Thursday, August, 15, 2024 from 1:00PM – 2:00PM (EDT)
Webcast
About this event:
Event Description:
The Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) is pleased to invite you to a panel discussion, “Taiwan Contingency Scenarios and Legal Deterrence: Issues for US-Taiwan Policy.”
Taiwanese citizens have become accustomed to the growing number of Chinese military aircraft and naval vessels operating around Taiwan since 2022. In addition to these military provocations, Beijing is increasingly employing legal measures to divide and isolate the island democracy. To counter these new and aggressive tactics from China, which seek to undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan and its allies including the United States may need to shift from their reactive posture to a proactive one that addresses these legal gaps. If China’s strategic and legal pressure campaign remains unchecked, it could limit Taiwan’s ability to fight back under current international law. For instance, in light of Taiwan’s international legal status, would Taiwan possess the right of self-defense? As a matter of international law, could Taiwan’s allies have the right of collective self-defense? Moreover, what is the scope of self-defense as defined by international law?
This public seminar will examine multiple hypothetical contingency scenarios over Taiwan, such as direct attacks, military quarantine or blockade, and actions of gray zone aggression by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The expert panel will examine these scenarios within the framework of international law and assess how the United States could feasibly support Taiwan and deter potential threats from China. By focusing the analysis of these issues in terms of international legal principles and norms, this public seminar and subsequent report aim to contribute a nuanced understanding of Taiwan’s international legal status within the broader context of various contingency scenarios. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of legal clarity and adherence to established frameworks in managing and potentially resolving conflicts in the Taiwan Strait.
The event will be live-streamed through YouTube beginning on Thursday, August 15 at 1:00PM EDT. Questions for the panel may either be sent by e-mail to contact@globaltaiwan.org, or through the chat function on YouTube. Please direct questions or concerns to GTI Program Manager Adrienne Wu at awu@globaltaiwan.org.
The Panelists:
Kaichieh KJ Hsu is a visiting fellow at the Global Taiwan Institute, a visiting fellow at law school of New York University and a judge in Taiwan. He is also a Ph.D. candidate at National Taiwan University.
Julian Ku is faculty director of International Programs, and Maurice A. Deane Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law at Hofstra University’s School of Law. He is the co-author, with John Yoo, of Taming Globalization: International Law, the U.S. Constitution, and the New World Order (Oxford University Press 2012).
Eyck Freymann is a Hoover Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a non-resident research fellow at the China Maritime Studies Institute at the US Naval War College. He is the author of One Belt One Road: Chinese Power Meets the World (Harvard University Press, 2021).
The Moderator:
John Dotson is the deputy director at GTI. 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.