Ko and Hsiao profiled in UnHerd and Guardian; Taiwan to join ICC?; China influence: Economist
Week ending January 03, 2024
Welcome to another edition of The World’s Taiwan, The Taiwan World! Lots of interesting things on Taiwan this week despite the holiday lull in the West!
In the media, UnHerd and The Guardian have profiles of Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) respectively:
UnHerd’s profile of Ko I think really demonstrates how much cut-through Taiwan has had for international readers!
The Guardian profile of Hsiao for me really hammered home what a boom she would be for Taiwan in rhetorically knitting Taiwan into the Western media narrative space.
There’s an election update from Helen Davidson in The Guardian which is interestingly filled on the website under a new section: ‘2024: Year of elections’.
Helen Davidson also has GREAT reporting in The Guardian on the discussions taking place right now in the Taiwanese government on applying to join the International Criminal Court — a fascinating topic for those interested in Taiwan’s statehood in international law.
The Economist has an excellent article on Taipei First Girls’ High School teacher Ou Kui-chih’s (區桂芝) complaints that the Taiwanese government is “de-sinicizing” the curriculum, though with a China headline for no good reason in my view. Everything from the Economist about Taiwan these days has a China hook, which is really disappointing!
That’s The World’s Taiwan, The Taiwan World this week! Happy New Year and see you next week!
Contents
In the Media
The Guardian - “Taiwan’s ‘cat warrior’: former US envoy Hsiao Bi-khim hopes to be next vice-president”
The Guardian - “Taiwan considers joining international criminal court to deter potential China invasion”
The Guardian - “Taiwan prepares to pick new president amid growing threat from China”
The Economist - “China is stoking a controversy in order to influence Taiwan’s election”
In the Media
UnHerd - “Is Ko Wen-je China’s man in Taiwan?”
This is an article which really demonstrates Taiwan’s cut-through for international readers — an outsider candidate in Taiwan’s elections is profiled in-depth by the UK’s UnHerd.
Founded in 2017 and funded by Brexit-supporting investor, Paul Marshall, UnHerd prides itself in providing perspectives beyond the mainstream. It’s a successful outlet that has found its niche online.
It says a lot that UnHerd published this article on Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). Indeed it's very UnHerd of them to profile the “outsider” and I think the editors have done a really nice job with this one.
“Like the archetypal Shakespearean lunatic… [Ko leaves] onlookers struggling to discern the method in the madness”.
In terms of form and content, the article offers more by way of history and narrative compared with what we would expect to see in the Guardian or Financial Times.
The author James Baron is a freelance journalist based in Taiwan, additional reporting by Jason Pan, a reporter at Taipei Times.
The Guardian - “Taiwan’s ‘cat warrior’: former US envoy Hsiao Bi-khim hopes to be next vice-president”
Really nice profile of DPP vice presidential candidate Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) by Amy Hawkins.
I’m sure Hsiao is not everyone’s cup of tea, but reading this profile hammers home what a boon she would be for rhetorically knitting Taiwan closer into the Western media space.
“Her identity as a mixed-race woman illustrates the gulf between politics in Taiwan and China”.
“She is very international,” says Bonnie Glaser, the managing director and Taiwan expert at the German Marshall Fund, a think tank. “That is part of what the DPP wants to portray itself as, as a party that is connected to the world”.
The Guardian - “Taiwan considers joining international criminal court to deter potential China invasion”
800-word story from Helen Davidson on discussions that have taken place in Taiwan “among members of Taiwan’s judiciary, government and legal profession” over the possibility of Taiwan joining the International Criminal Court (ICC).
On the matter, National Chengchi University associate professor Kevin Chang (張佳康) said that “[Taiwan joining the ICC] alone may not deter a decision to attack Taiwan … But with China trying to assert leadership in the world, this is a significant calculation China has to make”.
In March, the ICC issued a warrant for the arrest of Vladimir Putin for the Russian deportation of Ukrainian children, and earlier this year, it is said that Putin didn’t travel to the BRICS summit in South Africa because he faced the risk of arrest and deportation to The Hague as South Africa is an ICC member state.
This is a fascinating topic for those interested in the status of Taiwan’s statehood in international law. “I believe that [rejecting Taiwan] would be extremely risky on the ICC’s part because that would equate to a definitive determination on the question of Taiwan’s statehood and thereby exclude the whole of Taiwan from the reach of international criminal justice,” Chang said.
Davidson says that “imminent movement on the proposal is unlikely” because of the upcoming election, but “there are high-level discussions taking place in government”.
Another interesting comment is from Academia Sinica’s law professor, Ford Liao (廖福特):
“We have to find first a domestic consensus … I think before we make a declaration there needs to be some political communication with the ICC and several states who are members, to understand what their views are … I would say European states will play a major part on this issue. They don’t want another Ukraine.”
The Guardian - “Taiwan prepares to pick new president amid growing threat from China”
Helen Davidson treats this month’s Taiwanese elections with the seriousness it deserves in a great overview of the race and its significance. Though Taiwan is similar in size to Belgium, she writes, “it has major implications for the world”.
This article is posted under a new The Guardian website page 2024: Year of elections.
The Economist - “China is stoking a controversy in order to influence Taiwan’s election”
This is a nice report and a peek into some of the contentious news in Taiwan with the election fast approaching. Here, The Economist tells the story of a teacher from the prestigious Taipei First Girls’ High School complaining that the Taiwanese government is “de-sinicizing” the curriculum.
The truth is more complex, but the Taiwan Information Environment Research Centre said that Chinese state-controlled media and social media accounts published more than 200 articles about her comments. That being said, the China framing in the headline, a hook which runs through the article as well, I think is too heavy. This is a story that would still happen in Taiwan even if China was as peaceful as Belgium. The Economist adds a China hook to all of its Taiwan repotting these days.
Cover image: TPP presidential candidate and chairman Ko Wen-je addresses the crowd at a TPP political rally in Taichung on Thursday.
Image credit: Facebook/Taiwan People’s Party