2024 ANU Taiwan Update

In January 2024, Taiwan voted for a new president. For the first time in its democratic history, the candidate who was elected was from a party that had already held the presidency for the maximum two terms. In May, therefore, Lai Ching-te (William Lai) of the Democratic Progressive Party was inaugurated. However, unlike his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen, he will have to govern without a majority in the parliament, the Legislative Yuan. The Chinese government immediately expressed their displeasure at Lai’s election, so how will Taiwan’s new political alignments alter the cross-strait status quo? Will the new president be able to carry out his program with a hostile parliament? Will Lai’s administration follow the course set by President Tsai, or will he strike out on a new path?

These are some of the questions the 2024 ANU Taiwan Update will address. However, this year, we are also examining three issues at the forefront of modern, changing Taiwanese society. The keynote speaker, Tayal scholar Dr Wasiq Silan, will focus on social programs run by and for Taiwan’s indigenous peoples, Professor Chen Mei-Hua will explain how a #metoo movement arose in 2023, and we will be screening the multiple prize-winning documentary And Miles to Go Before I Sleep, which concerns the police shooting of a Vietnamese migrant worker. The director of the documentary, Tsai Tsung-lung, will also be taking part in a post-screening interview. Finally, one of Australia’s foremost Taiwan experts, Dr Craig Smith will discuss how the various images of Taiwan in the west — exotic island, oppressed colony, capitalist factory, progressive society — have been shaped and propagated.

Event Program:

Keynote | Unseen Challenges: Indigenous Elders and Hidden Colonization in Taiwan's Aged Care
Dr Wasiq Silan, National Dong Hwa University, Taiwan

Session 1 | Dynamics of Taiwan's Party Politics and Linkages to the Indo-Pacific
Dr Fang-Yu Chen, Soochow University, Taiwan

Session 2 | ‘I’m not surprised’: The sexual subjects and emotional communities in Taiwan’s #MeToo movement
Professor Mei-Hua Chen, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Taiwan

Session 3 | Telling Taiwan’s Story Well: Shaping Perspectives on the Beautiful Island
Dr Craig A. Smith, The University of Melbourne

Film Screening | And Miles To Go Before I Sleep 《九槍》
Directed by Tsung-Lung Tsai