On October 17-18, 2014 the Taiwan Democracy Project at CDDRL, with the generous support of the Taipei Economic and Culture Office, hosted its annual conference at Stanford University to examine the politics of polarization in Taiwan.
This conference brought together specialists from Taiwan, the U.S., and elsewhere in Asia to examine the sources and implications of this political polarization in comparative perspective. It will include a special case study of the Trade in Services Agreement with China that triggered this past year’s protests, as well as a more general overview of the politics of trade liberalization in Taiwan, prospects for Taiwan’s integration into the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other regional trade agreements, and a consideration of the implications for Taiwan’s long-term democratic future.
Chen-Dong Tso (左正東) is a Professor of Political Science at National Taiwan University. Dr. Tso’s research interests lie in the areas of international political economy, East Asian regionalism, and Southeast Asia, and he has written widely on trade and technology policy in Taiwan and the greater Asia-Pacific region. He currently serves as the president of the Prospect Foundation, director of the Taiwan Public Governance Research Center, and Secretary General of the Association of International Relations (R.O.C.). Prior to his current roles, he also held positions as a senior advisor to the Asia Foundation and a visiting fellow at the Stimson Center. Dr. Tso received his Ph.D. in international studies from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.