Asian perception of the EU after Brexit: the case of Taiwan

Abstract

The Brexit was in general interpreted as damage to the EU image abroad. In order to understand this damage and to propose some remedies for the EU public diplomacy in Asia, the authors conducted a media analysis of mainstream newspapers between May and October 2016 and a general survey between July 2016 and February 2017 in Taiwan. Based upon this analysis and survey, the authors intended to give a picture of EU image in Taiwanese media and people’s perception after the Brexit and find out key factors shaping this image. According to them, EU was frequently reported as a reference rather than a focus in Asian media, of which a majority of reports were neither positive nor negative. Brexit did increase visibility of the EU but in a very negative way. In order to remedy this damage and promote EU image in the aftermath of Brexit, the authors proposed two approaches after an in-depth study of all of those news reports and the general survey. It is suggested that EU should continue to strengthen its bilateral relationship with Asian countries and, at the same time, adopt normative actions on the world stage.