Enabling Human Values in Foreign Policy: The Transformation of Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy

Abstract

How foreign policy embodies human values is an issue worth studying. Such a value not only refers to the interests of social and political elites but to the prevailing welfare of people. In 2016, the Taiwan government launched the New Southbound Policy (NSP), considering it as the flagship foreign policy of President Tsai Ing-wen. It is also Taiwan’s regional strategy for Asia, envisaging a people-centred agenda of Taiwan’s national development and Asia’s regional growth. The NSP demonstrates Taiwan’s concern for national development; in addition, it expresses Taiwan’s emphasis on the human value of Asian development. This article highlights how the NSP responds to prevailing human values by developing social connectivity between Taiwan and its neighbours in Southeast Asia.