One of the most complicated topics in contemporary international relations is the status of the self-governing island of Taiwan and its government in Taipei, formally called the government of the Republic of China. In this May 6, 2025 talk, Bing Ling, a professor at the University of Sydney Law School, explains the legal basis for China’s claim to sovereignty over Taiwan; what actions might invoke use of the PRC’s Anti-Secession Law, either to use force against Taiwan or simply bring criminal charges against Taiwanese who oppose unification; and the urgent need for the governments in Beijing and Taipei to resume talks.
Talking Points: What Does ROC Law Say About Taiwan?
One of the most complicated topics in contemporary international relations is the status of the self-governing island of Taiwan and its government in Taipei, formally called the government of the Republic of China. During the 2024-2025 academic year, the U.S.-Asia Law Institute began inviting speakers to talk about Taiwan’s legal status from various perspectives. In this April 3, 2025 talk, Yu-Jie Chen, an assistant research professor at the Institutum Iurisprudentiae of Academia Sinica, explains how Taiwan defines itself in its own constitution, and how its “constitutional order” has evolved beyond the text of the constitution.
Talking Points: What Does the United Nations Say About Taiwan?
One of the most complicated topics in contemporary international relations is the status of the self-governing island of Taiwan and its government in Taipei, formally called the government of the Republic of China. In this Feb. 13, 2025 talk, Jacques deLisle, a professor of law and political science at the University of Pennsylvania, unpacks the debate over the 1971 United Nations General Assembly vote that took the “China seat” at the UN away from the ROC government on Taiwan and gave it to the government of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing. He says the UN General Assembly did not and could not decide whether Taiwan is a state or merely part of the PRC.
Talking Points: What Does International Law Say About Taiwan?
One of the most complicated topics in contemporary international relations is the status of the self-governing island of Taiwan and its government in Taipei, formally called the government of the Republic of China. In this Nov. 7, 2024 talk, Peter Dutton, a senior research scholar at the Paul Tsai Center at Yale Law School, explains the US view that title to the territory of Taiwan and the Penghu Islands did not revert to China after World War II, and remains “undetermined” in international law. The ROC, he says, is a self-declared state on territory whose status is ambiguous.
Talking Points: What Does US Law Say About Taiwan?
One of the most complicated issues in contemporary international relations is the status of the self-governing island of Taiwan and its government in Taipei, formally called the government of the Republic of China. During the 2024-2025 academic year, the U.S.-Asia Law Institute hosted a series of speakers to address Taiwan’s status. We began with a talk by Richard Bush, a nonresident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution who led US engagement with Taiwan from 1997 to 2002 as chairman and managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan. In his October 30, 2024 online talk at NYU Law, Bush explains the genesis and significance of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.