Taiwan, China and the US

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Auburn University hosts a presentation by Dr. Lawrence Grinter on Taiwan, China and the US. This presentation will be held on Wednesday, June 29 from 11:30AM to 1:00PM at the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities at Pebble Hill, 101 S. Debardeleben St. in Auburn. This lecture is open to the public and will also be available on Zoom and Facebook live. No registration is necessary.

The most sensitive issue between China and United States concerning the Pacific area is the status of Taiwan, the self-governing, independent, democratic nation of 24 million people, located 90 miles off China’s coast. In 1979, the US passed the US Taiwan Relations Act declaring it to be the policy of the United States to preserve and promote extensive, close, and friendly commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan, as well as the people on the China mainland and all other people of the Western Pacific area. Since that enactment, eight US presidents have stated that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be considered of “grave importance” to the US and the Western Pacific. In this presentation, Dr. Grinter compares and contrasts Chinese and US strategies toward Taiwan and makes a prediction about the future.

Lawrence Grinter has taught with AU OLLI for the past five years. Prior to that, he taught in Auburn’s Political Science Department. For the previous 35 years, he taught East Asian and US policy topics at the Air War College and the National War College. He made 32 visits to Asia and was stationed in South Korea and South Vietnam.