Speaker biographies
Presenter:
His Excellency Chen Shui-bian is the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan). He was a successful attorney and senior partner at the Formosan International Marine and Commercial Law Office from 1976 to 1989. His first politically related case—defending staff members of Formosa magazine and other democracy activists against charges of sedition and riot following the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident—led him into a lifetime of political activity.
President Chen was first elected to the Taipei City Council in 1981. In 1987, he joined the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the country’s first opposition party after the lifting of martial law. In 1989, he was elected to the Legislative Yuan and served as executive director of the DPP caucus.
In 1994, President Chen was selected as one of the world’s top hundred leaders of the new century by Time magazine. He was also elected mayor of Taipei that year. After taking office, he improved the city’s transportation conditions and cracked down on crime. In 1998, Taipei was selected by Asiaweek as one of the top five Asian cities.
On March 18, 2000, he was elected president of the Republic of China (Taiwan). His administrative agenda has focused on reforming government infrastructure, galvanizing the economy, pursuing new diplomatic strategies, and promoting peace in the Taiwan Strait. To improve the overall investment environment, President Chen convened the Economic Development Advisory Conference in 2001, which produced consensus on 322 measures. Under his leadership, Taiwan has maintained steady economic performance, and in 2005, it was the world’s sixteenth-largest trading nation, achieving high rankings in international competitiveness surveys.
President Chen was awarded the 2001 Prize for Freedom by Liberal International in recognition of his unwavering commitment to freedom and human rights. His administration has striven to build Taiwan on the principles of human rights. His administration has also paid special attention—through institutional and funding measures—to the needs of farmers, fishermen, laborers, women, the elderly, and the disadvantaged, and it has promoted the cultures of the Hakka and indigenous minorities.
To further democratize Taiwan, President Chen endorsed national referendums. As a result, Taiwan’s first national referendum was held on March 20, 2004—the same day he was reelected for a second term. President Chen has since emphasized the need to revise the Taiwan constitution in order to enhance good governance, foster the rule of law, and ensure Taiwan’s long-term stability and prosperity. President Chen has always placed utmost importance on improving relations across the Taiwan Strait. For his crucial role in this regard, he was listed among the world’s most influential people by Time magazine in 2005.
By September 2006, President Chen had made eleven overseas trips and visited over twenty diplomatic allies to promote democracy, prosperity, cooperation, and friendship. Under his leadership, Taiwan overcame twelve years of diplomatic obstacles to be admitted to the World Trade Organization in 2002. In April 2005, he became the first president from Taiwan to break China’s diplomatic blockade and visit Europe when he attended the funeral mass of Pope John Paul II.
President Chen remains committed to uplifting the nation by continuing to pursue political reform and consolidate democracy, promote human rights, strengthen environmental protection, and encourage sustainable development. Fully aware of the Taiwan government’s key role in creating lasting peace in East Asia and the world at large, he also maintains a forward-looking attitude toward Taiwan’s relations with China.
Discussants:
Dan Blumenthal joined the AEI in November 2004 as a resident fellow in Asian studies. He currently serves as vice chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Commission, which he joined in 2005, and as a member of the Academic Advisory Board for the Congressional U.S.-China Working Group. Previously, he was senior director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for international security affairs during the first George W. Bush administration. In addition to writing for AEI’s Asian Outlook series, he has written articles and op-eds for the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, National Review, and numerous edited volumes. He is currently working on a book that will examine divides within the China policymaking community.
Kurt Campbell is the founding chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). He concurrently serves as director of the Aspen Strategy Group and chairman of the editorial board of The Washington Quarterly, and he is the founder and principal of StratAsia, a strategic advisory company focused on Asia. Prior to cofounding CNAS, he served as senior vice president, director of the International Security Program, and the Henry A. Kissinger Chair in National Security Policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Previously, Mr. Campbell served in government, including stints as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asia and the Pacific, director on the National Security Council staff, and deputy special counselor to the president for NAFTA. He was also associate professor of public policy and international relations at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and assistant director of the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. Mr. Campbell is coauthor of Hard Power: The New Politics of National Security (Basic Books, 2006), principal author of To Prevail: An American Strategy for the Campaign against Terrorism (CSIS, 2001), coeditor of The Nuclear Tipping Point (Brookings Institution Press, 2004), and he has contributed extensively to journals, magazines, and newspapers. He has contributed to the New York Times and National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and has been a consultant to ABC News.
Michael Green holds the Japan Chair and is a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also an associate professor of international relations at Georgetown University. He served as special assistant to the president for national security affairs and senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council (NSC) from January 2004 to December 2005. He joined the NSC in April 2001 as director of Asian affairs with responsibility for Japan, Korea, and Australia/New Zealand. From 1997 to 2000, he was senior fellow for Asian security at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he directed the Independent Task Force on Korea and study groups on Japan and security policy in Asia. He served as senior adviser in the Office of Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of Defense in 1997 and as a consultant to the same office until 2000. From 1995 to 1997, he was a research staff member at the Institute for Defense Analyses, and from 1994 to 1995, he was an assistant professor of Asian studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he remained a lecturer until 2001. Mr. Green spent over five years in Japan working as a staff member of the National Diet, as a journalist for Japanese and American newspapers, and as a consultant for U.S. businesses.
The Honorable Dana Rohrabacher is currently serving his ninth term in Congress, representing California’s 46th District. As the ranking member of the International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Rohrabacher is a forceful spokesman for human rights and democracy around the world. He is leading an effort to boycott the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing by introducing a resolution to that effect emphasizing China’s human rights violations. Representative Rohrabacher led the effort to deny Most Favored Nation trading status to China, citing its human rights record and opposition to democracy. Prior to his election to Congress in 1988, he served as special assistant to the president for speechwriting in the Reagan White House. During his tenure at the White House, Representative Rohrabacher played a pivotal role in formulating the Reagan Doctrine and championing a strong national defense. He is also a senior member on the House Committee on Science.
Gary J. Schmitt is a resident scholar at AEI, where he is director of the Program on Advanced Strategic Studies. Prior to coming to AEI, he helped found and served as executive director of the Project for the New American Century, a Washington-based foreign and defense policy think tank. Previously, he was a member of the professional staff of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and served as the committee’s minority staff director. He was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the post of executive director of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board at the White House. Schmitt is the coeditor, with Thomas Donnelly, of Of Men and Materiel: The Crisis in Military Resources (AEI Press, 2007). Mr. Schmitt has written books and articles on a number of topics, including the American founding, the U.S. presidency, intelligence, and national security affairs.
Vincent Wei-cheng Wang is chair and associate professor of political science at the University of Richmond. He has published over fifty scholarly articles and book chapters on Taiwan’s domestic politics and external relations, Asian politics and international relations, American foreign policy, science and technology policy, and the comparative political economy of East Asia and Latin America. His most recent publications concern China’s assessment of its security environment, Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, transitional justice and democratic consolidation in Taiwan, Taiwan’s security policy, China’s information warfare strategies, the China-ASEAN free trade agreement, the U.S.-Japanese alliance, and its implications for East Asian security. Mr. Wang has taught at the University of Miami and National Sun Yat-sen University (Taiwan), and he has been a guest researcher at National University of Singapore, Kyungnam University (South Korea), the Institute of International Relations (Taiwan), and El Colégio de México. He is the coordinator of the American Political Science Association Conference Group on Taiwan Studies and a member of the board of directors of the American Association for Chinese Studies. Mr. Wang serves on the editorial boards of Issues and Studies and Asia Policy.
View Event Details
