A cohort of 18 Elliott School master students completed a short-term study abroad program to Taiwan last winter break, studying what a war between China and Taiwan would look like.
One of these students, Darren Ong, a masters student studying international affairs, said he chose the program because of his Taiwanese heritage. He also said the program’s focus on military coercion and studying Taiwanese preparations tied directly into his interest in international security.
“My mother is Taiwanese, and thus, I've always had a Taiwanese cultural background growing up,” Darren said. “So this opportunity really stuck out because it ties into what I am studying, and then combined with my personal connection and desire to be more international, this program seemed like a wonderful fit for me.”
Darren said he valued the opportunity to speak with various figures in Taiwan’s military, government and academia, including Lin Fei-Fan, the deputy secretary-general of Taiwan’s National Security Council and representatives from the CSBC Corporation, a major Taiwanese shipbuilding company that manufactures ships for both military and civilian use. He said these experiences were invaluable because he couldn’t have had the ability to do so otherwise.
“If I ever go to Taiwan as a tourist, I don't think I'm going to have the opportunity to talk to a cabinet official and have a very frank one-on-one about major pressing issues regarding Taiwan,” Darren said. “We also went to talk with the CSBC Corporation’s director and their board. We had behind the scenes insight into how they're preparing for another war in terms of industrial policy and so on."
Darren said he especially enjoyed his time at Kinmen Island, which was a site of two different Taiwanese strait crises. He said the cohort had the opportunity to visit historic sites, talk to locals about their perspectives on China and live in a local cottage compound.
“We stayed in this really old 1950s vintage cottage compound, so the architecture was absolutely gorgeous,” Darren said. “You could just feel the history seeping out of every floorboard and seam.”
Darren said he also liked getting close to his cohort throughout the trip and appreciated the variety of perspectives his fellow students brought to the program. He said while many in his cohort were studying security policy, some students had other focuses, such as economic policy and international development.
“If you ever asked me about my opinions on my cohort, it would be glowing, because this was honestly a very strong cohort,” Darren said. “We had a fairly diverse group, and that brought together lots of different skill sets, experiences and personalities all together. It made for very interesting and very engaging conversations just about what we're doing and why we're here.”
Darren said the trip inspired him to practice speaking Mandarin more, improve his time management skills and learn how to cook more Taiwanese food. He said the trip has also informed his academic and professional interests.
“I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do in the future, but one of my lifelong aspirations was to go into diplomatic service with the State Department,” Darren said. “Now that I've gone through this trip, I'm thinking that maybe something along like think tanks or something more academia focused, although I'm still a bit wary of that."
“You are going to see things, talk with people and learn things that you otherwise would not have been able to do,” Darren said. “And you're going to have incredibly good food, which I think is a fairly major selling-point.”
Taiwan Resilience under Bombardment, Blockade, and Invasion: Past, Present, and Future is a 3 credit short term study abroad course focused on learning about Taiwan’s resilience in the face of growing coercion from China’s military. Students travelled to various sites in Taiwan, such as Taipei, Kaohsiung, and the Kinmen Islands, to study the military, diplomatic and political considerations of an attack on Taiwan and its effects on Taiwan, global trade, and international relations.
Interview conducted by Arunmoy Das.
