Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Geopolitical Competition

學術活動

Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Geopolitical Competition

Date(s): April 17, 2023, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm

Location:Georgia Institute of Technology Alumni House (190 North Avenue NW, Atlanta, GA 30313) and Online

Taiwan has long occupied a critical position in the Indo-Pacific region. The island stands at the regional geostrategic and geoeconomic frontlines, challenging China’s regime legitimacy and hegemonic ambition, emerging as a tiger economy in the 20th century, and now securing its role as an advanced technology production powerhouse. Today, as the geopolitical competition between the United States and China heats up in the Indo-Pacific, Taiwan’s role has grown even more crucial while the island’s security circumstances have become ever more precarious.

To discuss these challenging conditions facing Taiwan and help chart a roadmap looking forward, this symposium brings together panelists, each an expert in their field, to create a nexus of thought and discussion on the topic.

The symposium covers two critical aspects of Taiwan’s role in the Indo-Pacific geopolitical competition. The first considers Taiwan’s central position in China’s geostrategic ambition and discusses how the world might ward off a Chinese invasion of the island. The panelists are top thought leaders and policy influencers in European and East Asian affairs and emerging technology’s war applications. The panel discussion will weave a synthesis of the implications of the current Ukraine war and emerging technology for China’s calculations and Taiwan’s deterrence.

The second panel will discuss Taiwan’s crucial position in the center of the tech war ramping up between the United States and China. In the age of AI and supercomputing in what some call the third industrial revolution, Taiwan dominates some of the tech sectors, above all the manufacturing of semiconductors, that will determine which great powers have the edge with access to the latest military and technological innovation possibilities. The panelists meet at the intersection between East Asian affairs and technology and industrial policy expertise to discuss the challenges and opportunities for Taiwan amid the rising U.S. export restrictions and unfolding tech competition.

Co-sponsored by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Atlanta; the Center for International Strategy, Technology, and Policy; the Program on Emerging Technology and International Security at the Sam Nunn School; and the General Ray Davis Endowment Fund.

Format

The symposium will use a hybrid format with in-person and virtual components. The symposium will be broadcasted and recorded synchronously via YouTube, enabling real-time interactions with virtual participants and continuing publicity post the event.