[Sold Out] The U.S. Congress, Taiwan, and U.S.-China Strategic Competition
VIEW EVENT DETAILS
Taiwan is arguably the biggest flashpoint that could bring the United States and China into conflict. As the United States and China enter an era of strategic competition, how the two countries manage the Taiwan issue will likely determine prospects for war and peace in the Indo-Pacific.
U.S. Congress has played a unique role in Taiwan policy since the passage of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) in 1979. Congress continues to shape Taiwan policy through the introduction of recent bills such as the Taiwan Policy Act and the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act, that augment the TRA, as well as through congressional visits to Taiwan.
As we approach the 45th anniversary of the TRA, Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis (CCA) is pleased to host a panel of experts to take stock of the importance of the Act and the continued relevance of Taiwan in an era of strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). What is the relevance and importance of the TRA in U.S.-Taiwan relations? How have the political, diplomatic, and military dimensions of cross-Strait relations changed over the past several decades, and how have these factors influenced the role of Congress in U.S.-Taiwan affairs?
To help us understand these dynamics, the panel will feature Ann E. Kowalewski, Professional Staff Member (Indo-Pacific) of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Bonnie Glaser, Director of the Asia Program of the German Marshall Fund of the United States; Russell Hsiao, Executive Director of The Global Taiwan Institute; and Jacques deLisle, Stephen A. Cozen Professor of Law and Political Science and Director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Bates Gill, Executive Director of the Center for China Analysis, will be giving introductory remarks. The panel will be moderated by Lyle Morris, Senior Fellow for Foreign Policy and National Security at the Center for China Analysis.
Light breakfast will be served.
This event takes place at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2nd Floor Butler Conference Room, 1779 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC.
SPEAKERS
Ann E. Kowalewski is the Professional Staff Member covering the Indo-Pacific portfolio for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, focusing on East Asia and the Pacific. Prior to HFAC, she was a Senior Policy Analyst for the Indo-Pacific on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where she worked on key legislation such as the Taiwan Policy Act, Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, and authored the technology chapter of a committee report on transatlantic cooperation regarding the People’s Republic of China. Before her time on the Hill, Kowalewski worked at various think tanks, including the American Enterprise Institute and Center for a New American Security, where she focused on People’s Liberation Army modernization, PRC power projection in the Indo-Pacific, and U.S. defense alliances and policy in Northeast Asia.

Bonnie S. Glaser is Managing Director of German Marhsall Fund’s Indo-Pacific program. She is also a Nonresident Fellow with the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia, and a Senior Associate with the Pacific Forum. She is a co-author of US-Taiwan Relations: Will China's Challenge Lead to a Crisis (Brookings Press, April 2023). She was previously Senior Adviser for Asia and the Director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Glaser has worked at the intersection of Asia-Pacific geopolitics and US policy for more than three decades.

Russell Hsiao is Executive Director of the Global Taiwan Institute, 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.

Jacques deLisle is Stephen A. Cozen Professor of Law and Political Science and Director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China at the University of Pennsylvania. His research and teaching focus is on contemporary Chinese law and politics, including: legal reform and its relationship to economic reform and political change in China, the international status of Taiwan and cross-Strait relations, China’s engagement with the international order, legal and political issues in Hong Kong under Chinese rule, and U.S.-China relations. His writings on these subjects appear in a variety of fora, including international relations journals, edited volumes of multidisciplinary scholarship, and Asian studies journals, as well as law reviews.

Dr. Bates Gill is Executive Director of Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. Prior to joining the Asia Society, Bates held a number of research and academic leadership positions in the Indo-Pacific, Europe and United States. Most recently, he was professor and chair of the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University in Sydney and was also the inaugural Scholar-in-Residence with the Asia Society Australia. In other previous roles, he served as director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), as the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and as founding director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution.
Lyle J. Morris is Senior Fellow for Foreign Policy and National Security at Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. Prior to joining ASPI, Lyle was a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation leading projects on Chinese military modernization and Asia-Pacific security from 2011-2022. From 2019 to 2021, Morris served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) as the Country Director for China, advising OSD on defense relations between the Department of Defense and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and on Indo-Pacific maritime security.
Event Details
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
2nd Floor Butler Conference Room
1779 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC