The New Southbound Policy (NSP) is the signature foreign policy of President Tsai Ing Wen that enables the collaborative partnership between the public, private, and the people sector in advancing its presence and contribution. This report unpacks the rationale of NSP and the features of the NSP’s cross-sectoral configuration (P-P-P-P practice) since 2016.
TAEF has been paying close attention to the progress of the NSP. With this report as an interim assessment of the NSP, TAEF would like to convey three key strategic findings by addressing the following issues. First, what is warm power? What is the source and strategic value of Taiwan’s warm power? How does the NSP convey Taiwan’s warm power? Simply put, warm power is to share warmth with the stakeholders in need. It is also aimed at keeping Taiwan central in our neighbors’ daily discussions and indispensable in the everyday activities of our like-minded partners. Second, what are the features of Taiwan’s NSP, in particular with its policy delivery? This report delineates the practice of P-P-P-P Configuration, which is the result of the respective promotion and cross-sectoral collaboration between the public sector (government), the private sector (business and enterprises), and the people sector (NGOs and Civil society) in Taiwan. Accordingly, this report also examines the achievements of the government’s five flagship programs, the image and influence of Taiwan and Taiwanese businesses in Southeast Asia, and TAEF as a driving force in promoting and facilitating the NSP. Third, TAEF invited the member institutions of the Asia Engagement Consortium (AEC) initiated by TAEF to provide insights and policy recommendations on implementing the NSP which is included in the third part of this report. TAEF believes that this report is not only a continuous review of the promotion of the NSP but also encourages the general public in Taiwan and the international community to better understand the concrete progress of the NSP as Taiwan’s regional strategy for Asia.
In this regard, TAEF Chairman Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao and TAEF Executive Director Prof. Alan H. Yang have authored this report since early 2022. This report is an important milestone in the implementation of Taiwan’s NSP. The TAEF will also continue to make every endeavor to promote the NSP and strengthen Taiwan’s warm power.