Whither Taiwanization?

President Obama's recent visit to Asia came at a time when China's increasingly aggressive actions at sea have raised security concerns from Japan to Vietnam. Of all of China's territorial assertions in the area, Beijing's claim that it owns Taiwan is the most ominous. Central to both U.S. policy in the region and the U.S.-Taiwan relationship is how Taiwan envisions its future in this uncertain environment.

On June 10th, Hudson Institute hosted a presentation by Bruce Jacobs on the topic of the future of Taiwan. Jacobs is Emeritus Professor of Asian Languages and Studies at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. His research includes the books Local Politics in Rural Taiwan under Dictatorship and Democracy (EastBridge 2008) and Democratizing Taiwan (Brill 2012). As a distinguished Australian scholar and longtime student of Taiwan, he provided a valuable perspective on how Taiwan and the cross-straits situation are regarded in his part of the world. Hudson Senior Fellow Charles Horner moderated the discussion.