From The Publisher
The “Yushan Forum: Asian Dialogue for Innovation and Progress” is an important dialogue platform between Taiwan and our partner countries within the reach of theNew Southbound Policy. Each October, we invite honorable guests from countries that share common values, including those from Southeast Asia, South Asia, New Zealand, and Australia, to have a pleasant conversation regarding the fruitful accomplishments of our cooperation in the New Southbound Policy and the collective vision of our future developments. In 2018, over 50 distinguished guests from around the world had participated in this forum, including Nobel Prize recipient Kailash Satyarthi and South Africa’s former State president Frederik Willem de Klerk.
This year’s Yushan Forum takes “Deepening Progressive Partnerships in Asia” as its primary theme, and will be held from October 8 to 9. With all the efforts and achievements in the previous two years, it is observable that the New Southbound Policy has been transformed from peer-to-peer collaborations to integrative involvements of the whole region. Partnership, in this sense, is the most pertinent adjective to describe various interactions between Taiwan and other countries. The main theme of this year aims to foreground how the New Southbound Policy is not simply about highlighting Taiwan’s unilateral input, but about deepening cooperation among countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In other words, we try to pursue a future of common prosperity through substituting cooperation for competition.
The New Southbound Policy has not only substantiated Taiwan’s interactions with countries with common interests and our friendships developed in such networks, but also subtly transformed Taiwan’s society in general. The special issue of TAEF Quarterly thus features a cover story titled “From Economic Partnerships to International Friendships: Making Visible the Achievements of the New Southbound Policy in the Past Three Years through 16 Stories,” showing readers how the New Southbound Policy has influenced our daily lives.
The Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation have often elaborated the meanings of the New Southbound Policy with five M’s: make money, make jobs, make friends, make family, and make value. In presenting the current issue of TAEF Quarterly, I hope readers could sense how the New Southbound Policy has essentially changed Taiwan’s trajectories and thinking, and could eventually recognize that “Taiwan is in Southeast Asia, while Southeast Asia is in Taiwan.”
Chairman, the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation
Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao
Content
Cover Story
From Advancing the Economy to Making Friends:16 Stories Illustrate the 3-Year Results of the New Southbound Policy
TAEF Currents
Strategic Highlights of Taiwan's People-Centered New Southbound Policy
Indo-Pacific Development and Stability as Context for Taiwan’S New Southbound Policy
Taiwan Spreads Diplomatic Wings Through Regional Health Care
TAEF Highlights
2019 AIT-SEASAT Youth Camp Held to Foster Cultural Exchanges Among Regional Young Leaders