Matej Šimalčík is the Executive Director of CEIAS (Central European Institute of Asian Studies), a think tank that focuses on foreign and security policy issues related to East Asia. Its new report “Partners in need, partners indeed? Tracking Europe-Taiwan relations amidst global disruption” is an updated overview of Taiwan’s relations with 30 European countries.

Šimalčík’s research looks at China’s economic and political presence and influence in Central Europe, elite relations, corrosive capital, and the role of European legal instruments in mitigating risks posed by China. In 2022, he founded the China-Europe Academic Engagement Tracker project. In 2025 Šimalčík was a visiting fellow at Taiwan’s INDSR (Institute for National Defense and Security Research).

Taiwan and Czechia relations are at an old time high, but results of the 2025 Czech parliamentary election has raised concerns on the future of the relations.

Key decisions makers mentioned today include Andrej Babiš (Czech Prime Minister, since December 2025; 2017-2021), Lin Chia-lung (Taiwan Minister of Foreign Affairs, since 2024 ), Miloš Vystrčil (Czech Senate President, since 2020), Zdeněk Hřib (Mayor of Prague 2028-2023), Markéta Pekarová Adamová (President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament 2021-2025), Marek Ženíšek (Czech Minister of Science, 2024-2025), Miloš Zeman (Czech President 2013-2023), Václav Havel (first democratic president of the Czech Republic 1993-2003), Hu Jintao (Leader of China 2002-2012), Xi Jinping (Leader of China, since 2012).

The report divides the European countries’ relations with Taiwan into four categories:

- “Old Partners” - countries with existing long-term ties with Taiwan: UK, France, and Germany.

- “New Friends” - the Central and European countries that are actively engaging with Taiwan: Czechia, Lithuania, and Poland.

- “Pragmatists” - countries having concerns with engaging with Taiwan but still enjoying economic benefits with Taiwan.

- “Laggards” - countries having underdeveloped relations with Taiwan.

Although the engagement between Taiwan and some European countries remains low, Šimalčík has seen a small uptake since 2022. This indicates that Taiwan’s engagement with “old partners” and “new friends” is setting an example for other countries.

Link to “Partners in need, partners indeed? Tracking Europe-Taiwan relations amidst global disruption”: https://ceias.eu/partners-in-need-partners-indeed-europe-taiwan-relations/

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Producer: Emily Y. Wu
Researcher: Zack Chiang, Zoe Hu, Hai-Ahn Nguyen
Editing: Wayne Tsai

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We speak to Hsin-mei CHENG, producer of the 2025 television series “Zero Day Attack” (零日攻擊) - a 10-episode drama that imagines Taiwanese internal divide and cohesion after the Chinese PLA have launched an invasion of Taiwan.

She speaks about her experience developing the show and the challenges of censorship and self-censorship in the creative industries in Taiwan.

Hsin-Mei CHENG (鄭心媚) is an award-winning screenwriter of television drama that often tell stories of Taiwanese society after WWII. She began her career as a print journalist covering national disasters and crises, most notably the 921 Earthquake in 1999 and the SARS outbreak in 2003.

The episode was recorded on August 3, 2025, one day after the release of the first episode.

The term Zero-Day (Z Day) that’s used to describe the notional date of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan was first used by American security analyst Ian Easton in his 2017 book, “The Chinese Invasion Threat”. He laid out the Zero Day scenario: first by blockade, then amphibious landing, then a total takeover of Taiwan.

In computer terms, Zero-Day (0-Day) is a security flaw of the software, hardware, or firmware that’s unknown to developers, thus creative a vulnerability against cyberattacks.

CHENG explains that for Taiwan, the most vulnerable period would be the four months between a presidential election (January) and the inauguration of a new president (May).

And this is exactly the setting for “Zero Day Attack”.

Each episode is about a different aspect of society: military, media, cyber attack, religious and business communities, etc; to imagine how Chinese infiltration would affect the mindset of the Taiwanese public.

Developing the series was not an easy task.

CHENG discusses how self-censorship in the creative industries have typically prevented political stories from being developed, funded, and produced. In her decade-long experience as a screenwriter, it had been a common experience to receive contracts requiring cast and crew to not make public statements on political issues, for fear of jeopardizing a production’s distribution in China.

Potential funders shied away from the “Zero Day Attack” project. Many actors - or in some cases, an entire acting agency - refused participation. To this day, half of the crew members have stayed anonymous.

Since the release of the series on August 2nd, rumors have spread that crew members who participated in the show are now blacklisted from work with some production houses.

“Zero Day Attack” (2025, 10 episodes) premiered on Public Television Service in Taiwan on August 2, 2025. It’s available for streaming in Japan through Amazon Japan; and in Taiwan on PTS+, Line TV, MyVideo, and Hami Video.

(Global premiere for Episode 1 was in May 2025 at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.)

Research and editing by Wayne Tsai, Zack Chiang, and Vera Wu.

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On July 26th, a third of Taiwan will vote on recall referendums (大罷免) for 24 legislators throughout Taiwan.

Our guest is Nathan F. Batto, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica. Taiwan watchers also know him as the writer of Frozen Garlic wordpress on Taiwanese elections.

We discuss how we got here: the KMT/TPP coalition in the legislature, the passionate activists who have been organizing the nation-wide movements; how the recall threshold was lowered in 2016 after the Sunflower Movement; the social cost of participating in recall bids, and how that affected the success rate of bids in cities versus in rural communities; And the impact of a perpetual election cycle.

Facts & figures:

• This recall will affect 24 legislators, ie: more than a quarter of elected seats. (Taiwan’s legislative assembly is made of 113 seats. 79 are elected directly by constituents in districts. Another 24 are composed of party seats as decided by proportion of party votes.)
• All 24 legislators up for a recall on July 26th are from the Kuomingtang (Nationalist Party, KMT).
• To meet the recall threshold, number of votes in favor of removing a lawmaker must exceed the number of votes against; and surpass 25% of eligible voters in that district.
• By-elections will be held in the fall. If the DDP gains six seats in the legislature as a result, they will gain majority.

Support Ghost Island Media by donating on Patreon http://patreon.com/taiwan

Follow and tag us on social media:
Ghost Island Media | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
Emily Y. Wu | Twitter @emilyywu

A Ghost Island Media production: www.ghostisland.media

Support the show: https://patreon.com/Taiwan

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.