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Episode Description

As cross-strait ties progress, many are wondering what role the United States is going to play. In the end, how much can Taiwan look to its partner across the Pacific for support?

Since taking up his new post in DC in April of this year, Taiwan’s Ambassador in the US Lyu-hsun Shen has been making the case for the US to up its backing for Taiwan.

In this interview we get Ambassador Shen’s take on the current relationship between Taiwan and the US and the prospects for increased cooperation.

 

You can learn more about Taiwan’s representation in the US by visiting the website for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S.
 

Recommended Reading
  • Here’s a Washington Times interview with Ambassador Shen that got a little attention in Taiwan in which he lays out his arguments for why more vocal US support for Taiwan is in both countries’ interests.
  • Here’s a little analysis of the Washington Times interview from Thinking Taiwan’s Editor in Chief J. Michael Cole (who’s been on this show before).
  • And here’s a separate interview with Ambassador Shen, this time with Politico, in which he makes many of the same points but focuses more on Taiwan’s bid to join the Trans Pacific Partnership regional free-trade agreement.
  • Here’s an article from The National Interest that argues that it’s in the interest of the United States to back Taiwan’s membership in trade deals.
  • And here’s a brief piece written about Ambassador Shen when he entered his new post as Taiwan’s top representative in the US earlier this year.
How to listen

You can download episodes of this program online at the ICRT website and on the show’s iTunes page. New episodes are added every Wednesday.

You can learn more about Taiwan Talk at the show page here.

You can also find past episodes on this blog here.

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