The agency of Taiwan: the front line of US-China rivalry

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Laia Comerma
Investigadora posdoctoral, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Bélgica)

Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals, nº 141
Quadrimestral (Octobe-December 2025)
ISSN:1133-6595 | E-ISSN:2013-035X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24241/rcai.2025.141.3.91


 


Taking a historical perspective, this paper examines the main limits and sources of Taiwan’s agency and autonomy in its foreign economic policy in a context of non-sovereignty because of the “one China policy”. Amid the strategic rivalry between the United States and China, Taiwan uses cutting-edge sectors of its national economy to forge and consolidate a network of alliances at both regional and international level. To do so, its main tool is the institutionalisation of bilateral relations with its various allies through economic agreements, which illustrate the limits of its agency and of the political will of its allies. Nevertheless, in the midst of a global trend towards economic security and strategic autonomy, Taiwan has adopted a strategy of “intelligent diplomacy” to devise innovative and flexible solutions to promote its regional interests and its external trade policy.


 


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Keywords
Taiwan, China, United States, agency, autonomy, economic cooperation, rivalry, trade agree, emts, geopolitics, economic security, international relations

Article Details

How to Cite
Comerma, Laia. “The agency of Taiwan: the front line of US-China rivalry”. Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals, 2025, no. 141, pp. 91-110, doi:10.24241/rcai.2025.141.3.91.
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(c) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.es, 2026

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