The pandemic will inevitably affect Tsai’s signature foreign policy — but not necessarily for the worse.

Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy, the country’s «regional strategy for Asia» inaugurated by incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen in 2016, has been impacted by the global COVID-19 crisis, though not all in a disappointing direction.

Short-Term Setbacks and Long-Term Strengths

After some gains in Tsai’s first term, Taiwanese banks reported a 15.23 percent decline in profit in New Southbound-targeted South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand for the first quarter of 2020 compared with the same period last year, mostly attributed to pandemic-related reasons. And while the number of tourists from NSP-targeted countries rose by 2.7 million people last year, an impressive 6.8 percent growth rate from 2018, it is almost certain that COVID-19 will cause a downturn in that upbeat trend.

International media coverage of Taiwan during COVID-19 has so far been impressively positive. With only seven deaths and 440 cumulative cases , Taiwan’s pandemic response has garnered widespread praise domestically and internationally, which has given it a platform to step up its external efforts. Ramped up production has enabled the Taiwanese government to perform extensive «mask diplomacy,» donating millions of face masks abroad to countries in need . Businesses and municipalities have also spearheaded their own efforts: Taoyuan city in northern Taiwan has partnered with local business associations to donate 15,000 hazmat suits to Thailand, citing the city’s close-knit business ties with Thailand and Thai migrant workers’ contributions throughout the years.
Taiwan’s actions extend well beyond these donation efforts. Taiwanese representative offices and medical centers have been setting up online seminars to share experiences with regional counterparts, which, according to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council , include exchanges between National Cheng Kung University Hospital and 14,000 medical personnel from India.

This article was written by  Jeremy Huai-Che Chiang

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