Interning in Taipei
About the author: Ziyue Feng ’26 is an FSI Global Policy Intern with the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation. Ziyue is studying Philosophy & International Relations at Stanford University.
This summer, I had the opportunity to intern at the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation (CAPRI) in Taipei, Taiwan. Born and raised in Shanghai for the first sixteen years of my life, one of my earliest memories of Taiwan was in sixth grade, when my geography teacher taught us that Taiwan was a province of China, just like the other 23 provinces in the People’s Republic of China — though in reality, this is not the case. Living in Taipei for the first time this summer allowed me to experience this place and its people far beyond what I had learned from history books and news headlines. It became a re-education process for me, one in which I learned about the struggles of the Taiwanese people and how those shared experiences have forged the unique Taiwanese identity of today.
Taiwan was first brought under Qing dynasty control in 1683, which is where the notion that “Taiwan has always been part of China” originates. After being colonized by Imperial Japan for 50 years starting in 1895, Taiwan was returned to the Republic of China and the Kuomintang in 1945. Contrary to the resilient democratic society we associate with Taiwan today, it wasn’t democratized until the late 1980s, with the first presidential election occurring only in 1996. It is a very young democracy. Despite experiencing steady and significant economic growth since the 1960s, Taiwan has, as Professor Syaru Shirley Lin described, fallen into the “high-income trap” over the past two decades — facing challenges such as an aging population, income inequality, over-reliance on specific sectors, and slowing productivity growth. However, CAPRI’s focus extends beyond these economic concerns. The center primarily conducts comparative public policy research across countries in the Asia-Pacific region to derive meaningful insights into resilient governance and promote innovative policies. Since its founding in 2022, CAPRI has produced impactful research, including projects under the World Economic Forum and collaborations with the Brookings Institution, The National Bureau of Asian Research, and more.
Another significant aspect of CAPRI’s work is convening. During my time at CAPRI, I have helped organize events featuring notable figures such as Stan Shih, the founder of the Acer Group, as well as journalists from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg, and Reuters, along with foreign representatives in Taiwan. We are also in the process of organizing a series of events for Orville Schell, former dean of the School of Journalism at UC Berkeley.
Outside of work, Taiwan is a fascinating place for tourism, offering stunning scenery, excellent food, and rich history. It is incredibly convenient to travel across the island via high-speed rail. From Taipei at the northern tip of the island to Tainan in the south takes only about two hours by high-speed rail. In my spare time, I have visited Keelung, Taichung, Sun Moon Lake, and Tainan. The food and the views never fail to impress me
