Invisible Nation: inside Taiwan’s fight for autonomy

A new documentary explores the fraught history between China and Taiwan and the territory’s fight for autonomy.

The film has unique access to Tsai Ing-Wen, who was the first female president of Taiwan.

We spoke to the film’s director, Vanessa Hope, and began by asking her why she felt it was important to make the documentary.

Vanessa Hope: I have known since I first lived and studied in Taiwan 1995-96, which is the year they became a democracy, and China was firing missiles at the island, which was actually the third Taiwan missile strike. The third crisis, the first two were in the 50s. I have known that it’s a flash point for World War Three. Basically after that year, living in Taiwan, I went to work in foreign policy and the thinking was just ‘engage China economically and political liberalisation will happen’. But what happened was Taiwan strengthened its democracy and China became more authoritarian over time. And now the stakes are incredibly high because China has the military capability for a short, sharp invasion of Taiwan by 2027.

Cathy Newman: A lot of analysts think that that is now inevitable. Do you share that analysis?

Vanessa Hope: I do think that on the ground in Taiwan, they’re preparing for this invasion and have been for decades and would very much like the international community to find a way to support them diplomatically so that they can have some kind of negotiation with Xi Jinping.

Cathy Newman: Is there a sense that, as in Ukraine, the world is sort of waking up to this impending catastrophe a bit too late?

Vanessa Hope: Absolutely. This is the first and only film telling the story of Taiwan’s geopolitical predicament. I had very unique access to their first female president, Tsai Ing-wen, over her two terms. And every event that happened in these eight years was major. From the first speech by a leader of China, Xi Jinping, in 2019, in 40 years, to the people of Taiwan not renouncing the use of force, to the crackdown on the protesters in Hong Kong, outbreak of Covid and then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 did begin to wake people up to the stakes of the situation with Taiwan.

Cathy Newman: The current president of Taiwan is visiting Hawaii this week. Do you think that Taiwan can still count on US support if China does invade?

Vanessa Hope: I do think that the US government will continue to support Taiwan.

Cathy Newman: Donald Trump hasn’t explicitly promised that, has he?

Vanessa Hope: No, and I have fears that he is isolationist, that this whole Maga movement behind him, they’re very isolationist. And I also fear that Elon Musk, who had such a big role in helping Trump become president, has strong business interests in China, has openly said he thinks Taiwan should just go to China, be a part of China, which is completely impossible. And he’s taken away specifics, jobs, manufacturing in Taiwan, and he’s refusing to give them Starlink, which is the satellite service the people of Ukraine rely on, especially in war situations.

Cathy Newman: On the other hand, you know, members of Donald Trump’s proposed cabinet are sympathetic to Taiwan. So it’s a double-edged sword, isn’t it?

Vanessa Hope: You do have the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is a China hawk, and he is sympathetic toward Taiwan. And so he is potentially likely to continue to strengthen that relationship between the US and Taiwan.

Cathy Newman: On the other hand, China is such a huge power that’s prevented other countries in the world sort of standing up to China. The US, as the world’s leading power, has the might and potentially has the will under Trump to do so.

Vanessa Hope: Yes, but you have to remember that China is also a nuclear power and that at the moment Taiwan is unable to win in a conventional war against China and the US is also unable to win in a conventional war against China. So I think preventing ringing the alarm bells now and actually figuring out a diplomatic solution, prioritising people, not just economic interests, which can inevitably lead to some kind of war. So if we can get more people in Europe and the UK aware of Taiwan’s story, which has not really been told or heard, I’m hoping that will make a difference.

You can watch the documentary, Invisible Nation, from Friday 6th December until Monday 9th December at www.invisiblenation.net