China's 'Monroe Doctrine': Did the PRC, Imperial Japan Both Copy the US? | Taiwan Talks EP755

First laid out by US President James Monroe in 1823, his eponymous ‘Monroe Doctrine’ was based on the idea of separate spheres of influence, with the US being the dominate power in the Americas. US President Donald Trump and his cabinet have recently promoted their own corollary to this doctrine, including in a speech by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in December. This policy was on full display in the US operation in Venezuela as well as Trump’s recent refusal to rule out seizing Greenland by force. Similar foreign policy concepts were later articulated by Imperial Japan and modern-day China and used to justify their expansionist policies. That has included Chinese President Xi Jinping’s escalating threats towards Taiwan, as well as a proposal during the Obama years to divide up the Pacific Ocean into separate Chinese and American spheres of influence. In this episode, we discuss the evolution of the Monroe Doctrine, the US and China’s foreign policies, and the geopolitical implications for the Taiwan Strait and wider Indo-Pacific region.

*Recorded on December 24, 2025 at 11:15am Taiwan Standard Time

Host/Senior Producer: Yin Khvat

Our guests:

Lai I-chung
Prospect Foundation President
James YT Lee
Academia Sinica Institute of European and American Studies Assistant Research Fellow

Chapters:
00:00:00 – Trump’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
00:04:46 – Monroe Doctrine’s Implications for Taiwan
00:17:30 – What Does History Say About Regional Spheres?




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