Taiwan and Indo-Pacific Geopolitics: Implications of 2024 Pivotal Elections Around the World

Taipei City. Photo Copyright: Bo-jiun Jing

The Oxford Taiwan Studies Programme invites you to the Annual Oxford Taiwan Studies Conference 2024 at St Antony's College, University of Oxford. Join us to explore the implications of this pivotal election year worldwide for Taiwan and the geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific region. 

Programme (names listed in order of presentation)

10:00-10:30 Registration and Refreshments (Nissan Lecture Theatre and the Buttery, St Antony’s College)

10:30-10:40 Welcoming Remarks

• Professor Paul Chaisty (Head of the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies [OSGA] and Professor of Russian and East European Politics, University of Oxford)
• Mr Andy Cheu-an Bi (Director of the Education Division, Taipei Representative Office in the UK)

10:40-12:10 Panel One: US-China-Taiwan Dynamics

Chair: Professor Todd Hall (Director of the University of Oxford China Centre and Professor of International Relations, Department of Politics and International Relations [DPIR], University of Oxford)

Panellists:

• Dr Monique Ming-chin Chu (Lecturer in Chinese Politics, University of Southampton)
• Professor Yeh-chung Lu (Vice Dean of the College of International Affairs, Professor of Diplomacy, National Chengchi University; and Vice President of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy)
• Dr Nicola Leveringhaus (Senior Lecturer, Department of War Studies, King’s College London)

12:10-13:50 Lunch Break

13:50-15:20 Panel Two: Taiwan in Northeast and Southeast Asia

Chair: Professor Rachel Murphy (Professor of Chinese Development and Society, OSGA, University of Oxford)

Panellists:

• Professor Chris Hughes (Professor of International Politics and Japanese Studies, University of Warwick)
• Professor Ramon Pacheco Pardo (Head of the Department of European & International Studies and Professor of International Relations, King’s College London)
• Dr Bo-jiun Jing (Senior Research Fellow in Taiwan Studies, OSGA, University of Oxford)

15:20-15:50 Coffee Break (The Buttery, St Antony’s College)

15:50-17:20 Panel Three: Europe-Taiwan Relations

Chair: Professor Paul Irwin Crookes (Associate Head [Education] of the Social Sciences Division and Director of Graduate Studies, OSGA, University of Oxford)

Panellists:

• Dr Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy (Assistant Professor, National Dong Hwa University; and Affiliated Scholar, Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
• Dr Michael Reilly (Senior Fellow, Taiwan Research Hub, University of Nottingham)
• Dr Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova (Head of the China Studies Centre, Rīga Stradiņš University; and Head of the Asia Programme, Latvian Institute of International Affairs)

17:20-17:30 Break

17:30-18:30 Concluding Remarks and Conversation with Representative Vincent Chin-hsiang Yao, Taipei Representative Office in the UK

Chair: Professor Patricia M. Thornton (Director of the Contemporary Chinese Studies Programme, OSGA, and Associate Professor, DPIR, University of Oxford)

About the Speakers

Welcoming Remarks

Paul Chaisty is Professor of Russian and East European Politics and Head of the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies (OSGA). He joined the Department of Politics and International Relations and OSGA in 2005, following a three-year appointment in Politics at Pembroke College, Oxford. His research interests cover legislative, party and interest group politics in post-communist Russia; political attitudes in Russia; nationalism in Russia and Ukraine; and comparative presidentialism. His forthcoming book with Stephen Whitefield is entitled How Russians Understand the New Russia: Consolidation and Contestation, and will be published by Princeton University Press in 2025.

Andy Cheu-An Bi is the Director of the Education Division at the Taipei Representative Office in the UK, facilitating academic exchanges, study mobility, and promoting educational opportunities between the UK and Taiwan. With over three decades at Taiwan's Ministry of Education, Mr Bi has held key roles, including Director General of the Department of International and Cross-Strait Education, and has served in international postings across the United States, Europe, and Australia. A graduate of National Chengchi University with a master’s degree in international law and diplomacy, Mr Bi also completed executive leadership programmes at Harvard’s JFK School of Government and Taiwan's National Academy of Civil Service. His extensive experience includes serving on boards such as Fulbright Taiwan, FICHET, and LTTC. His leadership continues to strengthen Taiwan’s global educational ties and collaborations.

Panel One: US-China-Taiwan Dynamics

Monique Chu, a Lecturer in Chinese politics at the University of Southampton, holds MPhil and PhD degrees in International Relations from the University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on the geopolitics of semiconductors, sovereignty, and cross-Strait relations. Previously affiliated with SOAS and the University of Oxford, she is acclaimed for her groundbreaking monograph, The East Asian Computer Chip War (Routledge, 2013), and for co-editing Globalization and Security Relations across the Taiwan Strait (with Scott L. Kastner, Routledge, 2014). Her work has appeared in esteemed journals such as The Journal of Strategic Studies, The China Quarterly, and China Perspectives. She is currently developing her second monograph, Achilles’ Heel of the Dragon: Problematic Sovereignty along China’s Periphery. Dr Chu is a sought-after commentator for major international media outlets, including the BBC, National Public Radio, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, providing expert insights on semiconductors, Chinese foreign policy, cross-Strait relations, and Sino-US relations.

Yeh-chung Lu is a Professor of Diplomacy and Vice Dean of the College of International Affairs at National Chengchi University (NCCU) in Taipei, Taiwan. He previously served as Chairperson of the Department of Diplomacy at NCCU before assuming his current role. Professor Lu has participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US Department of State and has held visiting scholarships at leading think tanks in Washington, DC. He also served as Vice President of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD), a prominent Taiwanese think tank engaging the public and policymakers through research and policy advice, rejoining the TFD in October 2024. From 2021 to 2023, he was President of the Association of International Relations in Taiwan. His academic expertise focuses on US-China diplomatic relations. Professor Lu earned his doctorate in Political Science from George Washington University in Washington, DC, USA.

Nicola Leveringhaus is Senior Lecturer in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. Dr Leveringhaus specializes in the security of Northeast Asia, especially as this relates to nuclear weapons and China. Previously, Dr Leveringhaus lectured at Sheffield University (2015-16) and was a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2012-15) and Stipendiary Lecturer in International Relations (Trinity College, 2014-15) at Oxford University. She has been a Senior Visiting Scholar at Tsinghua University and a Pre-Doctoral Fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. She holds an MPhil in Modern Chinese Studies and DPhil in International Relations from St. Antony's College, Oxford. Her second book China and Global Nuclear Order: From Estrangement to Active Engagement (Oxford University Press) was nominated for the 2017 ECPR Hedley Bull Prize. More recently, in August 2023, she published work on ideological and historical considerations in Chinese nuclear deterrence for the National Bureau of Asian Research.

Todd Hall earned his PhD from the University of Chicago in 2008 and has held postdoctoral fellowships at Princeton and Harvard, as well as visiting scholar appointments at the Free University of Berlin, Tsinghua University in Beijing, and the University of Tokyo. Prior to joining the University of Oxford, Professor Hall served as an Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of Toronto (2010–2013). His research interests encompass international relations theory, the intersection of emotion, affect, and foreign policy, and Chinese foreign policy. Recent publications include articles in International Organization, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, International Studies Review, Political Psychology, Political Science Quarterly, and Security Studies. Professor Hall is also the author of a book published by Cornell University Press, Emotional Diplomacy: Official Emotion on the International Stage, which was named co-recipient of the International Studies Association's 2016 Diplomatic Studies Section Book Award.

Panel Two: Taiwan in Northeast and Southeast Asia

Chris Hughes is Professor of International Politics and Japanese Studies in the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS), University of Warwick. He was formerly Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education). He has been a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow; Research Fellow, University of Hiroshima; Visiting Associate Professor and Asahi Shimbun Visiting Chair, Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo; Visiting Professor at Waseda University; Edwin O. Reischauer Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies at the Department of Government, Harvard University; and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Nissan Institute, University of Oxford. He has held associate fellow status at Chatham House, IISS, and RUSI. Chris holds degrees from the Universities of Oxford (BA); Rochester, New York (MA); and Sheffield (MA and PhD). Chris is co-editor of The Pacific Review. His latest monograph is Japan as a Global Military Power: New Capabilities, Alliance Integration, Bilateralism-Plus (Cambridge University Press, 2022).

Ramon Pacheco Pardo is Professor of International Relations at King’s College London and the KF-VUB Korea Chair at the Brussels School of Governance. He also serves as Adjunct Fellow with the Korea Chair at CSIS and on advisory committees for organisations including the Jeju Forum and the Reset Korea Campaign. His publications include North Korea: Survival of a Political Dynasty (Agenda Publishing, 2024), Korea: A New History of South & North (Yale University Press, 2023; with Victor Cha), South Korea's Grand Strategy: Making Its Own Destiny (Columbia University Press, 2023), Shrimp to Whale: South Korea from the Forgotten War to K-Pop (Hurst and Oxford University Press, 2022), and North Korea-US Relations from Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong Un (Routledge, 2019). Prof Pacheco Pardo has participated in international dialogues, testified before the European Parliament, and advised NATO, the OECD, and several governments. He is also a columnist for JoongAng Ilbo and a media commentator on East Asia and Europe-Indo-Pacific relations.

Bo-jiun Jing is the organiser of this year’s Oxford Taiwan Studies Conference and a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Taiwan Studies Programme within the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies (OSGA). His research and publications primarily focus on Taiwan-Southeast Asia relations, Taiwan’s cybersecurity strategy, and the international relations of the Indo-Pacific region. Dr Jing is the author of the monograph titled Taiwan and Southeast Asia: Opportunities and Constraints of Continued Engagement (University of Maryland School of Law, 2016). He holds a PhD in International Political Economy from King’s College London. Previously, he served as the Head of the Taiwan Studies Project and Research Fellow at the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP) in Sweden, a Research Associate at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, and an Associate Researcher at the Mainland Affairs Council in Taiwan.

Rachel Murphy is Professor of Chinese Development and Society. Her research interests centre on family, gender, technology and migration. She is a former head and research director of OSGA. She is presently on leave, supported by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship, writing a book about the use of technology in family life and migratory contexts in Chinese societies. 

Panel Three: Europe-Taiwan Relations

Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy is an Affiliated Scholar at the Department of Political Science at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, an Associated Research Fellow at the Institute for Security & Development Policy (ISDP Stockholm), Head of the Associates Network at 9DASHLINE, and a Fellow at Agora Strategy in Munich. Based in Taiwan, Dr Ferenczy is also an Assistant Professor at National Dong Hwa University in Hualien. From 2008 to 2020, she served as a political advisor in the European Parliament. In May 2019, she published her book Europe, China, and the Limits of Normative Power, followed by her second book, Partners in Peace: Why Europe and Taiwan Matter to Each Other, in October 2024. Dr Ferenczy is a regular commentator for international media outlets and shares her insights on Twitter at @zsuzsettte.

Michael Reilly has been a Senior Fellow in the Taiwan Research Hub at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham, since 2015. A former British diplomat, his final posting was as the British representative in Taiwan from 2005 to 2009. From 2011 to 2014, Dr Reilly served as the chief representative in China for the aerospace company BAE Systems. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Global Taiwan Institute and was a Visiting Fellow at Academia Sinica in Taipei in both 2016 and 2019. Dr Reilly has written and co-edited several books on international relations and trade policy, primarily focusing on East Asia, including The Great Free Trade Myth: British Foreign Policy and East Asia since 1980.

Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova is Head of the China Studies Centre at Riga Stradins University, Head of the Asia Programme at the Latvian Institute of International Affairs, and a member of the European Think-tank Network on China (ETNC). She has held research fellowships at Fudan, Stanford, and Oxford Universities and is affiliated with King’s College London and MERICS. Dr Bērziņa-Čerenkova is the author of Perfect Imbalance: China and Russia (World Scientific, 2022) and the editor of Discourse, Rhetoric and Shifting Political Behaviour in China (Routledge, 2023).

Paul Irwin Crookes is a Fellow of Kellogg College. He gained his MPhil and PhD degrees from the Centre of International Studies at the University of Cambridge and holds a BSc (Economics) from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Professor Irwin Crookes embarked on an academic career after working for 20 years in the international IT industry. His research and teaching focuses on the international relations of China with a particular emphasis on EU-China economic relations, regional technology innovation networks, and the security issues of cross-Taiwan Strait relations. He has published work on Taiwan with Palgrave Macmillan, The RUSI Journal, and the East Asia Forum. Paul is the Co-Investigator for the Taiwan Studies Programme, with Rachel Murphy. 

Concluding Remarks and Conversation with Representative Vincent Chin-hsiang Yao, Taipei Representative Office in the UK

Vincent Chin-Hsiang Yao is the current Representative of Taipei Representative Office in the United Kingdom. As a senior diplomat, Representative Yao has held numerous important positions in the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) as well as led various overseas offices. His previous roles include the Director General for European Affairs and Director General for North American Affairs in the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Representative of Taipei Mission in Sweden and Head of Mission of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Seattle. He has extensive experience in both the US and European matters and now over looks Taiwanese relations with the United Kingdom and donor cooperation with the EBRD.

Patricia M. Thornton is the Director of the Contemporary Chinese Studies Programme, Associate Professor in the Department of Politics (DPIR), and Tutor in the Politics of China at Merton College. She is currently a Council Member of the British Association for Chinese Studies, having previously served as a member of the East and Inner Asia Council (EAIC, formerly CIAC-- China-Inner Asia Council) of the Association for Asian Studies. She served on the Executive Committee of The China Quarterly's editorial board for ten years, and as its Acting Editor in Chief in 2021. She is the co-editor (with Vivienne Shue) of To Govern China (Cambridge, 2017), author of Disciplining the State (Harvard, 2007), and numerous articles.

Volunteers

Dr Sheng Yang, Mr Yi-chuan Chiu, Ms Estey Chen, Mr Chong Koon Chuah, Ms Susannah Derrett, Ms Rachel Gardner, and Mr Brian Kot

Free admission. Due to limited venue capacity, registration is required. Please RSVP via the Eventbrite page here.