Abstract
In its Indo-Pacific Strategy adopted in 2021, the EU reconfirmed the importance of “the voices of civil society, the private sector, social partners, and other key stakeholders count” in the region, highlighting the role of Asian civil society in the EU-Asia inter-regionalism. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate Taiwanese people’s perception of the EU between January 2018 and May 2021 and analyze the key factors shaping the EU’s image in the region. At the same time, in terms of methodology, it also tries to establish an innovative and more efficient approach in this transnational survey of Asian people’s perception of the EU with the help of data sciences, which may contribute to the cognitive dimension of the EU study. Lastly, this paper aims to compare different theoretical doctrines on enhancing the visibility and support of the EU among Asians to indicate the optimal strategy for the EU to promote its image among Asians and its theoretical implications.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chaban N, Holland M (eds) (2015) Europe and Asia: perception from afar. Nomos, Baden-Baden
Chaban N, Niemann A, Speyer J (eds) (2020) Changing perceptions of the EU at times of Brexit: global perspectives. Routledge, London
European Commission (2021). “Joint Communication of the European Parliament and the Council: the EU strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific”, Brussels, 16.9.2021 JOIN(2021) 24 final. https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/jointcommunication_2021_24_1_en.pdf (acceded on October 15, 2021)
Hackler M (2020) Rapprochement amid readjustment: how China sees issues and trends in its changing relationship with the EU. Asia Eur J 18(2):251–258
Holland M, Ryan P, Nowak A et al (eds) (2009) The EU through the eyes of Asia. Asia-Europe Foundation, Singapore
Jain R (2015) India’s strategy towards the EU: shared values, but elusive coordinated policies. In: Su H (ed) Asian countries’ strategies towards the EU in an inter-regionalist context. National Taiwan University Press, Taipei, pp 177–196
Laffan B (2001) The European Union polity: a union of regulative, normative and cognitive pillars. J Eur Public Policy 8(5):709–727
Manners I (2002) Normative power Europe: a contradiction in terms? J Common Mark Stud 40(2):235–258
Manners, I (2009). “The concept of normative power in world politics”, Danish Institute for International Studies Brief. https://pure.diis.dk/ws/files/68745/B09_maj_Concept_Normative_Power_World_Politics.pdf (retrieved on 19 November 2022)
Nye J Jr (1990) Soft power. Foreign Policy 80:153–171
Shen W (2020) Fostering dialogue for a common future: Asia-Europe Policy Forum (AEPF). Asia Eur J 18(2):195–196
Su H (2020) European dream and reluctant integration in the 21st century: lessons for ongoing Asian regionalism. National Taiwan University Press, Taipei
Tsuruoka M (2015) Japan’s strategy towards the EU: a strategic partnership in search of common goals. In: Su H (ed) Asian countries’ strategies towards the EU in an inter-regionalist context. National Taiwan University Press, Taipei, pp 33–54
Wang H (2020) In this together: China-EU relations in the COVID-19 era. Asia Eur J 18(2):223–226
Zhang M (2020) Dispel clouds of pandemic through cooperation. Asia Eur J 18(2):197–199
Zhang, X. (2021) 張曉通, “欧盟在中美欧经贸大三角中的‘借力型战略’”, 歐洲研究, 39卷229期, 2021年6月, 頁17-42.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The research leading to these results received funding from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (ROC) under Grant Agreement No. MOST 110-2410-H-002 -049 -MY3. The findings of this research are also an important reference for the work of the EU Centre in Taiwan in its promotion of understanding and visibility of the EU among Taiwanese, of which the author is the director general. The author has no other relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Su, H. The EU’s image in Asia: an analysis of the Taiwanese media reports on the EU between 2018 and 2021. Asia Eur J 21, 381–396 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-023-00676-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-023-00676-8