This is the election year in the US and candidates from the two major parties have been campaigning hard to get heard and picked to be the presidential candidates. For the Republican Party, the running candidate was clear, while the one for the Democrats, it is still far from conclusive, seesawing between Obama and Hilary. Hence, the Graduate Institute of American Studies (GIAS) saw this as a fantastic opportunity for their students to practice some real politics by organizing a mock debate among these three heavyweights. With the help of AIT (American Institute in Taiwan), the debate was held at noon on May 16 at Taipei Campus, moderated by Dr. Huang Chieh Cheng, the director of GIAS and Mr. Thomas Hodges, the spokesperson from AIT. Over 10 scholars on US-Taiwan affairs were also present for a round-table discussion prior to the debate. After a tense debate, TKU beat other competitors from Cheng-chi and Tsing-hua Universities.

At the debate, TKU grad students represented the Obama camp, students from Cheng-chi University for Hilary, while those from Ching-hwa University argued for McCain. The entire debate was in English and synchronized interpretation was made available. Commentators included Dr. Chan Man-jung, a Senior Advisor of National Security Council, Chiang Chia-shiung, the Chair of the Dept. of Diplomacy of National Cheng Chi University as well as Dr. Yan Cheng-sheng, a research fellow and the chair of the First Division of the Institute of International Relations from the same university, who grilled the candidates about their policies. Based on these, the audience voted on their winner, and TKU won by capturing 39% of the entire ballots. Dr. Chan explained that TKU won by being fully prepared and knew their facts. ( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )