Tag: Panel Events

a graphic with the title, date, time, and location of the event

[9/18/2025] Taiwan’s Great Recall Revisited: Domestic and Foreign Policy Implications

Upcoming EventsLeave a Comment on [9/18/2025] Taiwan’s Great Recall Revisited: Domestic and Foreign Policy Implications

Thursday, September 18th, 2025

12:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET

Room 505

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

RSVP

In its latest test of democratic resilience, Taiwan recently underwent an unprecedented recall campaign: 31 elected officials nationwide faced recall votes following a year of contentious political debate, controversial legislative actions, institutional paralysis, and a constitutional crisis. The Great Recall (大罷免) involved civil society groups and a wave of new social movement volunteers who sought to remove opposition lawmakers representing the Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) from the legislature for a range of issues including national budget allocation controversies, fears regarding maligned influence of the Chinese Communist Party, and other concerns. A counter-recall movement levied against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politicians was also launched but ultimately did not garner sufficient support to cause a recall vote. The results of the Great Recall appear to be decisive: none of the 31 opposition officials were recalled after votes in late July and August, signaling that divided government is here to stay in Taiwan until the next election cycle. While the Great Recall has been lauded as another successful chapter in Taiwan’s democratic development, it also reflects an increasingly polarized national debate on domestic politics and foreign policy priorities.

What are the implications of the Great Recall on Taiwan’s political, economic, and democratic future? What do the results suggest for U.S.-Taiwan relations in the near-term? Join the Sigur Center for Asian Studies as we host a panel of experts to interpret the results and implications of Taiwan’s Great Recall. Please note that doors will open 15 minutes before the start of the event at earliest. 

Wei-Ting Yen, Assistant Research Fellow, Academia Sinica

“The Great Recall and Taiwan’s Civic Constitutionalism,” You-Hao Lai, Lawyer at the Human Rights Committee, Taipei Bar Association

“The Great Recall, Democracy, and U.S.-Taiwan Relations,” Dr. Raymond Kuo, Director of the Taiwan Policy Initiative and Senior Political Scientist, RAND Corporation

Moderator: Richard J. Haddock, Assistant Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies; Co-Director, Taiwan Education & Research Program

About the Speakers

A picture of Rosalie Chen, smiling and looking at the camera

Wei-Ting Yen is an assistant research fellow at the Institute of Political Science at Academia Sinica (IPSAS). Previously, she was an assistant professor of the Government Department at Franklin and Marshall College. She is also a Public Intellectuals Program Fellow at the National Committee on US-China Relations.

Dr. Yen is a political economist, with a focus on governance and welfare state development in Asia. The first research theme (based on her dissertation) studies the micro-level foundation of welfare states in nascent democracies and pays close attention to the role of economic insecurity. Her dissertation received an Honorable Mention for the John Heinz Dissertation Award from the National Academy of Social Insurance. The second research theme studies the political economy (at both macro- and micro-level) of COVID-19 governance in Asia.

Dr. Yen holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from The Ohio State University

A picture of Gary J. Sampson, smiling and looking at the camera

You-Hao Lai is a researcher, practicing lawyer, and think tank fellow specializing in digital rights and democratic governance. He is currently pursuing his doctorate at The George Washington University Law School and serves as the deputy director of Democratic Governance Research Program at the Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a Taiwanese governmental think tank, where his research focuses on AI, digital authoritarianism, and information security in democracies. He is also a member of the Taipei Bar Association’s Human Rights Committee and serves on both the Constitutional Litigation and Digital Rights Task Forces at Taiwan’s Judicial Reform Foundation. He previously served as a legal and policy advisor to the President of the Judicial Yuan, Taiwan’s highest judicial body, and clerked for the Chief Justice of the Taiwan Constitutional Court. He holds LL.M. degrees from National Taiwan University College of Law and Harvard Law School.

A picture of Raymond Kuo, smiling and looking at the camera

Dr. Raymond Kuo is the inaugural Director of the Taiwan Policy Initiative and a Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation. He specializes in international security, international order, and East Asia. He is the author of two books, and his work has been published in International Security, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and War on the Rocks. He holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University and has previously worked for Fordham University, the United Nations, the National Democratic Institute, and the Democratic Progressive Party (Taiwan).

About the Moderator

A picture of Rosalie Chen, smiling and looking at the camera

Richard J. Haddock is the Assistant Director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at the George Washington University, where he leads the Center’s robust Taiwan affairs programming, outreach, and curriculum development. He is also a member of the UC Berkeley U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group, where his research focuses on U.S.-Taiwan education diplomacy and exchange. Previously, he has held positions at the GW East Asia National Resource Center, the National Democratic Institute’s Asia team, the American Institute in Taiwan’s Public Diplomacy Section, and the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Haddock is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Policy and Public Administration at The George Washington University, focusing on digital democracy and e-governance development in the Asia-Pacific. He holds an MA in Asian Studies from the Elliott School, with a concentration on domestic politics and foreign policy of East Asia. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a BA in Political Science and minors in Asian Studies and Diplomacy.

Sigur Center logo with line art of Asian landmarks
A graphic with the event name, date, location, and time

[06/05/2025] Taiwan Roundtable: What’s Next for Taiwan: Navigating New Diplomatic, Economic, and Security Dynamics

Archives & Recordings, Taiwan RoundtablesLeave a Comment on [06/05/2025] Taiwan Roundtable: What’s Next for Taiwan: Navigating New Diplomatic, Economic, and Security Dynamics

Wednesday, June 5th, 2025

11:30 AM – 1:30 PM ET

Room 505

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

Since the outset of 2025, Taiwan has entered a critical period of domestic political upheaval and geostrategic recalibration. From growing concerns regarding cross-Strait military activity amidst large-scale Chinese exercises, to increased uncertainty about U.S. trade ties and political support, to deeply contentious domestic politics and constitutional issues, Taiwan is presently navigating numerous challenging policy positions and international trends. What are the most pressing issues for the United States and Taiwan to navigate in the near-term to safeguard stable and productive political, economic, and security relations?

To address this pertinent topic, the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at the George Washington University and the Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS) at UC Berkeley are bringing together a panel of scholars from the U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group to examine the most urgent priorities facing Taiwan over the next three to six months, with a focus on policy credibility and consistency, political psychology, civil-military strains, and people-to-people ties.

The U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group, administered by IEAS with generous support from the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in San Francisco, is an in-depth training program for scholars and policymakers with an interest in U.S.-Taiwan relations. The program aims to identify, nurture, and build a community of American public policy intellectuals across a wide range of sectors and facilitate policy-oriented research teams and projects. In all, it will contribute to the understanding of Taiwanese points of view in international venues through facilitating deeper dialogue and vigorous research. 

Please join the Sigur Center and IEAS for this timely discussion with a group of multidisciplinary experts from the Working Group to identify, evaluate, and discuss near-term priorities for U.S.-Taiwan relations!

“Policy Credibility and Consistency,” Raymond Kuo, Director of the Taiwan Policy Initiative and Senior Political Scientist, RAND Corporation

“The Political Psychology of U.S.-Taiwan Relations,” Rosalie Chen, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Dominican University of California

“Confidence in Crisis: How U.S. Civil-Military Strain Shapes Taiwan’s Strategic Outlook,” Gary Sampson, Independent National Security Strategist

“The Importance of People-to-People Ties and Diplomatic Engagement in U.S.-Taiwan Relations,” Adrienne Chih-fang Wu, Program Manager, Global Taiwan Institute

Moderator: Richard J. Haddock, Assistant Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies; Co-Director, Taiwan Education & Research Program

Panel Speakers

A picture of Raymond Kuo, smiling and looking at the camera

Dr. Raymond Kuo is the inaugural Director of the Taiwan Policy Initiative and a Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation. He specializes in international security, international order, and East Asia. He is the author of two books, and his work has been published in International Security, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and War on the Rocks. He holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University and has previously worked for Fordham University, the United Nations, the National Democratic Institute, and the Democratic Progressive Party (Taiwan).

A picture of Rosalie Chen, smiling and looking at the camera

Professor Rosalie Chen is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Dominican University of California. Her research interests are interdisciplinary in nature and lie at the intersection of social psychology, political science, and culture. She studies ideology in the East Asian cultural context, the national identity issue in cross-strait relations, and the role of culture-specific emotions at the group level in motivating international conflict. She is particularly interested in exploring international relations from the angles of political psychology and culture.

Growing up in North Africa, East Asia, and North America enabled Prof. Chen to connect with people from diverse backgrounds and cemented an early interest in culture and international relations. She is dedicated to contributing to knowledge that enhances cross-cultural understanding and addresses the causes of international conflict. Her overarching research goal is to contribute to the understanding of international conflict by elucidating how ideology, identity, and emotion motivate political perception, attitudes, and behavior.

Previously, Prof. Chen taught at Colgate University before joining DUC. She received her B.S. from Truman State University, M.A. from George Washington University, and Ph.D. from National Taiwan University.

A picture of Gary J. Sampson, smiling and looking at the camera

Dr. Gary J. Sampson is an independent national security strategist and recently retired U.S. Marine Corps intelligence and international affairs officer. He specializes in East Asian security, alliance politics, and U.S.-China dynamics. His work has been published by Studies in Intelligence, Military Review, The Strategy Bridge, and CSIS. He holds a Ph.D. in international relations from Tufts University’s Fletcher School and studied in Taiwan as an Olmsted Scholar at National Sun Yat-sen University. He previously held policy roles on the Joint Staff, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and at Headquarters Marine Corps.

A picture of Adrienne Wu, smiling and looking at the camera

Adrienne Chih-fang Wu is a program manager at the Global Taiwan Institute and the host and producer of Taiwan Salon, GTI’s cultural policy and soft power podcast.  She is a member of the UC Berkeley US-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group and a member of the Foreign Policy for America’s Next Gen Initiative. Additionally, she was a 2024 Taiwan-US Policy Program Delegate. Previously a Taiwan Delegate for Strait Talk 2023 at George Washington University, she is currently a Strait Talk facilitator-in-training. Before joining GTI, she graduated from Ritsumeikan University and Kyunghee University with a Dual Master’s Degree in International Relations. She spent seven years living in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan—including three years of teaching English in Japan and Taiwan and a year of study at Waseda University while pursuing her BA in Honors East Asian Studies from McGill University.

Moderator

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Richard J. Haddock is the Assistant Director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at the George Washington University, where he leads the Center’s robust Taiwan affairs programming, outreach, and curriculum development. He is also a member of the UC Berkeley U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group, where his research focuses on U.S.-Taiwan education diplomacy and exchange. Previously, he has held positions at the GW East Asia National Resource Center, the National Democratic Institute’s Asia team, the American Institute in Taiwan’s Public Diplomacy Section, and the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Haddock is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Policy and Public Administration at The George Washington University, focusing on digital democracy and e-governance development in the Asia-Pacific. He holds an MA in Asian Studies from the Elliott School, with a concentration on domestic politics and foreign policy of East Asia. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a BA in Political Science and minors in Asian Studies and Diplomacy.

Sigur Center logo with line art of Asian landmarks

[4/24/25] The First 100 Days: Trump 2.0 and New Dynamics in U.S.-Taiwan and Cross Strait Relations

Archives & Recordings, Taiwan Conference SeriesLeave a Comment on [4/24/25] The First 100 Days: Trump 2.0 and New Dynamics in U.S.-Taiwan and Cross Strait Relations

Thursday, April 24th, 2025

10:30 AM – 2:00 PM ET

State Room, 7th Floor

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

Since President Trump’s second inauguration, actions taken by the administration have already set new tones for U.S.-China-Taiwan relations. From Trump 2.0’s approach to the Ukraine war, to heightened rhetoric on tariffs and trade imbalances, to the pursuit of new investment opportunities in semiconductor manufacturing and energy security, the first 100 days of Trump’s second term provide a critical lens for analyzing the changes and continuities to U.S. foreign policy priorities. Taiwan remains central to this discourse: debates regarding U.S. support for Taiwan in the security, economic, and political domains reflect wider discussions on the Trump administration’s broader Indo-Pacific strategy. Cross-Strait relations are also experiencing new pressures, from increased military readiness on both sides to greater wariness of maligned influence across civil society. Domestic politics in all three contexts further add layers of complexity to these evolving dynamics. What might the first 100 days of Trump 2.0 augur for triangular relations in the near and long-term?

Join the Sigur Center for Asian Studies for a timely conversation with a group of multidisciplinary experts to unpack, explore, and assess the impacts of the first 100 days of Trump 2.0 on U.S.-Taiwan and cross-Strait relations!

Panel One: Assessing Change and Continuity in U.S.-Taiwan Relations (10:30am–12:00pm)

“US-Taiwan Relations have considerable potential in President Trump’s Second Term,” Rupert Hammond-Chambers, President, US-Taiwan Business Council & Senior Advisor, Bower Group Asia

“Taiwan’s Security Interests and the Implications for US-Taiwan Relations,” John Tai, Professorial Lecturer, George Washington University

Tiffany Ma, Senior Vice President for Geopolitics and Research, The Asia Group

Lunch:  (12:00–12:30pm)

Panel Two: Evaluating New Developments in Cross-Strait Relations (12:30–2:00pm)

“Trump’s Unilateral Nationalism and the Changing Techno-Security Structure across the Taiwan Strait: A Statist Analysis,” Dean Chen, Professor of Political Science, Ramapo College

Kitsch Liao, Associate Director of the China Hub, Atlantic Council

“CCP Covert Operations in Taiwan and the Dynamics of Democratic Resilience,” Cheryl Yu, China Studies Fellow, Jamestown Foundation

Panel Speakers

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Dr. John W. Tai is Senior Advisor, Pamir Consulting LLC. He is also a Course Coordinator (McColm consultant) at the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State, where he teaches courses on China and Taiwan. For nearly 12 years, he supported the U.S. intelligence community as an open-source analyst. Earlier in his career, John had served as an East Asia analyst at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. He had also advised the Foreign Military Studies Office at Fort Leavenworth. He is the author of Building Civil Society in Authoritarian China (Springer, 2015) and has written on China’s technological, political, and economic developments, China’s maritime strategy, Taiwan’s military diplomacy and its external relations, and South Korea’s relations with the United States and China.

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Mr. Hammond-Chambers was born and raised in Scotland before emigrating to the United States in 1987 and earning a Bachelor of Arts degree at Denison University. As a new graduate in 1991, he worked for Advanced Telecommunication Corporation (ATC), managing a variety of clients with business interests in the Caribbean and Latin America.

In April 1993, he joined The Center for Security Policy, a defense and foreign policy think tank in Washington, D.C., as the Associate for Development.

He began working for the US-Taiwan Business Council in October 1994. In March of 1998, he was promoted to Vice President of the Council. Mr. Hammond-Chambers was elected President of the Council in November 2000.

Mr. Hammond-Chambers is also a Senior Advisor at Bower Group Asia overseeing the Taiwan practice – a strategic consultancy. He is also responsible for Bower Group Asia’s defense and security practice.

He sits on the Board of The Project 2049 Institute. He is a Trustee of Friends of Fettes College and is a member of the National Committee on United States-China Relations. He has two daughters.

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Tiffany Ma is a Senior Vice President and Director for Geopolitics and Communications at The Asia Group (TAG), where she leads the Research & Analytics Team and Geopolitics practice. At TAG, Tiffany advises multinational clients on geopolitical developments and strategic risks in the Indo-Pacific, leveraging her extensive background in client service and policy analysis.

A recognized thought leader, Tiffany regularly contributes to discussions on China-Taiwan relations, U.S.-China dynamics, and Asia-Pacific maritime security. She has testified before the House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific on U.S.-Taiwan relations, and is frequently featured in U.S. and international media outlets.

Prior to joining TAG, Tiffany was a Senior Director at BowerGroupAsia, where she provided strategic support to Fortune 500 companies in the healthcare, defense and aerospace, and consumer goods sectors. She was responsible for managing client and stakeholder relationships as well as supporting efforts to address market access as well as policy and regulatory challenges.

Tiffany previously served as the Senior Director for Political and Security Affairs at the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) in Washington, D.C. In that role, she led key initiatives on geopolitical and international security issues in the Asia-Pacific, facilitating high-level discussions with senior government officials and experts. Following her tenure, she remains a non-resident fellow at NBR. She began her career as a research associate at the Project 2049 Institute in Arlington, Virginia, and has previously worked at the International Crisis Group in Beijing, the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, and the Lowy Institute in Sydney.

Tiffany holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where she was a public service fellow and a Belfer student fellow. She earned bachelor’s degrees in international relations and psychology from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. She is a native Mandarin Chinese speaker. Outside of her professional endeavors, Tiffany is an avid runner and marathoner.

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Dean P. Chen (Ph.D., University of California Santa Barbara) is a professor of Political Science at Ramapo College of New Jersey. He is the author of three books: U.S.-China-Taiwan in the Age of Trump and Biden: Towards a Nationalist Strategy (New York: Routledge, 2022), U.S.-China Rivalry and Taiwan’s Mainland Policy: Security, Nationalism, and the 1992 Consensus (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), and U.S.-Taiwan Strait Policy: The Origins of Strategic Ambiguity (Lynne Rienner, 2012). His articles have appeared in Asian Survey, Asian security, Asian Politics & Policy,Pacific Focus, and International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, The Diplomat, The National Interest, Global Taiwan Brief, and East-West Center Occasional Papers. In 2014-16, Chen served as coordinator of the Conference Group on Taiwan Studies of the American Political Science Association (APSA). He was a Taiwan Fellow of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the ROC (Taiwan) in 2014 and a Fulbright U.S. Scholar in the PRC in 2017-18. He is a member of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and a board member of the American Association for Chinese Studies. He is visiting scholar at National Taiwan University in Spring 2025 for his sabbatical and archival research at the Academia Historica.

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Kitsch Liao is an associate director of the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub. Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, Liao worked in the US Congress, in diplomatic postings, and as a cyber intelligence analyst for the private sector. He is also the cyber and military affairs consultant for Taiwan’s Doublethink Lab. He has worked on various projects with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Institute of National Defense and Security Research, the US Department of Defense, and Janes on topics including Taiwan’s order of battle; China’s chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear capability; and Chinese disinformation and cyber espionage operations.

Liao has also published with various journals and media outlets including the Diplomat, Jamestown China Brief, National Interest, among others. Liao has also provided commentary for media outlets such as the New York Times, Financial Times, Deutsch Welle, and Al Jazeera.

He received an MA in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a BSc from Taiwan’s National Chengchi University.

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Cheryl Yu is a Fellow in China Studies at The Jamestown Foundation and the co-author of the recently published Global Taiwan Institute report “Chinese Communist Party Covert Operations Against Taiwan.” Her research on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its operations has been published by think tanks and global media. Previously, she was the China Programs and Research Manager at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and a research and outreach consultant for Freedom House’s China analysis team. She has a Master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, where she produced an independent research project on the impact of the CCP’s surveillance of Chinese students in the United States. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Taiwan’s National Chengchi University.

Moderator

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Richard J. Haddock is the Assistant Director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at the George Washington University, where he leads the Center’s robust Taiwan affairs programming, outreach, and curriculum development. He is also a member of the UC Berkeley U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group, where his research focuses on U.S.-Taiwan education diplomacy and exchange. Previously, he has held positions at the GW East Asia National Resource Center, the National Democratic Institute’s Asia team, the American Institute in Taiwan’s Public Diplomacy Section, and the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Haddock is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Policy and Public Administration at The George Washington University, focusing on digital democracy and e-governance development in the Asia-Pacific. He holds an MA in Asian Studies from the Elliott School, with a concentration on domestic politics and foreign policy of East Asia. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a BA in Political Science and minors in Asian Studies and Diplomacy.

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Eric Schluessel is a social historian of China and Central Asia, and his work focuses on Xinjiang (East Turkestan) in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Land of Strangers, his first monograph, uses local archival and manuscript sources in Chinese and Chaghatay Turkic to explore the ramifications of a project undertaken in the last decades of the Qing empire to transform Xinjiang’s Turkic-speaking Muslims into Chinese-speaking Confucians. It won the 2021 John K. Fairbank Prize from the American Historical Association.

Schluessel is currently pursuing two research projects: Saints and Sojourners explores the economic history of the Uyghur region from the 1750s through the 1950s as seen from below, through the records of merchants, farmers, and managers of pious endowments. It ties changes at the village level to shifts in the global economy in places as far away as Manchester and Tianjin. Exiled Gods delves into Han Chinese settler culture and religion to illuminate the history of a diasporic community of demobilized soldiers and their descendants that spanned the Qing empire.

Thanks to grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Council of Learned Societies, Schluessel has also completed a translation and critical edition of the Tārīkh-i Ḥamīdī of Mullah Mūsa Sayrāmī, which is an important Chaghatay-language chronicle of nineteenth-century Xinjiang.

Schluessel previously taught at the University of Montana in Missoula and spent the 2018–2019 academic year at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. Schluessel has also completed a translation and critical edition of the Tārīkh-i Ḥamīdī of Mullah Mūsa Sayrāmī, which is an important Chaghatay-language chronicle of nineteenth-century Xinjiang.

Sigur Center logo with line art of Asian landmarks

[3/4/2025] Taiwan Roundtable: Bills, Budgets, and Brawls: Understanding Taiwan’s Legislative Crisis

Archives & Recordings, Taiwan Roundtables1 Comment on [3/4/2025] Taiwan Roundtable: Bills, Budgets, and Brawls: Understanding Taiwan’s Legislative Crisis

Tuesday, March 4th, 2025

12:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET

Lindner Family Commons

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan has long been characterized by intense partisan competition, high-stakes negotiations, and, at times, dramatic confrontations. Recent legislative crises—including controversial cuts and freezes to the operating budgets of several ministries—have highlighted the complex interplay between budgetary politics, institutional constraints, and evolving party dynamics, raising critical questions about the resilience and functionality of Taiwan’s democratic system and constitutional order. At the same time, civil society groups, open-government advocates, and civic tech communities in Taiwan have played active roles in developing participatory mechanisms and transparency tools meant to enhance public engagement and citizen oversight in legislative affairs, but face a variety of resource and outreach constraints. The current legislative dilemma may also have substantial impacts on Taiwan’s diplomatic, national security, and geoeconomic efforts during a time of critical international exposure.

To address these timely and salient topics, please join the Sigur Center for Asian Studies for a panel discussion that brings together leading experts and practitioners to analyze the roots and ramifications of Taiwan’s ongoing legislative turbulence. Scholars, students, and policymakers interested in Taiwan’s democratic development, legislative politics, and governance will find this discussion particularly valuable in assessing both the challenges and resilience of Taiwan’s governing institutions.

Lunch (12:00—12:30)

Roundtable Discussion (12:30—2:00)

“Digital Civic Engagement in Taiwan’s Legislative Crisis,” Ipa (Hsiao-wei) Chiu, Co-founder of g0v.tw community

Wei Ping-Li, Postdoctoral Associate, the University of Maryland, “Manufacturing Consent (or disconsent)? Disinformation and the 2025 Taiwan Budget Debate”

“A Constitutional Crisis during a Time of Global Crises,” Thomas J. Shattuck, Senior Program Manager, Perry World House

Speakers

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Ipa is co-founder of g0v.tw, a civic tech community in Taiwan starting from 2012. She is a writer and documentary director. She focuses on citizen engagement and public participation for the past 12 years, with the g0v community, which promotes online collaboration through open source culture between civil society and public sectors. She will publish her second book at the end of 2024, which is about her sociologist father and the intellectual community during Taiwan’s democratization process in the 1990s.

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Dr. Wei-Ping Li is a is a postdoctoral researcher at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland and a research fellow at the Taiwan Factcheck Center. Dr. Li holds a Ph.D. degree from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland and an LL.M. degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Her research focuses on disinformation, fact-checking, social media content moderation, and privacy issues in the digital era. Dr. Li is admitted to the practice of law in New York State.

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Thomas J. Shattuck is a Senior Program Manager at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House. He is a 2024-25 non-resident WSD-Handa Fellow at the Pacific Forum a 2024-25 non-resident Research Fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, and a 2025 fellow with Atomic Anxiety in the New Nuclear Age. His research focuses on cross-Strait relations, Taiwanese and Chinese domestic and foreign affairs, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, and the US role in the Indo-Pacific. Shattuck is a Non-Resident Research Fellow at the Global Taiwan Institute, Non-Resident Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, member of Foreign Policy for America’s NextGen Foreign Policy Initiative, and the Pacific Forum’s Young Leaders Program, where he participated in the 2022 US-Philippines Next-Generation Leaders in Security Initiative.

Moderator

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Richard J. Haddock is the Assistant Director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at the George Washington University, where he leads the Center’s robust Taiwan affairs programming, outreach, and curriculum development. He is also a member of the UC Berkeley U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group, where his research focuses on U.S.-Taiwan education diplomacy and exchange. Previously, he has held positions at the GW East Asia National Resource Center, the National Democratic Institute’s Asia team, the American Institute in Taiwan’s Public Diplomacy Section, and the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Haddock is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Policy and Public Administration at The George Washington University, focusing on digital democracy and e-governance development in the Asia-Pacific. He holds an MA in Asian Studies from the Elliott School, with a concentration on domestic politics and foreign policy of East Asia. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a BA in Political Science and minors in Asian Studies and Diplomacy.

Sigur Center logo with line art of Asian landmarks

A graphic with the event location, date, time, and speaker photos

[02/05/2025] Walking the Tightrope: The Chinese Diaspora in Southeast Asia

Archives & RecordingsLeave a Comment on [02/05/2025] Walking the Tightrope: The Chinese Diaspora in Southeast Asia

Wednesday, February 5th, 2025

9:30 AM – 3:00 PM ET

Linder Family Commons

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

In May of 1965, the “Wang Gungwu Report” caused massive protests in then-Malaysian state of Singapore by recommending that Nanyang University change its language of instruction from Chinese to English. Despite significant student demonstrations, the committee accepted the recommendations. By August 9 of that year, Singapore declared itself as an independent “multicultural” state separate from Malaysia, with English enshrined as a symbol of its pluralistic model.

Wang Gungwu, in later articles, argued that diasporic Chinese in Southeast Asia should no longer accept the label Huaqiao ‘sojourner’ since it suggested a temporary status and harbored political connotations of patriotic loyalty towards China (Wang 1994). Nor should use of English be considered an alignment with the USA, as Bilahari Kausikan reminds us. In an environment defined partly by two superpowers, and partly by their own competing local interests, diasporic Chinese in Southeast Asia find themselves deploying the symbols of language, cultural identity, and political interests to walk – and “talk” – a tightrope.

We have chosen to focus on the “Malay archipelago” broadly defined – i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, southern Philippines and southern Thailand – as a uniquely perilous context that includes not only risky territorial claims, but one that is variously framed in “civilizational” terms that make reference to long histories of Chinese, European and Middle Eastern participation in the region. This conference seeks papers that document and analyze the diverse but often precarious practices of everyday management of linguistic and cultural identities of diasporic Chinese in the Southeast Asian region.

Topics:

Chang-Yau Hoon: “Chinese Christians in Indonesia: The Interplay of Ethnicity, Religion, and Class”

Hannah Ho Ming Yit: “The Inscrutable Voices: Subjective Writing in Transnational Anglophone Chinese Bruneian Poetry”

Charlotte Setijadi: “Dreams of Singapore: Narratives and Symbolisms of Order in Chinese Indonesian Residential Enclaves”

Chong Wu Ling: “Constrained Agency: Malaysia’s Ethnic Chinese-Based Political Parties’ Attitudes Towards Independent Chinese Secondary Schools (ICSSs) and Unified Examination Certificate (UEC)”

Ravando: “Bringing Chinese Indonesian Narratives into Indonesia’s Medical History: The Role of Chinese Indonesian Doctors in Advancing Public Health System in Colonial Indonesia”

RSVP

Featured Speaker

Dédé Oetomo headshot

Dédé Oetomo is an activist, independent scholar, and educator in research, education and advocacy in the fields of language and society, the Chinese diaspora, diversity in gender-sexuality, and HIV & AIDS, mainly as Founder and Trustee at GAYa NUSANTARA Foundation (www.gayanusantara.or.id), which also hosts the Coalition for Sexual & Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR; www.csbronline.org). He also serves on the Board of Indonesia AIDS Coalition. Academically, he is an adjunct senior lecturer at Universitas Airlangga, Universitas Surabaya, Widya Mandala Catholic University in Surabaya and Universitas Ciputra Surabaya, Indonesia.

 Speakers

Hoon Chang Yau smiling looking into camera

Chang-Yau Hoon is Professor at the Institute of Asian Studies, and former Director of the Centre for Advanced Research, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. He is also Adjunct Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia, Honorary Director of Institute of Brunei Studies at Guangxi Minzu University, and Advisor of Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at South China Normal University. He was Visiting Senior Fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in 2023-2024. Additionally, he serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Asia in Transition book series at Springer. Professor Hoon specializes in Chinese diaspora, identity politics, multiculturalism, and religious and cultural diversity in contemporary Southeast Asia. His latest books include Christianity and the Chinese in Indonesia: Ethnicity, Education and Enterprise (sole-authored, Liverpool University Press, 2023); Southeast Asia in China: Historical Entanglements and Contemporary Engagements (co-authored, Lexington Press, 2023); and Stability, Growth and Sustainability: Catalysts for Socio-economic Development in Brunei Darussalam (co-edited, ISEAS Publishing, 2023).

Photo of Hannah MY Ho

Hannah Ming Yit Ho is Assistant Professor of Literatures in English at the University of Brunei Darussalam. She is also a research associate at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. Her PhD in Asian diasporic literatures was completed at the University of York, United Kingdom. She was previously a research fellow at King’s College London and University of California, Berkeley. Her current research interests include Chinese identity in contemporary literatures of Southeast Asia. Her publications in journals include Asiatic, Kritika Kultura, Southeast Asian Review of English, Science Fiction Studies (forthcoming) and The Wenshan Review of Literature and Culture. She serves as a section editor (Southeast Asia) for The Year’s Work in English Studies (Oxford University Press). She coedited Engaging Modern Brunei: Research on Language, Literature and Cultures (Springer 2021). Her forthcoming book is entitled Transnational Southeast Asia: Communities, Contestations and Cultures (2025).

 

Charlotte Setijadi smiling looking into camera

Charlotte Setijadi is a Lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute. She researches Chinese identity politics in Indonesia and Indonesian diaspora politics. Charlotte has published widely in academic journals such as the Journal of Contemporary China, Asian Survey, and Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies. Her first book Memories of Unbelonging: Ethnic Chinese Identity Politics in Post-Suharto Indonesia was published by University of Hawai’i Press in 2023. She is currently working on a new book project on the migration trajectories of highly-skilled Indonesian professional migrants.

Chong Wu Ling looking into camera

Wu-Ling Chong (钟武凌) is a senior lecturer at the Department of Southeast Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University Malaya, Malaysia. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the National University of Singapore (NUS). Her areas of expertise include ethnic Chinese studies and Southeast Asian politics. She is the author of Chinese Indonesians in post-Suharto Indonesia: Democratisation and ethnic minorities (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2018). The book explores the role of ethnic Chinese Indonesians in shaping the democratization process as well as their position in post-Suharto Indonesia across business, politics and civil society. She is also the co-author of Kaedah penyelidikan dan panduan penulisan [Research methods and guidance for writing, in Malay] (Kuala Lumpur: Universiti Malaya Press, 2016) (with Sivachandralingam Sundara Raja and Noraini Mohamed Hassan).

Ravando Lie

Ravando is a John Legge Research Fellow in the Department of History at Monash University. He obtained his PhD from the University of Melbourne in 2023, with a thesis examining the history of Sin Po (1910–1949), the most influential and widely circulated Sino-Malay newspaper in colonial Indonesia. His research focuses on Chinese-Indonesian history, the intersection of medicine and ethnicity, and transnational health networks in Southeast Asia. He has authored five books, including his latest, Merawat Kehidupan: 100 Tahun Rumah Sakit Husada (Jang Seng Ie), which documents a century of medical care at one of Indonesia’s oldest hospitals. He is currently developing a book project based on his doctoral research.

Discussant

Margaret Scott headshot

Margaret Scott is a journalist focusing on Southeast Asia and teaches at NYU’s Program in International Relations. She is also one of the founders of the New York Southeast Asia Network. Currently she is working on the role of Islam in Indonesian politics since 1998, and her research interests include democratic consolidation and decline, Islam, and religious actors in Southeast Asia. She writes primarily for The New York Review of Books. Scott also worked for The Far Eastern Economic Review, a magazine based in Hong Kong. She has also written for The New York Times Magazine and the Times Literary Supplement.

Moderators

Joel Kuipers headshot

Joel Kuipers is Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at the George Washington University in Washington DC. Since 1978, he has conducted linguistic and ethnographic research in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia, focusing on the relation of specialized language registers to systems of authority.  He has published widely in academic journals such as American Ethnologist, American Anthropologist, Anthropological Quarterly, Anthropological Linguistics, Indonesia, Sapiens, Cultural Anthropology, Language in Society, and Anthropology Today. His first (U Penn 1990) and second (Cambridge 1998) books concerned ritual speech on the eastern Indonesian island of Sumba; a third about the work of anthropologist Harold C Conklin (Yale 2007), and edited volumes on discourses of science in US middle schools (2008), and cell phone use (2018). He is currently at work on a new book project that draws on his Southeast Asian work concerning the relation between speech registers and sociocultural scale.

Janet Steele looking into camera

Janet Steele is professor of Media and Public Affairs and International Affairs at the George Washington University. She received her Ph.D. in History from the Johns Hopkins University, and focuses on how culture is communicated through the mass media. A frequent visitor to Southeast Asia, she lectures on topics ranging from the role of the press in a democratic society to specialized workshops on narrative journalism. Her book, “Wars Within: The Story of Tempo, an Independent Magazine in Soeharto’s Indonesia,” focuses on Tempo magazine and its relationship to the politics and culture of New Order Indonesia. “Mediating Islam: Cosmopolitan Journalisms in Muslim Southeast Asia,” explores the relationship between journalism and Islam in Indonesia and Malaysia. Her most recent book, published in 2023 by NUS Press, is called “Malaysiakini and the power of independent media in Malaysia.”

Sigur Center logo with transparent background

A graphic with the time, date, and location of the event

[01/16/2025] The Future of U.S. Policy and the Indo-Pacific

Archives & Recordings, High Profile EventsLeave a Comment on [01/16/2025] The Future of U.S. Policy and the Indo-Pacific

Thursday, January 16th, 2025

1:00 – 4:30 PM ET

The State Room

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

What opportunities and challenges lie ahead for the United States and its allies in the Indo-Pacific region? This two-panel event brings together experts from the United States and Asia to discuss the future of U.S. policy and the policies of key regional players, including Korea, Japan, China, and their neighbors. As we enter a new year marked by political transitions in many capitals, the speakers will assess the foreign policy challenges and domestic political dynamics that will shape U.S. engagement and broader developments across the Indo-Pacific. 

This GWIKS Korea Policy Forum is organized in partnership with GW’s Sigur Center for Asian Studies, East Asia National Resources Center, Taiwan Education and Research Program, Seoul National University’s Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, and Ritsumeikan University’s Center for East Asian Peace and Cooperation Studies.

Agenda:

Panel 1: Grand Strategy (1:00 -2:30 PM)

  • Youngjoo Jang, Visiting Research Fellow, Center for East Asian Peace and Cooperation Studies, Ritsumeikan University
  • Robert Sutter, Professor of Practice of International Affairs, The George Washington University
  • Drew Arveseth, Director, Korean Peninsula and Mongolia, United States National Security Council (NSC)
  • Bumsoo Kim, Director, Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, Seoul National University

Break and Networking (2:30–3:00)

Panel 2: Emerging Challenges (3:00-4:30 PM)

  • Inwook Kim, Associate Professor of International Affairs, Sungkyunkwan University
  • Ilaria Mazzocco, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics, Center for Strategic & International Studies
  • Prashanth Parameswaran, Global Fellow, The Wilson Center; CEO and Founder, ASEAN Wonk Global; Senior Columnist, The Diplomat
  • Ann Kowalewski, Senior Non-Resident Fellow, The Global Taiwan Institute
  • Tashi Rabgey, Research Professor of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Panel One

A picture of Youngjoo Jang, smiling and looking at the camera

Dr. Youngjoo Jang is a visiting research fellow at the Center for East Asian Peace and Cooperation Studies, Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan. Her research interests include the U.S.-DPRK relations, the Japan-DPRK relations, and North Korea’s foreign policy over its nuclear development. She holds M.A. and Ph.D. in International Relations from Ritsumeikan University. Her dissertation title is “The U.S.-DPRK Nuclear Agreements through Interactions of Coercive Diplomacy from 1992 to 2012.” Her recent works appear in books (in Japanese) of New Horizons of North Korean Studies (Nakato and Choi, 2023) and External Relations of North Korea (Nakato and Mori, 2023) as a chapter, in Asia-Japan Research Institute website as a review article about North Korea (2023), and in the Ristumeikan Journal of International Studies as a journal article (2019). 

 
Robert Sutter looking ahead smiling, in suit

Professor Robert Sutter is Professor of Practice of International Affairs at the Elliott School of George Washington University (2011-Present ). He also served as Director of the School’s main undergraduate program involving over 2,000 students from 2013-2019. He has served as Special Adviser to the Dean on Strategic Outreach (2021-present). His earlier full-time position was Visiting Professor of Asian Studies at Georgetown University (2001-2011).

A Ph.D. graduate in History and East Asian Languages from Harvard University, Sutter has published 23 books (four with multiple editions), over 300 articles and several hundred government reports dealing with contemporary East Asian and Pacific countries and their relations with the United States. His most recent books are Chinese Foreign Relations: Power and Policy of an Emerging Global Force, Fifth Edition (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021), US-China Relations: Perilous Past, Uncertain Present, Fourth Edition (Rowman & Littlefield 2022), and Congress and China Policy: Past Episodic, Recent Enduring Influence (Lexington Books, 2024)

Sutter’s government career (1968-2001) saw service as senior specialist and director of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division of the Congressional Research Service, the National Intelligence Officer for East Asia and the Pacific at the US Government’s National Intelligence Council, the China division director at the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research and professional staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

A picture of Drew Arveseth, smiling and looking at the camera

Drew Arveseth is the Director for the Korean Peninsula and Mongolia at the U.S. National Security Council (NSC). During his tenure on the NSC staff, he has engaged on U.S. policy issues ranging from extended deterrence, risk reduction, denuclearization, and Indo-Pacific regional security dynamics to civil-nuclear cooperation, regional development initiatives, economic security, transnational threats, and human rights. Drew played an integral role in preparations for the U.S.-ROK-Japan Camp David Trilateral as well as the State Visit of ROK President Yoon to the United States in 2023, which culminated in the release of the Washington Declaration. Prior to arriving at the NSC, he served as a U.S. Government analyst covering economic, political, and security developments on the Korean Peninsula and in the broader East Asia Pacific region. Before his national security career, Drew served with the Saejowi Initiative, an organization providing medical support and social services to DPRK defectors in the ROK. He received a Master’s in International Affairs from the George Washington University, where he focused on security in East Asia. He is a graduate of Utah State University, where he studied economics and international business.

Kim Bumsoo looking at the camera and smiling

Professor Bumsoo Kim received his B.A. and M.A. from the Department of International Relations at Seoul National University in 1992 and 1997 respectively, and his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago in 2006. Since then, he has worked as a research professor in the BK Program of the Department of Political Science at Seoul National University and as a lecturer at Seoul National University, and since 2010, has been a professor in the College of Liberal Studies (CLS) at Seoul National University. In the College of Liberal Studies, he served as an associate dean twice (2012-2014 and 2017-2019), and since February 2023, has been serving as a Dean. At the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies (IPUS), he served as a chief of External Relations Division, head of the Center for Unification Studies, and deputy director from 2016 to 2023, and since March 2023 has been serving as a director. He has also served as a researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Tokyo and a visiting professor at the University of Washington, U.S.A. He has served as a vice president of the Korean Political Science Association, a research board member of the Korean Association of International Studies, a president of the Governance Research Association, and a consultant for university restructuring at the Ministry of Education. As of March 2023, he is a member of the Academic Council of Seoul National University and an advisory board member of the Overseas Koreans Foundation.

His main research interests include political theory such as theory of justice and freedom, human rights theory, peace theory, nationalism, and multiculturalism. He has published many books in Korean, including What Is Fairness in Korean Society: 7 Theories of Justice to Protect a Fair Me (Akanet, 2022); What Is Peace Studies: Genealogy and Issues (Seoul National University Press, 2022); Korea-Japan Relations: Beyond Conflict to Reconciliation (Parkmun Press, 2021). He has also published many articles in peer-reviewed journals, which include “Bringing Class Back In: The Changing Basis of Inequality and the Korean Minority in Japan,” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 31(5), 2008, pp. 871-898; “Are North Korean Compatriots ‘Korean’? The Trifurcation of Ethnic Nationalism in South Korea during the Syngman Rhee Era (1948-1960),” Journal of Korean Studies, 24(1), 2019, pp. 149~171; “Are the Freedom of States and International Public Laws Compatible? Kant’s Theory of Peace and the Freedom of States” Korean Journal of International Relations, 59(3), 2019, pp. 7-54. In 2009, he received the Best Article Award of the Korean Political Science Association for his article “Who Is Japanese? the Boundaries of the ‘Japanese’ in Post-War Japan,” published in Journal of the Korean Political Science Association, 43(1), pp. 177-202.

 Panel Two

A picture of Inwook Kim, smiling and looking at the camera

Professor Inwook Kim is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Sungkyunkwan University. His main research interests include history and geopolitics of oil, politics of alliances, and the Korean Peninsula. His works have either appeared or are forthcoming in International Studies Quarterly, Security Studies, Journal of Global Security Studies, Contemporary Security Policy, The Pacific Review, Foreign Affairs, and others.

Professor Kim holds a PhD in Political Science from the George Washington University where he was also a research affiliate at the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies (ISCS). He holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) from University of Oxford and received MSc in Politics of the World Economy from London School of Economics . He is also a former recipient of Fulbright Scholarship, and previously taught at Korea Military Academy, the University of Hong Kong, and Singapore Management University.

A headshot of Ilaria Mazzocco

Ilaria Mazzocco is deputy director and senior fellow with the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She has over a decade of experience researching industrial policy, Chinese climate policy, and the intersection between the energy transition and economic and national security. Prior to joining CSIS, she led research on Chinese climate and energy policy for Macropolo, the Paulson Institute’s think tank. She holds a PhD from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where her dissertation investigated Chinese industrial policy by focusing on electric vehicle promotion efforts and the role of local governments. She also holds master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins SAIS and Central European University, as well as a bachelor’s degree from Bard College. She speaks Chinese and Italian.

Headshot of Prashanth Parameswaran in professional clothes

Dr. Prashanth Parameswaran is a fellow with the Wilson Center’s Asia Program, where he produces analysis on Southeast Asian political and security issues, Asian defense affairs, and U.S. foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific. He is also the CEO and Founder of ASEAN Wonk Global, a research hub that produces the weekly ASEAN Wonk BulletBrief newsletter; Senior Columnist at The Diplomat, one of Asia’s leading current affairs publications; and an Advisor at BowerGroupAsia, a strategic advisory firm focused on the Indo-Pacific region. His new book, “Elusive Balances: Shaping U.S.-Southeast Asia Strategy,” published in 2022, develops and applies an original “balance of commitment” approach to examining U.S. commitment in Southeast Asia over the past half century, along with policy recommendations for future administrations. 

A political scientist by training, Dr. Parameswaran is a recognized expert on Asian affairs and U.S. foreign policy in the region, with a focus on Southeast Asia and politics and security issues. He has conducted grant-based field research across the region, consulted for companies and governments, and taught courses affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of State. His policy insights, research and commentary have been published widely in the United States and across the region in leading publications and journals including CNN, The Washington Post, The South China Morning Post, The Straits Times, Asia Policy and Contemporary Southeast Asia.

Dr. Parameswaran has held roles across think tanks, government, media and business in the United States and in the region, including most recently the Foreign Service Institute and The Diplomat, where he served as senior editor. In those capacities, he advanced research and analysis on key Asian political and security trends using rigorous research methodologies and extensive in-country networks, with an emphasis on Southeast Asia.

Dr. Parameswaran holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Arts from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University focused on international security, international business and U.S. foreign policy, and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia where he studied foreign affairs and peace and conflict studies and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

A headshot of Anne Kowalewski

Ann E. Kowalewski has a decade of experience in think tank, government, and private sector on Indo-Pacific policy. Annie led the Indo-Pacific portfolio as a senior professional staff member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she managed legislation and oversight regarding strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), US policy towards Taiwan, alliance management, and the US diplomatic and security posture in the region. She also served as an Indo-Pacific senior policy analyst on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for three years.

Prior to serving on the Hill, Ms. Kowalewski spent four years researching Indo-Pacific issues at various think tanks. As a research associate with the American Enterprise Institute, she researched, wrote, and presented on topics to include US Indo-Pacific strategy, PRC military modernization programs, and recommendations for strengthening US defense alliances in the Indo-Pacific. She was also a China research assistant for Georgetown’s Center for Security Studies and the United States Institute of Peace.

Before her career in DC, Ms. Kowalewski served in the Scottish Parliament for two years as a parliamentary assistant working on EU case law and nuclear non-proliferation issues. She received her MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University and her LLB (Hons) from the University of Edinburgh, School of Law. She is fluent in Mandarin.

A headshot of Tashi Rabegy

Professor Tashi Rabgey is Research Professor of International Affairs at the Elliott School where she specializes in statehood, authoritarianism and territorial politics, with a focus on multilevel governance and the politics of scale in the People’s Republic of China. She also works on constitutional and international legal issues relating to special status arrangements of asymmetric states and autonomous regions in comparative global contexts. Her primary regional focus is Tibet and Greater China, with a specialization in the Sino-Tibetan dispute. She is completing a long-term study of Chinese statehood, elite and institutional politics and Tibet’s rule and governance during China’s global rise.

At the Elliott School, she directs the Research Initiative on Multination States (RIMS) which convenes a Track II dialogue process with policy researchers in Beijing on state asymmetry and territorial autonomy. She is also founding director of the Tibet Governance Lab, a research platform and incubator for policy research on Tibet that provides a dynamic hub for the exchange of research, practice-driven insight and approaches to governance in contemporary Tibet.

Before joining the Elliott School, Professor Rabgey was codirector of the University of Virginia Tibet Center where she was a lecturer in contemporary Tibetan studies. She is also cofounder of Machik, a global nonprofit that has delivered strategies for Tibetan-language education, community empowerment and civic engagement in Tibet for over twenty years. She has been a fellow in the Public Intellectuals Program of the National Committee on US-China Relations, a visiting scholar at Sichuan University and visiting professor at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr in Kurdistan (Iraq). She holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, as well as law degrees from Oxford and Cambridge where she was a Rhodes scholar.

 Moderaters

A picture of Eric Schluessel, smiling in glasses and lookin gat the camera

Richard J. Haddock is the Assistant Director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at the George Washington University, where he leads the Center’s robust Taiwan affairs programming, outreach, and curriculum development. He is also a member of the UC Berkeley U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group, where his research focuses on U.S.-Taiwan education diplomacy and exchange. Previously, he has held positions at the GW East Asia National Resource Center, the National Democratic Institute’s Asia team, the American Institute in Taiwan’s Public Diplomacy Section, and the U.S. Department of State.

Mr. Haddock is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Policy and Public Administration at the George Washington University, focusing on digital democracy and e-governance development in the Asia-Pacific. He holds an MA in Asian Studies from the Elliott School, with a concentration on domestic politics and foreign policy of East Asia. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a BA in Political Science and minors in Asian Studies and Diplomacy.

portrait of Celeste Arrington posing with arms crossed in black outfit

Professor Celeste Arrington specializes in comparative politics, with a regional focus on the Koreas and Japan. Her research interests include law and social change, governance, civil society, social movements, policy-making processes, lawyers, the media and politics, and qualitative methods. She is also interested in the international relations and security of Northeast Asia and transnational activism.

Her first book was Accidental Activists: Victim Movements and Government Accountability in Japan and South Korea (Cornell, 2016). She has published articles in Comparative Political Studies, Law & Society Review, Journal of East Asian Studies, Law & Policy, Asian Survey, and elsewhere. With Patricia Goedde, she co-edited Rights Claiming in South Korea (Cambridge, 2021). Her current book project analyzes the legalistic turn in Korean and Japanese governance through paired case studies related to tobacco control and disability rights.

Her research has received support from numerous fellowships and programs. She is a core faculty of the GW Institute for Korean Studies (GWIKS) and President of the Association for Korean Political Studies. GW’s Office of the Vice President for Research awarded her the 2021 Early Career Research Scholar Award.

logos for the east asia national resource center, the gw institute for korean studies, and the sigur center

A photo will information about the speakers, time, date, and location

[12/02/24] Taiwan Roundtable: Local Partnerships, Global Impact: U.S.-Taiwan Subnational Diplomacy

Archives & Recordings, Taiwan RoundtablesLeave a Comment on [12/02/24] Taiwan Roundtable: Local Partnerships, Global Impact: U.S.-Taiwan Subnational Diplomacy

Monday, December 2nd, 2024

12:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET

Lindner Family Commons

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

Amidst evolving geopolitical landscapes, U.S.-Taiwan relations are developing at multiple levels, with subnational diplomacy emerging as a driving force in transforming local actions into global movements. From setting up new trade offices to developing education exchanges fostered by the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative, to making major investments in semiconductor manufacturing and other advanced technologies, state and local actors in the United States and Taiwan are taking active roles in deepening social, political, and economic ties between both sides. At the same time, city and state governments and public agencies in the United States and Taiwan also face challenges in navigating sensitive policy issues, such as managing cross-Strait relations in subnational affairs and countering maligned foreign influence or interference. As local and global issues are increasingly intertwined, it is a critical moment for local actors in the United States and Taiwan to gain deeper understanding on the geostrategic importance of subnational affairs. Join the Sigur Center for Asian Studies for a timely conversation with a group of experts and practitioners to navigate the triumphs, challenges, and opportunities in store for U.S.-Taiwan subnational relations.

Speakers

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Sara Newland is a scholar of local politics in China and Taiwan, and seeks to understand the behavior of local officials as domestic public servants and as actors in international relations. Her research on local governance and public service provision has been published in China Quarterly and Governance. Her new work focuses on subnational diplomacy, and in particular on the role that state and local officials play in the complicated relationships between the U.S., China and Taiwan. Her work on U.S.-Taiwan subnational engagement has been published in Pacific Review, and she is currently working on a book project (with Kyle Jaros) on U.S.-China subnational diplomacy in an era of rising great power competition.

At Smith, Newland teaches courses on East Asian politics, comparative politics and research design. She also runs the East Asian Politics Lab, where Smith undergraduates conduct paid research on the politics of China and Taiwan.

Newland is a member of the U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group and a fellow in the Public Intellectuals Program of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Previously, she was an assistant professor of political science at Villanova University and a China public policy postdoctoral fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School.

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Matt Salmon, a special advisor to Arizona State University, brings extensive experience in international affairs and national policy from his time as a five-term U.S. House of Representatives member and chair of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. At Arizona State University, he uses his deep knowledge of global relations to enhance the university’s international programs. His leadership and expertise in fostering international partnerships have made him a key asset in advancing the university’s global initiatives and reputation. He is a fierce defender of the Constitution and the freedoms we enjoy.

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Wen Chyi Chiu graduated from Arizona State University, majored in Journalism and Communications. Wen Chyi Chiu’s specialties are Global Relations, Public Relations and Media Relations. As Chairwoman for Taipei Sister Cities, Taipei Sister Cities received three years in a roll, the Best Sister Cities titles in 2009-2012. Wen Chyi Chiu has been devoting, volunteering, contributing, and serving American, Asian, Taiwanese, and Chinese Communities and Phoenix Sister Cities for over 25 years to promote education, STEM/STEAM, sister schools, police and fire exchanges, youth ambassadors, global friendship, arts, culture, sports, business, solar energy, and high technology. She is the Founding Executive Board Member and President for Global Federation of Chinese Business Woman Arizona Chapter, and she is current Principal of Arizona Chinese Mandarin and Culture Academy, and Executive Director of Taipei Culture Summer Camp. Wen Chyi Chiu received many awards including the Recipient of Southern California and Arizona Outstanding Young Leader Award, US Congress Congressional Recognition for Community Service, Arizona Governor Award for Community Contributions, Outstanding Citizenship Award, Volunteer Medal International Award of Circle of Distinguish Volunteer Global Citizenship Award from Phoenix Sister Cities International, and Phoenix Sister Cities Taipei Sister Cities Volunteer of the Year, among other recognitions.

Sigur Center logo with line art of Asian landmarks

[9/11/24] Okinawa’s Subnational Diplomacy: Promoting Cooperation and Preventing Conflict in East Asia

Archives & Recordings, High Profile EventsLeave a Comment on [9/11/24] Okinawa’s Subnational Diplomacy: Promoting Cooperation and Preventing Conflict in East Asia

Wednesday, September 11th, 2024

4:00 PM – 5:15 PM ET

State Room

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

and Online

The security and economic environment surrounding Okinawa is becoming more uncertain and worrisome. In response, the Okinawa Prefectural Government recently launched its Subnational Diplomacy initiative to promote cooperation and prevent conflict in East Asia. Governor Denny Tamaki of Okinawa will discuss the basic thinking behind this Subnational Diplomacy, some of the concrete steps taken thus far, and the prospects for the future. Then a panel of prominent experts on Japan, international relations, and security policy will comment on Governor Tamaki’s remarks and assess the opportunities and constraints that Okinawa faces to develop and exert its influence in shaping the regional environment.

Speakers

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera
Governor Denny Tamaki was first elected as Governor of Okinawa in October 2018 and  was re-elected again in September 2022 to serve another four-year term. He was a member of the House of Representatives of  Japan from 2009 to 2018 (4 terms). Prior to that, he was a member of the Okinawa City Assembly  from 2002 to 2005.  He graduated from Sophia School of Social Welfare.  He was born in Okinawa in 1959.
 
A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Sheila A. Smith is John E. Merow senior fellow for Asia-Pacific studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). An expert on Japanese politics and foreign policy, she is the author of Japan Rearmed: The Politics of Military Power, Intimate Rivals: Japanese Domestic Politics and a Rising China (released in Japanese as 日中 親愛なる宿敵: 変容する日本政治と対中政策), and Japan’s New Politics and the U.S.-Japan Alliance. She is also the author of the CFR interactive guide Constitutional Change in Japan. Smith is a regular contributor to the CFR blog Asia Unbound and a frequent contributor to major media outlets in the United States and Asia.

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera
Dr. Jennifer Kavanagh is a senior fellow & director of military analysis at Defense Priorities. Kavanagh’s research examines U.S. military strategy, force structure and defense budgeting, the defense industrial base, and U.S. military interventions. Her most recent projects have focused on U.S. defense policy in Asia and the Middle East. Previously, Kavanagh was a senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She also worked as a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, where, among other roles, she served as director of RAND’s Army Strategy program. Her work has been published in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, Foreign Policy, Journal of Conflict Resolution, The Washington Quarterly, Lawfare, Los Angeles Times, and War on the Rocks, among other outlets. Kavanagh received an AB in Government from Harvard University and a PhD in Political Science and Public Policy from the University of Michigan. She is also an adjunct professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University.
A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Professor Mochizuki holds the Japan-U.S. Relations Chair in Memory of Gaston Sigur at the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University. Dr. Mochizuki was director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies from 2001 to 2005. He co-directs the “Memory and Reconciliation in the Asia-Pacific” research and policy project of the Sigur Center. Previously, he was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He was also Co-Director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Policy at RAND and has taught at the University of Southern California and Yale University.

Sigur Center logo with line art of Asian landmarks

A graphic for Racism "Denial" in Asia

[9/17/24] Deconstructing Racism “Denial” in Asia

Archives & RecordingsLeave a Comment on [9/17/24] Deconstructing Racism “Denial” in Asia

Tuesday, September 17th, 2024

1:15 PM – 3:00 PM ET

Room 505

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

Join us for a focused discussion on research from the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab (SNAPL), exploring the critical intersection of racism and nationalism in Asian contexts. As Asia becomes increasingly central to the global economy and culture, it faces significant challenges, including rising inequality, cultural intolerance, and institutional shortcomings. SNAPL is committed to addressing these issues through interdisciplinary, evidence-based, and policy-relevant research. This event will highlight SNAPL’s discourse analysis of reports submitted by 16 Asian countries to the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The research investigates how race and racism are conceptualized in these reports, uncovering patterns of “denial” and exploring how these perspectives align with or diverge from those in other global contexts. The discussion will also examine how historical identities and dominant social, political, and religious values shape national understandings of race in Asia. We aim to foster a deeper understanding of racism, often underdiscussed in the region, and promote the critical dialogue necessary for building a socially and culturally mature “Next Asia.” Two distinguished discussants—Dr. Hiromi Ishizawa from George Washington University and Dr. Erin Aeran Chung from Johns Hopkins University—will join us to share their insights, ensuring a lively and engaging conversation on these pressing issues.

Speakers

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Gi-Wook Shin is the William J. Perry Professor of Contemporary Korea in Sociology; senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies; the director of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center since 2005; and the founding director of the Korea Program since 2001, all at Stanford University. As a historical-comparative and political sociologist, his research has concentrated on social movements, nationalism, development, democracy, migration, and international relations.

Shin is the author/editor of twenty-five books and numerous articles. His recent books include Korean Democracy in Crisis: The Threat of Illiberalism, Populism, and Polarization (2022); The North Korean Conundrum: Balancing Human Rights and Nuclear Security (2021); Shifting Gears in Innovation Policy from Asia (2020); Strategic, Policy and Social Innovation for a Post-Industrial Korea: Beyond the Miracle (2018); Superficial Korea (2017); Divergent Memories: Opinion Leaders and the Asia-Pacific War (2016); Global Talent: Skilled Labor as Social Capital in Korea (2015); Criminality, Collaboration, and Reconciliation: Europe and Asia Confronts the Memory of World War II (2014); New Challenges for Maturing Democracies in Korea and Taiwan (2014); Asia’s Middle Powers? (2013); Troubled Transition: North Korea’s Politics, Economy, and External Relations (2013); History Textbooks and the Wars in Asia: Divided Memories (2011); South Korean Social Movements: From Democracy to Civil Society (2011); One Alliance, Two Lenses: U.S.-Korea Relations in a New Era (2010); Cross Currents: Regionalism and Nationalism in Northeast Asia (2007); Rethinking Historical Injustice and Reconciliation in Northeast Asia (2006); and Ethnic Nationalism in Korea: Genealogy, Politics, and Legacy (2006). Due to the wide popularity of his publications, many have been translated and distributed to Korean audiences. His articles have appeared in academic and policy journals including American Journal of Sociology, World Development, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Political Science Quarterly, Journal of Asian Studies, Comparative Education, International Sociology, Nations and Nationalism, Pacific Affairs, Asian Survey, Journal of Democracy, and Foreign Affairs.

Shin’s latest book, Talent Giants in the Asia-Pacific Century, a comparative study of talent strategies of Japan, Australia, China, and India, will be published by Stanford University Press in 2025. In Summer 2023, Shin launched the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab (SNAPL), which is a new initiative committed to addressing emergent social, cultural, economic, and political challenges in Asia. Across four research themes– “Talent Flows and Development,” “Nationalism and Racism,” “U.S.-Asia Relations,” and “Democratic Crisis and Reform”–the lab brings scholars to produce interdisciplinary, problem-oriented, policy-relevant, and comparative studies and publications. In May 2024, Shin also launched the new Taiwan Program at APARC.

Shin is not only the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, but also continues to actively raise funds for Korean/Asian studies at Stanford. He gives frequent lectures and seminars on topics ranging from Korean nationalism and politics to Korea’s foreign relations and historical reconciliation in Northeast Asia and to talent strategies. He serves on councils and advisory boards in the United States and South Korea and promotes policy dialogue between the two allies. He regularly writes op-eds and gives interviews to the media in both Korean and English.

Before coming to Stanford in 2001, Shin taught at the University of Iowa (1991-94) and the University of California, Los Angeles (1994-2001). After receiving his BA from Yonsei University in Korea, he was awarded his MA and PhD from the University of Washington in 1991.

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera
Junki Nakahara is a postdoctoral fellow at the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab (SNAPL), housed within the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center. Her research interests include nationalism and xenophobia, critical and cultural studies, feminist (digital) media studies, and postcolonial/decolonial international relations. She earned her PhD in Communication from the School of Communication (2023) and an MA in Intercultural and International Communication from the School of International Service (2019), both at American University. Her publications include contributions to New Media & Society, Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, and Discourse Approaches to an Emerging Age of Populism (edited by I. Íñigo-Mora & Lastres-López).
 
As an inaugural member of SNAPL, she leads the “Nationalism and Racism” research track, focusing on two major projects: (1) Racism “Denial” in Asian State Party Reports to the UN CERD, and (2) Elite Articulation of “Multiculturalism” in Australia, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Using a combination of critical discourse analysis and computational textual analysis, the team examines how nationalism and racism intertwine to create various forms of suppression and intolerance across the Asia-Pacific region, where entanglements among race, ethnicity, nation, and postcoloniality complicate the related debates.

About the Discussants

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera
After graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Professor Ishizawa spent two years as a post-doctoral research associate at the Minnesota Population Center (MPC) at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests are in the areas of social and family demography, immigration, sociology of language, and urban sociology. Her research focuses on the understanding of how immigrants integrate into American society. In particular, her work emphasizes the influence of context, such as family and neighborhood, on the process of integration. She has published work that examines many aspects of immigrant integration, including minority language maintenance, civic participation, health, sequence of migration within family units, intermarriage, and residential settlement patterns among minority language speakers. In addition, she conducts research on another immigrant destination country, New Zealand. Her work focuses on residential segregation and patterns of ethnic neighborhoods among recent immigrant groups and the indigenous Maori population. Additionally, her research project examines life satisfaction among immigrants in Japan.
 
A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Erin Aeran Chung is the Charles D. Miller Professor of East Asian Politics and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. She previously served as founding co-director of the Racism, Immigration, and Citizenship (RIC) Program and director of the East Asian Studies Program at Hopkins, and as co-president of the APSA Migration and Citizenship Section.

Professor Chung specializes in East Asian political economy, comparative citizenship and migration politics, civil society, and comparative racial politics. She is the author of Immigration and Citizenship in Japan (Cambridge, 2010, 2014; Japanese translation, Akashi Shoten, 2012) and Immigrant Incorporation in East Asian Democracies (Cambridge, 2020), which received the 2021 ASA Asia and Asian America Section Transnational Asia Book Award, Honorable Mention for the 2021 APSA Migration & Citizenship Section Book Award, and the 2021 Research Excellence Award from the Korea Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea. She was awarded a five-year grant from the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) to support the completion of her third book project on Korean Diasporic Citizenship: Three Tales of Political (Dis)Incorporation in the United States, Japan, and China.

Professor Chung is currently serving as co-editor of the Politics and Society of East Asia Elements series at Cambridge University Press and as founding co-director of the Initiative on Critical Responses to Anti-Asian Violence (CRAAV) at Hopkins. She has been a Mansfield Foundation U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Program Scholar, an SSRC Abe Fellow at the University of Tokyo and Korea University, an advanced research fellow at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, and a Japan Foundation fellow at Saitama University. At Hopkins, Professor Chung teaches undergraduate courses on Japanese, Korean, East Asian, and Asian American politics and graduate courses on civil society, citizenship and immigration politics, the political economy of development, democratization, and comparative racial politics.

Sigur Center logo with line art of Asian landmarks

[9/3/24] China’s Belt and Road and the Global South – Importance Today

Archives & RecordingsLeave a Comment on [9/3/24] China’s Belt and Road and the Global South – Importance Today

Tuesday, September 3rd, 2024

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM ET

Lindner Family Commons

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

China’s growing ambitions in the so-called Global South center on Beijing’s Belt and Road and related policy initiatives. A team of four European experts on these matters is visiting Washington led by Professor Dominik Mierzejewski of the University of Lodz, a widely published scholar well known for on-the-ground assessments of China’s Belt and Road efforts throughout the Global South and Europe. He and his team will offer their findings on recent in-person investigations in eight countries: Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Kenya, Poland, South Africa, Serbia, and Thailand. 

Sigur Center Director and Professor Eric Schluessel will serve as discussant. 

Speakers

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera

Dominik Mierzejewski is the head of the Centre for Asian Affairs (a university-based think-tank) and Professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the Faculty of International and Political Studies at the University of Lodz. His research focuses on the rhetoric of Chinese diplomacy, the PRC’s political transformation, and the provinces’ role in Chinese foreign policy. He is the author of China’s Provinces and the Belt and Road Initiative (Routledge 2021).

A picture of Jaroslaw Jura smiling and looking at the camera

Jarosław Jura is an Assistant Professor at Lazarski University (Warsaw, Poland). His research interests focus primarily on Chinese expansion in Africa and social sciences methodology. He has conducted field research in Angola, Zambia, Kenya, Sudan, and China.

A picture of Bartosz Kowalski smiling and looking at the camera

Bartosz Kowalski is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Asian Studies at the Faculty of International and Political Studies, Poland, and a researcher at its Centre for Asian Affairs at the University of Lodz. His research focuses on China’s foreign policy, relations between China and Central Europe, and the modern political history of Xinjiang.

Mario Esteban Rodrigez smiling and looking at the camera

Mario Esteban Rodriguez is a Senior Analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute and Senior Lecturer at the Centre for East Asian Studies of the Autonomous University of Madrid. His research focuses on China’s foreign aid in the Global South and China’s relations with the European Union.

Moderator

A picture of Eric Schluessel, smiling in glasses and lookin gat the camera

Eric Schluessel is a social historian of China and Central Asia, and his work focuses on Xinjiang (East Turkestan) in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He is the Director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, Co-Director of the East Asia National Resource Center, and an Associate Professor of History and International Affairs. Land of Strangers, his first monograph, uses local archival and manuscript sources in Chinese and Chaghatay Turkic to explore the ramifications of a project undertaken in the last decades of the Qing empire to transform Xinjiang’s Turkic-speaking Muslims into Chinese-speaking Confucians. Schluessel previously taught at the University of Montana in Missoula and spent the 2018–2019 academic year as a Mellon Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. Schluessel has also completed a translation and critical edition of the Tārīkh-i Ḥamīdī of Mullah Mūsa Sayrāmī, which is an important Chaghatay-language chronicle of nineteenth-century Xinjiang.

Sigur Center logo with line art of Asian landmarks

Viewing Message: 1 of 1.
 Notice

This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. Visit GW’s Website Privacy Notice to learn more about how GW uses cookies.