David Firestein speaks at UT Austin Center for Taiwan Studies

Bush China Foundation President and CEO David Firestein spoke to a group of students and faculty at the University of Texas at Austin Center for Taiwan Studies about “Taiwan and the U.S.-China Relationship: Hard Realities and Inconvenient Truths.”

The recent visit of U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan generated headlines and cast into renewed relief the importance and sensitivity of Taiwan as an issue in U.S.-China relations.  The visit and China’s reaction to the visit significantly increased tensions across the Taiwan strait and within the already fraught U.S.-China relationship.  Differences between the United States and China on the issue of Taiwan, always present, have become increasingly visible. Mr. Firestein’s talk aimed to peel back the veneer of well-worn diplomatic language employed by both the United States and China and discuss what he referred to as the “hard realities and inconvenient truths” associated with the issue of Taiwan in the U.S.-China relationship, and offer his assessment regarding the prospects for cross-Strait relations and U.S.-China relations.