Taiwan's Tsai makes limited headway with 'southbound' turn

Island's economic dependence on China little changed

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Taiwan has been involved in agricultural cooperation with Indonesia for four decades. (Photo courtesy of the Taiwan trade negotiator's office)

CHENG TING-FANG, Nikkei staff writer, and TAY HAN NEE, Nikkei Asian Review associate editor

TAIPEI/LONDON -- Efforts by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to reduce the island's economic dependence on China by building up links with nations to the south are showing limited success one year on.

Tsai said when she took office in May 2016 that her "New Southbound" strategy would help Taiwan's $519 billion economy grow with a "farewell to our past overreliance on a single market," one she felt no need to mention by name.

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