On July 4, 2025, DSET met with a student delegation from Stanford University’s Bing Overseas Studies Program (BOSP). The 16 visiting undergraduate and graduate students came from a wide range of disciplines, including political science, economics, international relations, engineering, and the natural sciences.
The dialogue focused on Taiwan’s evolving information environment, disinformation threats, and the ongoing efforts by government and civil society to strengthen democratic resilience.
DSET CEO Dr. Jeremy Chih Cheng Chang began by expressing appreciation to Professor Larry Diamond and Professor Kharis Templeman of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University for leading the delegation and for their longstanding collaboration with DSET. He noted that earlier this year, in May, DSET’s Economic Security Division was invited to present its latest research at the Semiconductor Security Dialogue hosted by the Hoover Institution.
The exchange centered on three key themes:
- Taiwan’s media environment and information ecosystem
- The PRC’s expanding influence operations targeting Taiwan
- Institutional and grassroots responses to safeguard digital democracy
Dr. Kai-shen Huang, Director of DSET’s Democracy Governance Division, outlined the three strategic objectives behind PRC disinformation campaigns targeting Taiwanese elections: to undermine social resilience, to distort facts and narratives, and to alter political perception.
“These manipulations are not necessarily concerned with factual accuracy,” Dr. Huang explained. “Rather, they are strategically designed to exploit local context and undermine trust through disinformation adapted to Taiwanese discourse.”
Responding to students’ questions about Taiwan’s energy security, DSET emphasized that the island’s dependence on critical minerals produced in China presents a serious vulnerability. This issue ties into broader concerns over supply chain risks, calling for deeper cooperation with democratic allies to strengthen resilience through cross-border information sharing and coordinated policy responses.
When asked about the role of think tanks in Taiwan’s civil society, CEO Dr. Chang explained that, unlike Washington’s well-established think tank ecosystem, Taiwan’s policy research institutions are still in a formative stage and have historically faced limited international engagement due to geopolitical isolation. “Ironically, this is exactly why Taiwan’s experience has drawn increasing attention in recent years,” Dr. Chang noted. “We have both the capacity and responsibility to share insights on countering authoritarian influence and strengthening democratic governance under pressure.”
He further emphasized that Taiwan’s democratization was not driven from the top down, but rather by civil society and grassroots movements. As a locally grounded yet globally connected think tank, DSET actively engages with international stakeholders through sustained relationships with leading policy institutions and its Non-Resident Research Fellow program. “We hope to continue helping the next generation of global leaders understand Taiwan’s diversity, openness, and democratic resilience,” Dr. Chang concluded.
