interview, so my apologies for that.
Obviously, Taiwan independence is a very controversial topic in both Taiwan and in the United States. The current DPP government in Taiwan claims that Taiwan is already independent under the name The Republic of China, but many in Taiwan who consider themselves independence advocates feel that this falls short of true independence, and the issue remains a third rail in Taiwanese politics. The US’ official one-china policy also does not support Taiwanese independence, and the US government has repeatedly stated this position many times even recently. Given the sensitivity of the issue, I should state clearly that the opinions expressed by Minze Chien are those of himself and FAPA alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of this show or of Radio Taiwan International.
All that being said, it was really great to speak with Chien, as an unabashed advocate for Taiwan independence. He is very clear about FAPA’s goals to this end, and given how the subject is often danced around in domestic Taiwanese politics, it's refreshing to hear someone talk about it publicly in such a straightforward manner. Not only does he support independence for Taiwan, but naturally he also completely rejects the US one-china policy and China’s one-China principle. FAPA also has several near-term goals, which you will hear us discuss in the early part of this interview, but even these are all in service of the greater goal of having the US government treat Taiwan exactly the same as it would any other independent country, even if Taiwan has not yet declared independence.
Beyond discussing FAPA’s near-term goals, we also discuss how Taiwan has become part of mainstream US politics, the support for independence within Taiwan, and other topics. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
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May 31, 2023
Taiwan's diplomatic allies with Russell Hsiao of the Global Taiwan Institute
This week, we have another interview recorded during a recent trip to Washington DC. This time, we have Russell Hsiao, executive director of the Global Taiwan Institute, a DC-based think tank focusing exclusively on Taiwan related issues and research. Russell is also a senior fellow at The Jamestown Foundation, and adjunct fellow at Pacific Forum. This interview was conducted in their offices, which is in a very nice historic building near Dupont Circle.
In this interview, we discuss a few issues related to Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, especially the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) which represent four out of Taiwan’s 13 remaining diplomatic allies. Beyond that topic, Russell also speaks a little bit about his vision of “new economic order,” where democratic countries work together, and how Taiwan figures into that order.
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May 18, 2023
Maritime Safety between Japan, Taiwan and US and G7 thoughts with Yuki Tatsumi
This weekend, the G7 meeting will be held in Hiroshima, Japan. In light of that, in this episode of the podcast I bring you another interview with a top expert in Japanese security policy, this time we have Yuki Tatsumi of the Stimson Center in Washington DC. This is another in this podcast's DC series of interviews conducted in person during a recent trip to Washington. This interview was conducted at the Stimson Center’s office, where Tatsumi-san was nice enough to lend both her time and a conference room at the Stimson Center.
Yuki Tatsumi is a Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the East Asia Program and Director of the Japan Program at the Stimson Center. Before joining Stimson, Tatsumi worked as a research associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and as the special assistant for political affairs at the Embassy of Japan in Washington. A native of Tokyo, Tatsumi holds a B.A. in liberal arts from the International Christian University in Tokyo and an…
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May 11, 2023
Japan's view of Taiwan w/ Jeffrey Hornung (RAND Corporation)
As tensions have heated up in the Taiwan Strait the past several years, public conversations about Taiwan, its defense and the various scenarios arising from a military conflict remain focused on the militaries of China, the US, and Taiwan. However, one topic which is of great interest to me is how other neighboring countries would get involved. Japan and increasingly the Philippines, may have a role to play in a Taiwan contingency, and clearly have skin in the game in any conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
Today’s episode is about Japan. Japan has a very unique defense policy that is different from every other country in the world. A combination of legal, constitutional, and political-normative restraints has resulted in a country that has one of the largest economies in the world, but a military which does not match its economic power. Its military is also meant to be purely defensive, which severely limits its flexibility as a tool of the state and of diplomacy. However, some big c…
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May 4, 2023
Czech Parliament Speaker Markéta Pekarová Adamová
In our premiere episode, host Chris Gorin has a conversation with Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies (lower house of the Czech parliament) Markéta Pekarová Adamová. This conversation was recorded just after her return from her trip to Taiwan where she led a delegation of more than 150 people from government, academia, and business. She discusses why the Czech Republic is stepping up its engagement with Taiwan, and how the war in Ukraine has affected how Europe sees Taiwan.
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Apr 13, 2023
Taiwanese cuisine
Food journalist Clarissa Wei shares what makes Taiwanese unique and different than Chinese cuisine.
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Apr 6, 2023
Tsai and McCarthy
President Tsai Ing-wen will transit in the US and meet with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California. Natalie Tso speaks to Tamkang University Professor Alexander Huang about how China may react to the plan to meet in California and whether these high profile meetings benefit Taiwan.
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Mar 30, 2023
US arms sales to Taiwan
The US has approved US$619 million worth of arms sales to Taiwan including missiles for its F16 fighter jets, and will be sending more troops towards Taiwan. Natalie Tso speaks with military strategist Tamkang University Professor Alexander Huang about the significance of these packages.
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Mar 23, 2023
Female ambassadors
Natalie Tso speaks with Belize Ambassador Candace Pitts and Taiwan's ambassador to the United States Hsiao Bi-khim about their work and their insights for women today.
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Mar 2, 2023
Japan can deter China from attacking Taiwan
Oriana Skylar Mastro, Center Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, believes that Japan can help avert a war in the Taiwan Strait. Join Natalie Tso as she speaks with Mastro about why she think Japan should do more to deter China from attacking Taiwan.
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Feb 23, 2023
Would Japan help defend Taiwan?
Japan should help avert a war in the Taiwan Strait. That's what Oriana Skylar Mastro, Center Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, thinks. Natalie Tso speaks with Mastro about how Japan can help deter China from attacking Taiwan.
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Feb 16, 2023
Violence against Asian women
In the wake of recent mass shootings in Asian American communites, Natalie Tso speaks with Grace Huang, Director of Policy at the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence about the prevalence of domestic violence against Asian women and its relevance to mass shootings.
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Jan 26, 2023
The Alliance of Democracies
Alliance of Democracies Foundation Executive Director Jonas Perello-Plesner talks about his two months in Taiwan and how democracies can work together to defend Taiwan.
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Jan 19, 2023
How Europe can defend Taiwan
The Executive Director of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation Jonas Perello-Plesner shares how he thinks Europe should help defend Taiwan from an attack by China.
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Jan 12, 2023
How to make a microchip
Dave Adelman, Managing Director of Siltronic AG in Taiwan, talks about how microchips are made and upcoming trends in the chip industry.
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Jan 5, 2023
Taiwan and the global chip industry
Chip industry insider Dave Adelman, Managing Director of Siltronic AG in Taiwan, talks about Taiwan's role in the global chip industry.
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Dec 29, 2022
The biggest news impacting Taiwan in 2022
A look back at the biggest news and events impacting Taiwan in 2022 with commentary by Bonnie Glaser, Asia Program Director of the German Marshall Fund, Stanford University Political Scientist Kharis Templeman, Democratic Progressive Party Deputy Secretary General Lin Fei Fan, National Chengchi University Political Scientist Lev Nachman and the people of Taiwan.
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Dec 22, 2022
A new UK approach towards Taiwan
The Taiwan Policy Centre, a new UK think tank that focuses on Taiwan policy, believes that the UK should recalibrate its policy towards Taiwan. Its recent report Taiwan Respected offers many specific ideas. Natalie Tso speaks with the centre's Director of Communications Ben Goren about their suggestions for UK's Taiwan policy, the recent UK parliamentary delegation led by MP Alicia Kearns and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's recent comments on China.
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Dec 8, 2022
China's protests
Tiananmen protests leader Wu'er Kaixi gives his take on the recent protests in China. He says it's not just about COVID.
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Nov 24, 2022
China and Taiwan's local elections
How much is the threat of China affecting local elections? On Taiwan Today, Natalie Tso speaks with Taiwan News Political Columnist Courtney Donovon Smith about the impact of Saturday's elections on Taiwan and its next presidential elections.
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Nov 17, 2022
Taiwan's local elections
What impact will local elections have on Taiwan and the upcoming presidential elections? Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with National Chengchi University Political Scientist Lev Nachman about the key races, the new Taiwan People's Party and recent scandals.
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Nov 10, 2022
Cross-cultural competence
How do you thrive in cross-cultural environments? Natalie Tso speaks with Jessica Stone, the author of Crossing the Divide: 20 Lessons to Help You Thrive in Cross-cultural Environments.
Stone was speaking on behalf of Voice of America. She is currently a VOA correspondent based in Washingtong D.C. Stone was also the president of the White House Foreign Press Group during the Trump administration and a reporter for China Global Television Network.
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Nov 3, 2022
US midterms and Taiwan
Natalie Tso speaks with Voice of America Correspondent in Washington D.C. Jessica Stone about how the US midterm elections could affect policy towards Taiwan and China.
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Oct 27, 2022
Taiwan: Democracy Under Attack
Natalie Tso speaks with National Endowment for Democracy (NED) President Damon Wilson about the biggest threats to democracy around the world and how people can fight back.
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Oct 20, 2022
Xi Jinping and Taiwan
What are Xi Jinping's intentions for Taiwan? Natalie Tso speaks with Michael Schuman, a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub and the author of Superpower Interrupted: The Chinese History of the World about Xi's speech at the 20th Party Congress and the challenges China is facing.
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Oct 13, 2022
No more appeasement
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan talks about why the world's democracies need to support Taiwan to deter China from attacking Taiwan. Lin was a prominent leader of the 2014 Sunflower Movement which occupied the legislature in protest of a trade pact with China. He was recently boycotted by Beijing.
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Sep 22, 2022
The United Nations and the Uyghurs
The United Nations released a human rights report on August 31 confirming credible evidence of torture and other human rights abuses by China against the Uyghurs. Natalie Tso speaks with prominent Uyghur American activist
Nury Turkel about the UN report, the two acts he helped pass in the US Congress on behalf of the Uyghurs, and what nations can do to help end China's genocide of the Uyghurs.
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Sep 15, 2022
Redefining genocide: Uyghur concentration camps
The UN just confirmed torture and other human rights abuses at Uyghur concentration camps in an official human rights report. Prominent Uyghur activist Nury Turkel shares how China is redefining genocide in its treatment of the Uyghurs.
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Sep 8, 2022
The scam business
Human trafficking rings in Cambodia have been forcing victims from Taiwan to engage in online scams to trick people around the world of their money. Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speak with Mina Chiang, the founder and senior consultant at Humanity Research Consultancy, a social enterprise which helps governments, NGOs and organizations crack down on human trafficking.
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Sep 1, 2022
Human trafficking rings
Taiwansese have become victims of huge human trafficking rings operating in Vietnam, Myanmar and South Asia. Natalie Tso speaks with Mina Chiang, the founder of the Humanity Research Consultancy, a social enterprise which is bringing awareness of modern slavery.
Chiang explains why these human trafficking rings are unprecedented and how they lure and control their victims.
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Aug 25, 2022
Helping girls in Afghanistan
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Asuntha Charles, the national director of World Vision Afghanistan, about the challenges women and girls face in Afghanistan as they mark the one-year anniversary of the Taliban's rule. Charles also shares how World Vision Taiwan has been supporting their work in Afghanistan.
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Aug 18, 2022
The impact of China's drills
Natalie Tso speaks with prominent China watcher Bonnie Glaser, the director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund in the US, about the possible long-term impact of China's recent military drills near Taiwan. You'll also hear what military-age men in Taiwan think of China's recent wargames.
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Aug 11, 2022
What China's Drills Mean
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with prominent China watcher Bonnie Glaser, the director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund of the US, about China's recent military drills and how they may impact the future status quo across the Taiwan Strait.
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Aug 4, 2022
In defense of Taiwan
Tune in to see how Taiwan is on alert as China conducts unprecendented live-fire military exercises near Taiwan's waters. Natalie Tso also talks to participants of civil defense classes, a new trend in Taiwan, and George Mason University Professor Michael Hunzeker about how the people of Taiwan can help defend their nation.
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Jul 21, 2022
Reporting from Taiwan
Australian Broadcasting Corporation East Asia Correspondent Bill Birtles, the author of The Truth About China, shares about moving from China to Taiwan as a foreign correspondent.
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Jul 14, 2022
The Truth About China
Australian Broacasting Corporation East Asia Correspondent Bill Birtles, the author of The Truth About China, shares about his dramatic departure from China at the height of tensions between Australia and China and about rising anti-foreign sentiment and how it affects foreign journalists in China.
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Jul 7, 2022
Guarding democracies from China
Ian Easton, the author of The Final Struggle: Inside China's Global Strategy, shares how democracies can win as authoritarian nations like China strive to export their totalitarian systems around the world.
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Jun 30, 2022
China's undue influence
Ian Easton, the author of The Final Struggle: Inside China's Global Strategy, believes China is trying to create a new world order. Tune into Taiwan Today as he shares how Beijing is exerting undue influence around the world.
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Jun 23, 2022
From Lithuania With Love
Why did Lithuania choose to stand up for Taiwan, risking hundreds of millions of euros in exports to China? Find out as Natalie Tso and Staś Butler hear from movers and shakers in Lithuania and the EU about why Lithuania decided to befriend Taiwan by welcoming a controversial Taiwanese Representative Office to their capital.
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Jun 16, 2022
Strategic Clarity on Taiwan
Lawmaker Wang Ting-yu, the co-chair of the legislative commitee on defense and foreign affairs in Taiwan's legislature, believes the time for strategic clarity has come on how the US would react to an attack on Taiwan. Find out more as Natalie Tso speaks with lawmaker Wang on this episode of Taiwan Today.
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Jun 9, 2022
Top Gun and Taiwan
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Chris Casquejo, VOA correspondent in Washington DC, about about the significance of Top Gun Maverick keeping the Taiwan flag on the main character's jacket and how other movie studios have also recently decided not to succumb to China's censors.
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Jun 2, 2022
Taiwan's biggest COVID outbreak
Natalie Tso speaks with computational biologist Chase W. Nelson about Taiwan's latest COVID outbreak and how we can slow the spread of Omicron.
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May 26, 2022
Greater UK support for Taiwan
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss receently stated that NATO must ensure Taiwan's defense. Natalie Tso speaks with David Spencer, the co-founder of the new Taiwan Policy Centre in the UK, about their report Ukraine Today, Taiwan Tomorrow? and how he thinks the UK should support Taiwan's defense against the threat of China.
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May 19, 2022
Biden in Asia
Natalie Tso speaks with VOA correspondent Jessica Stone about President Joe Biden's first trip to Asia as president, the recent US-ASEAN summit, and the Indo-Pacifice Economic Framework.
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May 12, 2022
Easing Taiwan's COVID anxiety
Natalie Tso speaks with National Taiwan University Public Health Professor Chan Chang-chuan about why he thinks Taiwan should loosen up its quarantine policy and how the public needs to learn to live with COVID.
Natalie also checks in with Staś Butler who has been recovering from his bout with COVID-19.
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May 5, 2022
Swedish MP Boriana Åberg: House of Sweden for Taiwan
Swedish MP Boriana Åberg talks about why the Swedish Parliament voted to change the name of Sweden's trade office in Taiwan to the House of Sweden. Åberg is the chair of the Swedish-Taiwanese Parliamentary Association.
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Apr 27, 2022
Lessons from Ukraine
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with the co-chair of the legislature's defense and foreign affairs committee, legislator Wang Ting-yu, about what Taiwan is learning from the Ukraine War.
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Apr 21, 2022
Would US forces come defend Taiwan?
If China attacked Taiwan, would the US send its military forces to defend Taiwan? Tune into Taiwan Today to hear from four military experts in Taiwan and the United States: Dan Blumenthal, Director of Asian Studies at American Enterprise Institute; Professor Michael Hunzeker of George Mason University; Professor Alexander Huang of Tamkang University's Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies and Legislator Wang Ting-yu, co-chair of the legislature's defense and foreign affairs committee.
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Apr 14, 2022
Expanding Russian shortwave broadcasts
Radio Taiwan International has expanded the length and frequencies of its shortwave Russian broadcasts that reach Russia and Ukraine. That's to reach more people during the Ukraine War. On Taiwan Today, Natalie Tso speaks with the head of RTI's Russian Service Mahsa Lee about the letters they've received from Ukraine. The program also features other people in Taiwan, like Ukrainian Oleg Nevenglovskiy, who are helping Ukrainian refugees.
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Apr 7, 2022
Taiwan needs a territorial defense force
What would training people in Taiwan to form a territorial defense force do for Taiwan? Natalie Tso speaks with Professor Michael Hunzeker, a military expert at George Mason University who recently wrote an article about Taiwan's need for a territorial defense force.
He explains why such a force can be a strong deterrant and a powerful element in Taiwan's defense.
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Mar 31, 2022
How Ukraine has inspired Taiwan
How has Ukraine's resistance impacted Taiwan? In many ways. Join Natalie Tso as she speaks with Legislator Wang Ting-yu, the convener of the legislture's national defense and foreign affairs committee, about how people in Taiwan have been inspired by the people of Ukraine.
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Mar 24, 2022
Lithuania-Taiwan ties still going strong
Beijing has put immense pressure on Lithuania after it welcomed a Taiwanese Representative Office to its capital in November 2021. Natalie Tso speaks with EU expert Marcin Jerzewski, a research fellow at the Taiwan NextGen Foundation, about how Lithuania and the EU are dealing with Beijing's economic sanctions and if Lithuania might change its Taiwan policy. Lithuanian MP Dovilė Šakalienė and Chair of Lithuania's Parliamentary Group on Relations for Taiwan Matas Maldeikis also tell us why Lithuania is embracing Taiwan.
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Mar 17, 2022
Pompeo: The US should recognize Taiwan as a country
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently visited Taiwan and said that the US should recognize Taiwan as a country. Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with defense expert Professor Alexander Huang of Tamkang University's Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies. Huang shares if he thinks the US should recognize Taiwan as a country and if he thinks the US would defend Taiwan if China attacked.
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Mar 10, 2022
Best New Director
Natalie Tso speaks with Feng-I Fiona Roan, the first woman to win Best New Director at the Golden Horse Awards, about her film American Girl and the challenges of being a female film director. American Girl can now be seen on Netflix.
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Mar 3, 2022
Why morale in Ukraine is high
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso calls out to award-winning Ukrainian writer Yurii Andrukhovych who is in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, where many people are taking refuge. He talks about how people are feeling and why morale is high in Ukraine.
Natalie also speaks with Standford University Political Scientist and Program Manager of the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific at the Hoover Institute Kharis Templeman. He shares why he thinks Taiwan and Ukraine are different and their fates should not be linked together.
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Feb 24, 2022
How China could emulate Russia
As Russia invades Ukraine, people in Taiwan also fear an invasion from China. Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie speaks with top Asia policy expert Dan Blumenthal, a senior fellow and director of Asia studies at American Enterprise Institute, who believes the United States must prepare to counter Chinese aggressions on Taiwan.
Blumenthal is a former senior director for Taiwan, China and Mongolia at the US Department of Defense. He's also the author of The China Nightmare: The Grand Ambitions of a Decaying State.
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Feb 17, 2022
A Taiwan Representative Office in the US?
The US House of Representatives recently passed the America Competes Act which calls for the Secretary of State to begin talks with Taiwan officials with the aim of renaming the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) the Taiwan Representative Office. Join Natalie Tso as she speaks with VOA Asia journalist Chris Casquejo about his perspectives on what this means for US policy towards Taiwan and China.
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Feb 10, 2022
The cost of engaging Taiwan
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso talks with Taipei-based EU-China expert Dr. Zsu Zsa Ferenczy, a guest lecturer at National Dong Hwa University and a former politcal advisor at the EU Parliament, about China's retaliation against EU states such as Lithuania that are engaging Taiwan. She shares how China may react to the EU lawsuit against it at the WTO and why more European states are proactively engaging Taiwan.
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Feb 3, 2022
The EU sues China at the WTO
China has been imposing economic sanctions against Lithuania for its engagement of Taiwan. Now the EU is fighting this economic coercion by suing China at the WTO over its discriminatory trade practices against Lithuania. Natalie Tso speaks with EU-China expert Dr. Zsu-Zsa Ferenczy, a visiting lecturer at Taiwan's National Dong Hwa University and a former political advisor of the European Parliament. They talk about the significance of this move and what anti-coercion measures the EU can take against China.
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Jan 27, 2022
Lithuania still stands with Taiwan
Lithuanian MP Matas Maldeikis says Lithuania will stand by the Taiwanese Representative Office despite sanctions from China. Natalie Tso speaks with him more about what Lithuanians think about the pressure China is giving and if Taiwan's recent US$200 million investment fund and US$1billion credit fund is helping
Maldeikis is the chair of the Parliamentary Group for Relations with Taiwan in the Lithuanian Parliament. He led a delegation of 10 Baltic parliamentarians to Taiwan in Dec. 2021.
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Jan 20, 2022
Taiwan's Bilingual Nation plans
Natalie talks with Connie Chang, an official behind Taiwan's Bilingual Nation 2030 plans, about how the nation is working to get more people bilingual to make Taiwan a more attractive environment for foreign businesses. Chang is the Director-General of the Overall Planning Dept at the National Development Council.
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Jan 13, 2022
Taiwan's bilingual goals
Natalie Tso speaks with a top official behind Taiwan's Bilingual Nation 2030 plans, NDC Director-General of Overall Planning Dept Connie Chang, to find out more about the nation's goals.
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Jan 6, 2022
A US-Taiwan Mutual Defense Treaty
China expert Gordon Chang believes that the US should commit to defending Taiwan through a US-Taiwan Mutual Defense Treaty or by giving Taiwan nuclear arms to defend itself from an attack by China. Tune in as Natalie Tso talks to Chang about why he thinks the clarity, rather than strategic ambiguity, in US defense policy towards Taiwan can deter a war.
Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China and The Great US-China Tech War.
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Dec 30, 2021
Why he wants to bridge Lithuania-Taiwan ties
Matas Maldeikis is the chair of the Lithuanian Parliamentary Group for Relations with Taiwan. During his trip to Taiwan, he shares why he wants to play this pivotal role, his personal connection to Taiwan and why Lithuania is siding with Taiwan despite sanctions from China.
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Dec 23, 2021
Why Lithuania is taking on China
Lithuanian MP Matas Maldeikis in the chair of the Parliamentary Group for Relations with China. Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso talks to him about why Lithuania is building closer ties with Taiwan despite economic and diplomatic sanctions from Beijing.
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Dec 16, 2021
Slovakia and Taiwan
A 43-member Slovakian delegation led by Slovakis'a Second State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy Karol Galek recently visited Taiwan and signed 9 MOUs. Slovakian Member of European Parliament Ivan Štefanec, a long time friend of Taiwan, shares why Slovakia-Taiwan ties are growing stronger.
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Dec 9, 2021
How Lithuania is forming a coalition for Taiwan
Lithuanian Member of Parliament Dovilė Šakalienė shares what role Lithuania is playing in forming an alliance of democratic countries supporting Taiwan.
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Nov 11, 2021
Why Czech-Taiwan ties are growing strong
Czech Member of European Parliament Markéta Gregorová who visited Taiwan last week talks to Natalie Tso about the European Union's changing ties with Taiwan and China and why the Czech Republic is building stronger ties with Taiwan.
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Nov 4, 2021
How Lithuania is changing EU ties with Taiwan
Lithuania has been pursuing stronger ties with Taiwan despite diplomatic sanctions from China. Natalie Tso speaks with the chair of the Lithuanian Parliamentary Group for Relations with Taiwan Matas Maldeikis about how Lithuania's ties with Taiwan are impacting EU-Taiwan ties. Maldeikis will lead a delegation of Lithuanian lawmakers to Taiwan in December.
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Oct 28, 2021
Why Taiwan is becoming important to Germany
German Political Scientist Reinhard Biedermann shares how Germany’s ties with Taiwan and China are changing, especially as Germany is getting ready for a new administration.
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Oct 21, 2021
Defense Minister: China could invade by 2025
Taiwan's Minister of Defense says cross-strait tensions are the highest they've been in 40 years and that China could be fully prepared to invade Taiwan by 2025. Natalie Tso speaks with top military strategist Tamkang University Professor Alexander Huang of the Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies about how worried he is about a Chinese attack.
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Oct 14, 2021
Why US troops are in Taiwan
The Wall Street Journal says about two dozen US troops have been in Taiwan for at least a year. Natalie Tso speaks with top military strategist Professor Alexander Huang of Tamkang University's Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies about why they're here and the significance to US-Taiwan security ties.
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Oct 7, 2021
Pioneering the global track in public schools
Natalie speaks with Chiang Hui-tseng, the principal of Zhong Zheng Senior High School, who pioneered programs for Taipei's public high school students to receive an international education and a guaranteed spot in a university abroad.
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Sep 30, 2021
Preventing forced labor
Natalie Tso speaks with American Institute in Taiwan Officer Jason Hwang about how they are working to help protect fishermen's rights in Taiwan.
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Sep 23, 2021
Why Lithuania is standing up for Taiwan
Lithuanian Member of Parliament Dovilė Šakalienė shares why Lithuania is standing up for Taiwan despite economic and diplomatic sanctions by China.
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Sep 16, 2021
How EU-China ties are changing
German MEP Reinhard Bütikofer, who chairs the EU’s delegation on China relations, shares how “Taiwan is not alone”and that "Chinese aggression will come at a cost" as the EU is taking a more principled stance on China issues.
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Sep 9, 2021
Why Americans back Taiwan
A recent Chicago Council on Global Affairs survey shows how American support for Taiwan has grown. The poll found that 52% of Americans back sending US troops to Taiwan if China invaded and 69% support Taiwan independence. Natalie Tso speaks with prominent Taiwan expert, Brown Professor of Political Science at Davidson College Shelley Rigger about why more Americans are supporting Taiwan.
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Sep 2, 2021
Why Team Taiwan rocked
Taiwan won 12 medals at the Tokyo Olympic, more than twice its former record of five. Natalie Tso speaks with the head of Team Taiwan's sports science team, Professor Shiang Tzz-yuang, about why Taiwan saw its best performance ever at the Tokyo Olympics.
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Aug 26, 2021
Biden's Taiwan arms package
Tune into Taiwan Today to hear prominent China expert Bonnie Glaser give her analysis of what US President Joe Biden's first arms sales package for Taiwan worth US$750 million says about his Taiwan policy.
Glaser is the director of the Asia Program of the US think tank, the German Marshall Fund of the United States. She was previously senior adviser for Asia and the director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
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Aug 19, 2021
Taiwan isn't Afghanistan
Should Taiwan be worried about the US's withdrawal from Afghanistan? Johns Hopkins Distguished Professor of Global Affairs Hal Brands explains why Biden's decision shows the US is focusing its defense policy on Taiwan.
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Aug 12, 2021
The Taiwanese diaspora
What do the overseas Taiwanese miss most about Taiwan? What role do they plan in Taiwan society today? Find out as Natalie Tso speaks with Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) Vice Minister Roy Lu.
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Aug 5, 2021
Vaccine politics
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Political Scientist Arthur Ding of National Chengchi University about how vaccines have affected politics in Taiwan.
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Jul 22, 2021
How would a Chinese attack affect the world?
As China continues to send warplanes near Taiwan at an alarming rate, the world has taken notice. For the first time in its white paper, the Japanese Ministry of Defense highlighted concern over Taiwan's security: "The stability of the situation around Taiwan is important, not only for the security of our country, but for the stability of the international community."
On Taiwan Today, Natalie Tso speaks with top defense and wargaming expert Professor Alexander Huang of Tamkang University's Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Studies
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Jul 15, 2021
Will Japan help defend Taiwan?
Japan's Defense Paper mentioned the importance of Taiwan peace for the first time. Top Japanese officials have also spoken out recently about the need to defend Taiwan. Will Japan help defend Taiwan if China attacked? Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso interviews defense and wargaming expert from Tamkang University's Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, Professor Alexander Huang.
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Jun 24, 2021
Can humor save Taiwan?
Cream puffs, pineapples and hashtags...Taiwan has been charming the world with its lighter side as it faces challenges from a vaccine storage, exclusion from the WHO and a belligerent neighbor. Can humor save Taiwan?
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso and Andrew Ryan explore how humor has evolved in Taiwan society and how it is being used today by the public and the government to overcome its biggest challenges.
For a taste of modern Taiwanese stand-up humor, check out Brian Tseng on the STR Network.
Also, check out the full interviews with Digital Minister Audrey Tang, Lonely Planet Guide writer Joshua Samuel Brown, and Taiwan's Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim.
Special thanks to:
Lin Hsin-ting, Asilan and Joy
Two Three Comedy Club
Comedy Central, Asia
PTS, Taiwan
Professor Chen Hsueh-chi
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Jun 17, 2021
How to keep the coronavirus at bay
How can we keep the coronavirus at bay? Taiwan's epidemiologist Dr. Ho Mei-shang, who is also a professor of biomedical sciences at Taiwan's leading research institute, the Academica Sinica, shares what people can do to keep themselves healthy during the pandemic on this episode of Taiwan Today.
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Jun 10, 2021
I got vaccinated with Taiwan's domestic vaccine
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with top epidemiologist Dr. Ho Mei-shang, a professor of biomedical sciences at Academica Sinica. Dr. Ho talks about her experience being part of the trials for Taiwan's domestic vaccines which are still in phase 2 trials. She also gives her analysis on variants, the various COVID vaccines and mass testing.
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Jun 3, 2021
Will Taiwan contain this outbreak?
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with top epidemiologist Dr. Ho Mei-shang, who is also a professor of biomedical sciences at Taiwan's leading research institute, Academia Sinica. Dr. Ho shares her perspectives on Taiwan's current outbreak.
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May 13, 2021
A mother's insight: Love in the moment
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Karen Chien, the mother of famous autistic painter Leland Lee. Karen shares about her insights into dealing with the anxieties of motherhood and how she raised two fine young men.
Learn more about her story in her memoir Love in the Moment.
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May 6, 2021
How Karen raised famous autistic painter Leland Lee
Leland Lee is a famous autistic painter who has exhibited his works in over a dozen countries, including the Vatican where he met Pope Francis. His mother Karen shares about her journey as a mother of this very special child in this episode.
Karen and Leland co-authored the book Love in the Moment in which Karen shares their memoirs and Leland's paintings.
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Apr 29, 2021
New guidelines for US-Taiwan tiess
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Deputy Director Raymond Greene about what the US's new guidelines for interaction between US and Taiwan official means for US-Taiwan ties.
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Apr 22, 2021
US-Taiwan Education Initiative
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Deputy Director Raymond Greene about how the US and Taiwan are working together in education exchanges. Find out how the US is assisting Taiwan in its Bilingual National 2030 goals and how Taiwan is helping Americans learn Chinese.
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Apr 15, 2021
Taiwan needs a new safety culture
Taiwan has been one of the safest places in the world during the pandemic, but what about its transportation systems? In the wake of a deadly train accident that killed 49 on April 2, Natalie Tso speaks with National Chiao Tung University disaster risk expert, Associate Professor Shan Hsin-yi, about what the Taiwan Railways Administration and Taiwan's safety culture needs to change.
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Apr 8, 2021
What Taiwan needs to change
In the wake of the deadliest train accident in 73 years, Natalie Tso speaks with dissster risk expert, National Chiao Tung University Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Shan Hsin-yu, about what the Taiwan Railways Admn. needs to change in its safety systems to prevent tragedies like these.
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Apr 1, 2021
Biden and China
Tune into Taiwan Today as we hear from Voice of America White House Correspondent Huang Yao Yi about the latest in US-China relations and President Joe Biden's health.
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Mar 25, 2021
Taiwan's vaccine plan
On Taiwan Today, Natalie Tso speaks with Centers for Disease Control Acute Infectious Diseases Division Director Dr. Yang Ching-hui talks about Taiwan's vaccine plan and the projected effectiveness of the vaccines in returning life to normal.
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Mar 18, 2021
Vaccines in Taiwan
How effective are COVID-19 vaccines and, as millions become vaccinated, when will the world return to normal? Join Natalie Tso as she speaks with Taiwan's CDC Division Director of Acute Infectious Disease Dr. Yang Chin-Hui about Taiwan's plan to vaccinate its people and when she thinks the world will return to normal.
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Mar 11, 2021
Academy for Women Entrepreneurs
On Women's Day, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) announced that it is launching its Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) program in Taiwan to help equip female entrepreneurs for success. Join Natalie Tso as she speaks with AIT Section Chief Diane Soverign about this inspiring program. For more information about AWE, click here.
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Mar 4, 2021
Pineapple Politics
Taiwan pulled together to face the challenge of a sudden Chinese ban on Taiwan pineapple imports and made up for the loss in just 4 days!
Senior media analyst Kuo Hong-tsang talks about the politics of fruit and the challenges local farmers face in expanding their markets. Kuo also talks about what the new Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Tai-shan could bring to the table in relations with China.
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Feb 25, 2021
Biden's first month
What has the Joe Biden administration done in his first month in office? What has Biden shown to be his stance towards Taiwan and China? On Taiwan Today, Voice of America anchor Huang Yao Yi gives his analysis.
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Feb 18, 2021
How to explore Taiwan
How does one explore Taiwan? In the days of COVID-19, people in Taiwan are discovering all that Taiwan has to offer.
Join Natalie Tso on Taiwan Today as she talks with Lonely Planet travel writer for Taiwan, Joshua Samuel Brown, who is now in the US, about his tips for travel in Taiwan - and what he misses most about Taiwan!
Brown just published the comedy novel set in Taiwan Spinning Karma.
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Feb 11, 2021
Taiwan: the perfect place for a comedy
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Lonely Planet travel writer Joshua Samuel Brown about why Taiwan is the perfect place for a comedy. Brown is the Lonely Planet writer for Taiwan and just published his new comedy novel Spinning Karma which is set in Taiwan.
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Feb 4, 2021
China's social media warfare
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Kerry Gershaneck, Taiwan Fellow at National Chengchi University and the author of Political Warfare: Strategies for Combating China's Plan to 'Win without Fighting' . For a free pdf copy of the book, email natalie(a)rti.org.tw
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Jan 28, 2021
Why China is sending warplanes near Taiwan
Tune into Taiwan Today as warfare expert Kerry Gershaneck explains the message China is sending behind its warplanes and China's tactics in its aim to dominate Taiwan and the world.
Gershaneck is a Taiwan Fellow at National Chengchi University and the author of Political Warfare: Strategies for Combating China's Plan to 'Win without Fighting' . For a free pdf copy of the book, email natalie(a)rti.org.tw.
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Jan 21, 2021
Why US-Taiwan ties look positive
Tune into Taiwan Today as former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director William Stanton talks about his outlook for US-Taiwan ties in the Joe Biden administration.
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Jan 14, 2021
Why Pompeo lifted US-Taiwan restrictions
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director William Stanton about the significance of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's decision to nullify longstanding rules for US-Taiwan ties.
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Jan 7, 2021
A New Year's wish list for Joe Biden
As the US prepares to inaugurate Joe Biden as president, former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director William Stanton shares a New Year's wish list for the incoming Joe Biden administration in how it can support Taiwan.
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Dec 31, 2020
Insights from the wise
To start the year, hear precious insights on life and family from the brilliant Digital Minister Audrey Tang and beloved author and founder of Dale Carnegie Taiwan John Hei.
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Dec 24, 2020
A new chapter in Taiwan
Broadway stars Dina Morishita and Welly Yang moved to Taiwan during the pandemic to escape COVID-19 and get treated for breast cancer. They share about what they love about the new chapter of their life in Taiwan.
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Dec 17, 2020
Why this Broadway couple moved to Taiwan
Broadway stars Welly Yang and Dina Morishita share what inspired them to move to Taiwan during the pandemic.
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Dec 10, 2020
The charm of small town travel
Taiwan's Tourism Bureau is promoting selected 100 classic small towns as a charming way to enjoy Taiwan. This week on Taiwan Today, travel expert Rou Lu shares his insights on how to enjoy small town travel and recommends must-see towns in northern, central, southern and eastern Taiwan.
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Dec 3, 2020
Will the Democrats defend Taiwan?
Natalie Tso speaks with Tamkang University American Studies Professor Alexander Huang about how he expects the new Democratic Joe Biden administration in the US to deal with Taiwan and China.
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Nov 26, 2020
Washington insider: Biden's Asia pollicy
Washington insider Derek Mitchell gives insight into Joe Biden's upcoming Asia policy. Mitchell was the Principal Assistant Deputy Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs at the Department of Defense in the Obama administration.
Mitchell gives insight into how Biden will deal with China in the US-China tech war and how he will use allies to leverage China. Mitchell also talks about the reputation of Democrats in Asia and how he expects Biden will deal with Taiwan.
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Nov 19, 2020
A Washington insider on Biden and Taiwan
Tune into Taiwan Today to hear what a Washington insider thinks the Biden administration's policy towards China and Taiwan will look like.
In the Obama administration, Derek Mitchell served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs in the US Department of Defense. He is currently the president of the National Democratic Institute.
Watch the full interview here
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Nov 12, 2020
Should Taiwan worry about Biden?
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Brian Hioe, founding editor of New Bloom, about Taiwan's anxiety over a Joe Biden presidency and Taiwan's relationship with the Republican and Democratic parties.
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Nov 5, 2020
US Elections: The Taiwan Perspective
Find out what people in Taiwan think of the US elections in this episode. Soochow University Political Scientist Liu Bi-rong also gives his perspectives on the main issues in the US election.
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Oct 29, 2020
Will China invade Taiwan soon?
With the recent unprecendented Chinese military incursions into Taiwan's air space and waters, Natalie Tso speaks with a top defense expert at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research Dr. Lee Che-chuan about the possibility of a war with China.
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Oct 22, 2020
Taiwan policy: Biden vs. Trump
With the upcoming US presidential elections, Natalie Tso speaks with a member of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) US task force on Taiwan policy, visiting Academia Sinica scholar Maggie Lewis at what a future Biden and Trump policy towards Taiwan may look like.
To watch the interview on YouTube, click here.
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Oct 15, 2020
The impact of a US-Taiwan Bilateral Trade Agreement
The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei is promoting a bilateral trade agreement between the US and Taiwan. AmCham President Leo Seewald shares how he thinks a BTA would impact Taiwan.
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Oct 8, 2020
How will the US election affect Taiwan?
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with National Taiwan University visiting scholar Bill Sharp about how US presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump would deal with China and US-Taiwan relations if elected.
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Oct 1, 2020
How important is the median line of the Taiwan Strait?
As China repeatedly sends war planes past the median line of the Taiwan Strait, and even denies its existence, how important is this invisible line? Natalie Tso speaks with defense expert Tamkang University Professor Alexander Huang.
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Sep 24, 2020
Taiwan, China the brink of war?
China has sent war planes into Taiwan's ADIZ 6 times in 8 days and Beijing has said there is no "so-called median line of the Taiwan Strait". Are China's actions likely to escalate into war?
Natalie Tso speaks with top defense expert Tamkang University Professor Alexander Huang about this crisis.
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Sep 17, 2020
On Fatherhood
One of Taiwan's most beloved fathers and celebrities, John Hei, shares his personal experience and insights into fatherhood. Hei has authored many books on parenting and leadership and is the chairman of Dale Carnegie Training in Taiwan.
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Sep 10, 2020
On Fatherhood
Natalie Tso speaks with John Hei, the founder of Dale Carnegie Training in Taiwan, and a prominent author on parenthood and leadership about his insights on parenting.
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Sep 3, 2020
Being one with your music
One of Taiwan's most renowned pianists, Ghwyneth Chen, talks about her relationship with her music in this enligthening interview.
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Aug 27, 2020
The magic of classical music
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with one of Taiwan's most accomplished and famous pianists Gwhyneth Chen.
Chen is a world class Taiwanese American pianist who usually tours the world to perform. She speaks about how the pandemic has affected her music and life, her insights into the power of classical music and her upcoming concerts with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra on August 29 at the Taichung Opera House and on August 30 at the Taipei National Concert Hall.
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Aug 13, 2020
Working in your sleep and more from Audrey Tang
Taiwan's brilliant Digital Minister Audrey Tang shares how she works in her sleep and stays away from touchscreens in this episode of Taiwan Today.
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Aug 6, 2020
Digital Privacy
Tune into Taiwan Today to hear from Taiwan's brilliant Digital Minister Audrey Tang about how to deal with concerns about digital privacy in the age of COVID-19.
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Jul 30, 2020
Digital Minister Audrey Tang on tech solutions to COVID-19
Tune into to Taiwan Today to hear from Taiwan's brilliant Digital Minister Audrey Tang and the tech solutions Taiwan has been using to contain COVID-19.
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Jul 23, 2020
Why Taiwan missed the chance to change its work culture
Tune into Taiwan Today to hear why Daphne Lee, the editor of The News Lens International, believes Taiwan missed its opportunity to restructure its workplace with remote working during the pandemic.
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Jul 16, 2020
Why I'm staying in Hong Kong
Veteran journalist, writer and Chinese University of Hong Kong Professor Frank Ching shares about his personal sentiments, fears, and concerns about the new national security law in Hong Kong.
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Jul 9, 2020
Journalist Frank on HK's national security law
RTI Host Natalie Tso speaks with veteran Hong Kong journalist, writer and Chinese University of HK Professor Frank Ching about the national security law and how it will affect people in and out of Hong Kong.
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Jul 2, 2020
Being Black in Taiwan
Tune into Taiwan Today and hear from Toi Windham and Stefanie Davis, organizers of the recent Black Lives Matter rally in Taipei, about their recent rally in Taiwan and their experiences being black in Taiwan.
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Jun 25, 2020
Black Lives Matter in Taiwan
Tune into Taiwan Today to hear from the organizers of the Black Lives Matter rally in Taiwan, Toi Windham and Stefanie Davis, about their recent rally in Taiwan.
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Jun 18, 2020
The influence of Taiwan's small political parties
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Fulbright Scholar, Lev Nachman, who is studying Taiwan's small political parties in Taiwan. Nachman describes the impact of the small parties and how the Taiwan Statebuilding Party helped the recall of Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu succeed.
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Jun 4, 2020
Hong Kong's national security law
RTI host Natalie Tso speaks with Tamkang University Professor of Wargaming and Strategy about China's recent move to pass a national security law for Hong Kong.
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May 28, 2020
Will Hong Kong lose its special status?
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with top China expert, Tamkang University Professor Alexander Huang, about Beijing's national security law for Hong Kong and what that means for Hong Kong's special status.
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May 21, 2020
Tsai's second term
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Taiwan's Chinese Culture University Political Scientist Spencer Yang about President Tsai Ing-wen's inaugural speech and the challenges she faces in her second term.
Play along with the weekly news quiz at the end of the show and catch up on the news!
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May 14, 2020
Under Quarantine in Taiwan
Karissa Chen, a writer who splits her time between Taiwan and New York, shares her sentiments while under quarantine after arriving in Taiwan.
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May 7, 2020
Taiwan pro baseball
Baseball blogger Vincent Liao talks about Taiwan pro baseball in the time of COVID-19.
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Apr 30, 2020
Containing COVID-19
Natalie Tso speaks with National Taiwan University Epidemiologist Lin Hsien-ho about how to contain COVID-19 and the outlook for treatments.
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Apr 23, 2020
Interview with News Host Catherine Chang
Natalie Tso interviews prominent news host Catherine Chang about Taiwan and its struggles with the World Health Organization (WHO). Chang is the host of The View with Catherine Chang.
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Apr 16, 2020
How I survived COVID-19
Natalie Tso speaks with Douglas Habecker, Taiwan's 50th COVID-19 patient. Habecker shares about how he was treated for and recovered from the virus in Taiwan. He also explains why he would rather get COVID-19 in Taiwan than anywhere else in the world. Habecker is the co-publisher of Compass Magazine, a Taichung city guide.
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Apr 9, 2020
How I survived COVID-19
An American living in Taiwan, Douglas Habecker, became Taiwan's 50th cases of COVID-19. Hear his tale of how he caught and recovered from the disease and why he thinks Taiwan is the best place to catch the new coronavirus!
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Apr 2, 2020
Migrant workers and new immigrants
As Taiwan just gave a 3-month amnesty to foreigners overstaying their visas, Natalie Tso speaks with National Taiwan University Sociologist Lan Pei-chia about the rights of migrant workers and new immigrants. They discuss the brokerage system and how Taiwan society is changing its attitude towards new immigrants and their children.
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Mar 26, 2020
An amnesty for foreigners
Controversy over a possible crackdown on undocumented migrant workers began after one was discovered to have COVID-19. Natalie Tso speaks with NTU sociologist Lan Pei-chia, one of the activists who petitioned the government to give undocumented migrant workers amnesty during this pandemic. The government heeded their call and is giving foreigners who have overstayed their visas an amnesty from April to June.
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Mar 19, 2020
Anxiety, worry or fear?
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with pyschologist Michael Mullahy about the difference between anxiety, worry and fear. Mullahy is a counselor at the Community Services Center and shares about how to deal with anxiety.
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Mar 12, 2020
An epidemiologist on COVID-19
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with NTU Epidemiologist Lin Hsien-ho about the new coronavirus COVID-19.
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Mar 5, 2020
What scientists know about COVID-19
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with National Taiwan University Epidemiologist Lin Hsien-Ho about what scientists know about COVID-19.
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Feb 27, 2020
Anxiety over COVID-19
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Community Services Center pyschologist Michael Mullahy about public anxiety over COVID-19. Mullahy offers insight into anxiety and how we can deal with it.
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Feb 20, 2020
Taiwan Today - 2020-02-21
2020-02-21
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Feb 13, 2020
How is Taiwan handling the new coronavirus?
How is the new coronavirus COVID-19 being handled in Taiwan? and what are Taiwanese saying about China on social media? Taiwan Today features RTI host Andrew Ryan's interview with Deutsche Welle East Asia Correspondent William Yang who has been reporting on the novel coronavirus.
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Feb 6, 2020
Can you trust China's coronavirus numbers?
How much can you trust the information from China regarding the novel coronavirus? Taiwan Today features RTI host Andrew Ryan's interview with Deutsche Welle East Asia Correspondent William Yang who gives us an inside look at the new coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China and how China has dealt with talk about it on social media.
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Jan 30, 2020
What President Tsai needs to do
What should President Tsai Ing-wen do in her second term? Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with visiting scholar at National Taiwan University, Bill Sharp, who is also a Taiwan Fellow at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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Jan 23, 2020
Presidential election analysis
Why was President Tsai Ing-wen re-elected in a landslide victory? Tune into Taiwan Today to hear an analysis by Bill Sharp, visiting scholar at National Taiwan University and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Taiwan Fellow.
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Jan 16, 2020
Why Tsai was re-elected
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with former US national security advisor Steve Yates, the CEO of DC International Advisory, about Taiwan's elections.
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Jan 9, 2020
Who will be Taiwan's next president?
As Taiwan gets ready to head to the polls on Saturday, tune into Taiwan Today to hear profiles of the three presidential candidates and Political Scientist Spence Yang's prediction of who will be the next president and why.
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Jan 3, 2020
The next president and China
Tune into Taiwan Today as prominent China expert Professor Lin Chong Pin tells us who he thinks may win the presidential race and how relations will China will develop.
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Dec 26, 2019
Taiwan Today - 2019-12-27
2019-12-27
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Dec 19, 2019
The Great Islander
Natalie Tso speaks with visiting artists half British-half Maltese artist Will Coups, British artist Freya Tewelde and Greek artist Irene Pouliassi about their exhibition The Great Islander at Tamsui's Little White House.
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Dec 12, 2019
China and Taiwan's elections
Natalie Tso speaks with political scientist Tamkang University Professor Alexander Huang about the China factor in Taiwan's elections.
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Dec 5, 2019
Would China attack Taiwan?
Natalie Tso speaks with defense expert Tamkang University Professor Alexander Huang about the possibility of China attacking Taiwan.
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Nov 28, 2019
Taiwan Today - 2019-11-29
2019-11-29
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Nov 21, 2019
Taiwan Today - 2019-11-22
2019-11-22
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Nov 14, 2019
Taiwan's newest immigrants
Tune into Taiwan Today as RTI host Andrew Ryan speaks with Dr. Michael Hsiao of the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation about Taiwan's newest immigrants and how they are changing Taiwan society.
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Nov 7, 2019
Jennifer Lu: LGBT rights in Asia
Taiwan's LGBT rights pioneer, Jennifer Lu, shares her personal story of being the face of Taiwan's LGBT rights movement and gives us her perspectives on which countries in Asia may be next in legalizing same-sex marriage.
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Oct 31, 2019
Meet one of the pioneers of Taiwan's LGBT movement
Taiwan just saw about 200,000 people participate in its biggest gay pride parade last weekend. Today we feature an interview with Jennifer Lu, one of the pioneers of the LGBT movement in Taiwan.
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Oct 24, 2019
Han Kuo-yu and his Han fans
Tune into Classic Shorts as Natalie Tso speaks with political scientist Spencer Yang of Chinese Culture University about KMT presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu's decision to take leave from his mayoral duties to focus on running for president. Yang describes what he think Han will need to do to win and the "Han fan" phenomenom.
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Oct 17, 2019
Taiwan Today - 2019-10-18
2019-10-18
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Oct 10, 2019
Inclusive art at the National Concert Hall
In Taiwan Today, RTI host Andrew Ryan speaks with Accessability Consultant Sandie Yi at the National Concert and Theater Hall about how they're working to make art more inclusive to people of all ages and those with disabilitis.
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Oct 3, 2019
Taiwan Today - 2019-10-04
2019-10-04
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Sep 26, 2019
Taiwan Today - 2019-09-27
2019-09-27
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Sep 19, 2019
Goodbye to Solomon Islands
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with the former Ambassador to the Solomon Islands Victor Yu who was stationed there from 2017-2017. Yu shares insight into relations between the Solomon Islands and Taiwan and why the US is so concerned about Taiwan's diplomatic allies.
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Sep 12, 2019
Taiwan Today - 2019-09-13
2019-09-13
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Sep 5, 2019
How Taiwan became a model in recycling
Tune into Taiwan Today as Andrew Ryan speaks with Nate Maynard, the host of the new podcast Waste Not Why Not, about how Taiwan became a success story in waste management and exciting new trends in recycling in Taiwan.
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Aug 29, 2019
Andrew Yang and Free Money
In the Democratic Party race, the US is seeing a Taiwanese American become a viable presidential hopeful for the first time. Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang is proposing a universal basic income (UBI) of US$1000/month for every American adult to help the US get through the changes as jobs are being automated away. Could UBI work for Taiwan? Natalie Tso speaks with Peter Yang, the head of the Taipei Yang Gang about Andrew Yang and his policies and Tyler Prochazka, the head of UBI Taiwan.
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Aug 22, 2019
Taiwan-Australia Indigenous Exchanges
Tune into Taiwan Today as Bethany Green, sitting in for Natalie Tso, talks again with Susan Moore, Deputy Representative at the Australian Office, Taipei, about Taiwan-Australia indigenous exchanges.
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Aug 15, 2019
The Australian Presence in Taiwan - 38 Years On
Tune into Taiwan Today as Bethany Green, sitting in for Natalie Tso, speaks with Susan Moore, Deputy Representative at the Australian Office, Taipei, about the Australia-Taiwan relationship.
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Aug 8, 2019
Which presidential candidate does the US prefer?
Does the US have a preferred candidate in Taiwan's presidential race?
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with former US national security advisor Steve Yates, the CEO of DC International Advisory, about which candidate the US would prefer to win the presidential election and how the US and Taiwan can strengthen ties.
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Aug 1, 2019
Are US-Taiwan ties stronger than ever?
Are US-Taiwan ties stronger than ever? Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with former US national security advisor, Steve Yates, the CEO of DC International Advisory about current US-Taiwan ties under President Tsai Ing-wen and President Donald Trump's administrations.
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Jul 25, 2019
Why Han Kuo-yu?
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with political risk analyst Ross Feingold about the KMT presidential candidate, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu. Feingold gives his perspective on why Han won the candidacy and the strengths and weaknesses of the two contenders in the presidential race.
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Jul 18, 2019
The HK extradition bill
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso and Andrew Ryan speak with Seton Hall University Law Professor, an expert on criminal justice and human rights in Taiwan and Hong Kong, about Hong Kong's extradition bill and transitional justice in Taiwan.
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Jul 11, 2019
Transitional Justice
The legislature just passed a law to declassify documents related to tens of thousands of sensitive names and phrases in Taiwan's authoritarian era. On Sunday, President Tsai Ing-wen presided over a ceremony clearing the name of over 3000 people wrongly accused of political crimes. These are just some of the recent moves to enact transitional justice in Taiwan.
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso and Andrew Ryan speak with Seton Hall University Law Professor Maggie Lewis, an expert on criminal justice and human rights in Taiwan and China, about transitional justice in Taiwan.
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Jul 4, 2019
The KMT Contenders
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Courtney Donovan Smith, the co-host of Current Affairs Taiwan, about the main contenders in the KMT primary.
The KMT will choose its candidate through national polls from July 8-14.
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Jun 27, 2019
Taiwan Today - 2019-06-28
2019-06-28
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Jun 20, 2019
People power in Hong Kong
Hong Kong saw its biggest protests in history with 2 million people demonstrating on Sunday against an extradition bill that could erode their civil liberties. Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Hong Kong Polytechnic University Political Scientist Stan Wong about the current mood and concerns of the people in Hong Kong.
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Jun 13, 2019
AmCham: US-Taiwan ties
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with the president of the American Chamber of Commerce Taipei, William Foreman, about current US-China ties and their recommendations to the US and Taiwan governments.
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Jun 6, 2019
AmCham on Taiwan's economy
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with American Chamber of Commerce President William Foreman about how western companies see Taiwan's economic outlook in the midst of the US-China trade war.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei represents over 500 global companies in Taiwan. It just released its annual White Paper, which gives recommendations to over 20 industries in Taiwan and an assessment of Taiwan's economy
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May 30, 2019
Presidential primaries
As the KMT and DPP have finalized their rules for their presidential primaries, tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Political Scientist Spencer Yang of Taiwan's Chinese Culture University on who is favored in these parties and says why he believes it will be a race about Taiwan independence vs reunification with China.
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May 23, 2019
China's influence on Taiwan's election
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Taiwan Sentionel Editor-in-Chief J. Michael Cole about fake news from China and how China might try to interfere with Taiwan's presidential election.
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May 16, 2019
Chinese influence on Taiwan's media
Beijing recently hosted a Cross-strait Media People Summit where more than 70 participants from Taiwan's media industry attended. Chinese official Wang Yang told participants it was their duty to promote the "one country, two systems" model and Taiwan's refunification with China.
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Taiwan Sentinel Editor-in-Chief J Michael Cole about the recent summit and how China is influencing Taiwan's media.
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May 9, 2019
AIT on cross-strait security and fake news
Tune into Taiwan Today as RTI brings you an exclusive interview with American Institute in Taiwan spokesperson Amanda Mansour on issues such as cross-strait security, fake news and US-Taiwan relations. The AIT is the de facto US embassy in Taiwan and is celebrating its 40th anniversary in Taiwan this year.
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May 2, 2019
The American Institute in Taiwan
As the US and Taiwan commemorate 40 years of the Taiwan Relations Act, Radio Taiwan International had an exclusive interview with Amanda Mansour, the spokesperson of the de facto US embassy in Taiwan, the American Institute in Taiwan. Tune into Taiwan Today to hear RTI's interview about the new AIT Taipei office which opens on May 6 and perspectives on the Taiwan Relations Act.
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Apr 25, 2019
Promoting women in film: FilmEQ
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso talks with Louise Watt, the founder of FilmEQ.org, an initiative promoting gender equality in Asian films.
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Apr 18, 2019
Taiwan Today - 2019-04-19
2019-04-19
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Apr 11, 2019
The Chinese will test us again
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with military expert Tamkang University Professor Alexander Huang about Chinese J-11s crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait on March 31. This is the first time in 20 years that China has made such a provocative move. Huang gives his analysis on why the Chinese did so and how Taiwan should respond and prepare for the next test from China.
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Apr 4, 2019
Could Taiwan lose more allies soon?
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Institue of International Relations Research Fellow Yen Chen-shen about upcoming elections in the South Pacific and if Taiwan's allies there might change ties to Beijing. Yen shares his perspectives about which of Taiwan's 17 allies are more likely to change ties to Beijing.
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Mar 28, 2019
Taiwan's presidential hopefuls
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Political Scientist Spencer Yang about former Premier William Lai entering the presidential race. Yang give us his perspective on current presidential hopefuls and who he thinks will represent the major parties in the presidential race.
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Mar 21, 2019
Female entrepreneurs
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with successful female entrepreneurs, Vivian Chiang, the co-founder of Orbit Baby and Speed Smith and Mae O'Malley, the founder of Paragon Legal, one of the largest American legal services firms run by a woman. They share insights into what enabled them to build successful companies and careers.
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Mar 14, 2019
Relocating to Taiwan
Entrepreneurs Vivian Chiang and Mae O'Malley share why they moved their families to Taiwan while they were leading succesful companies in San Francisco.
Vivian is the co-founder of Orbit Baby and Speed Smith. Mae founded Paragon Legal, one of San Franciso's largest female-owned businesses and one of the largest female-owned legal services firms in the US.
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Mar 7, 2019
Woman's Day: Creating the life you want
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with inspiring entrepreneurs Mae O' Malley and Vivian Chiang about how they created the lifestyles they wanted by starting their own companies. Malley is the founder of Paragon Legal, one of the largest female-owned legal services firms in the US which allows lawyers to work on a project basis. Chiang is the co-founder of Orbit Baby and Speed Smith which make great products for children.
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Feb 28, 2019
Rights for same-sex couples
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with J. Michael Cole, the founder and editor-in-chief of Taiwan Sentinel, about the new draft law offering many rights to same sex couples.
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Feb 21, 2019
How China wins friends
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Bill Stanton, the former director of the American Institue in Taiwan (AIT) and professor at National Taiwan University, about how China sways its global influence through playing to influential people's business interests.
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Feb 14, 2019
Confronting the Influence of China's friends
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Bill Stanton, the former director of the American Institute in Taiwan and a professor and chief advisor of the International College at National Taiwan University. Stanton shares about his recent article citing how China is influencing US policy through cultivating ties with influential US political families.
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Feb 7, 2019
The upcoming Trump-Kim talks
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with political analyst Ross Feingold about the upcoming talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
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Jan 31, 2019
Don't stereotype the Taiwanese
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with the chairman of the Chabad Taipei Jewish Center, Ross Feingold, about a recent incident in which an American photographer spotted a Nazi flag in a betel nut store and labeled the Taiwanese as "clueless". The Taipei Jewish Center released a statement condemning the use of the Nazi flag but also rejecting any stereotypes of the Taiwanese. Feingold shares his community's perspective on the incident and his experience living in Taipei dealing with common perceptions of Jewish culture.
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Jan 24, 2019
Insights into success and leadership
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Professors Harry Harding and Syaru Shirley Lin about their careers and insights into success. Lin was the youngest Asian woman to be a partner at Goldman Sachs and then made a career change to become a professor. She now teaches at University of Virginia and is the author of Taiwan's China Dilemma. Harding is a prominent expert and author on China and has advised many US presidents on China policy. He is the founder of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at University of Virginia. They both were visiting professors at National Chengchi University.
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Jan 17, 2019
Xi's timetable for reunification
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with visiting professors Harry Harding and Syaru Shirley Lin about Chinese President Xi Jinping's intentions for reunification and Taiwan's response. Harding is a leading China expert and has advised many US presidents on China policy. Lin is the author of Taiwan's China Dilemma. They teach at University of Virginia and were visiting professors at National Chengchi University.
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Jan 10, 2019
US-China trade war
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with leading China watchers Prof. Harry Harding and Prof. Syaru Shirley Lin about the US-China trade war and rivalry between the two superpowers. Harding and Lin are political scientists at University of Virginia and visiting professors at National Chengchi University. Harding has advised many US presidents on China policy and Lin is the author of Taiwan's China Dilemma.
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Jan 3, 2019
Loving art
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Julie Hsieh - a doctor, singer, the founder of Yuan Ru Gallery and COO of World TV. Hsieh left her family practice in Seattle to pursue a career in art in Taipei. She shares about her passion for music and art and the difference it has made in her life.
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Dec 27, 2018
The healing power of art
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Julie Hsieh, the founder of Yuan Ru Gallery. She is a doctor/painter/singer/COO of World TV.
Julie shares about her passion for art, the therapeutic value of art, and why she decided to close down her medical practice in the US to come to Taiwan to open an art gallery.
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Dec 20, 2018
Tsai's outlook for reelection
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with political scientists Lin Chong Pin of Tamkang University and Yu Chin-hsin of National Chengchi University about what the mid-term election results show for the outlook for President Tsai Ing-wen's reelection.
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Dec 13, 2018
Tkacik: Taiwan is leverage with China
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with renown expert on Taiwan and China, John Tkacik. Tkacik speak about US President Donald Trump is using Taiwan as effective leverage in relations with China. He also gives his views on the Trump's strategy in the US-China trade war.
Tkacik is the director of the Future Asia Project at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Washington D.C.
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Dec 6, 2018
Tkacik: The TAIPEI Act is working
The US has shown unprecedented concern about Taiwan's diplomatic status and recent loss of diplomatic allies through the TAIPEI Act. Why is the US worried about Taiwan's loss of diplomatic allies? Is the TAIPEI Act working?
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with John Tkacik, a renown expert on Taiwan and China, and the director of the Future Asia Project at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Washington DC. Tkacik offers insight into the reasons for US concern over Taiwan's diplomatic allies and if US involvement is working. He also gives his perspectives on China's influence on Taiwan's mid-term elections.
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Nov 29, 2018
Why the DPP lost
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks with Political Scientist Spencer Yang of Taiwan's Chinese Culture University about why the Democratic Progressive Party had such a major loss in the mid-term elections. Yang also offers analysis of the Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral elections.
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Nov 22, 2018
AI and the future
Tune into Taiwan Today to hear from a high tech delegation from Slovakia about their outlook on the future of AI. Natalie Tso speaks with Marian Gazdik, founder of Braintrust, an association of top tech CEOs in Slovakia, Adrian Vycital, Managing Partner of Vycital, and Radoslav Danilak, CEO of Tachyum.
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Nov 15, 2018
Flying cars and more tech innovation from Slovakia
Tune into Taiwan Today to hear from a high tech delegation from Slovakia about how Taiwan is working with Slovakia in exciting new tech innovations. Natalie Tso speaks with Marian Gazdik, founder of Braintrust, an association of top tech CEOs in Slovakia, Adrian Vycital, Managing Partner of Vycital, and Radoslav Danilak, CEO of Tachyum.
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Nov 1, 2018
Makoto Fujimura
Tune into Taiwan Today as Natalie Tso speaks to prominent Japanese American artist Makoto Fujimura about his work and recent exhibit at the Taipei 101. Fujimura is the founder of the International Arts Movement and was a presidential appointee to the US National Council on the Arts.
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