Search

Newspapers and archives from Taiwan indicate a long history of Taiwan’s commercial fishing in the Pacific that has largely been overlooked. Using these resources, this article analyses the relationship between the Taiwan government and Taiwan fishermen in the Pacific from the 1940s to the 1980s, demonstrating how non-state actors such as fishermen dictated Taiwan’s official engagements in the region. I first outline the history of legal and illegal fishing by commercial Taiwan vessels in the Pacific from the 1940s to the 1980s. I then draw on two case studies: illegal fishing incidents in Tuvalu and Australia involving commercial Taiwan fishermen, and legal fishing operations in American Samoa. These case studies demonstrate how commercial fishermen impacted Taiwan-government engagements in the Pacific and were viewed by the government as a liability. The article concludes by connecting Taiwan’s commercial fishing history in the Pacific with the larger history of Taiwan in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oriented within political transnationalism, this paper examines emigrants' participation in homeland elections in the context of the institutional absence of an external voting system. Deploying a case study in a Taiwanese community in Vienna (Austria) and a mixed-methods design, it tackles the processes, actors, and practices of transnational electoral mobilisation during the 2020 presidential elections in Taiwan. Shaped by identity politics, the local Taiwanese community's organisational landscape facilitates direct and indirect electoral mobilisation. Associations serve as important entry points for politicians, and as platforms for individuals to rally political support. A sizeable share decided to return to Taiwan, time and financial costs notwithstanding. Though only indicative, data suggests that the presidential candidates mobilised more overseas voters than in the 2016 elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I analyse archival research and semi-structured interviews conducted between 2017 and 2018 in Tuvalu and Taiwan. I outline Tuvalu's performative cultural diplomacy – performance/dance-based cultural policies used for diplomacy in Taiwan and other international locations – and problems that beset this diplomacy. I first discuss the importance to Tuvalu of the performative/dance form fatele, especially as it relates to domestic diplomacy and cultural representation. I then outline internal and external tensions that arise when Tuvalu adopts domestic performance protocols in its international diplomacy with places like Taiwan. These tensions emerge because, in Taiwan, fatele cannot be presented as it would be in Tuvalu and because the Tuvalu and Taiwan governments contrast sharply in their imaginings of how performative cultural diplomacy should be realised. In the conclusion, I discuss how preoccupation with domestic standards in both Tuvalu and Taiwan hinders the possibility of developing bilateral relationality through performative cultural diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]