Why Taiwan Matters

UCLA Center for Chinese Studies presents a talk by Shelley Rigger who will speak on Taiwan's important role in the global arena.

Taiwan is more than just a problem in international relations. It matters to the United States, to China, to the world -- and to Taiwan itself. From its successful economic and political development to its role as a "canary in the coalmine" of a rising PRC, Taiwan is an important global actor. It matters, too, because its unique society, culture and identity oblige us to regard Taiwan as an end in itself, and not only as a means by which others accomplish their own ends.

Shelley Rigger is the Brown Professor of East Asian Politics and Chair of Political Science at Davidson College in North Carolina. She has a PhD in Government from Harvard University and a BA in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University. She has been a visiting researcher at National Chengchi University in Taiwan (2005) and a visiting professor at Fudan University in Shanghai (2006). She is the author of Why Taiwan Matters: Small Island, Global Powerhouse (Rowman and Littlefield, 2011) as well as two books on Taiwan's domestic politics, Politics in Taiwan: Voting for Democracy (Routledge 1999) and From Opposition to Power: Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (Lynne Rienner Publishers 2001). She has published articles on Taiwan's domestic politics, the national identity issue in Taiwan-China relations and related topics. Her monograph, "Taiwan's Rising Rationalism: Generations, Politics and 'Taiwan Nationalism'" was published by the East West Center in Washington in November 2006. Her current research studies the effects of cross-strait economic interactions on Taiwan people's perceptions of Mainland China.