Executive Roundtable: Prospects for Cross-Strait Relations

Last year was a highly eventful year for relations across the Taiwan Strait: Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan provoked intense PRC military exercises around the island, and Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated the Chinese position on “reunification” during his speech at the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. In addition, the ongoing war in the Ukraine sees continued speculation in the media of its significance for an understanding of Taiwan’s future.

Looking ahead, which developments should we expect to see in relations across the Taiwan Strait in the coming months? Are there any realistic prospects for a thawing of the deadlocked relations between Beijing and Taipei? Can we expect any relaxation of the PRC’s military, political and diplomatic pressure on the island, or will it only intensify, also in light of the upcoming Presidential elections in Taiwan in January 2024? And how are the evolving relationships between the United States, European nations and Taiwan likely to develop in the year ahead, in the face of determined opposition from Beijing?

During this Executive Roundtable, our two distinguished experts, Managing Director of Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) Rorry Daniels and Director of the Taiwan Studies Project at the University of Zurich and Senior Fellow, Asia Society Center for China Analysis Simona Grano, will address these and other important questions, and provide insight into the complexities of the relationship as we look to the future. Both experts will join us in person in Zurich.

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Rorry Daniels

Rorry Daniels is the Managing Director of Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI), where she leads and oversees strategy and operations for ASPI's projects on security, climate change and trade throughout Asia. She is also a Senior Fellow with ASPI's Center for China Analysis.

Rorry was previously with the National Committee on American Foreign Policy where she managed the organization's Track II and research portfolio on Asia security issues, with a particular focus on cross-Taiwan Strait relations, U.S.-China relations, and the North Korean nuclear program. Her most recent research project audited the U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue to evaluate its process and outcomes. She regularly writes and provides analysis for major media outlets and newsletters on security issues in the U.S. and the Asia Pacific. She is a 2022 Mansfield-Luce scholar, a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and the National Committee on North Korea, a Pacific Forum Young Leader, as well as a Korea Society Kim Koo Foundation Fellow (2015 cohort). She earned her M.S. in International Relations at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs, where she focused her studies on East and South Asia. She is proficient in Mandarin and holds a B.A. in Media Studies from Emerson College.

Simona Grano

Simona Grano is a Senior Lecturer and Director of the Taiwan Studies Project at the University of Zurich. Starting in September 2023, Simona will join Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI)’s Center for China Analysis as a non-resident Senior Fellow to focus on Taiwan issues and the January 2024 elections.

Simona has held research positions and taught China Studies and Taiwan Studies at Ca' Foscari University of Venice in Italy, at the University of Zurich in Switzerland and at National Cheng'chi University in Taiwan. She is a research fellow of the European Research Center on Contemporary Taiwan (ERCCT), in Tübingen, Germany and a research associate of SOAS, London. Simona is the author of  Environmental Governance in Taiwan: a new generation of activists and stakeholders, published in 2015 by Routledge. Her articles have appeared in the Journal of Civil Society, Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, China Information, Asiatische Studien, Taiwan in Comparative Perspective and Orizzonte Cina. Her latest edited volume: China-US Competition: Impact on Small and Middle Powers' Strategic Choices, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in December 2022. Simona completed her Ph.D. in Chinese Studies at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy in 2008.