Min-Hua Chiang

Min-Hua Chiang

Non-Resident Fellow, Taiwan Studies Programme, University of Nottingham, UK

Economist Min-Hua Chiang is a non-resident fellow of the Taiwan Studies Programme at the University of Nottingham in the UK. She was previously a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center. Her interests lie in fundamental macroeconomic theories and geopolitical-economic interactions between countries in East Asia and the world. Her research articles have appeared in numerous academic journals including African & Asian Studies, East Asia: An International Quarterly, Thunderbird International Business Review, The Pacific Review and China Perspectives.

Before joining The Heritage Foundation, she was a senior research fellow at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore. She previously held research positions at the Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University, Taiwan External Trade Development Council and the Commerce Development Research Institute in Taipei.

A worker checks a rotor core used for wind turbines at a factory in Nantong, Jiangsu province, China, on 20 September 2023. (AFP)

China’s economic weakness as informed by the ‘Taiwan model’

While China has tried to diversify its export destinations, as Taiwan did when it faced economic bottlenecks in the early periods of its development, its manufacturing sector with a large presence of foreign firms is still largely tied to the US market. Meanwhile, efforts to lift the domestic economy have been stymied by a lack of consumer spending and regulatory clampdowns. Academic Min-Hua Chiang examines the issue.
People walk past the central business district, in Beijing, China, on 21 June 2023. (Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

China’s application to join CPTPP comes to the fore, after the UK’s entry

​With the UK’s addition to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the question of the next applicant, China, joining comes front and centre. Other applicants like Taiwan, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Uruguay are also keen to be part of a grouping that could become the largest free trade area in the world. Academic Min-Hua Chiang outlines the stakes involved.
A general view of the rush hour traffic in Taipei, Taiwan, 17 January 2023. (Ann Wang/Reuters)

Taiwan's economy is breaking away from China's

Heritage Foundation researcher Min-Hua Chiang observes that China is fast losing its grip on its economic coercion strategy vis-à-vis Taiwan. With supply chains regrouping after a period of US-China trade war and geopolitical tensions, Taiwan has found greater support in its efforts to delink cross-strait issues with its economic survival.