Taiwan Elections 2024

IN-PERSON PROGRAMMING  I  February 16  I OTTAWA CHAPTER  I  MEMBERS-ONLY

On Jan 13, Taiwan hosted its presidential and legislative elections, which resulted in more than 20 million voters casting their ballots. To the displeasure and warnings of Beijing, the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will retain the presidency as William Lai Ching-te builds on the work of his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen. The election of Lai Ching-ted sets the stage for a potential continuation of the increased confrontation witnessed in the run-up to the election. In the 113-seat Legislative Yuan, no party won a majority. Moreover, at the same time, the diversity of candidates, and vibrancy and transparency of its electoral process showcased the quality of Taiwan’s democracy and shared values with other democratic countries like Canada. 

The Canada China Forum is hosting a discussion on the outcomes of the Taiwan election results and what they mean for the island, cross-Strait relations, and the Canada-China-Taiwan triangle in 2024. Representative Harry Ho-jen Tseng, Jacob Kovalio, and Prof. André Laliberté will provide valuable insights into the significance of the election results and the geopolitical context going forward. Discussions will be held under Chatham House Rules.

Speakers: 

• Representative Harry Ho-jen Tseng of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada.
• Jacob Kovalio, Professor, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Department of History at Carleton University.
• André Laliberté, Professor of Political Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences at UOttawa.

Representative Harry Ho-jen Tseng is a Taiwanese diplomat who has served as a deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan since 2020 and its representative to Canada since 2022.

Jacob Kovalio – Dr. Jacob Kovalio (PhD in Japanese History – 1981- and MA in Chinese History -1972 – both from the University of Pittsburgh), originally from Israel, is the administrator of the website.Dr. Kovalio is a researcher, writer and teacher of Modern Japanese Political and Diplomatic History and its broader links to Asia and the world. He has been with Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada since 1987. Previously he taught at the University of Victoria (British Columbia), the University of Tel-Aviv and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He worked in Japan for over six years and travelled and lectured throughout East Asia. Dr. Kovalio is the recipient of a Foreign Minister of Japan’s Commendation (2014) and of the Order of the Rising Sun Gold Rays with Rosettes (2021) for contributions to the study of Japan and to the advancement of relations between Japan and Canada.

André Laliberté – After obtaining a doctorate in political science from the University of British Columbia in 1999, André Laliberté taught at the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa, where he is a full professor and teaches courses on comparative politics, with a focus on the countries of the Indo-Pacific region. He is co-director of the Research Chair in Taiwanese Studies, in addition to being an associate researcher at the Center for International Policy Studies and the Human Rights Research and Education Center at the University of Ottawa. He has published articles and chapters on various aspects of Taiwan’s democratic transition and consolidation, including changing civil-military relations, women’s participation in parliament, migrant workers’ rights, and the political actions of religious associations. He has also written on different dimensions of the CCP religious work. He was a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington in 2011 and at Leipzig University in 2019. He regularly visits Taiwan for research and has done the same often to Hong Kong and to over ten different cities in China.