During the five years of the New Southbound Policy, Taiwan’s flagship foreign policy initiative, the nation has been successfully nurturing ties with the countries within the policy’s framework. The new avatar of India’s Act East Policy has completed seven years, and includes countries from East Asia to the Pacific Islands, with ASEAN at its core.
There is synergy between India’s Act East Policy and Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy. Both were borne of their respective needs to engage the countries in their immediate and extended neighborhood. A careful analysis of the two policies shows that they evolved to meet needs in a regional context.
The previous iterations of the Act East Policy (the “look east” policy of former Indian prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao) and the New Southbound Policy (the “go south” policy of former president Lee Teng-hui [李登輝]) led to the establishment of representative offices in each other’s capitals in 1995, and the beginning of unofficial relations between India and Taiwan. Initiated as moves to engage ASEAN member states, India and Taiwan have reoriented their policies to make them comprehensive and action-oriented.
In 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi upgraded India’s engagement with its eastern neighbors by elevating the Look East Policy to the Act East Policy. In 2016, two years after India consolidated its eastward engagement, Taiwan initiated a foreign policy move to engage India purposefully with the New Southbound Policy. The “go south” policy did not include India and largely focused on engaging some ASEAN countries.
For the first time, Taiwan introduced an official policy for deepening engagement with India along with 17 other countries. Also, it is important to consider that, unlike previous Taiwanese administrations’ efforts, the New Southbound Policy does not merely reduce dependence on China, but reaches out to countries of economic and strategic importance.
The New Southbound Policy is one of Taiwan’s policy moves to secure its rightful place by engaging countries in its neighborhood. The introduction of the policy is a telltale sign of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) emphasis on the significance of engaging South and Southeast Asian countries, along with other major stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific region.
Highlighting the seriousness of Tsai and her administration vis-a-vis the policy, she said at the 2018 Yushan Forum: “Taiwan helps Asia, Asia helps Taiwan” — a slogan that has come to shape Taiwan’s Asia strategy.
Similar vigor has been witnessed in Modi’s promotion of the Act East Policy and India’s Indo-Pacific vision.
Taiwan has placed ample emphasis on India’s importance in the policy. When COVID-19 created havoc in India in April and May, Taiwan extended solidarity by donating oxygen cylinders and concentrators. Seemingly, India, too, is rethinking its engagement with Taiwan.
With Meenakshi Lekhi as the newly appointed Indian minister of state for external affairs, Taiwan has an admirer. She was one of the two Bharatiya Janata Party lawmakers who attended Tsai’s swearing-in ceremony virtually last year and praised Taiwan for its democratic resilience.
The two countries have taken several steps to recalibrate the focus of collaboration. Last year, the Taipei-based thinktank Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation and India’s National Maritime Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding for promoting dialogue and collaboration between the seven pillars of India’s Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiatives and Taiwan’s five flagship programs of the New Southbound Policy.
Developmental cooperation is an inherent component in the Act East and New Southbound policies. India might also consider taking an active part in the Taiwan-led Global Cooperation Training Framework. This would help the two countries further intensify their cooperation and work toward shared interests.
The Act East Policy has been well received by regional countries. It remains one of India’s most successful foreign policy initiatives, representing its aspirations to reinforce strategic autonomy. While the New Southbound Policy is newer, it has the potential to strengthen Taiwan’s relations within Asia and promote regional cooperation. The two policies are complementary in nature, and it is only natural that Taiwan is officially included in the Act East Policy. Acknowledging Taiwan in the Act East Policy would give the policy an impetus.
India and Taiwan have been proponents of a free, inclusive and rules-based order. As India has placed its Act East Policy within the broader context of its Indo-Pacific vision, Taiwan should also link its New Southbound Policy and the Indo-Pacific policy. The prospects of the Act East and New Southbound policies will be largely shaped by the two countries’ willingness to expand and modify their respective policies.
The time is ripe for India and Taiwan to take additional steps to bolster their policies and solidify the rules-based order. Facing common challenges imposed by COVID-19, India and Taiwan need to work closely to chart out a prosperous and promising future for Indo-Pacific countries in the post-pandemic era, thereby deepening the prosperity of the region and safeguarding the welfare of Taiwanese and Indians as well.
Alan Yang is distinguished professor and deputy director of the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University. Sana Hashmi is a visiting fellow at the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation.
There is a modern roadway stretching from central Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland in the Horn of Africa, to the partially recognized state’s Egal International Airport. Emblazoned on a gold plaque marking the road’s inauguration in July last year, just below the flags of Somaliland and the Republic of China (ROC), is the road’s official name: “Taiwan Avenue.” The first phase of construction of the upgraded road, with new sidewalks and a modern drainage system to reduce flooding, was 70 percent funded by Taipei, which contributed US$1.85 million. That is a relatively modest sum for the effect on international perception, and
When former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) first took office in 2016, she set ambitious goals for remaking the energy mix in Taiwan. At the core of this effort was a significant expansion of the percentage of renewable energy generated to keep pace with growing domestic and global demands to reduce emissions. This effort met with broad bipartisan support as all three major parties placed expanding renewable energy at the center of their energy platforms. However, over the past several years partisanship has become a major headwind in realizing a set of energy goals that all three parties profess to want. Tsai
At the end of last year, a diplomatic development with consequences reaching well beyond the regional level emerged. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state, paving the way for political, economic and strategic cooperation with the African nation. The diplomatic breakthrough yields, above all, substantial and tangible benefits for the two countries, enhancing Somaliland’s international posture, with a state prepared to champion its bid for broader legitimacy. With Israel’s support, Somaliland might also benefit from the expertise of Israeli companies in fields such as mineral exploration and water management, as underscored by Israeli Minister of
An elderly mother and her daughter were found dead in Kaohsiung after having not been seen for several days, discovered only when a foul odor began to spread and drew neighbors’ attention. There have been many similar cases, but it is particularly troubling that some of the victims were excluded from the social welfare safety net because they did not meet eligibility criteria. According to media reports, the middle-aged daughter had sought help from the local borough warden. Although the warden did step in, many services were unavailable without out-of-pocket payments due to issues with eligibility, leaving the warden’s hands
RSS