Date and Time: 9-10 September 2025
Location: The Australian National University
2025 has seen Taiwan enter a period of increased uncertainty and instability. Along with the rest of the world, Taiwanese leaders have attempted to navigate the capricious whims of Donald Trump as he attempts to remake trade and international relations. The activities of China—both overt and covert—continue to threaten Taiwan’s sovereignty. And internally, the conflict between the Presidency and executive branch held by the Democratic Progressive Party and the Legislature held by the Nationalist Party (KMT) and their allies in the Taiwan People’s Party, has led to legislative gridlock, an attempt at what some analysts have called a ‘constitutional coup’, challenges in the Constitutional court, and a mass recall of KMT member of the legislature.
This year’s Update explores Taiwan’s economic statecraft, energy security challenges, and current political polarisation as well as the revitalisation of Taiwanese Indigenous knowledge through video games. The award-winning film, Gaga, concerns a local election for township chief, revealing the tensions inherent between the ideologies and institutions of contemporary Taiwan and the Atayal practice of tribal law and practice.
