The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Boston held the “Taiwan-U.S. Relations Seminar” at the prestigious patent law firm of Fish and Richardson P.C. in Boston on April 9. Dr. Barry Unger, Associate Professor of Innovation and Technology Management in the Department of Administrative Sciences at Boston University served as moderator. The panel also included Virginia Greiman, Esq., Assistant Professor of Project Management and International Law at Boston University and Attorney Advisor at Harvard Law School, and Ms. Olivia Ho, Board Member at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. More than 30 scholars and experts from the Boston academic, business and media communities attended.
The seminar began with a viewing of a live webcast of President Ma Ying-jeou’s remarks with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a prominent think tank in Washington, D.C., in which he updated attendees on the recent developments in U.S.-Taiwan relations, the situation across the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan’s foreign policy. At the conclusion of the videoconference between Taipei and CSIS, the Boston site held a follow-up discussion on Taiwan-U.S. economic cooperation, Taiwan’s economic development, and its efforts to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and other regional economic organizations, Cross-Strait relations and the situation in the Asia-Pacific. Panelists and audience members alike affirmed their confidence in the innovation capabilities of Taiwan’s business sector. They also agreed that the signing of a Bilateral Investment Agreement between Taiwan and the U.S., and Taiwan’s membership in the TPP, would lead to improved trade relations between our two countries.