Research and Analysis

Exploring the political-economy of East and Southeast Asia.

The Western Pacific Fellowship Project seeks to contribute to U.S. understanding of the nations, peoples, and political, economic, and strategic issues of the modern Indo-Pacific region through its research and analysis.

WPFP fellows, staff, and other contributors located in the United States and Asia publish essays, research and analytical pieces. The particular focus of this work is the political-economy of East and Southeast Asia.

WPFP-affiliated personnel have published in media outlets in both the United States and Asia, including the Taipei Times, the Asia Times, and The Diplomat, and have been interviewed on networks including CNBC, the BBC, and PBS.

Faced with Myriad Challenges, Taiwan Must Choose Wisely

January 14, 2023 | AmCham Taiwan

Brookings Institution senior fellow Richard C. Bush’s comprehensive new book on Taiwan describes in great detail the delicate balancing act Taiwan must play regarding not only its international status and the tenuous cross-Strait relationship, but also a host of thorny domestic issues impacting the island’s future.

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“Stronger than ever”: Robert Parker on the US-Taiwan relationship

November 23, 2022 | CommonWealth Magazine

Robert Parker, former president of AmCham Taiwan, on his role in the creation of the Taiwan Relations Act, and why he feels the US-Taiwan relationship is “stronger than ever.”

US must not turn away from Asia

August 25, 2021 | Taipei Times

Richard Pearson and Frank Jannuzi comment on US engagement with Asia after Kabul. “The catastrophe in Kabul evoked scenes eerily similar to the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces and the less well-known fall two weeks earlier of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge. The older generation might also draw comparisons to the swift collapse of Chiang Kai-shek’s government in China in 1949 and its hurried evacuation to Taiwan.”

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US Taiwan Fellowship

June 14, 2021 | Taipei Times

“When the administration of then-US president Jimmy Carter in 1978 decided to normalize relations with China, Beijing’s principal condition was that Washington terminate diplomatic relations with the Republic of China. Since then, the US-China relationship has increasingly been characterized by friction — if not outright tension — over a host of strategic issues.”

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US Senate must not miss this chance

April 20, 2021 | Taipei Times

“US President Joe Biden’s decision to send a high-level unofficial delegation comprised of former US senator Chris Dodd and former US deputy secretaries of state Richard Armitage and James Steinberg to Taipei last week sends an unmistakable signal of White House interest in reassuring Taiwan, while emphasizing US commitments to the nation and the wider Indo-Pacific region.” I am changing something.

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What Does Taiwan Want? It Wants to Be Taiwan

May 6, 2022 | Global Asia

“Despite its history as a target for the ire of Beijing and legacy of harsh martial rule following its occupation starting in the late 1940s by nationalist Chinese forces, Taiwan is an undeniable success story. Its democracy is robust, its economy is the envy of many nations and, most recently, its handling of the pandemic has been an example for the world. Yet it remains under threat from its huge neighbor and needs the protection offered by the United States. Margaret Lewis writes that Taipei hopes that the closer ties built during the Trump presidency will continue under the new Biden administration.”

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US must stand up for democracy

June 7, 2020 | Taipei Times

“We don’t know what the next global crisis will be, but we do know that a shared global response will be better served by governments defined by transparency, democracy, human rights and rule of law.”

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Taiwan and Japan after Fukushima: Similar Reactions, Different Paths

April 4, 2018 | Global Taiwan Brief

“Tsai’s administration acknowledges that there will be a transition period to a new green energy economy in which the impact of the nuclear phase-out is higher costs, more imports of fossil fuels, greater vulnerability to supply disruption, and increased emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.”

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A decline in US-Taiwan relations

July 10, 2012 | Taipei Times

“China’s dramatic changes over the past 30 years and the evolution in US-China relations have also led to less attention being paid to Taiwan by Americans.”

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How Taiwan Can Upstage China

July 2, 2011 | The Diplomat

“Taiwan would be wise to adopt a modified claim based on the 200 nautical mile limit as enunciated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in its definition of exclusive economic zones.”

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The Limits to US-Vietnam Ties

June 16, 2011 | The Diplomat

“Relations have been transformed in recent years. But if they’re to get any better, Hanoi will have to start moving on human rights and democracy.”

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Did you know…?

Hosea B. Morse

Raised in Medford, Massachusetts, Hosea B. Morse was a public servant and historian of Chinese foreign relations. After graduating from the Boston Latin School and Harvard College, in 1874 he joined the Imperial Maritime Customs Service. Initially stationed in Shanghai where he studied Chinese, Morse would later serve at numerous locations including Beijing and Tianjin. From 1892 to 1895, he served in Tamshui where he witnessed the Japanese invasion of Taiwan.

After leaving government service in 1908 Morse became a historian and author. His works include The Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire and The International Relations of the Chinese Empire as well as essays in magazines and journals. His article, “A Short Lived Republic,” recounted his opposition to Japan’s 1895 occupation of Taiwan. Morse influenced a later generation of American scholars of Asia including John King Fairbank.