US-Taiwan Relations and Taiwan’s International Status

Thursday, February 18, 2021

The Hoover Institution hosted US-Taiwan Relations and Taiwan’s International Status on Thursday, February 18, 2021 from 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. PST.

During the Trump administration, bipartisan support for Taiwan grew in the US, partly in response to Beijing’s increasing pressure on Taiwan following the election of Tsai Ing-wen.  The US reduced restrictions on high-level official contacts with Taiwan, many of which had been put in place more than 40 years ago when the US ended formal relations with the Republic of China on Taiwan and normalized relations with the People’s Republic of China.  Washington moved to increase bilateral defense cooperation, support for Taiwan’s international participation, and more.  The Biden administration has indicated that it will not reverse many of these developments and has pledged greater engagement with fellow democracies in the Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan.  Are these developments a sign of a significant deepening of the unofficial partnership between Washington and Taipei?  What do they portend for Taiwan’s international status and security?  In this talk, Jacques deLisle will address these issues in the context of Taiwan’s complicated status in US and international law, and Taiwan’s ongoing quest for international space and stature.

Featured Speaker
Jacques deLisle is the Stephen A. Cozen Professor of Law & Professor of Political Science, and Director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China at the University of Pennsylvania. Jacques deLisle’s research and teaching focus on contemporary Chinese law and politics, including: legal reform and its relationship to economic reform and political change in China, the international status of Taiwan and cross-Strait relations, China’s engagement with the international order, legal and political issues in Hong Kong under Chinese rule, and U.S.-China relations. His writings on these subjects appear in a variety of fora, including international relations journals, edited volumes of multidisciplinary scholarship, and Asian studies journals, as well as law reviews. DeLisle is also professor of political science, director of the Center for East Asian Studies at Penn, deputy director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China and director of the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He has served frequently as an expert witness on issues of P.R.C. law and government policies and is a consultant, lecturer and advisor to legal reform, development and education programs, primarily in China.