Episode 8 – Taiwan: the Most Dangerous Place on Earth in the age of Trump 2.0

In May 2021, the British weekly The Economist declared Taiwan to be "The Most Dangerous Place on Earth." While the advent of war in the Middle East and Ukraine suggest that the 2021 cover story was hyperbolic, the small island in the South China Sea is indeed at the center of a conflict that is repeatedly called "the New Cold War": Taiwan’s future is contingent on US-Chinese relations. And these also affect the rest of the world, not least export-driven economies such as Switzerland. How much has the situation of Taiwan been affected by changing US Administrations? What does Taiwan expect – or fear – from Donald J. Trump’s return to the White House? And what aspects of Chinese-US relations should we pay most attention to in Europe?Professor Simona Grano is the right person to ask all that: a Senior Lecturer at the University of Zurich, her studies of Sinology at Ca’Foscari University of Venice quickly led her develop a regional expertise beyond the People’s Republic of China. In her research, she likewise addresses the challenges of Hong Kong and Taiwan. She regularly comments on developments in the region in the media.