Taiwan’s Energy Security Dilemma

Speakers: 

Clara Gillispie, Senior Fellow for Climate and Energy, Council on Foreign Relations

Joseph Webster, Senior Fellow, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center

Yu-Hsuan Yeh, MPA Candidate in Climate, Energy and Environment, Columbia University

Discussant: 

Thomas Christensen, James T. Shotwell Professor of International Relations; Director, China and the World Program, Columbia University

Moderator: 

Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science, Columbia University

In the event of a crisis, Taiwan is vulnerable to losing its energy supply because it relies predominantly on imported coal and natural gas to generate power. There is both much serious research and much political debate around the question of “energy resilience,” touching on the prospects for nuclear power and green energy.

The panel will discuss Taiwan’s options for increasing energy resilience. Gillispie will address Taiwan’s energy dilemma and evolving power-generation mix. Webster will examine how US policymakers view Taiwan’s energy security, the shifting geopolitics in the global LNG market amid changing US-China and China-Russia relations, and how to reduce Taiwan’s energy vulnerabilities under quarantine or blockade scenarios. Yeh will address policy debates and policy conflicts around energy policy in Taiwan.

Speakers’ Bios:

Clara Gillispie, senior fellow for climate and energy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), is a leading expert on Asian energy security strategies and their implications for U.S. national interests. She joined CFR from the National Bureau of Asian Research, where she most recently served as senior advisor for trade, economic, and energy affairs. In addition to energy and environmental security, Gillispie researches and writes on sustainable development, public health, and technology policymaking in the Indo-Pacific.

Joseph Webster is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Indo-Pacific Security Initiative, and editor of the independent China-Russia Report. His broad portfolio focuses on energy and national security, with an emphasis on strengthening constitutional democracy against rival systems. A frequent writer on energy and geopolitical topics, he has been published at the Atlantic Council, the Interpreter, and War on the Rocks, among other outlets.

Yu-Hsuan Yeh has a decade of experience in sustainability, blockchain, ocean and climate policy and energy security research. Her work contributed to Taiwan’s Climate Change Response Act and Ocean Conservation Act. Her most recent experience was as a Non-Resident Fellow at the Energy Security and Climate Resilience Program of Taiwan’s national think tank, DSET. She is currently a Research Intern at the Energy Security and Climate Change Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

This event is part of the Andrew J. Nathan Taiwan Lecture Series.  It is hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and co-sponsored by China and the World Program.

Registration: To attend this event online, please register HERE.