EVENTS

Abstract        

The ‘21^st Century Maritime Road’ was initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 during his official visit to Indonesia. It is a concrete signal to India, and the other countries around this region, that China planned to have a stronghold in the Indian Ocean. Consciously (or unconsciously) appealing to peace and security, China announced a White Paper on its defence strategy in May 2015, which not only  clarifies the Chinese PLA’s four tasks in the coming years, but also stresses that maritime power struggles are bound to continue. In this White Paper, China also announced its ‘overseas stake-holding area’ (海外利益攸關區), thereby revealing the possibility of intervention in regions where she had made heavy investments. This stake-holding area includes sea lanes across the Indian Ocean, as well as the Ocean itself. In sum, China will be more and more inclined to extend its model over the Indian Ocean. By mixing the economic cooperation with the countries in this region, through the ‘One Road’ initiative, China will finally transform its influence into more solid power, countering the ‘possible’ enemies, including the US and India.

About the Speaker

Dr. Chi-shin Chang is an Assistant Research Fellow of the Center for Asia Policy, National Tsing Hua University (NTHU). He also serves as an adjunct Assistant Professor in the same university. He entered NTHU in 2012 and took charge of the education-oriented project of the University System of Taiwan, which is composed of four member universities, including National Yang-Ming University, National Central University, National Chiao Tung University and NTHU. Dr. Chang served as Research Fellow in Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (2003-2008). Prior to that, he was an Assistant Research Fellow at the Division of Strategic and International and in Taiwan Research Institute (1999-2003). Dr. Chang defended his PhD in 2011 which was titled ‘International Security Institution’s Intervention in Ethnic Conflict’. His areas of expertise include international security studies, international relations theories, conflict resolution, and Northeast Asia regional security studies. He has published several academic articles in different journals, including Review of Global Politics, Chang Gung Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Strategy and Security Analyses.