On the morning of April 10, 2013, Dr. Richard C. Bush delivered a speech at the TKU Tamsui Campus. Dr. Bush is the former Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and current Director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, Washington DC. The speech, which Dr. Bush was invited to deliver by the TKU College of International Studies, explored the topic “Facing Mainland China: Taiwan’s Future Challenges”.

The speech was viewed by the Taiwanese public as significant, drawing not only TKU faculty, staff, and students, but also students and scholars from other schools, as well as members of the Ministry of National Defense, the Investigation Bureau (Ministry of Justice), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Comprising four separate topics, the talk provided insight into the major Cross-Strait challenges still facing the ROC government, which, according to Dr. Bush, include the following: “China’s ultimate goal is still unification”, “Taiwan’s concern over damaging their own sense of national sovereignty”, “How Mainland China views the ‘problem’ of Taiwan”, and “the question of self-consolidation”.

Chen Yi Fan, a PhD candidate from the Graduate Institute of American Studies who attended the talk, said that he came to the event to gain a broader perspective on international relations. He added: “As Dr. Bush stated, there is a lack of consensus within Taiwan regarding Cross-Strait relations, but if we continue to emphasize positive development, we stand to benefit”.