Chi-Hsuan Cheng is a researcher focusing on cybersecurity policy, national digital resilience, and cyber conflict in the Indo-Pacific. Her research analyzes Taiwan’s cybersecurity governance architecture, investigating how geopolitical exclusion drives asymmetrical digital self-reliance, critical infrastructure defense, and public-private operational coordination. Her work combines institutional policy analysis with qualitative fieldwork on national cyber defense strategies.

As the global order enters a Hobbesian rupture, states increasingly view international cyber norms as covenants without the sword. In this digital state of nature, sovereignty is no longer a state monopoly but a sociotechnical process forged through strategic alliances with the private sector. This paper provides a unique comparative evaluation of how the United Kingdom, a prominent Western power, and Taiwan, a diplomatically constrained actor, leverage Public-Private Partnerships to secure national resilience.Drawing on 22 semi-structured interviews with frontline investigators and cybersecurity experts, the study utilizes a combined methodology of thematic analysis and grounded theory. Findings reveal that while the UK employs structured frameworks like Industry 100 to maintain global leadership, Taiwan operates in a pure state of nature by relying on its semiconductor supply chain dominance as a form of asymmetric sovereignty.A critical contribution of this research is the discovery of informal personal networks as a primary mechanism to bypass institutional rigidity in both nations. However, the study uncovers an asymmetrical trust dynamic where governments depend on private technical expertise but withhold intelligence due to political constraints. By contrasting these East-West models, the paper argues that future digital sovereignty depends on moving from episodic engagement to trust-based, forward-looking alliances. This comparison offers vital insights into how diverse geopolitical pressures shape the survival of states in an increasingly realist digital world.

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