May 29 - June 1, 2025

Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
107 Tunnel Mountain Drive, Banff, Alberta, Canada

This conference aims to examine the intricate dynamics of the "China Issue" as it pertains to Taiwan, highlighting how Taiwan's geopolitical challenges are fundamentally tied to China's ambitions to restore its imperial sphere of influence. The event will help to build comprehensive understanding of a major global issue: how Taiwan's cultural and political landscape is deeply intertwined with China's expansionist goals.

Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders have referred to the 75-year separation of Taiwan from China since the founding People’s Republic as the “Taiwan Issue” （Taiwan wenti）This conference inverts such a perspective, referring to the “China Issue” （Zhongguo wenti）as the broad impact of China's historical process of empire-building, which extends its influence beyond its borders to include ethnic minority regions, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and countries in Southeast Asia. The conference will delve into the ideas and practices behind China's "imperial impulse"—a collective mission to revive the concept of the Chinese Empire. By drawing comparisons with historical Germany, Japan, the United States, and contemporary Russia, we aim to underscore the unique characteristics of China's approach.

Taiwan stands as both the target of China's political ambitions and a strategic focal point for its imperial reconstruction. The conference will explore the intense geopolitical rivalry between the U.S. and China in the Western Pacific, framing China as a “revisionist power” that challenges the US regional hegemony and to a lesser extent the global order. However, for Taiwan, the urgency of China's imperial resurgence goes beyond mere revisionism. It signifies China's persistent intention to assert control over Taiwan and claim sovereignty, touching the nerve of Taiwanese who have endured centuries of colonial control by foreign powers.

In response to the challenges posed by China since the 1950s, Taiwan has developed a range of strategies and tactics in the international arena that involve both government policies and civil society mobilization. The conference will examine the multifaceted and long-term implications of the "China Issue" for Taiwan and other countries, addressing its economic, political, and cultural dimensions. This discussion will include the profound competition across the Taiwan Strait in diplomatic, economic, and ideological domains and the ongoing legacy of Chinese political authority that was imported to Taiwan by the authoritarian Nationalist Party-led government in the 20th Century.

By bringing together diverse experts, this conference aims to deepen our understanding of the complex geopolitical forces shaping East Asia and the world. It offers a critical and timely analysis of Chinese strategies and their impact on Taiwan's future, calling for a reassessment of Taiwan's position within the context of China's imperial ambitions and the broader implications for regional relations and global peace.

From May 29 to June 1, 2025, the University of Alberta will host select scholars to present their research at an international conference held in Banff, Canada. Co-organizers Ashley Esarey (University of Alberta) and Jieh-min Wu (Academia Sinica) encourage the submission of abstracts related to themes outlined above by scholars of any discipline in the humanities and the social sciences, with the aim of revising select conference papers for an edited volume published by a university press. 

For more information contact: taiwanst@ualberta.ca

 

 

 

Call for Proposals