Lin Presents at Harvard University Taiwan Studies Workshop

Posted November 28, 2016

Dalton Lin, an assistant professor in the Ivan Allen College Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, gave a talk at Harvard University’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies on November 3, 2016.

Lin’s talk, which was entitled “The Tsai Ing-wen Presidency at Six Months: The Current State and Prospects for Cross-Strait Relations,” was given as part of the Taiwan studies workshop “Taiwan in Transition? Initial Impressions of the Tsai Ing-wen Administration.”

During his talk, Lin argued that the current state and the most likely short-term scenario in Taiwan’s cross-strait relations is a dynamic cold peace. He said President Tsai of Taiwan has no domestic political needs to provoke China, and he cited surveys showing that Tsai's cross-strait policy of maintaining the status-quo is embraced by Taiwan's median voters. He concluded by asserting that what Tsai needs to do is to avoid making mistakes that might give China excuses to use coercion.