Combating COVID-19 using digital technology in APEC region

Ting Yu Lin

PhD Student, International Health Program, Department of Public Health

National Yang-Ming University

In 2020, the global health crisis has adversely affected the well-being and livelihoods of people across the Asia-Pacific region. The outbreak of the COVID-19 has caused over 27 million confirm cases and more than 900,000 death in the world (by the date 12^th September, 2020). As the end of the pandemic is still far from reality as well as result to tremendous disruptions on both demand and supply sides of the global value chain (GVC), it is urged for each sector to share their best practices and to focus on substantive topics. The resiliency of health systems and supply chain are in need to be strengthened, also, the role of digital health plays moving forward.

On the Nexus between Economic Law and International Development: How FTAs can Contribute to Promoting Human Rights

Brian Chen

J.D. Candidate, Georgetown University Law Center; M.A., King’s College London

Fellow, Institute of International Economic Law

International trade and investment law are at a crossroad. The World Trade Organization (“WTO”) Dispute Settlement Body (“DSB”) remains paralyzed by its lack of appellate body members, and influential actors including the United States and European Union have moved away from the heavily criticized investor-state dispute settlement model in their recently concluded international investment agreements. Further, any reforms must now be administered against the backdrop of an international pandemic that is challenging market rules. Importantly, several free trade agreements (“FTAs”) concluded at the regional level (“RTAs”) are emerging as promising instruments for introducing innovative solutions for re-writing the rules of international economic law at a time when multilateral negotiations have halted. 

A Brief Review on the US-China Tech Cold War

Kai-Ming Chang

Assistant Professor, Center for General Education,

National Taichung University of Science and Technology 

Since the United States adopted the pivot to Asia–Pacific policy in 2009, the interactions between the two superpowers, China and the US, have become more and more complicated. The Trump administration, which took office in 2017, adopts the strategy of limiting and balancing China’s influences as a key foreignpolicy. After launching a trade war on China, the US imposed sanctions on ZTE Corporation in mid-2018, indicating that technology has become another key battlefield between the US and China. In the past two years, this conflict, which was named as the Tech Cold War by the media, has gradually spread to the aspects of network security, mobile communication and establishment of cyber forces.

Skilled Migrants Go South: Taiwanese Expatriates in Indonesia and Vietnam

Jian-Bang Deng

Professor, The Graduate Institute of Futures Studies, Tamkang University

Abstract

According to the national statistics of Taiwanese government, around one

of fifteen Taiwanese nationals is currently working abroad and it is still in a

rising trend. Past studies on Taiwanese expatriates were mainly focused on those

who going to the US and to Mainland China. This paper, however, explores the

migration of Taiwanese professionals to Indonesia and Vietnam and discusses the

International Investment Arbitration in the Age of Covid-19

Brian Chen

J.D. Candidate, Georgetown University Law Center. M.A., King’s College London.

Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) has long been the target of much critique by both non-government institutions and civil-society organizations who argue that the  echanism unequally targets developing countries, but its application during the Covid-19 pandemic poses particularly great risks to countries already struggling to manage their domestic public health crises. Generally, critics argue that ISDS produces regulatory chilling effects

State of the Region (SOTR): Special Report on Covid-19 Executive Summary

Eduardo Pedrosa

Secretary General, Pacific Economic Cooperation Council

Christopher Findlay

Vice-Chair, Australian Pacific Economic Cooperation Committee (AUSPECC) and Honorary Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

The Asia-Pacific is undergoing a health, human, and economic crisis. Its many

dimensions make this an exceptional challenge for policy makers and one that

can only be effectively overcome through extraordinary international cooperation.

While the Asia-Pacific was at the epicenter of the shock, through its longestablished

norms and processes it can also locate itself at the heart of the solutions.

The Theme and Priorities of 2020 APEC and the Development of Post-2020 Vision

Dr Ying-Jun Lin

Associate Research Fellow, Chinese Taipei APEC Study Center, TIER

Introduction

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (hereinafter "APEC") is one of the regional

organisations in the Asia-Pacific. 2020 is the critical year of APEC. It needs to

retrospect the past and, meanwhile, requires to prepare the future. Some long-term

strategic plans are expiry this year that require the final review to understand their

achievements. On the other side, APEC needs to develop new strategic plans and

long-term goals to envision the future. Notably, the Asia-Pacific is facing the global

economic sluggish, unequal income distribution, disruption of digital technologies.

Taiwan-India Robust Bilateral Relationship

Sadia Rahman

PhD Student National Chung Hsing University

Background:

The academic interest during the past decades regarding Taiwan-India bilateral

relationship lack pursuit; however, much has changed since the last past ten years.

Much scholarly attention has been given under a general unanimous voice that

Taiwan-India should have a ‘robust bilateral relationship.’ Joe Thomas Karackattu,

an expert on India-Taiwan and India-China relationships, made a very intriguing

argument as what qualifies small or big when analyzing bilateral relations. It is

the study of Taiwan-India bilateral relationship that challenges our assumptions

on parameters of size. Geographically size of India is much more prominent