The Chinese Communist Party’s actions in Hong Kong show that it is increasingly willing to act in ways that violate international norms, laws and expectations when it sees doing so as being in its own interests.
Nowhere is this truer than in circumstances in which President Xi perceives the legitimacy of the party to rule being challenged. Given recent events, many have come to question what China’s actions in Hong Kong might say about its ambitions in Taiwan. The island nation has long been a sore spot for leaders in Beijing. Until now, though, it was assumed that the PRC would not trigger any escalation in the South China Sea for fear of international condemnation. In light of recent events, these assumptions are being revisited.
The Henry Jackson Society, in partnership with the Taiwanese Representative Office, was delighted to host a discussion on these issues. Sam Armstrong will was joined in discussion by Alexander Görlach and Dr I-Chung Lai and Xiani Perez-Cheng
Alexander Görlach
Alexander is a linguist and theologian who works on narratives of identity, politics, and religion, and liberal democracy, as well as secularism, pluralism, and cosmopolitanism. His recent research interests have frequently been focussed on the rise of China and its implications for Western values. He was a visiting scholar to both Harvard Divinity School and Harvard Center for European Studies and a J. F. Kennedy Memorial Policy Fellow at that Center, in the academic years 2014-2017. Alex is senior fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, a fellow at the Center for the Governance of Change at IE University in Madrid, a senior research associate at Cambridge University’s Institute on Religion and International Studies, a senior advisor to the Berggruen Institute, and a honorary professor of ethics and theology at Leuphana University of Lüneburg in Germany.
Dr I-Chung Lai
Dr I-Chung Lai is a Visiting Researcher at Cornell University, as well as being Executive Director for Mission in the United States, Democratic Progressive Party(DPP). He is Special Assistant at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Tokyo and Director General, Department of China Affairs, Democratic Progressive Party(DPP). He is also Director General for the Department of International Affairs, Democratic Progressive Party(DPP) and Vice President for Taiwan Thinktank. His current position is as President of the Prospect Foundation.