Taiwan Today

An opening ceremony for the MacArthur Center for Security Studies in Taiwan was held Oct. 15 at National Chengchi University. The center, sponsored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in the United States, and affiliated with the Institute of International Relations at NCCU, will focus on the trilateral relationship between Taiwan, the U.S. and mainland China. Among those who attended the ceremony were Presidential Strategy Advisor Wang Li-shen, Cathay United Bank’s Have Love Foundation President Frederick Chien, American Institute in Taiwan Director William A. Stanton, NCCU President Wu Se-hwa, NCCU’s IIR Director Tuan Y. Cheng, and MCSS Executive Director Liu Fu-kuo. A round-table discussion entitled “Redefining Taiwan Security and Implications of Cross-Strait Progress for Regional Security” was held following the opening ceremony. Lin Bih-jaw, vice president of NCCU, noted that several questions that needed to be addressed urgently included how Taiwan should address the rise of mainland China, whether Beijing is a friend or a foe, and the role of Japan and the U.S. vis-à-vis Taiwan and the mainland. Cheng, director of the IIR, observed that many in Taiwan are uncertain whether the guarantees by the U.S. to defend Taiwan still remain valid. Wendell Minnick, Asia bureau chief of the magazine “Defense News,” observed that Taiwan plays an extremely important role in the U.S. military, and yet this role is scarcely understood by the American public. Minnick urged Taiwan to do a better job at making its importance understood. MCSS Executive Director Liu announced that the center planned to form an Asian Security Initiative Team with Tsinghua University in Beijing and Jiao Tong University in Shanghai. He hoped the team would help shed light on how policies are formulated on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. (LC-HZW)