Race for ‘Frozen Garlic’: Assessing Taiwan’s 2024 Elections

ROC Presidential Office Building. Source: Office of the President, ROC (Taiwan) Flickr CC BY 2.0 DEED

Introduction 

This season sees the chanting of ‘frozen garlic’ (‘凍蒜’ dongsuan, a Taiwanese Hokkien pronunciation for ‘當選’ dangxuan, meaning getting elected) in campaign rallies across Taiwan as the island approaches its quadrennial presidential and legislative elections on 13th January 2024.

On Thursday, 30th November, in the final week of the Michaelmas term 2023, the Oxford Taiwan Studies Programmes and Oxford China Centre will co-host a panel to unpack various aspects of Taiwan’s 2024 elections. The panellists will discuss developments on the campaign trails, assess the cross-Strait factor, and analyse the implications for geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific region.

About the Panellists

Dr Jonathan Sullivan is an Associate Professor and a China and Taiwan specialist at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham. He co-authored Taiwan: A Contested Democracy Under Threat (Agenda Publishing, 2023) with Lev Nachman. Dr Sullivan has extensive experience working with governments, including an ESRC-funded collaborative project with the FCDO. Engaging frequently with the media, he writes and comments on issues concerning China and Taiwan. He achieved a First with Distinction in Spoken Chinese for his BA in Modern Chinese Studies at the University of Leeds and holds Master’s degrees in Asia Pacific Studies (University of Leeds) and Political Science (University of Nottingham). He completed his PhD at the University of Nottingham in 2010.

Ms Mariah Thornton is PhD Candidate in the Department of International Relations and a researcher at LSE IDEAS. In her co-edited volume titled Taiwan’s Economic and Diplomatic Challenges and Opportunities (Routledge, 2021) with Dafydd Fell and Robert Ash, she explores the concept and development of Taiwan’s ‘international space’ across the Tsai Ing-wen and Ma Ying-jeou administrations. At LSE, her research focuses on China’s foreign policy and strategy towards Taiwan, cross-Strait relations, and Taiwan in digital IR. Before joining LSE, Ms Thornton served as a press and communications officer at the Taipei Representative Office in the UK. She holds a BA in Chinese Studies from the University of Oxford (2011-2015) and an MSc in Chinese Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (2016-2017).

Dr Jing Bo-jiun is a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Taiwan Studies Programme within the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies (OSGA). His research and publications primarily focus on Taiwan-Southeast Asia relations, Taiwan’s cyber security strategy, and the international relations of the Indo-Pacific region. Dr Jing is the author of the monograph titled Taiwan and Southeast Asia: Opportunities and Constraints of Continued Engagement (University of Maryland School of Law, 2016). He holds a PhD in International Political Economy from King’s College London, an MA in International Relations and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a BA in Political Science and Economics from National Taiwan University.

About the Moderator

Professor Todd Hall is a Professor of International Relations and the Director of the University of Oxford China Centre. He earned his PhD from the University of Chicago in 2008 and has held postdoctoral fellowships at Princeton and Harvard, as well as visiting scholar appointments at the Free University of Berlin, Tsinghua University in Beijing, and the University of Tokyo. Prior to joining the University of Oxford, Professor Hall held the position of Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of Toronto (2010-2013). Research interests extend to the areas of international relations theory; the intersection of emotion, affect, and foreign policy; and Chinese foreign policy. He is the author of the book titled Emotional Diplomacy: Official Emotion on the International Stage (Cornell University Press, 2015).