6. Trade Policy and National Identity: Syaru Shirley Lin (“Taiwan’s China Dilemma”)

Although many countries have begun to reconsider how to balance what they get in return for trading with China, this question has always been existential in Taiwan. Trade policies have oscillated inconsistently between opening up and restricting access to the Chinese economy. The challenges of doing trade with China is a global issue. And this is The Taiwan take. Our guest is political scientist, Syaru Shirley Lin (林夏如), author of the book “Taiwan’s China Dilemma” (2016) and the forthcoming sequel “High Income Trap in East Asia.”

Today, Lin maps out the economic ties between Taiwan and China and what drives policymaking in that area. Lin retired as a partner at Goldman Sachs before becoming an academic. She now teaches world politics at the University of Virginia and global political economy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

*This interview was recorded before the Jan. 11 general election.

Hosted by J.R. Wu - Chief of the Secretariat for INDSR (Institute for National Defense and Security Research) in Taiwan. Wu is a former journalist with nearly two decades of media experience in the US and Asia. She has led news bureaus for Reuters and Dow Jones.

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EPISODE CREDIT | J.R. Wu, Host | Emily Y. Wu @emilyywu, Producer, Editor | Sam Robbins @helloitissam, Research | Thomas Lee, Brand Design | a Ghost Island Media production | www.ghostisland.media

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