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Fulbright Taiwan / FSE is Accepting Applications

8/19/2025

The Fulbright Taiwan program is still accepting applications until September 15. Their applicant pool is down from past years, and the Taipei office has sent out a special appeal to potential applicants. I repost that call below.

Dear Colleagues:

Fulbright is alive and well!!

However, uncertainty and misinformation has had a negative impact on application numbers for 2026-2027. The Institute for International Education (IIE), which administers Fulbright programs for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the US Department of State, reports that US scholar applications for international Fulbright awards are down this year in preliminary reports. The deadline is September 15.

On behalf of the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange, which administers Fulbright awards in Taiwan, I would like to encourage you – or your colleagues – to apply for a Research Award, Teaching Award, or Teaching/Research Award for 2026-2027 (one to two semesters) to Taiwan. Application guidelines and instructions can be found here:
https://www.fulbright.org.tw/awardsfor-us-citizens/#awards_to_taiwan_resources.

Our awards support scholars in all disciplines, and host institutions in Taiwan are eager to welcome scholars in the Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, and Natural and Applied Sciences to conduct research, offer courses, and/or enter into collaborative research agreements with Taiwan colleagues. Fulbright Taiwan can also assist in matching US scholars with potential hosts.

Scholars on Research Awards are provided with a monthly stipend of NT$129,000 (up to $153,000 with families). Scholars on Teaching Awards are provided with a monthly stipend of NT$120,000 (up to $138,000 with families), plus housing. All Scholars are provided with airfare, a settling-in and research allowance, and National Health Insurance. These stipends are more than adequate to live comfortably in Taipei and other cities in Taiwan. The Fulbright Program does not prohibit grantees from receiving sabbatical funds or other grants during their stay in Taiwan (though you may not receive concurrent funds from Taiwan institutions).

I would like to draw particular attention to:
our special award in Political Science and International Relations (including Area Studies, Cross-Strait Relations, and East Asian Security) (https://www.fulbright.org.tw/awards-for-us-citizens/political-science-and-international-relations-award/),
Sinology (including Chinese history, literature, and social sciences),
and to teaching opportunities in Taiwan universities, which are now strongly promoting EMI (English as the Medium of Instruction) in all areas, especially Applied Sciences (Engineering, Environmental Sciences, etc.)

So, a Fulbright award to Taiwan is appropriate not only for you, but for all of your colleagues. Please forward this letter to any colleagues who are looking for a rewarding, impactful experience abroad, in one of the most vibrant, progressive, and dynamic scholarly communities in East Asia.

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Taiwan after the 'Great Recalls': Toward a New Political Equilibrium?

8/15/2025

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I have a new commentary out today at the Brookings Institution's U.S.-Taiwan Quarterly Analysis series on the aftermath of Taiwan's recall elections and what it means for the next 2 1/2 years of politics. I didn't get this observation into the piece, so let me just say here that in 25 years of watching Taiwan elections, the complete defeat of the recall votes is one of the most surprising outcomes I can remember -- perhaps second only to Han Kuo-yu's stunning win in Kaohsiung in 2018. I was way off in my predictions about the recall outcomes, as were most of the other analysts I followed. It's a good reminder that Taiwan voters are a fickle bunch, and to approach our analyses with a healthy dose of humility.

Anyway, the opening paragraphs are below:

For the last 18 months, Taiwan politics has been out of equilibrium. The sweeping defeat last month of the attempt to remove 24 Kuomintang (KMT) legislators in a “great recall” demonstrated at least one incontrovertible truth: divided government is not going away. Taiwan’s political combatants now have an opportunity for a political reset. Let us hope that they seize it.

Political Uncertainty Drives Partisan Conflict
Taiwan’s previous elections in January 2024 delivered an ambiguous verdict. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) retained control of the executive branch but lost its majority in the legislature, while its primary opposition, the KMT, won a plurality of 52 seats (plus two allied independents) to the DPP’s 51. Far from indicating a strong mandate from the voters, however, the KMT’s victory rested on close wins in marginal constituencies and significant electoral malapportionment: across all districts, the party’s candidates won only 40% of the vote to the DPP’s 45%. Complicating matters further, for the first time in Taiwan’s democratic history, the balance of power was captured by a centrist party, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), founded by former Taipei mayor and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je. This unprecedented situation injected additional uncertainty into Taiwan politics and contributed to the rapid escalation of partisan conflict over President Lai Ching-te’s first year in office.

For the rest, see the Brookings website.

An Expanding Taiwan Commentariat

Also, a side note: in putting this piece together, I was struck by how much good English-language coverage there is now on Taiwan politics. So much so, in fact, that I wasn't initially sure I had anything original to say after so many others got there first.

So here I just want to give a shout-out to the growing roster of outlets and people doing good work on Taiwan politics, including:

Journal of Democracy, which published an online exclusive by Raymond Kuo which I found especially thought-provoking.
The Diplomat has had a lot of good coverage of the recalls featuring a variety of perspectives.
Jamestown China Brief on the recalls and the stakes for the KMT.
GTI Brief -- including some great work by Ben Levine.
Taiwan Insight, which had a whole special issue on the recalls.
FPRI -- especially pieces by Brendan Flynn and Joshua Freedman.
Financial Times has regular original stories on Taiwan issues, thanks to Kathrin Hille's dogged reporting.
Bloomberg, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal now all have reporters based locally doing good work.
Foreign Affairs even published something on domestic issues in Taiwan for once, even if they did give it a troll-y title as is their habit. Excellent work Lev and Wei-Ting for surviving the FA editorial process!

And on top of that, we've got Taiwan-based outlets that have expanded and deepened coverage too, including:

Taipei Times, which now has not one but two regular columns, by Michael Turton and Courtney Donovan Smith.
The inimitable Frozen Garlic blog by Nathan Batto.
New Bloom and the extremely prolific Brian Hioe, who apparently never sleeps.
Domino Theory.
Commonwealth Magazine.

And too many others to list...

I can remember back in the Ma Ying-jeou era when English-language coverage was maybe a tenth of what it is now, and quite a bit shallower. I was going through old notes of that period recently and they reminded me of the parlous state of commentary on, for instance, the Sunflower Movement. So I find myself marveling now at the richness and diversity of English-language writing on Taiwan. I know I learn a lot from you all, so...thanks, and keep up the good work.

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Fulbright Taiwan / FSE is Accepting Applications

Taiwan after the 'Great Recalls': Toward a New Political Equilibrium?

An Expanding Taiwan Commentariat

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