Ep 355 | Akio Yaita Outspoken Taiwan Advocate: In Taiwan I Can Make a Bigger Contribution

While we were at last year's Taiwanese American Conference West Coast in July of 2025 which was hosted in San Francisco Silicon Valley, we sat down with Akio Yaita (矢板明夫), the keynote speaker of the conference. As a senior journalist at Sankei Shimbun Akio has covered Beijing and Taipei. He's been a strong advocate for Taiwan. In 2024 Akio obtained citizenship in Taiwan and founded the Indo-Pacific Strategy Thinktank. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/akio-yaita-%e7%9f%a2%e6%9d%bf%e6%98%8e%e5%a4%ab-outspoken-taiwan-advocate-in-taiwan-i-can-make-a-bigger-contribution-ep-355/ As we were working on translating and editing our interview with Akio we were disturbed to learn that on July 6th Akio was assaulted after a speaking engagement in Taichung. While Akio was in the lobby of a hotel, a Chinese man approached him and punched him in the face. The man, surnamed Liao (廖) was later arrested at the Taichung International Airport. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council described the attack as the "first case of transnational repression" in Taiwan since China's Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law took effect on July 1. After the attack Akio has said that he will not be intimidated.   What timing it's turned out to be for us to be sharing our interview with Akio Yaita now. You'll get know about his backstory and how you can follow him and his work.   This episode is sponsored in part by the Pacific Times.   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/akio-yaita-%e7%9f%a2%e6%9d%bf%e6%98%8e%e5%a4%ab-outspoken-taiwan-advocate-in-taiwan-i-can-make-a-bigger-contribution-ep-355/