UCLA Taiwan in the World Program Lecture
Yeh-chung Lu (National Chengchi University)
Moderated by Lachlan McNamee (UCLA)
This event was presented online on December 21, 2021.
The UCLA Taiwan in the World lecture series aims to promote Taiwan studies and disseminate knowledge about Taiwan in a global context and shed light on Taiwan’s political economy, international relations, and US-Taiwan-China relations, as well as Taiwan’s society, political system, social structure, and institutions. This series is organized by Taiwan in the World postdoctoral fellow Shih-chan Dai.
The election results of November 2020 marked a dramatic shift in the distribution of political power along partisan lines in the U.S. government. Joe Biden was elected as the 46th U.S. President and the Democrats have secured majorities in the House and the Senate. Since Democrats have controlled both the White House and Congress, it is expected that the Biden Administration may pursue major policy changes, especially in the realm of foreign affairs. With uncertainties after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Quad Summit at the White House, it becomes vital for us to reflect on how these recent developments would reshape the geopolitical dynamics in East Asia. In this lecture, we invite Professor Yeh-Chung Lu, who is an expert in the fields of East Asian politics and cross-Strait relations, to discuss the prospects and challenges for East Asian countries during the Biden administration.
Yeh-chung Lu is professor and chair of the Department of Diplomacy and former director of the International Master’s Program in International Studies (IMPIS) at National Cheng-chi University (NCCU), Taipei, Taiwan. He was previously holding visiting positions at the Henry L. Stimson Center (summer 2014) and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (summer 2013), both in Washington, DC, and at Yonsei University (summer 2012), Seoul, Korea. From October 2015 to June 2021, he also served as a vice president to the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD), a leading think tank in Taiwan in engaging the general public and policy circles with research and policy advices.
Dr. Lu focuses on US-China relations, and American and Chinese foreign policy as his academic expertise. In addition, his research interests include IR theories, international security issues, and international institutions. His publications appeared in scholarly journals as Issues & Studies, Journal of Contemporary China, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, New Asia, Prospect Journal, Wenti yu Yanjiu, EurAmerica, Prospect Quarterly, and edited books. He also served to peer reviewing articles from Perspectives on Politics, Asian Politics and Policy, and other publications in Taiwan.
Dr. Lu received his doctoral degree in Political Science from George Washington University, Washington, DC, U.S.A., and B.A. and M.A. in diplomacy from NCCU in Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. (E-mail: yclu@nccu.edu.tw)