Russia’s terrible invasion of Ukraine is looming over the Indo-Pacific with its lessons for Taiwan’s relations with China. Some of those lessons are important reality checks. Assumptions about a nominally superior military force have been …
Articles by: "Mark Harrison"
On 18 December, Taiwanese voters went to the polls to vote on four referendum questions. Referendums have sometimes been a contentious aspect of Taiwan’s democratic system. Their provision is in the Republic of China constitution, …
On Wednesday, former Australian prime minister Paul Keating fronted the National Press Club in Canberra to present a critique of Australian foreign and defence policy and his take on the strategic outlook. He offered a …
The 10th of October marked the anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution, the 1911 military insurrection in the city of Wuhan against the Qing imperial government. Coming after years of activism for reform and revolution, the …
In this month’s AUSMIN statement, somewhat overshadowed by AUKUS and Australia’s decision to purchase nuclear-powered submarines, was a notably robust paragraph about Taiwan. The statement used new phraseology, describing Taiwan as ‘a leading democracy and …
Australia has passed through a baffling period in public and policy debate on China–Taiwan relations. It has been prompted by a tactical step by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force over the last 12 months …
This month in Beijing, the so-called two sessions of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference convened to formalise a range of policy goals for China’s economic development, environmental management, law, …
On 9 January, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rescinded a range of restrictions on US government interaction with the government of Taiwan. These restrictions had been in place, with periodic revisions, since the US …
On 1 December, Taiwan’s foreign minister, Joseph Wu, gave a 15-minute television interview with journalist Stan Grant on the ABC. In the interview, Wu robustly described coercion from Beijing, including incursions from military aircraft, the …
This week is the second meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA) for 2020 and the second time this year that Taiwan has been excluded. High-level public diplomatic support for Taiwan to attend was provided …
Military tension in the Taiwan Strait reached a worrying level on the weekend of 19–20 September. For several days prior, People’s Liberation Army Air Force fighters and bombers had been conducting flights through the strait …
Given the landslide election victory of President Tsai Ing-wen, and the likelihood that Beijing will intensify tactics to isolate Taiwan and pressure its government, Australia should consider stepping up its support for Taiwan’s de facto …