Speaker biographies

Claude E. Barfield is a resident scholar and the director of trade, science, and technology policy studies at AEI. He is the author or editor of a number of books on trade and science policy, including Free Trade, Sovereignty, Democracy: The Future of the World Trade Organization (AEI Press, 2001). In 1999, he coauthored Tiger by the Tail: China and the World Trade Organization (AEI Press) with Mark Groombridge. Before coming to AEI, he served in the Ford administration, on the staff of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, and as a co-staff director of the President’s Commission for a National Agenda for the Eighties.

Steve Ruey-Long Chen has been the deputy minister of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MEA) of Taiwan since April 2002. He is also currently responsible for Taiwan’s major trade negotiations, including at the World Trade Organization’s Doha round of trade talks, and for a U.S.-Taiwan free trade agreement. His previous positions at the MEA include vice minister between 2000–02 and director general of the Board of Foreign Trade between 1997 and 2000. From 1993–96, Mr. Chen represented Taiwan at the World Trade Organization. In addition to his government experience, Mr. Chen also served as vice president of Chin Yung Ho Enterprises Co., Ltd. for a period in the early 1980s.

Rupert Hammond-Chambers was appointed president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council in November 2000, a position in which he has worked to develop the council’s role a partner for American business in Asia. Mr. Hammond-Chambers has worked for the council since October 1994, following a position as associate for development at the Center for Security Policy. Mr. Hammond-Chambers also sits on the advisory boards of Redwood Partners International, the Sabatier Group, and the Pacific Star Fund. He is a trustee of Fettes College and a member of both the National Committee on United States–China Relations and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Webster Wei-Ping Kiang is senior executive vice president of Chinatrust Commercial Bank, Taiwan’s largest privately owned bank. He is also director general of the Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the treasurer of the Asian Bankers Association. Mr. Kiang also has extensive experience working in the government of Taiwan. He served as a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1993–96, and as the vice chairman of its research development and evaluation council between 1996 and 2000. Mr. Kiang is trained as a chemical engineer and has five patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Chun-Der Wu is affiliated with the Institute for Information Industry, where he works on promoting WiMAX technologies and the M-Taiwan program. Mr. Wu has previously served as vice president for DBTEL, a mobile phone handset manufacturer, Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless, and Lucent Technologies. He is an expert in business planning, Taiwan’s telecommunications industry, and nuclear technology.

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