Head of the of the Research Area China-Taiwan Relations/Director of the Taiwan studies project UZH. Interests: Chinese Politics, Taiwan, Cross-Strait Relations
Zurich
Joined March 2020
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Thrilled to share my new co-edited volume (w/ @chunyilee1): Changing Dynamics in Geopolitics: Implications for Taiwan 🌏🇹🇼
On Cross-Strait tensions, China–US rivalry & Taiwan’s future in the Indo-Pacific.
👉 link.springer.com/book/10.10…
#Taiwan #Geopolitics
@UniofNottingham
Looking forward to debating: join us! 👇
What will the fourth Trump–Xi summit mean for Taiwan?
Join @GranoSimona, Dennis Weng & @LyleJMorris on Nov. 19 at 10 AM ET to discuss cross-Strait stability, U.S.–Taiwan relations & Taiwan’s political future.
Register: asiasociety.org/policy-insti…
How does Trump’s negotiating strategy affect Taiwan? When might China consider an invasion? And how much protection does 🇹🇼’s semiconductor industry really offer the island? I discuss these questions, in a new interview by Lea Fäh lnkd.in/ewuUiaTV
Photo: Iris C. Ritter
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
Not a good sign that 2 PRC nationals went across the Strait in a rubber boat, landed near Taipei undetected, and moseyed around Taiwan for a WEEK before being caught.
Two Chinese nationals have been sentenced to nine and six months in prison after authorities said they crossed from China’s Fujian Province to Taiwan in a rubber boat. The men allegedly traveled around Taiwan for about a week before being caught. Taiwan’s coast guard apologized for the security lapse.
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
Interested in contributing to @AsiaPolicy's Center for China Analysis' work on the PLA, cross-Straits and Chinese foreign policy? If so, come work for me!
I am hiring an intern for the Winter/Spring in Washington, DC. Fluency in Mandarin a must.
asiasociety.org/policy-insti…
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
*Webinar alert*
Join us on Thursday, Nov. 19, from 10-11am US ET for a panel discussion on "How the Fourth Trump-Xi Summit Will Affect Taiwan, and What This Means for Taiwan's Future." We will unpack the role of Taiwan in U.S.-China relations as President Trump and Xi prepare to meet again at APEC in Shenzhen. We will also touch on the upcoming local elections in Taiwan and what the results might mean for cross-Straits and US-Taiwan relations.
I will be joined by Dr. Dennis Lu-Chung Weng, Associate Professor and Graduate Director of Political Science at Sam Houston State University, and the founding Director of the Asia Pacific Peace Research Institute, and Dr. @GranoSimona, Managing Director of the Taiwan Studies Project at the University of Zurich and Senior Fellow at @AsiaPolicy's Center for China Analysis.
asiasociety.org/policy-insti…
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
Großes Interesse an "Wenn China angreift", welches in Dänemark unter dem Titel #HvisKinaVinder bei Kristeligt Dagblads Forlag @kristeligt erschienen ist #BogForum #Kopenhagen /1
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
Mbappé's apology sends the wrong signal. Calling Mao a dictator is a historical judgement, not an insult to the Chinese people. By conflating the two, he adopts the Party's framing. Apologising will only deepen self-censorship on anything touching 'official China'.
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
This controversy is absolutely nuts. The Mao revisionism is *wild*, with state media demanding that foreigners bend the knee to an excrescence who killed tens of millions of their own ancestors. This ridiculous headline, together the humiliating capitulation of the sports world. Mbappe said something that anyone who has had a passing glance at history knows: Mao was not merely a dictator, but the biggest killer of the last century.
In case anyone was wondering about PRC influence in sport, you have your answer. And in case anyone was wondering about how quickly “private” Chinese companies (sponsors) can be mobilised to do the bidding of the Party State, voilá. Getting the picture yet?
This is the Whole-of- State approach in action people. Everything is the Party, and nothing can challenge it.
Major brands in China have dropped Kylian Mbappé over a clip in which the French football megastar appeared to mock Mao Zedong, China’s modern founding leader.
vist.ly/5q5xz
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
Over the last few months, China has intensified its pressure campaign against Taiwan, imposing sanctions on officials from two of Taiwan's remaining diplomatic allies, blocking Taiwanese representatives from taking part in an international conference in Kenya, and expanding the scope of its maritime grey zone operations to waters east of Taiwan.
"These are all forms of Beijing’s intensified pressure campaign aimed at isolating Taiwan internationally and limiting middle powers’ and smaller countries’ engagement with Taipei," I told @leahyjoseph at @FT.
Beijing wanted to “cultivate a sense of helplessness within Taiwan” while demonstrating to the Chinese public that it was making progress towards “unification”.
@CrisisGroup
ft.com/content/587f1f89-3bff…
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
Minulý týden jsem strávil v Taipei, kde jsme pořádali další simulaci čínské strategické eskalace.
Tady pár veřejný dat, co by čínský útok na Taiwan znamenal:
⚬ Podle analýz Bloomberg Economics by čínská invaze na Tchaj-wan stála globální ekonomiku v prvním roce 10 bilionů USD (cca 10 % světového HDP), přičemž samotné státy Evropské unii by zaznamenaly propad HDP přesahující 5 %, což je hlubší pokles než během finanční krize v roce 2008 nebo pandemie covidu-19.
⚬ Tchaj-wan kontroluje přes 90 % celosvětové kapacity výroby nejvyspělejších mikročipů (pod 7 nm) a více než 60 % celkové světové produkce čipů. Přerušení dodávek by v EU ze dne na den způsobilo akutní nedostatek komponentů pro automobilový průmysl, zdravotnickou techniku i spotřební elektroniku.
⚬ Tchajwanským průlivem ročně propluje přes 21 % celosvětového námořního obchodu (zboží v hodnotě 2,45 trilionu USD) a téměř polovina světové kontejnerové flotily. Námořní blokáda nebo konflikt by znamenaly okamžitou paralyzaci přímých dodavatelských tras mezi Evropou a Východní Asií.
⚬ Výzkumné centrum CSIS a Rhodium Group odhadují, že kvůli kombinaci západních sankcí, námořních blokád a přerušení financování obchodu s Čínou by celosvětový objem obchodu klesl o dvouciferné procentní hodnoty, což by v EU vyvolalo skokovou inflaci a výpadky v dodávkách průmyslových meziproduktů.
⚬ Vzhledem k tomu, že 10 největších odběratelů tchajwanské TSMC reprezentuje tržní kapitalizaci blízkou 14 trilionům USD, výpadek výroby by okamžitě vedl k masivní korekci na evropských i globálních akciových trzích a k dlouhodobému znehodnocení majetku.
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
The CCP‘s bullying of the Philippines has to stop. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
The sanctions are not isolated incidents but part of Beijing's coordinated pressure campaign to isolate Taiwan internationally by imposing costs on those that continue to engage with Taipei. Other recent examples include China's sanctions against four lawmakers from New Zealand for traveling to Taiwan and Beijing's ongoing hybrid coercion against Japan.
apnews.com/article/china-tai…
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
SCMP reports that several of China's main Taiwan-focused research institutes have completed or nearly completed a first set of plans for governing Taiwan after unification, with scholars saying peaceful unification could grant Taiwan the widest autonomy available under 'one country, two systems', graded according to how unification occurs. It is the first systematic output to surface since Xi Jinping called in 2019 for concrete proposals.
scmp.com/news/china/politics…
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
Just in case there is any confusion about my stance: this is a complete waste of time by PRC academics keen to show "thought-leadership" on a post-Taiwan annexation political environment. Sure to please Xi and Beijing. Has zero influence in Taipei.
If anything, it lays bare the complete failure by Beijing to propose a political framework for "unification" beyond 1C2S that is at all palpable to the people of Taiwan.
SCMP reports that several of China's main Taiwan-focused research institutes have completed or nearly completed a first set of plans for governing Taiwan after unification, with scholars saying peaceful unification could grant Taiwan the widest autonomy available under 'one country, two systems', graded according to how unification occurs. It is the first systematic output to surface since Xi Jinping called in 2019 for concrete proposals.
scmp.com/news/china/politics…
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
Important commentary by my @AsiaPolicy colleague @GranoSimona in @Diplomat_APAC, titled "What Would Europe Do in a Taiwan Crisis?"
Simona asks a question diplomats and policy-makers in Europe have long-contemplated: how would Europe respond to a military crisis over Taiwan?
That question should be discussed more openly in Brussels and EU capitals with the general public.
thediplomat.com/2026/10/what…
Nine years of Taiwan Studies at UZH — and now five more! 🇹🇼🇨🇭 UZH and Taiwan’s Ministry of Education have renewed the Taiwan Studies Project for 2026–2031. Since 2017, it has supported teaching, research and academic exchange. Delighted to continue! 🔗 lnkd.in/ekHM8E65
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
We just arrested a Chinese foreign agent at LAX attempting to depart for China.
Wanying Zhang, aka “Heather,” 34, of Irvine, was arrested today by @FBILosAngeles on a federal complaint charging her with acting as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China.
According to the affidavit, Zhang traveled to Seattle in 2025 and, at the direction of PRC officials, surveilled a close relative of a Taiwanese government official, sending photos, videos, and license plate information to those officials.
She coordinated the trip with an associate and used tradecraft to avoid detection. She never notified the Attorney General she was acting for a foreign government, a federal offense.
She will appear in federal court in Los Angeles tomorrow for her initial appearance. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
In my opinion, Taiwan needs a “One Voice” foreign policy. From a recent discussion in Finland. 👇
Pleased to contribute to this @AsiaPolicy analysis of the implications of Xi's state visit for Taiwan, together with @neilthomas123 , @wstv_lizzi, @AGraylin , and Joan Kaufman and Scott Shaw. Thanks to @susanjakes and @ChinaFile for the invite!
asiasociety.org/policy-insti…
Simona Alba Grano retweeted
Pleased to contribute to this @AsiaPolicy analysis of the implications of Xi's state visit, including contributions from @neilthomas123, @wstv_lizzi, Scott Shaw, @AGraylin @GranoSimona, and Joan Kaufman. Thanks to @susanjakes and @ChinaFile for partnering on this piece!
asiasociety.org/policy-insti…
chinafile.com/conversation/w…
