Digital Taiwan Lecture Series – More Than Just the Middle: The Opportunity for Increased Collaborative Partnerships between Taiwan and Europe

Amid rising great powers competition, middle powers like the Nordics, the Benelux, and East Asian nations, such as Taiwan, are looking for alternatives to sustain their position in the international political system. There has been an increased realization that economic partnerships should not solely depend on economic gain but also on compatible political systems. In a world where economic interdependence has increasingly been used as a tool for coercion, partnerships with like-minded powers have grown increasingly important. The European Union is looking for partners that value democracy and could find that alliance in Taiwan.  

In this webinar, the importance and possibilities of cooperation between Taiwan and the European Union will be discussed. Dr. Casper Wits from Leiden University and Dr. San-yi Yang from National Chung Hsing University will be discussing the value of Taiwan-EU cooperation and the opportunities and obstacles of creating and applying the relevant policies in both places. 

The webinar will touch upon how to increase visibility of the possibilities in working with Taiwan in Europe, how to move away from the relationship being exclusively focused on semiconductors and foster a sustainable long-term connection based on shared values; simultaneously, the challenges will also be discussed.

Speakers: 

Casper Wits, Lecturer, East Asia Studies, Leiden University 

Casper Wits is a University Lecturer in the Institute for Area Studies. His research focuses on postwar diplomatic and international history in East Asia, with a special interest in the development of Chinese and Japanese foreign policy and Sino-Japanese relations in this period. He also takes an interest in contemporary EU policy towards the East Asian region. Dr. Wit is the co-author of the book titled “De kracht van middenmacht: Het belang van Zuid-Korea, Taiwan en Japan voor onze democratische toekomst” (The Power of Middle Powers: the importance of South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan to Our Democratic Future).

San-Yi Yang, Director and Professor, Graduate Institute of International Politics, National Chung Hsing University 

San-Yi Yang is a Professor and Director of the Graduate Institute of International Politics at National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan, and Vice Dean of the College of Law and Politics at the same university. He also serves as Director of the Center for Global Peace and Strategy Studies. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Warsaw. His research focuses on European security policies, particularly those of small and medium-sized states, European Union integration, and external policies.

Moderator: Yi-Chieh Chen, Research Fellow at ISDP’s Stockholm Taiwan Center 

Discussant: Haitske Pottinga, Intern at ISDP’s Stockholm Taiwan Center