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As US-China relations continue to deteriorate in the era of COVID-19, the role of Taiwan has received increasing attention from both Washington and Beijing. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has made reunification with Taiwan, peaceful or otherwise, a key objective of his extended tenure, and has overseen a ratcheting up of military exercises, influence operations, and other pressures across the Taiwan Strait in recent years. Meanwhile, the United States has taken a series of concrete steps to demonstrate renewed commitment to its relationship with Taiwan, including recently issuing a joint declaration on 5G security, launching a new bilateral economic dialogue, and sending Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex M. Azar II and Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach – the two highest-profile visits from US officials to Taiwan since 1979.

These major developments raise a number of key questions about Taiwan’s role in the future of US-China strategic competition. What is the long-term vision and strategic goals of the US-Taiwan relations? Where does Taiwan fit into the US Indo-Pacific strategy? Likewise, how do US relations fit into the second Tsai administration’s vision for foreign and economic policy? How are recent developments in US-Taiwan relations shaping cross-strait geopolitics, and how the US and Taiwan can work with other US allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific approaching engagement with Taiwan in light of ongoing developments? What should be Taiwan’s role in a broader network of global democracies on key strategic issues such as 5G, global supply chains, maritime security, defense technology, and countering influence operations? Ultimately, what will the decade ahead hold for the Taiwan Strait as one of greatest geopolitical flashpoints in US-China relations?

Please join the Atlantic Council’s Asia Security Initiative, housed within the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, for a public panel discussion on the changing role of Taiwan amid US-China strategic competition.

This virtual event will take place on Monday, October 19, 2020, from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM (EDT).

Agenda

Opening Remarks

Dr. Miyeon Oh
Director and Senior Fellow, Asia Security Initiative, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security
Atlantic Council

Featuring

Mr. Michael Mazza
Visiting Fellow
American Enterprise Institute

Mr. Dexter Tiff Roberts
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Asia Security Initiative, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security
Atlantic Council

Mr. Randall G. Schriver
Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Affairs
Chairman, Project 2049

Moderated by

Ms. Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
China Reporter
Axios