Unpacking Taiwan`s Presence in Southeast Asia: The International Socialization of the New Southbound Policy

Abstract

Over the past three decades, Taiwan has been struggling to gain an advantage and develop its role in Asia. This island has strived to balance its asymmetric relationship with China by engaging in regional integration in Southeast Asia and beyond. In the 1990s, the Taiwan government initiated the first wave of its Go South Policy aimed at building links at business and government levels with that region. The institutional and social legacy of the Go South Policy contributed to the making of the New Southbound Policy (NSP) which was proposed toward the end of 2015. This paper will unpack Taiwan`s presence in Southeast Asia by highlighting the international socialization process of the NSP and Taiwan`s strategic interaction with the region. It consists of four sections: the first section introduces the concept of international socialization. The second section discusses the positioning of Taiwan`s previous Go South policies. Starting with the shift from a mentality of ＂Taiwanese Asia＂ (Taiwan de yazhou, 臺灣的亞洲) to one of ＂Asian Taiwan＂ (Yazhou de Taiwan, 亞洲的臺灣), it describes in detail how Taiwan`s successive southward engagement initiatives have blended into the international socialization processes in the region. The third section highlights the relationships the policy`s key actors and stakeholders, including transnational actors, are establishing with their counterparts in Southeast Asia and the new social linkages that are currently being promoted. This includes the activities of Taiwanese residents in Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian migrants in Taiwan. The paper concludes by summarizing Taiwan`s international socialization in Asia.