The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET) and the Special Competitive Studies Project co-hosted the forum “The China Challenge: The View from Taiwan” on May 6, 2026, in Washington, D.C., during the AI+ Expo.
The event brought together representatives from government, industry, and academia in Taiwan and the United States to discuss the technological and national security challenges that China poses to democratic allies. DSET President Wen-ling Tu delivered the opening remarks, while the Executive Director moderated the opening session, joined in conversation with Randall G. Schriver, Chair of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), and USCC Vice Chair Mike Kuiken.
DSET also convened U.S. industry representatives on the forum to exchange views on Taiwan-U.S. cooperation in robotics and drone supply chains, as well as the challenges posed by China’s advanced packaging technologies to export control regimes.
DSET President Dr Wen-Ling Tu: Responding to the China Challenge through Resilience and International Cooperation
In her opening remarks, DSET President Dr Wen-Ling Tu thanked SCSP for its long-standing partnership with DSET, noting that SCSP was one of the first think tank partners to host DSET in Washington, D.C. and support its public policy engagement during DSET’s early years. She said that over the past two years, DSET’s mission has become increasingly clear: to advance research on Taiwan’s technological development, geopolitics, and national security. DSET has published nearly 20 policy reports covering key areas including semiconductors, AI, energy, and drones.
SCSP President and CEO Ylli Bajraktari echoed Dr Tu’s remarks, recognising the achievements of past cooperation between SCSP and DSET, and expressing his hope that the two sides would continue to advance larger-scale and more impactful policy exchanges in the future.
Dr Tu emphasised that DSET’s research not only serves the Taiwanese government, but also aims to provide practical policy analysis for international democratic partners. She noted that DSET’s research has gradually gained attention in Washington policy circles, including citations by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in its annual report of DSET’s research on China’s mature-node semiconductor strategy, as well as references by the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party to DSET’s research on how Southeast Asian data centres have become key nodes for China to circumvent U.S. export controls.
She also noted that DSET’s work on national security and democratic governance has helped inform her role as a member of the Presidential Office’s Whole-of-Society Defence Resilience Committee. Established in 2024, the Committee aims to strengthen Taiwan’s overall preparedness for potential national emergencies. Dr Tu said that, as President Lai Ching-te has emphasised, Taiwan must maintain peace through strength, and build that strength through resilience. The establishment of DSET and relevant national security mechanisms, she added, reflects this principle in practice.
Dr Tu further noted that the forum was particularly important because Taiwan sits at the centre of intensifying U.S.-China technology and AI competition. She said DSET will continue to work with like-minded democratic partners to respond to China’s weaponisation of supply chains, economic coercion, and the range of challenges facing Taiwan’s security.
Taiwan’s Strategic Role in U.S.-China Technology Competition and Supply Chain Security
During the session “The Commanding Heights: Navigating Global Competition with the PRC,” DSET CEO Dr Jeremy Chih-Cheng Chang moderated a discussion with Randall G. Schriver, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs and current Chair of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, and Mike Kuiken, Vice Chair of the USCC. The discussion focused on Taiwan’s strategic role in U.S.-China technology competition, economic security, and the restructuring of global supply chains.
Schriver said that, in the face of China’s rapid advances in technology, the United States and its democratic allies must address multiple layers of strategic challenges at the same time. On the one hand, they must effectively slow China’s access to key technologies and capabilities; on the other, they must continue investing in their own innovation and industrial bases to maintain leadership in critical technologies. He further noted that technology competition is no longer simply a matter of industry or research and development, but is deeply intertwined with economic security, supply chain resilience, and national security. For this reason, he said, the United States cannot respond to this competition alone, but must build closer coordination mechanisms with trusted partners and allies. Taiwan, given its critical industrial capabilities and strategic position, plays an indispensable role.
Dr Chang noted that Taiwan’s complete and highly mature manufacturing ecosystem not only makes Taiwan an important ally in supporting the United States’ efforts to rebuild its manufacturing base, but also enables closer Taiwan-U.S. cooperation to help offset and constrain the negative effects of China’s aggressive domestic industrial policies. He emphasised that deeper industrial and policy coordination between Taiwan and the United States would help reduce the risk of democratic countries’ supply chains being constrained by China’s political intentions, while strengthening the resilience of trusted technology supply chains.
The forum also featured several DSET research briefings on how China is developing AI compute capabilities through advanced packaging, Taiwan-U.S. drone industry cooperation, battery supply chains, and AI robotics. Through cross-sector dialogue among the policy, industry, and research communities, the event further highlighted Taiwan’s strategic value in democratic technology alliances in the age of AI, and laid a more concrete policy foundation for deepening Taiwan-U.S. cooperation.
