Activity report on the lecture “Taiwan Relations Act and US-Taiwan-China
Interactions” by Prof. Shutsung Liao and Shu-Yao Sheu

Lecturers:
Dr. Ming-Min Peng (Senior consultant to the president of Taiwan)
Prof. J. Mearsheimer (Professor in Politics, University of Chicago)
Date, time, and place:
4:45 PM, May 04, 2005, Social Sciences Building 122
Presented by:The Taiwanese Student Association at the University of Chicago
Host: Shu-Yao Sheu

In the late afternoon of the first Wednesday in May, lecture hall 122 in the Social Sciences building was packed with almost two hundred people who wanted to hear Dr. Ming-Min Peng and Prof. John Mearsheimer speak on the topic of US-Taiwan-China Interactions.

After a short introduction to the speakers, Prof. Peng gave an excellent summary about the struggle of the Taiwanese in building Democratic Taiwan and stressed that the wish of Taiwanese (based on Self-Determination Principle) to build their own country should be respected and supported. Professor Mearsheimer, whose speech followed that of Peng’s, stressed the point that the US will use its mighty power to fight for its interest in Asia which the US and other Asian countries, include Japan, will consider very important in containing China. He indicated affirmatively that China's economic growth will be translated into military power and the Chinese will fight a war with the US even knowing that they would lose it, just like the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor to start the World War II not because knowing they would win. Both speakers agreed that Taiwan is “de facto independent”, but delivered different analysis of possible future of Taiwan.

The words of the two speakers aroused a vast feedback from the audience: a
composition of mostly students from University of Chicago from a wide span of ethnicity. Prof. Liao from the cancer biology department suggested a third solution of making Taiwan the Switzerland of Asia, which Prof. Mearsheimer does not think feasible providing that it involves too much conflict in interest and that China would not accept it due to its Chinese nationalism. A lady from China, wife of a Taiwanese, suggested that both China and Taiwan just live in peace, which Dr. Peng does not think it promising providing that there are 800 missiles aimed at Taiwan’s major cities. A student asked whether India would become a significant force in US – China competition, which received a positive but not definite answer from Prof. Mearsheimer, saying that he is not an expert in economics. A Taiwanese physics student suggested that democratizing China is the solution, which Prof. Mearsheimer said being “de facto independent” for years, that Taiwan would not accept being part of a even democratized China. A lecturer in Law school raised his point that China and Taiwan can develop friendly relationship like the US and Canada, and said that the Chinese will not care whether or not Taiwan belongs to them just as most Americans does not care whether Canada is part of America. Dr. Peng rejected this possibility immediately, saying that the Chinese imperialism just cannot tolerate Taiwan independence. Prof. Mearsheimer also reminded the audience that this liberal way of thinking taken by most Americans is not the point of view taken by the Chinese.

Eventually the host had to close the continuing discussion as the time had already run out. This was a meaningful lecture as the Taiwanese Students learned about international realism on topic that is related to their homeland and that the non-Taiwanese Students learned about one of the Taiwanese perspectives on the US-Taiwan-China Interactions.

The Taiwanese Student Association at the University of Chicago is grateful to Dr. Ming-Min Peng for flying from Taiwan for this event, and to Prof. Mearsheimer for accepting our invitation to be one of the lecturers. We would also like to thank Jun-Dar Su from the Cornell Taiwanese Student Association and Pauline Huang from the Columbia Taiwanese Student Association for holding two separate lectures on similar topics at their schools which made Dr. Peng’s visit to the States possible. Special Thanks to Hsiao-Pong Liu who helped in organizing this event and in fundraising. We would also like to thank all our sponsors for making this event possible; they are: Dr. Teh-Ming Liang, Prof. Shutsung Liao, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office at Chicago, Taiwanese Association of America Greater Chicago Chapter, and the Taiwanese American Heritage Foundation of Greater Chicago.