A Coalescing Taiwanese American Identity and U.S.-Taiwan Relations

Does the coalescing of a Taiwanese American identity influence media attention and reporting on Taiwan issues in the United States? Does the Taiwanese American voice impact U.S.-Taiwan relations? To answer these questions, it is critical to understand what factors influence an individual to self-identify as Taiwanese American. Drawing upon survey responses of self-identified Taiwanese Americans, this presentation will summarize preliminary observations and themes that emerge to serve as a starting point for discussion.
This event is free and open to the public. A recording of the event will be made available after the event on the Sigur Center’s KZbin page.
Speaker: Christine Lin, Non-Resident Scholar, Sigur Center for Asian Studies, GW; Director of Training & Technical Assistance, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, UC Law San Francisco
Moderator: Jonathan Hsy, Associate Professor of English and Director of Undergraduate Advising, GW
Speaker Bio: Christine Lin is the Director of Training & Technical Assistance at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies based at UC Law San Francisco and has taught in the Refugee & Human Rights Clinic. Her research on the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and the advocacy of local autonomy led her to pursue a career in international human rights law advocating for the rights of asylum seekers and refugees. Currently, Christine is researching the role of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in non-Refugee Convention signatory states and examining the protection of asylum seekers in Taiwan.
As a Visiting Scholar at The George Washington University’s Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group 2023-2025, Christine is examining the coalescing of a Taiwanese American identity and U.S.-Taiwan relations. She previously published on Taiwanese Americans’ political views in the United States and the status of Taiwan.
Previously, Christine served as the Legal Director of Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre and an Attorney Advisor with the U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review through the Attorney General’s Honors Program. She has taught in refugee legal aid clinics at the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Christine is on the board of the Taiwanese American Professionals - San Francisco.
Moderator Bio : Jonathan Hsy is Associate Professor of English at George Washington University where he is also Affiliated Faculty in the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. He teaches in the Asian American Studies program with interests in comparative literature, translation, race, and media studies. He is the author of Antiracist Medievalisms: From “Yellow Peril” to Black Lives Matter (2021). Hsy is a founding member of the Executive Board of the BIPOC-led research network RaceB4Race, and he has received fellowships from the NEH, Mellon, and Institute for Advanced Study. His publications on literature, media, and cultural identity have appeared in PMLA, Literature Compass, and Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies.