The Taiwan Strait has been a political quagmire for leaders in China, Taiwan and the United States for decades. Last week's second annual Strait Talk symposium brought students from the three countries to Brown to discuss and create their own solutions to the ongoing conflict.
Five delegates from each of the three countries met to participate in "an intense six-day dialogue on the strait issue" from Nov. 1 to Nov. 5 and produced a consensus document with suggestions for improving relations between China and Taiwan, according to the symposium's promotional description. "Strait Talk is the first student initiated, student-run symposium" dedicated entirely to this issue, wrote Ann Chang '09, a student organizer, in an e-mail to The Herald.
A steering committee of about 30 Brown undergraduate students worked for months to make sure the week-long event ran smoothly, said publicity chair Greg Fay '07.
The steering committee chose the 15 student delegates from prominent universities in the northeastern United States, China and Taiwan. The committee looked for "passionate college students" who want to help resolve cross-strait conflicts "in their future careers," said finance director Nicholas Poon '09. Four of the five American delegates came from Brown, while the other was from Yale University.
Student organizers also brought in speakers such as Associate Professor of Sociology Thomas Gold from the University of California, Berkeley and Jing Huang, a senior fellow in the China Initiative at the Brookings Institution, according to material distributed by Strait Talk participants.
The strait conflict revolves around a disagreement between Taiwanese nationalists and the People's Republic of China over the degree of Taiwan's independence from China. As a global superpower and a potential competitor to China, the United States has a complicated position with regard to the conflict.
At the symposium's last event on Sunday, delegates presented their final consensus document. It was divided into three sections - cultural, economic and political - each of which had its own recommendations for conflict resolution. Overall, the suggestions invoked a need for mutual respect and cooperative efforts.
Poon said the strait issue "is a quagmire ... that's why you don't hear that much about it." In the midst of such a stagnant and complex issue, he said finding delegates who are "willing to work together is really encouraging."
Strait Talk provides an important outlet that Chinese and Taiwanese students may not have otherwise, Fay said. He added that there are few opportunities for communication between China and Taiwan, and Strait Talk gives students a chance for such interaction.
The idea for this trilateral student conference, the first of which took place last year, began with Johnny Lin '08, who is studying abroad this year, wrote Kevin Xu '08, a student organizer, in an e-mail to The Herald. The "philosophical foundation of the symposium" is Interactive Conflict Resolution, a 40-year old method for conflict resolution applied to such conflicts as those in East Timor, Cyrus and Israel/Palestine, Xu wrote.
Strait Talk is the "first symposium in which the method of ICR is ever being practiced on the Taiwan Strait Issue," Chang wrote. As well as hosting public events, Strait Talk organizers arranged for private meetings attended only by the delegates and ICR moderator Tatsushi Arai of the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vt.
The meetings were held to work through resolutions and develop the final consensus document while allowing Taiwanese and Chinese students to share opinions they would not express in a public setting, especially if they want to be future leaders, Fay said.
During the event, delegates and student organizers build friendships through overnight stays in residence halls and social events like dinners and parties, Fay said. "The whole idea of Strait Talk is that it's not only about academics or a fancy suit-and-tie symposium. It's a living experience, and the dialogue should not only be generated across the conference table," Chang wrote.
This is only the second Strait Talk conference, but organizers said they have already reworked some aspects of the program and are eager to continue improving and expanding it. "This year's symposium took a much more academic approach," Xu wrote.
Poon said last year the symposium tried to bring in some "political groups with sensitive agendas." This year, however, Strait Talk made an effort to keep the programming unbiased, with little interference from outside political groups.
Organizers will be developing an alumni association to sustain the friendships created between delegates, Poon said. Students have already begun to "brainstorm possible solutions" for organizational weaknesses and "the symposium can only get better," Xu wrote.
Fay called the symposium "a lot of work" but said he was sure that "to everyone who was working on it - it was worth the experience."
As for the delegates, Chang wrote, "I do see hope (in them) ... I do see understanding and trust" as well as the desire to "fight together" against the conflict their generation has inherited.
