<p>Taiwan’s role in Arctic science diplomacy shows how a diplomatically limited actor can turn restricted agency into symbolic influence. Although excluded from formal Arctic governance, Taiwan has built a modest yet strategically significant presence through scientific collaboration, knowledge exchange, and selective partnerships with democratic middle powers. Based on interviews, institutional documents, and recent literature, this study traces developments from 2021 to 2025, including Taiwan’s participation in German- and Polish-led research programs and its 2025 entry into the University of the Arctic. These small but cumulative efforts boost legitimacy through association, allow participation without formal recognition, and reflect Taiwan’s broader shift from status-seeking diplomacy to technical and value-based engagement. Using a realist-constructivist perspective, the analysis interprets Taiwan’s Arctic activities as expressions of limited agency and symbolic power amid U.S.–China rivalry and post-2022 disruptions in Arctic governance.</p>

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Constrained Agency and Symbolic Power: Taiwan’s Arctic Science Diplomacy Under Geopolitical Tension

  • Reinhard Biedermann

摘要

Taiwan’s role in Arctic science diplomacy shows how a diplomatically limited actor can turn restricted agency into symbolic influence. Although excluded from formal Arctic governance, Taiwan has built a modest yet strategically significant presence through scientific collaboration, knowledge exchange, and selective partnerships with democratic middle powers. Based on interviews, institutional documents, and recent literature, this study traces developments from 2021 to 2025, including Taiwan’s participation in German- and Polish-led research programs and its 2025 entry into the University of the Arctic. These small but cumulative efforts boost legitimacy through association, allow participation without formal recognition, and reflect Taiwan’s broader shift from status-seeking diplomacy to technical and value-based engagement. Using a realist-constructivist perspective, the analysis interprets Taiwan’s Arctic activities as expressions of limited agency and symbolic power amid U.S.–China rivalry and post-2022 disruptions in Arctic governance.