Editing Foreign relations of Taiwan (section)

===Think tanks===
Taiwan's political system has evolved in terms of increasing political liberalization. By the 1990s, Taiwan had a democratic system with multiparty competition, factionalism, a vigorous civil society, and many interest groups. Think tanks emerged because of the high prestige of expertise and the heavy demand for unofficial diplomacy necessitated by the loss of formal diplomatic recognition. Think tanks have played a major role in planning and operationalizing relations with countries around the world.<ref>Pascal Abb and Alan Hao Yang,  "The impact of democratization, political culture, and diplomatic isolation on think-tank development in Taiwan." ''[[Pacific Affairs]]'', [[University of British Columbia]]. 91.1 (2018): 73–94.</ref>

European universities, research centers, and think tanks have developed a new academic field of Taiwan studies, especially in Europe, because of the unique status of Taiwan in the world's diplomatic system. The scholars involved have a deep commitment to Taiwan studies and have developed a Europe-wide network of scholars.<ref>Hardina Ohlendorf, "Building a New Academic Field: The Institutionalisation of Taiwan Studies in Europe"  ''International Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies''. (2017) 13#2 pp. 115–140  [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hardina_Ohlendorf/publication/318446597_Building_a_New_Academic_Field_The_Institutionalisation_of_Taiwan_Studies_in_Europe/links/5a538eafa6fdccf3e2df832e/Building-a-New-Academic-Field-The-Institutionalisation-of-Taiwan-Studies-in-Europe.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407023958/https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hardina_Ohlendorf/publication/318446597_Building_a_New_Academic_Field_The_Institutionalisation_of_Taiwan_Studies_in_Europe/links/5a538eafa6fdccf3e2df832e/Building-a-New-Academic-Field-The-Institutionalisation-of-Taiwan-Studies-in-Europe.pdf |date=7 April 2020 }}</ref>