A two-day conference on Culture and Political Change in Contemporary Taiwan took place on May 19 and 20, 2018 at the Australian National University. Ten scholars from Taiwan, Britain, the United States, Singapore, and different parts of Australia presented some of their research findings on social, political and cultural transformations in Taiwan, across the political spectrum in the last three decades, and their influence on today’s Taiwan.
Elliott Charng, Representative at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Australia, gave opening remarks, speaking about the Taiwan Studies Project at the Australian National University. The project is jointly funded by the university and the Ministry of Education in Taiwan, to foster Taiwan’s engagement with Australia and the region. Freddy Tshiong-tso Lim, a legislator representing Zhongzheng and Wanhua districts in Taipei and the lead vocalist of Taiwanese metal band Chthonic, presented the keynote address: “Metal Politics: From Stage to Congress” during the evening session on the first day of the conference.
Over a hundred people attended the conference sessions, discussing labor and industrial relationships, youth involvement in politics, new media and civic engagement, cross-strait interactions, gender and marriage equality, civil society, urban relocation issues and the transformation of military dependents’ villages.

The conference was hosted by the Australian Centre on China in the World at ANU and funded by the Taiwan Studies Project of the Ministry of Education in Taiwan. The ANU hosts one of 44 Taiwan Studies projects at over 35 world-class universities in 16 countries and regions. These projects encompass study, research, and public education activities in fields of economics, history, politics, society, literature, Chinese language, arts, and film.

For more information on the Culture and Political Change in Contemporary Taiwan Conference, please visit： http://ciw.anu.edu.au/
For more information on Taiwan Studies at ANU, please visit：
http://chl.anu.edu.au/disciplines/east-asian-studies/taiwan-studies
For more information on Taiwan Studies Projects by the Ministry of Education, please visit
http://taiwanstudies.moe.edu.tw/Default