Thursday, May 29, 2025 from 12:00PM – 1:30PM (ET)
In-person and Webcast
Event Description:
The Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) is pleased to invite you to a seminar discussion titled “The Lai Administration’s First Year in Office and Taiwan’s Continuing Challenges.”
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te was elected in January 2024, emerging with a plurality of the vote in a hotly contested three-way presidential race—and winning a consecutive third term for Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party in controlling the executive branch. Since assuming the presidency in May 2024, however, Lai’s first year in office has been a difficult one. Among the issues facing the administration are a stand-off with a legislature controlled by an alliance of opposition parties, which has held up resolution of the government budget; rising tensions with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which has escalated rhetorical attacks against Taiwan’s government and continued to increase military activity around the island; controversies surrounding the administration’s efforts to push back against PRC subversion; and the uncertainty of relations with the United States under the second Trump Administration.
On May 29th, GTI will convene a public seminar to discuss the complex set of challenges facing Taiwan and its government after the Lai Administration’s first year in office: including continued PRC “gray zone” military pressure, trade talks amidst the threat of US tariffs, and the complexities of Taiwan’s own contentious domestic politics.
Panelists will include: Brian Hioe (journalist and founder of New Bloom Magazine); Daniel Shats (Institute for the Study of War); and Zoe Weaver-Lee (East-West Center). The event will be moderated by GTI Director John Dotson.
The event will be held at GTI’s 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 (EST). The event will also be live-streamed on our website and YouTube. If you plan on attending in-person, please RSVP by May 27, as seating is limited. Light refreshments will be provided. Questions for the panel may either be sent by e-mail to contact@globaltaiwan.org, or through the chat function on the YouTube page. Please direct questions or concerns to Program Manager Adrienne Wu at awu@globaltaiwan.org.
The Speakers:
Brian Hioe (丘琦欣) is one of the founders of New Bloom Magazine (破土), an online magazine founded in Taiwan after the Sunflower Movement in 2014. In his capacity as such, he helps run the community space for events that New Bloom runs in Taipei, DAYBREAK (破曉咖啡). He is a non-resident fellow at the University of Nottingham’s Taiwan Research Hub and is a member of the board of directors of the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club. Hioe’s writing has been published in The Washington Post, The Nation, The Guardian, The Diplomat, and other publications, and he has made media appearances on Al-Jazeera, the BBC, CNN, and other networks.
Daniel Shats is a China analyst at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). His work has focused particularly on PRC short-of-war coercion of Taiwan, maritime confrontations in the South China Sea, and the Russia-China relationship. His research and analysis have been cited in news media such as The Hill, Business Insider, The Washington Post, and Asia Times. Shats holds a master’s degree in China Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Zoë Weaver-Lee is a programs coordinator at the East-West Center in Washington. She previously served as a program associate at the Global Taiwan Institute, prior to which she studied Mandarin in Taiwan as part of the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship. Her writing focuses on China’s economic coercion of Taiwan, Taiwan-US subnational commercial relations, and Taiwan’s foreign assistance programs. She graduated from Stetson University in 2019 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Global Development and minors in Political Science and Asian Studies. This fall, she will be attending National Chengchi University for a Masters in Applied Economics under the Taiwan Graduate Scholarship.
The Moderator:
John Dotson is the director at the Global Taiwan Institute. He has served previously as a US Navy officer, as a staff member of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, and as an editor of the Jamestown Foundation’s publication China Brief. John 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 united front work, elite politics within the Chinese Communist Party, military-civil fusion efforts within the People’s Liberation Army, and Taiwan defense policy. John holds an MA in National Security Studies (with “highest distinction”) from the US Naval War College, and a Master of International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins-SAIS.