Thursday, October 31 | 7:30 p.m.
Steitz 102
Chong Ja Ian is associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore and a non-resident scholar with Carnegie China. His research covers Chinese foreign policy and security in Southeast and Northeast Asia.
This lecture is free and open to the public! A reception with light bites will precede the talk at 7 p.m. in the Steitz Atrium.
Taiwan’s status is an issue of significant contention for the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Beijing claims Taiwan as its own and reserves the right to use force to exert control, despite never having ruled the island since its establishment in 1949. Recent years have seen the PRC increase coercive measures to prevent what Beijing fears is Taiwan’s growing separation.
In that context, relations across the Taiwan Strait have also become a point of concern and friction between the United States and the PRC. Yet, the idea of a sovereign Chinese state with unified, centralized political authority and clear borders that incorporate Taiwan is a relatively new one historically. Conceptions of China have a standardized, singular language and culture normalized around ethnicity and race, which likewise trace their origins from the late nineteenth century. This talk examines changing political conceptions of China, Chinese identity, frontiers, and China’s external ties through China’s multifaceted and evolving relationship with Taiwan since the sixteenth century.