Event Details:

Faculty Emeriti Association Lecture by Zoom

Speaker: David J. Firestein 

President and Chief Executive Officer
George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations

Faculty Emeriti Association Lectures are open to all those interested.

In January, the voters in Taiwan elected Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate William Lai president, giving the DPP an unprecedented third consecutive presidential term. In electing Lai, the plurality of Taiwan voters defied Chinese exhortations and threats. Tensions between the Taiwan and the mainland, already high before the election, have increased in the wake of the election and some analysts assess that the likelihood of cross-Strait military conflict, possibly even in the fairly near term, has increased. What implications will William Lai's assumption of office in May have for Taiwan, the relationship between Taiwan and the mainland, and the relationships between both Taiwan and mainland China and the United States. George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations president and CEO David Firestein will share his insights and views on these and related topics. Firestein is a longtime dear friend of Michigan State University and an honorary Spartan; over many visits to campus since 2007, he has given scores of talks at MSU and across the East Lansing community.