"Developments in Taiwan’s Democracy"

with Ketty Chen

On November 17, 2021, NBR staff, friends, and supporters gathered for the thirteenth iteration of NBR’s President’s Circle dialogue with NBR President Roy Kamphausen and special guest Dr. Ketty Chen, Vice President for the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.

Roy began the night with a discussion and analysis of the top issues coming out of Asia in recent months. He assessed the impact of the recently unveiled Australia-U.K.-U.S. trilateral security pact on the regional security environment and the various reactions to the agreement in the Indo-Pacific, Afghanistan’s post-U.S. future and the burgeoning competition for regional influence between Beijing and Moscow, and the announcement of the “U.S.-China Joint Glasgow Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s” in the broader context of the Biden administration’s China strategy. In addition, he also shared brief primers on Fumio Kishida’s confirmation as Prime Minister of Japan and how the U.S.-Japan alliance will continue to strengthen for the foreseeable future, as well as the issuance of new regulations on U.S. stock exchanges intended to force listed Chinese corporations to comply with auditing and transparency guidelines or otherwise be subject to potential delistings.

In the second half of the event, Ketty Chen began by discussing Taiwan’s robust democracy and the challenges it faces, including the island’s path to democratization in the late 1980s and 1990s, Beijing’s military intimidation and disinformation campaigns, and Taiwan’s shrinking international space due to Beijing’s coercive actions against other nations that support greater Taiwanese autonomy in the international arena. An engaging Q&A session with the audience saw various attendees ask how they could help Taiwan bolster its resiliency in the face of increasing pressure from Beijing, as well as express their interest in traveling to Taiwan and enjoying the island for what it has to offer. Dr. Chen’s warm and genuine demeanor brought to a close a terrific event which offered an important additional perspective on the question of Taiwan.

The hour-long was held virtually, with guests calling in from Japan, Australia, the United States, and more!