Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-22
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen
Tsai unveils Go South policy. Central News Agency (2015-09-22 15:15:59)
on Tuesday announced a Go South policy favoring ties with India and Southeast Asia.
During the rule of President Lee Teng-hui in the 1990s, Taiwan already emphasized trade links with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and to a lesser extent, India. Tsai’s new policy is seen as an attempt to wean Taiwan’s economy away from the excessive reliance on China built up during the government of President Ma Ying-jeou.
As Taiwan hopes to diversify its trade, the natural choice is to strengthen relations overall with ASEAN and India, Tsai said, promising the formation of a special government taskforce to push the new policy.
She unveiled the proposals during an address to foreign diplomats and representatives in Taiwan on the occasion of the DPP’s 29th anniversary. Tsai, who chairs the opposition party, is widely expected to win the January 16 presidential election. [FULL STORY]