Island and Mainland
Unpacking the Taiwan-China Relationship
December 11, 2019, 6:30 – 8:00PM
Free Admission, Open to Public
“We must cherish Taiwan, which is the West Berlin of China…” —William F. Buckley
Is Taiwan part of China or is it a country on its own? Taiwan occupies a unique position in world politics today. In this interactive presentation, Dr. Chien Tsai offers a historical perspective of geographic conundrum since the 17th century. Join us in a lively discussion on contemporary China-Taiwan relations as we unravel cultural and geopolitical tensions that exist between these two neighbors.

Speaker Bio:
Chien Tsai received two BAs from UW-Seattle: Modern Japanese Literature and Comparative Literature. He received both his MA degree in Regional Studies-East Asia and PhD degree in Modern Chinese Literary and Cultural Studies from Harvard. Before joining the Chinese faculty at CityU in 2018, Chien was a tenured professor at UT-Austin, mentoring undergraduate and graduate students alike and running the Chinese-Language Program. He’s happy to be back in Seattle.
Select Publications:
Brian Bernards, Shu-mei Shih, and Chien-hsin Tsai. Sinophone Studies: A Critical Reader. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013.
Chien-hsin Tsai. A Passage to China: Literature, Loyalism, and Colonial Taiwan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2017.
Questions? Please contact Christine Knorr christine.knorr@cityu.edu