In Season 7, Episode 1 of Global Taiwan Insights, Ben Sando interviews Mariah Thornton, teaching fellow at the London School of Economics, on her groundbreaking research into Taiwan’s own political warfare system. Taiwan’s Political Warfare Bureau, embedded within the Republic of China military, has existed since the Kuomintang ruled China in the early 20th century. Even after the Kuomintang lost the Chinese Civil War and Taiwan democratized in the 1980s, this political warfare system has continued to operate within Taiwan’s military and society. But as Chinese influence operations surge on the island, this system has renewed purpose.

In Season 6, Episode 5 of Global Taiwan Insights, Ben Sando interviews Andrew Yeh, Executive Director of the China Strategic Risks Institute, on suspected Chinese and Russian collaboration on undersea cable sabotage. In recent years, critical undersea cables have been severed in global hotspots such as the Baltic Sea and the Taiwan Strait. Yeh takes us through cases of potential Beijing-Moscow collaboration and explains why international law isn’t ready to ward off these attacks.

In Season 6, Episode 5 of Global Taiwan Insights, Ben Sando interviews Dr. Eun A Jo, an Assistant Professor at William and Mary and expert on South Korean politics. In June this year, the Democratic Party of Korea’s Lee Jae Myung was elected president, triggering speculation that South Korea would discontinue its policy of clear alignment with the United States. Before Lee took office, Seoul had been working with Tokyo and Washington on military and economic collaboration intended to deter both China and North Korea. As a non-traditional politician, Lee’s policies towards Taiwan are not easy to predict, and Jo explains how we can interpret his early political decisions.