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The Hoover Institution Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region held Taiwanese Support for Self-Defense on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 from 1:30-3:00 pm PT through Zoom.
Taiwanese Support for Self-Defense
Taiwan sits at the center of intensifying great-power competition, where questions of deterrence, reassurance, and self-defense are no longer abstract strategic concerns but matters of everyday public debate. How do Taiwanese citizens perceive the threat from China? How do they understand the U.S. role in cross-Strait conflicts? Do they support greater investment in national defense and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan? And how willing are they to fight if Taiwan is militarily attacked?
In this talk, Wen-Chin Wu draws on evidence from multiple surveys to examine the determinants of Taiwan’s public resolve. The talk highlights two related but analytically distinct dimensions: general support for national defense and personal willingness to fight. It shows how Taiwan’s security attitudes reflect external threat perceptions, expectations of U.S. involvement, and partisan divisions within Taiwan. By foregrounding Taiwanese public opinion in debates over national security, the talk offers a mass-public perspective on Taiwan’s resolve amid coercion, uncertainty, and intensified U.S.-China competition.
Taiwan sits at the center of intensifying great-power competition, where questions of deterrence, reassurance, and self-defense are no longer abstract strategic concerns but matters of everyday public debate. How do Taiwanese citizens perceive the threat from China? How do they understand the U.S. role in cross-Strait conflicts? Do they support greater investment in national defense and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan? And how willing are they to fight if Taiwan is militarily attacked?
In this talk, Wen-Chin Wu draws on evidence from multiple surveys to examine the determinants of Taiwan’s public resolve. The talk highlights two related but analytically distinct dimensions: general support for national defense and personal willingness to fight. It shows how Taiwan’s security attitudes reflect external threat perceptions, expectations of U.S. involvement, and partisan divisions within Taiwan. By foregrounding Taiwanese public opinion in debates over national security, the talk offers a mass-public perspective on Taiwan’s resolve amid coercion, uncertainty, and intensified U.S.-China competition.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Wen-Chin Wu is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, and the 2025–26 Lenore Annenberg and Wallis Annenberg Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University. He was a visiting scholar at the Harvard-Yenching Institute from 2019 to 2020.
Dr. Wu’s research focuses on political economy, Chinese politics, and Taiwanese public opinion on cross-Strait relations and national security. His work has appeared in The China Quarterly, International Studies Quarterly, and Political Communication, among others.
Wen-Chin Wu is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, and the 2025–26 Lenore Annenberg and Wallis Annenberg Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University. He was a visiting scholar at the Harvard-Yenching Institute from 2019 to 2020.
Dr. Wu’s research focuses on political economy, Chinese politics, and Taiwanese public opinion on cross-Strait relations and national security. His work has appeared in The China Quarterly, International Studies Quarterly, and Political Communication, among others.
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The Hoover Institution's Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region hosted China's "AI Commons": Three Layers of Open-Weight Diffusion on Wednesday, April 29, 2026 from 12:00 pm-1:30 pm PT in the Herbert Hoover Memorial Building, Room 160.
What exactly is China's open AI ecosystem: a collection of independent open-source releases, or something structurally different? This talk argues for the latter, identifying an emergent "AI commons" in which published weights, architectural designs, and modular components flow across firm boundaries in ways that do not map neatly onto entity-level policy tools. This talk examines the commons' three-layer structure and traces where two US policy instruments, hardware denial through export controls and market saturation through the Pax Silica framework, each encounter structural boundaries that warrant closer analytical attention.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kai-Shen Huang is Director and Research Fellow of the Democratic Governance Program at the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in Taipei, and Adjunct Assistant Professor at National Chengchi University (NCCU). His research examines the geopolitics of artificial intelligence within the context of US–China technology competition, with a focus on export control effectiveness, open-weight diffusion dynamics, and AI governance frameworks.
Kai-Shen Huang is Director and Research Fellow of the Democratic Governance Program at the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in Taipei, and Adjunct Assistant Professor at National Chengchi University (NCCU). His research examines the geopolitics of artificial intelligence within the context of US–China technology competition, with a focus on export control effectiveness, open-weight diffusion dynamics, and AI governance frameworks.
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The Hoover Institution's Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region invites you to The Taiwan Relations Act at 47: Taiwan's Evolving Hedging Strategy amidst Intensifying Global Competition on Monday, April 6, 2026 from 4:00-5:30 pm PT in the Herbert Hoover Memorial Building, Room 160.
As we mark the 47th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), the geopolitical landscape of the Indo-Pacific has reached a critical inflection point. The Hoover Institution is honored to host Dr. David Lee for an in-depth discussion on Taiwan’s evolving "Hedging Strategy" amidst intensifying global competition.
Since 1979, the TRA has served as the bedrock of unofficial relations between the United States and Taiwan, ensuring regional peace and stability. However, as the complexity of the Taipei-Washington-Beijing triangle grows, Taiwan's strategic maneuvering has shifted from traditional diplomacy to a multifaceted hedging approach.
This discussion will explore the resilience of the TRA to assess how the legal framework of the Taiwan Relations Act adapts to modern security challenges 47 years later, and an analysis of Taiwan’s current policy of balancing economic integration, military deterrence, and international participation through the strategic hedging.
Since 1979, the TRA has served as the bedrock of unofficial relations between the United States and Taiwan, ensuring regional peace and stability. However, as the complexity of the Taipei-Washington-Beijing triangle grows, Taiwan's strategic maneuvering has shifted from traditional diplomacy to a multifaceted hedging approach.
This discussion will explore the resilience of the TRA to assess how the legal framework of the Taiwan Relations Act adapts to modern security challenges 47 years later, and an analysis of Taiwan’s current policy of balancing economic integration, military deterrence, and international participation through the strategic hedging.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Dr. David Ta-wei Lee is a distinguished Taiwanese statesman and career diplomat whose service spans over four decades. He has held the highest echelons of power across Taiwan’s foreign policy, national security, and cross-strait sectors. He is the chairman of Straits Exchange Foundation in 2020 and from 2023 to 2024. He formerly served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2018, Secretary-General of the National Security Council of Taiwan from 2018 to 2020, and the Secretary-General to the President since 2020 to 2023. He was also the Representative to the United States (2004–2007), Canada (2007–2012), and the European Union/Belgium (2001–2004).
As a seasoned "veteran" of the diplomatic corps, Dr. Lee is highly respected for his professionalism and non-partisan approach. Moving from the Foreign Ministry to the National Security Council and the Presidential Office, Dr. Lee transformed traditional diplomacy into a broader national security strategy.
In 2019, while serving as Secretary-General of the NSC, Dr. Lee met with then-U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton. This marked the first meeting between top national security officials of the two countries since 1979, representing a historic milestone in U.S.-Taiwan relations.
Dr. David Lee occupies a unique place in the history of the Taiwan Relations Act (1979), serving as both a witness to its creation and a guardian of its implementation. A leading scholar on the TRA, Dr. Lee authored The Making of the Taiwan Relations Act, published by Oxford University Press. Derived from his doctoral research at the University of Virginia, this work remains a definitive analysis of the 1979 legislative struggle between the U.S. Congress and the Executive Branch.
During the pivotal moment when the U.S. shifted recognition from Taiwan to China, Dr. Lee was a researcher at the time, and Dr. Frederick Chien was the Deputy Minister of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He personally attended the Congressional hearings that shaped the TRA, gaining firsthand insight into the legal framework for unofficial relations.
Throughout his career, particularly as Representative to the U.S. (2004–2007) and Foreign Minister, Dr. Lee was the primary official responsible for ensuring the U.S. upheld its commitments under the TRA. He frequently advocated for the "Six Assurances" and worked to ensure that the TRA remained a living document capable of supporting Taiwan’s security and arms sales.
Dr. David Ta-wei Lee is a distinguished Taiwanese statesman and career diplomat whose service spans over four decades. He has held the highest echelons of power across Taiwan’s foreign policy, national security, and cross-strait sectors. He is the chairman of Straits Exchange Foundation in 2020 and from 2023 to 2024. He formerly served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2018, Secretary-General of the National Security Council of Taiwan from 2018 to 2020, and the Secretary-General to the President since 2020 to 2023. He was also the Representative to the United States (2004–2007), Canada (2007–2012), and the European Union/Belgium (2001–2004).
As a seasoned "veteran" of the diplomatic corps, Dr. Lee is highly respected for his professionalism and non-partisan approach. Moving from the Foreign Ministry to the National Security Council and the Presidential Office, Dr. Lee transformed traditional diplomacy into a broader national security strategy.
In 2019, while serving as Secretary-General of the NSC, Dr. Lee met with then-U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton. This marked the first meeting between top national security officials of the two countries since 1979, representing a historic milestone in U.S.-Taiwan relations.
Dr. David Lee occupies a unique place in the history of the Taiwan Relations Act (1979), serving as both a witness to its creation and a guardian of its implementation. A leading scholar on the TRA, Dr. Lee authored The Making of the Taiwan Relations Act, published by Oxford University Press. Derived from his doctoral research at the University of Virginia, this work remains a definitive analysis of the 1979 legislative struggle between the U.S. Congress and the Executive Branch.
During the pivotal moment when the U.S. shifted recognition from Taiwan to China, Dr. Lee was a researcher at the time, and Dr. Frederick Chien was the Deputy Minister of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He personally attended the Congressional hearings that shaped the TRA, gaining firsthand insight into the legal framework for unofficial relations.
Throughout his career, particularly as Representative to the U.S. (2004–2007) and Foreign Minister, Dr. Lee was the primary official responsible for ensuring the U.S. upheld its commitments under the TRA. He frequently advocated for the "Six Assurances" and worked to ensure that the TRA remained a living document capable of supporting Taiwan’s security and arms sales.
Larry Diamond is the William L. Clayton Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, the Mosbacher Senior Fellow in Global Democracy at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and a Bass University Fellow in Undergraduate Education at Stanford University. He is also professor by courtesy of political science and sociology at Stanford, where he lectures and teaches courses on democracy (including an online course on EdX). At Hoover, he co-leads the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region and participates in the Program on the US, China, and the World. At FSI, he is among the core faculty of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, which he directed for six and a half years. He leads FSI’s Israel Studies Program and is a member of the Program on Arab Reform and Development. He also co-leads the Global Digital Policy Incubator, based at FSI’s Cyber Policy Center. He served for thirty-two years as founding coeditor of the Journal of Democracy. Diamond’s research focuses on global trends affecting freedom and democracy and on US and international policies to defend and advance democracy. His book Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency (2019; paperback ed. 2020) analyzes the challenges confronting liberal democracy in the United States and around the world and offers an agenda for strengthening and defending democracy at home and abroad. His other books include In Search of Democracy (2016), The Spirit of Democracy (2008), Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation (1999), Promoting Democracy in the 1990s (1995), and Class, Ethnicity, and Democracy in Nigeria (1989). He has edited or coedited more than fifty books, including China’s Influence and American Interests (2019, with Orville Schell), Silicon Triangle: The United States, Taiwan, China, and Global Semiconductor Security (2023, with James O. Ellis Jr. and Orville Schell), and The Troubling State of India’s Democracy (2024, with Šumit Ganguly and Dinsha Mistree).
Admiral James O. Ellis Jr. is Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he oversees both the Global Policy and Strategy Initiative and the George P. Shultz Energy Policy Working Group. He retired from a 39-year career with the US Navy in 2004. He has also served in the private and nonprofit sectors in areas of energy and nuclear security. A 1969 graduate of the US Naval Academy, Ellis was designated a naval aviator in 1971. His service as a navy fighter pilot included tours with two carrier-based fighter squadrons and assignment as commanding officer of an F/A-18 strike fighter squadron. In 1991, he assumed command of the USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. After selection to rear admiral, in 1996, he served as a carrier battle group commander, leading contingency response operations in the Taiwan Strait. His shore assignments included numerous senior military staff tours. Senior command positions included commander in chief, US Naval Forces, Europe, and commander in chief, Allied Forces, Southern Europe, during a time of historic NATO expansion. He led US and NATO forces in combat and humanitarian operations during the 1999 Kosovo crisis. Ellis’s final assignment in the navy was as commander of the US Strategic Command during a time of challenge and change. In this role, he was responsible for the global command and control of US strategic and space forces, reporting directly to the secretary of defense.
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The Hoover Institution's Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region held The Fimi Challenge: Countering Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference in Taiwan and the United States on Monday, March 9, 2026 from 2:00 - 5:00 PM PT.
The FIMI Challenge in Open Societies
This event explored the practice of foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) in democracies in Taiwan and the United States, and the responses of both country’s governments, private companies, and civil society organizations to this challenge.
In Taiwan, the threat of influence and interference from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in its information ecosystem looms large. The Taiwan government has struggled to develop an effective response while balancing respect for civil liberties and freedom of speech: a tension manifested in the decision in December 2025 to ban the social media platform Rednote (xiaohongshu).
In the United States, efforts during the Biden administration to limit the spread of COVID misinformation online – some of it clearly tied to foreign influence campaigns originating in the PRC – led to a political backlash, and as a consequence some social media companies have taken a more passive approach to FIMI. At the same time, however, motivated by worries about PRC influence and data security of American citizens, the US Congress passed a law requiring the Chinese company Bytedance to divest from its popular platform TikTok or face a government-imposed ban in the US market. With a compromise agreement now brokered by the Trump administration, TikTok remains available in the United States, but the underlying concerns about social media platforms as vectors for PRC influence remain.
This symposium brought together several experts from Taiwan and the United States who discussed the FIMI challenge, including the efforts of private social media companies, civil society organizations, and governments in both places.
In Taiwan, the threat of influence and interference from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in its information ecosystem looms large. The Taiwan government has struggled to develop an effective response while balancing respect for civil liberties and freedom of speech: a tension manifested in the decision in December 2025 to ban the social media platform Rednote (xiaohongshu).
In the United States, efforts during the Biden administration to limit the spread of COVID misinformation online – some of it clearly tied to foreign influence campaigns originating in the PRC – led to a political backlash, and as a consequence some social media companies have taken a more passive approach to FIMI. At the same time, however, motivated by worries about PRC influence and data security of American citizens, the US Congress passed a law requiring the Chinese company Bytedance to divest from its popular platform TikTok or face a government-imposed ban in the US market. With a compromise agreement now brokered by the Trump administration, TikTok remains available in the United States, but the underlying concerns about social media platforms as vectors for PRC influence remain.
This symposium brought together several experts from Taiwan and the United States who discussed the FIMI challenge, including the efforts of private social media companies, civil society organizations, and governments in both places.
About the Speakers
Jerry Yu is a senior analyst at Doublethink Lab, where he specializes in conducting digital investigations and analyzing influence operations. In 2022 and 2024, Jerry has extensive experience in observing influence operations during both local and national elections, including training part-time analysts, managing data collection processes, and publishing reports based on the findings.
Drawing from his elections observation experience, he has collaborated on cross-national projects by sharing the experience and knowledge with journalists, NGOs, and researchers across South, Southeast, East Asia, and the Pacific region. The collaborations are to expose the techniques of influence operations used by threat actors and share the intelligence together. During the Ukrainian-Russian war, he tracked the propaganda spread by the PRC and published a report, ‘Analysis: How Ukraine has been Nazified in the Chinese information space?’
Before joining the Doublethink Lab, he was a research assistant at the Center for Survey Research Center at the Academia Sinica, Taiwan, where he combined traditional social scientific methods with computational approaches to analyze the process, dynamics, and effects of human communication behaviors through the integration of user log and self-reported data from survey or experiment.
Jerry graduated from the Graduate School of Criminology at the National Taipei University, and is also trained in crime spatial analysis with the Temple University in the United States for a semester. He is also a co-producer and co-host of the “Jianghu 543” podcast, which provides insights into the lives of individuals in Taiwan’s criminal justice system.
Drawing from his elections observation experience, he has collaborated on cross-national projects by sharing the experience and knowledge with journalists, NGOs, and researchers across South, Southeast, East Asia, and the Pacific region. The collaborations are to expose the techniques of influence operations used by threat actors and share the intelligence together. During the Ukrainian-Russian war, he tracked the propaganda spread by the PRC and published a report, ‘Analysis: How Ukraine has been Nazified in the Chinese information space?’
Before joining the Doublethink Lab, he was a research assistant at the Center for Survey Research Center at the Academia Sinica, Taiwan, where he combined traditional social scientific methods with computational approaches to analyze the process, dynamics, and effects of human communication behaviors through the integration of user log and self-reported data from survey or experiment.
Jerry graduated from the Graduate School of Criminology at the National Taipei University, and is also trained in crime spatial analysis with the Temple University in the United States for a semester. He is also a co-producer and co-host of the “Jianghu 543” podcast, which provides insights into the lives of individuals in Taiwan’s criminal justice system.
You-Hao Lai is a practicing lawyer currently pursuing his doctorate at The George Washington University Law School. He currently serves as Deputy Director of the Democratic Governance Program at DSET. His research explores legal and policy responses to the challenges posed by digital authoritarianism to cybersecurity and the free flow of information. He is actively engaged in various civil movements related to technology regulation and human rights protection. Before joining DSET, he worked at the Cogito Law Office, a prominent firm specializing in public interest litigation in Taiwan. Additionally, he served as a legal and policy advisor to the President of the Judicial Yuan, Taiwan’s highest judicial organ. He holds LL.M. degrees from the National Taiwan University College of Law and Harvard Law School.
Wei-Ping Li earned her Ph.D. from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. She serves as an adjunct lecturer at Merrill College and works as a researcher with UMD's Maryland Democracy Initiative. Li is also the research director at FactLink, a Taiwan-based organization dedicated to OSINT (open-source intelligence) investigations and enhancing digital literacy among Chinese-speaking communities.
Li's research focuses on the transnational dissemination of false information, conspiracy theories, propaganda and content moderation policy. From 2024-25, she held the position of postdoctoral researcher at UMD, collaborating with Dr. Sarah Oates and Dr. Naeemul Hassan on the "Disarming Disinformation" program, which is coordinated by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). Li was also a research fellow at the Taiwan Factcheck Center (TFC) from 2023-25.
Before pursuing an academic career in journalism, she provided consulting services on digital human rights in Asia. She also previously worked as a journalist covering financial and legal topics in Taiwan for several years.
Li is a licensed lawyer in New York state. She earned her LL.M. (Master of Laws) degrees from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Soochow University (Taiwan), as well as a Master of Arts degree in journalism from National ChengChi University (Taiwan).
Li's research focuses on the transnational dissemination of false information, conspiracy theories, propaganda and content moderation policy. From 2024-25, she held the position of postdoctoral researcher at UMD, collaborating with Dr. Sarah Oates and Dr. Naeemul Hassan on the "Disarming Disinformation" program, which is coordinated by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). Li was also a research fellow at the Taiwan Factcheck Center (TFC) from 2023-25.
Before pursuing an academic career in journalism, she provided consulting services on digital human rights in Asia. She also previously worked as a journalist covering financial and legal topics in Taiwan for several years.
Li is a licensed lawyer in New York state. She earned her LL.M. (Master of Laws) degrees from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Soochow University (Taiwan), as well as a Master of Arts degree in journalism from National ChengChi University (Taiwan).
Graham Webster is a research scholar in the Program on Geopolitics, Technology, and Governance and editor-in-chief of the DigiChina Project at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. He researches, writes, and teaches on technology policy in China and US-China relations.
Before bringing DigiChina to Stanford in 2019, he was its cofounder and coordinating editor at New America, where he was a China digital economy fellow. From 2012 to 2017, Webster worked for Yale Law School as a senior fellow and lecturer responsible for the Paul Tsai China Center’s Track II dialogues between the United States and China and co-taught seminars on contemporary China and Chinese law and policy. While there, he was an affiliated fellow with the Yale Information Society Project, a visiting scholar at China Foreign Affairs University, and a Transatlantic Digital Debates fellow with New America and the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin. He was previously an adjunct instructor teaching East Asian politics at New York University and a Beijing-based journalist writing on the Internet in China for CNET News.
Webster holds a bachelor's in journalism and international studies from Northwestern University and a master's in East Asian studies from Harvard University. He took doctoral coursework in political science at the University of Washington and language training at Tsinghua University, Peking University, Stanford University, and Kanda University of International Studies.
Before bringing DigiChina to Stanford in 2019, he was its cofounder and coordinating editor at New America, where he was a China digital economy fellow. From 2012 to 2017, Webster worked for Yale Law School as a senior fellow and lecturer responsible for the Paul Tsai China Center’s Track II dialogues between the United States and China and co-taught seminars on contemporary China and Chinese law and policy. While there, he was an affiliated fellow with the Yale Information Society Project, a visiting scholar at China Foreign Affairs University, and a Transatlantic Digital Debates fellow with New America and the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin. He was previously an adjunct instructor teaching East Asian politics at New York University and a Beijing-based journalist writing on the Internet in China for CNET News.
Webster holds a bachelor's in journalism and international studies from Northwestern University and a master's in East Asian studies from Harvard University. He took doctoral coursework in political science at the University of Washington and language training at Tsinghua University, Peking University, Stanford University, and Kanda University of International Studies.
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The Hoover Institution's Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region held a public session on Resilient Realists: How Taiwan Navigates Its Future in a Turbulent World on March 2, 2026 from 1:00-2:30 PM PT.
About the Featured Speaker
Dr. Hung-mao Tien is the President and Chairman of the Institute for National Policy Research in Taipei, and board member of several foundations and business corporations in Taiwan. He also serves as a Senior Advisor to the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan). From 2000-2002, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also served as the chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, the semi-official body in Taiwan responsible for direct exchanges and dialogue with the People's Republic of China, Representative (ambassador) to the United Kingdom, and presidential advisor to former President Lee Teng-hui. He has also served in an advisory capacity to Harvard University’s Asia Center, The Asia Society in New York, and the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Tien has taught in universities in both the US and Taiwan as professor of political science. His numerous publications in English (author, editor and co-editor) include: Government and Politics in Kuomintang China 1927-37 (Stanford University Press); The Great Transition: Social and Political Change in the Republic of China (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press); and Democratization in Taiwan, Implications for China (St. Anthony’s Series, Oxford University), Consolidating the Third Wave Democracies, Themes and Perspectives(Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press), China Under Jiang Zemin(Rienner), and The Security Environment in the Asia-Pacific (M.E. Sharpe). He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Hung-mao Tien is the President and Chairman of the Institute for National Policy Research in Taipei, and board member of several foundations and business corporations in Taiwan. He also serves as a Senior Advisor to the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan). From 2000-2002, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also served as the chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, the semi-official body in Taiwan responsible for direct exchanges and dialogue with the People's Republic of China, Representative (ambassador) to the United Kingdom, and presidential advisor to former President Lee Teng-hui. He has also served in an advisory capacity to Harvard University’s Asia Center, The Asia Society in New York, and the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Tien has taught in universities in both the US and Taiwan as professor of political science. His numerous publications in English (author, editor and co-editor) include: Government and Politics in Kuomintang China 1927-37 (Stanford University Press); The Great Transition: Social and Political Change in the Republic of China (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press); and Democratization in Taiwan, Implications for China (St. Anthony’s Series, Oxford University), Consolidating the Third Wave Democracies, Themes and Perspectives(Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press), China Under Jiang Zemin(Rienner), and The Security Environment in the Asia-Pacific (M.E. Sharpe). He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Event Theme
Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical competition between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has rapidly intensified, and the global order has faced growing strains. Through it all, Taiwan has remained remarkably resilient. In the face of relentless diplomatic, economic, and military pressure from Beijing, Taiwan’s leaders have leveraged the island’s critical role in global technology supply chains, its reputation as a robust liberal democracy, and its strategic position in the Indo-Pacific to deepen engagement with key world powers. As many Americans question core assumptions of the post-Cold War global order, the PRC’s military power continues to grow, and the world stands on the cusp of a technological revolution in artificial intelligence, can Taiwan continue to navigate so deftly through turbulent geopolitical waters?
To address these topics, the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region at the Hoover Institution held a fireside chat featuring Dr. Hung-mao Tien, President of the Institute for National Policy Research (INPR) in Taipei and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Dr. Tien joined in conversation by Adm. (Ret.) James O. Ellis, the Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow, and Dr. Larry Diamond, the William L. Clayton Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical competition between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has rapidly intensified, and the global order has faced growing strains. Through it all, Taiwan has remained remarkably resilient. In the face of relentless diplomatic, economic, and military pressure from Beijing, Taiwan’s leaders have leveraged the island’s critical role in global technology supply chains, its reputation as a robust liberal democracy, and its strategic position in the Indo-Pacific to deepen engagement with key world powers. As many Americans question core assumptions of the post-Cold War global order, the PRC’s military power continues to grow, and the world stands on the cusp of a technological revolution in artificial intelligence, can Taiwan continue to navigate so deftly through turbulent geopolitical waters?
To address these topics, the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region at the Hoover Institution held a fireside chat featuring Dr. Hung-mao Tien, President of the Institute for National Policy Research (INPR) in Taipei and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Dr. Tien joined in conversation by Adm. (Ret.) James O. Ellis, the Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow, and Dr. Larry Diamond, the William L. Clayton Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
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The Hoover Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region hosted Trump and Taiwan: A Big, Beautiful Relationship or the Deal Maker’s Ultimate Bargaining Chip? on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 from 4:00-5:15 pm PT at Shultz Auditorium, George P. Shultz Building.
We are only in the first quarter of the first year of President Trump’s second term, but we’ve all already experienced a dizzying pace of activity. Whole federal agencies have been shuttered, some longstanding agency core missions have been upended, and we are suddenly in a trade war with unknown consequences. Ukraine has been dumped, then courted again. Canada is threatened with annexation, Greenland with invasion.
In the midst of this chaotic approach to governance, the U.S. Indo-Pacific policy is still to be defined. There are some disruptions such as new tariffs (though forecasted long ago), and the suspension of development assistance, but one could also cite policy continuity (e.g. AUKUS and the Quad) and a slew of traditional, conventional practices (e.g. leader visits with joint statements and annual military exercises). Yet absent the release of strategic documents such as a national security strategy, and absent a major address by the President or Cabinet official, the overriding feelings in the region are uncertainty and unease.
This very much includes Taiwan. While Taiwan has pro-actively taken steps to earn the “right” kind of attention of the new U.S. Administration such as announcing major investments in the United States and increases to its defense budget, many critical questions remain. Are we on the cusp of a closer, stronger relationship with Taiwan with enduring commitments, or are we building trade space for President Trump’s next big deal with China? Mr. Schriver will explore these important topics based on his three decades of policy work related to Taiwan and the Indo-pacific, as well as his services as a senior official in the first Trump Administration.
We are only in the first quarter of the first year of President Trump’s second term, but we’ve all already experienced a dizzying pace of activity. Whole federal agencies have been shuttered, some longstanding agency core missions have been upended, and we are suddenly in a trade war with unknown consequences. Ukraine has been dumped, then courted again. Canada is threatened with annexation, Greenland with invasion.
In the midst of this chaotic approach to governance, the U.S. Indo-Pacific policy is still to be defined. There are some disruptions such as new tariffs (though forecasted long ago), and the suspension of development assistance, but one could also cite policy continuity (e.g. AUKUS and the Quad) and a slew of traditional, conventional practices (e.g. leader visits with joint statements and annual military exercises). Yet absent the release of strategic documents such as a national security strategy, and absent a major address by the President or Cabinet official, the overriding feelings in the region are uncertainty and unease.
This very much includes Taiwan. While Taiwan has pro-actively taken steps to earn the “right” kind of attention of the new U.S. Administration such as announcing major investments in the United States and increases to its defense budget, many critical questions remain. Are we on the cusp of a closer, stronger relationship with Taiwan with enduring commitments, or are we building trade space for President Trump’s next big deal with China? Mr. Schriver will explore these important topics based on his three decades of policy work related to Taiwan and the Indo-pacific, as well as his services as a senior official in the first Trump Administration.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mr. Randall Schriver is the Chairman of the Board of the Project 2049 Institute and a Partner at Pacific Solutions LLC. In January 2022, he was appointed as a Commissioner to the U.S. – China Security and Economic Review Commission and currently serves the Commission as the Vice Chairman. He is also a lecturer for Stanford University’s “Stanford-in-Washington” program, is on the Board of Advisors to the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA, and Board of Directors of the US-Taiwan Business Council.
Mr. Schriver served from 2018-19 as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs. He also served from 2003-05 as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, during which his portfolio included China, Taiwan, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. From 2001 to 2003, he was Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of State. From 1994 to 1998, he worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, including as the senior official responsible for U.S. bilateral relations with the People's Liberation Army and the bilateral security and military relationships with Taiwan.
Prior to his civilian service, he served as an active-duty Navy Intelligence Officer from 1989 to 1991, including a deployment in support of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. After active duty, he served in the Navy Reserves for nine years, including as Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an attaché at U.S. Embassies Beijing and Ulaanbaatar.
Mr. Randall Schriver is the Chairman of the Board of the Project 2049 Institute and a Partner at Pacific Solutions LLC. In January 2022, he was appointed as a Commissioner to the U.S. – China Security and Economic Review Commission and currently serves the Commission as the Vice Chairman. He is also a lecturer for Stanford University’s “Stanford-in-Washington” program, is on the Board of Advisors to the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA, and Board of Directors of the US-Taiwan Business Council.
Mr. Schriver served from 2018-19 as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs. He also served from 2003-05 as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, during which his portfolio included China, Taiwan, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. From 2001 to 2003, he was Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of State. From 1994 to 1998, he worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, including as the senior official responsible for U.S. bilateral relations with the People's Liberation Army and the bilateral security and military relationships with Taiwan.
Prior to his civilian service, he served as an active-duty Navy Intelligence Officer from 1989 to 1991, including a deployment in support of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. After active duty, he served in the Navy Reserves for nine years, including as Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an attaché at U.S. Embassies Beijing and Ulaanbaatar.
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The Hoover Institution Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region and the Program on the US, China, and the World invite you to Guardians of Economic Sovereignty: How Taiwan and Singapore Navigate Chinese Capital Through National Security Review.
This event is free and open to the public. It will be held at the Hoover Institution in HHMB 160 on Wednesday, January 16 from 4:00-5:15pm. Register to attend in person or virtually.
Professor Chen will discuss two distinct strategies for scrutinizing outbound investment from China, as adopted by Taiwan and Singapore—both key trade partners of China. Growing concerns over Chinese investment have led to stricter national security reviews worldwide, yet the actual enforcement of these reviews remains understudied, particularly outside the U.S. context. He contrasts Singapore's reliance on ex post monitoring with Taiwan's emphasis on ex ante screening. Additionally, he highlights how Singapore leverages privatized monitoring to reinforce investment scrutiny, while Taiwan incorporates elements of private enforcement. The discussion underscores the importance of utilizing market intermediaries as enforcement agents, serving as a crucial supplement to the traditional framework of national security reviews. Both cases demonstrate how the private sector can take a proactive role in enforcing national security reviews.
This event is free and open to the public. It will be held at the Hoover Institution in HHMB 160 on Wednesday, January 16 from 4:00-5:15pm. Register to attend in person or virtually.
Professor Chen will discuss two distinct strategies for scrutinizing outbound investment from China, as adopted by Taiwan and Singapore—both key trade partners of China. Growing concerns over Chinese investment have led to stricter national security reviews worldwide, yet the actual enforcement of these reviews remains understudied, particularly outside the U.S. context. He contrasts Singapore's reliance on ex post monitoring with Taiwan's emphasis on ex ante screening. Additionally, he highlights how Singapore leverages privatized monitoring to reinforce investment scrutiny, while Taiwan incorporates elements of private enforcement. The discussion underscores the importance of utilizing market intermediaries as enforcement agents, serving as a crucial supplement to the traditional framework of national security reviews. Both cases demonstrate how the private sector can take a proactive role in enforcing national security reviews.
Speaker Bio
Weitseng Chen is a faculty member at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law, specializing in law and economic development, law and politics, and legal history in the context of Greater China. He has recently published several books, including Regime Type and Beyond: The Transformation of Police in Asia (CUP, 2023), Authoritarian Legality in Asia: Formation, Development and Transition (CUP, 2019), The Beijing Consensus? How China Has Changed the Western Ideas of Law and Economic Development (CUP, 2017), Property and Trust Law: Taiwan (with Yun-Chien Chang & Y. J. Wu, Kluwer, 2017), and Law and Economic Miracle: Interaction Between Taiwan’s Development and Economic Laws After WWII (in Chinese, 2000). Weitseng Chen earned his JSD from Yale Law School. Prior to joining NUS, he served as a Hewlett Fellow at Stanford’s Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) and practiced as a corporate lawyer in the Greater China region with Davis Polk & Wardwell.
Weitseng Chen is a faculty member at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law, specializing in law and economic development, law and politics, and legal history in the context of Greater China. He has recently published several books, including Regime Type and Beyond: The Transformation of Police in Asia (CUP, 2023), Authoritarian Legality in Asia: Formation, Development and Transition (CUP, 2019), The Beijing Consensus? How China Has Changed the Western Ideas of Law and Economic Development (CUP, 2017), Property and Trust Law: Taiwan (with Yun-Chien Chang & Y. J. Wu, Kluwer, 2017), and Law and Economic Miracle: Interaction Between Taiwan’s Development and Economic Laws After WWII (in Chinese, 2000). Weitseng Chen earned his JSD from Yale Law School. Prior to joining NUS, he served as a Hewlett Fellow at Stanford’s Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) and practiced as a corporate lawyer in the Greater China region with Davis Polk & Wardwell.
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On behalf of the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region and The Global Policy and Strategy Initiative, the Hoover Institution invites you to Taiwan After the 2024 Elections Annual Conference, Thursday, May 23, 2024, from 8:30 AM - 5:15 PM to Friday, May 24, 2024 from 8:45 AM - 2:00 PM in HHMB 160.
Taiwan’s next president William Lai (賴清德) takes office on May 20, 2024. His victory in the January 2024 elections ensures that the ruling Democracy Progressive Party (DPP) will hold the presidency for an unprecedented third consecutive term. But Lai won only 40 percent of the presidential vote, and the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together now control a majority of the seats in the legislature. President-elect Lai’s new administration is also likely to face continued pressure from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and he will have to deal with an increasingly complex and uncertain international environment.
Join us as we bring together a diverse group of experts to discuss the policy challenges and opportunities that the incoming Lai administration will face. It will feature panels on the 2024 election results, governance challenges, the future of Taiwan’s economy, security and defense issues, US-Taiwan-PRC relations, and perspectives of key U.S. allies and partners on the U.S.-Taiwan relationship.
This conference will bring together a diverse group of experts to discuss the policy challenges and opportunities that the incoming Lai administration will face. It will feature panels on the 2024 election results, governance challenges, the future of Taiwan’s economy, security and defense issues, US-Taiwan-PRC relations, and perspectives of key U.S. allies and partners on the U.S.-Taiwan relationship.
Taiwan’s next president William Lai (賴清德) takes office on May 20, 2024. His victory in the January 2024 elections ensures that the ruling Democracy Progressive Party (DPP) will hold the presidency for an unprecedented third consecutive term. But Lai won only 40 percent of the presidential vote, and the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together now control a majority of the seats in the legislature. President-elect Lai’s new administration is also likely to face continued pressure from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and he will have to deal with an increasingly complex and uncertain international environment.
Join us as we bring together a diverse group of experts to discuss the policy challenges and opportunities that the incoming Lai administration will face. It will feature panels on the 2024 election results, governance challenges, the future of Taiwan’s economy, security and defense issues, US-Taiwan-PRC relations, and perspectives of key U.S. allies and partners on the U.S.-Taiwan relationship.
This conference will bring together a diverse group of experts to discuss the policy challenges and opportunities that the incoming Lai administration will face. It will feature panels on the 2024 election results, governance challenges, the future of Taiwan’s economy, security and defense issues, US-Taiwan-PRC relations, and perspectives of key U.S. allies and partners on the U.S.-Taiwan relationship.
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Ingrid Larson, Managing Director of AIT Washington, and Representative to the United States Hsiao Bi-khim bump elbows.
On behalf of Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region and its National Security Task Force the Hoover Institution invites you to a Taiwan Roundtable Discussion on Thursday, March 7, 2024 from 2-3:30 p.m. PT at Stauffer Auditorium.
The Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region invites you to join a private roundtable discussion with Ingrid Larson, the Managing Director of the American Institute in Taiwan - Washington office, and a 20+ year member of the U.S. Foreign Service. She previously served as Director for Taiwan Coordination at the State Department. Director Larson will speak about the current administration’s policy towards Taiwan as well as the purpose and evolution of AIT’s unique role and structure in the current era of
US-China relations.
US-China relations.
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On behalf of Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region and its National Security Task Force, the Hoover Institution held The World’s Most Dangerous Place? Assessing the Prospects for War and Peace in the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at 12:00 PM PT.
In recent years, numerous analysts have warned of an increasing risk of war in the Taiwan Strait. Others, however, have argued that military conflict remains unlikely, and that the risk of war should not be over-hyped. Drawing from his recent book, Scott Kastner outlines a framework through which to assess the prospects for military conflict between China and Taiwan. Drawing on international relations theory, Kastner outlines several causal pathways through which a Taiwan Strait conflict could occur, and assesses how broad trends in China-Taiwan-US relations are affecting the likelihood of these different scenarios. He concludes with policy suggestions for how actors in Beijing, Taipei and Washington could mitigate the risks of a war in the Taiwan Strait.
In recent years, numerous analysts have warned of an increasing risk of war in the Taiwan Strait. Others, however, have argued that military conflict remains unlikely, and that the risk of war should not be over-hyped. Drawing from his recent book, Scott Kastner outlines a framework through which to assess the prospects for military conflict between China and Taiwan. Drawing on international relations theory, Kastner outlines several causal pathways through which a Taiwan Strait conflict could occur, and assesses how broad trends in China-Taiwan-US relations are affecting the likelihood of these different scenarios. He concludes with policy suggestions for how actors in Beijing, Taipei and Washington could mitigate the risks of a war in the Taiwan Strait.
About the Participants
Scott L. Kastner is a professor in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park. He graduated from Cornell University and received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. His books include Political Conflict and Economic Interdependence across the Taiwan Strait and Beyond (Stanford University Press, 2009); China’s Strategic Multilateralism: Investing in Global Governance (Cambridge University Press, 2019; with Margaret Pearson and Chad Rector); and War and Peace in the Taiwan Strait (Columbia University Press, 2022).
Kharis Templeman is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and part of the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific. Templeman is a political scientist (Ph.D. 2012, Michigan) with research interests in Taiwan politics, democratization, elections and election management, party system development, and politics and security issues in Pacific Asia.
Kharis Templeman is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and part of the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific. Templeman is a political scientist (Ph.D. 2012, Michigan) with research interests in Taiwan politics, democratization, elections and election management, party system development, and politics and security issues in Pacific Asia.