Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region

The Hoover Institution Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region supports research and public dialogue about Taiwan’s democracy and society and the pivotal position Taiwan occupies in a vast, strategic, and increasingly integrated swath of the world. The project is chaired by Senior Fellow Larry Diamond and managed by Visiting Fellow Glenn Tiffert.

Nestled strategically among the democracies to the east of China, Taiwan’s vitality is crucial to the stability and collective security of the entire Indo-Pacific region. One of the most stable and successful liberal democracies outside the West, Taiwan’s effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic has also recently drawn attention to its effective governance. Taiwan’s economic development, robust multiparty politics, vibrant civil society, strong rule of law, and extensive protections for civil liberties hold important lessons for the Chinese-speaking world, and for other states striving to institutionalize key pillars of liberal democracy, such as an independent judiciary, a professional civil service, a politically neutral military, and strong agencies to control corruption. So, too, do Taiwan’s challenges—for example, in addressing political polarization, rising inequality, an aging society, and external efforts at disinformation—bear important wider lessons for scholars and policymakers.

The project’s activities include a regular speaker series with appearances by leading scholars and policymakers from around the world, an annual conference, publications in traditional and social media, and teaching on the Stanford campus. Learn more.