ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the southbound policies from former President Lee Teng-hui to the current President Tsai Ing-wen. It reflects on the challenges and opportunities for Taiwan's southbound policy in the face of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This chapter is anchored in the economic aspect of the southbound policy. It also aims to use Vietnam's case to reflect on the flagship policy's opportunities and challenges in the Tsai government's first term's economic diplomacy from 2016 to 2020. It will also question the state's capacity to command business groups’ overseas investment decisions at a conceptual level. It is noted that under Tsai's first administrative period, the New Southbound Policy (NSP) goals were not only focused on expanding business investment in Southeast Asia but also on people-to-people connections. This chapter's objective is not to evaluate the NSP during the first Tsai administration as a whole but rather to use Vietnam as one case to gain a better understanding of the NSP and the current status of Taiwanese investment in Vietnam.
