Wednesday, January 24, 2023 from 12:00 – 1:30 PM (ET)
In-Person (RSVP here) and Webcast
About this event
The Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) is very excited to invite you to a public seminar on “Taiwan in 2024.” For many countries around the world, 2024 promises to be an eventful year. Over the course of the next twelve months, seven of the globe’s ten most populous states—as well as a large number of other nations—will host elections. While each of these contests will likely have significant ramifications, the elections in Taiwan and the United States stand out as particularly noteworthy. In Taiwan, voters are reckoning with an increasingly complex and unpredictable environment, both domestically and internationally. Under the leadership of Xi Jinping, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) will likely continue to ratchet up its military, political, and economic pressure on Taiwan, though rising demographic and economic issues within China could inject additional uncertainty into the equation. Meanwhile, tensions between China and the United States continue to simmer, despite the moderating effects of the recent summit between Xi and US President Joseph Biden.
Against this volatile geopolitical backdrop, the security relationship between Taiwan and the United States has become more critical than ever. How can Washington and Taipei capitalize on the positive momentum of the past several years? What challenges will the partnership face in the coming year? How will domestic variables influence China’s decision making? Will the 2024 elections result in meaningful shifts in the US-Taiwan relationship, or will the status quo remain largely unchanged? This timely panel will tackle these key questions and many more.
This event will feature a panel discussion with John Dotson (GTI), Alexander Gray (American Foreign Policy Council/GTI), Willy Wo-Lap Lam (Jamestown Foundation), and Karen Sutter (Congressional research Service. The discussion will be moderated by GTI Executive Director Russell Hsiao.
The event will be held at the GTI office located at 1836 Jefferson Place NW in Washington DC (approximately one block from the Dupont Circle Metro). Doors will open at 11:30 AM, and the event will begin at 12:00 PM. If you plan on attending in-person, please RSVP by January 22, as seating is limited. Light refreshments will be provided. Please direct questions or concerns to Program Manager Marshall Reid at mreid@globaltaiwan.org.
**Media: Please contact Marshall Reid at mreid@globaltaiwan.org if you would like to bring additional crew members or equipment, so that we can be sure to accommodate you.
Panelists:
John Dotson is the deputy director at GTI. A former US Navy officer and professional staff member of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, he has performed extensive writing and research on a range of political and national security issues related to US policy in East Asia, to include Chinese propaganda and influence efforts, military-civil fusion efforts within the People’s Liberation Army, and patterns in military coercion efforts directed against Taiwan. He is a proficient Mandarin linguist, who has performed extensive original research in indigenous Chinese language sources. Dotson holds an MA in national security studies from the US Naval War College, and a Master of International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins-SAIS.
Alexander Gray is a senior fellow in national security affairs at the American Foreign Policy Council, as well as a senior non-resident fellow at the Global Taiwan Institute. He also serves as chief executive officer at American Global Strategies. Previously, he served as deputy assistant to the president and chief of staff of the White House National Security Council (NSC) from 2019 to 2021, where he managed the National Security Advisor’s Front Office and was responsible for all personnel, budget, and security functions of the NSC. Gray was the first-ever director for Oceania and Indo-Pacific security at the NSC, responsible for US relations with Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. Previously, Gray served as the special assistant to the president for the defense industrial base at the White House National Economic Council (NEC). As the principal official in the Executive Office of the President responsible for the defense industrial base and supply chain resiliency, Gray authored Executive Order 13806, the first-ever whole-of-government assessment of the defense industrial base, and led the interagency team supervising its implementation. In addition to his executive branch service, Gray served as a member of the 2016 Presidential Transition Team at the US Department of State and as senior advisor to former US Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-VA), primarily supporting his Chairmanship of the Seapower & Projection Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee and the Congressional China Caucus. A term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Gray is a member of the Board of Visitors of the US Coast Guard Academy for a three-year term. His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The National Interest, Newsweek, The Hill, The Diplomat, The Oklahoman, National Review Online, The Weekly Standard, Strategic Studies Quarterly, Real Clear Defense, Naval War College Review, and the proceedings of the US Naval Institute. Gray is a graduate of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and is a recipient of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service and the National Security Council’s Outstanding Service Award.
Dr. Willy Wo-Lap Lam is a senior fellow at The Jamestown Foundation, where he serves as a regular contributor to China Brief. He is also an adjunct professor at the Center for China Studies, the History Department, and the Master’s Program in Global Political Economy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is the author of six books on China, including Chinese Politics in the Era of Xi Jinping (2015). His latest book, Xi Jinping: The Hidden Agendas of China’s Ruler for Life, was released by Routledge Publishing in August 2023.
Karen M. Sutter is a specialist in Asian trade and finance at the Congressional Research Service. She has over 30 years of experience working on US-Asia policy issues, and crosscutting economic, political, technological and national security issues in government, business, and the think tank community. She previously served as the director of strategy and analysis for the US Air Force’s Office of Commercial and Economic Analysis (OCEA); special advisor to the assistant secretary for international markets and investment and senior policy advisor to the deputy assistant secretary for investment security at the US Department of Treasury; and senior analyst on China at the CIA. Prior to joining government, Sutter led the research and consulting division of the US-China Business Council and directed the Asia program at The Atlantic Council of the United States. Earlier in her career, she worked for the National Bureau of Asian Research and the Asia Society. Sutter has worked and studied in Beijing, Taipei, and Strasbourg, and speaks Chinese (Mandarin) and French. She received an MA in international studies from the University of Washington, where she was a Henry M. Jackson Fellow, and is a graduate of the University of Virginia.
Moderator:
Russell Hsiao is the executive director of GTI, senior fellow at The Jamestown Foundation, and adjunct fellow at Pacific Forum. He is a former Penn Kemble fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy and visiting scholar at the University of Tokyo’s Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia. He previously served as a senior research fellow at The Project 2049 Institute and national security fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Prior to those positions he was the editor of China Brief at The Jamestown Foundation from October 2007 to July 2011 and a special associate in the International Cooperation Department at the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. While in law school, he clerked within the Office of the Chairman at the Federal Communications Commission and the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center at the Office of the US Trade Representative. Hsiao received his JD and certificate from the Law and Technology Institute at the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law where he served as the editor-in-chief of the Catholic University’s Journal of Law and Technology. He received a BA in international studies from the American University’s School of International Service and the University Honors Program.