Since starting out as a simple idea from Johnny Lin '08, the Strait Talk Symposium that brings together student delegates to discuss United States-China-Taiwan relations has transformed into an up-and-coming non-profit organization preparing to stand on its own.
With the fourth annual Brown University Strait Talk symposium slated for the first week of November, Lin and Henry Shepherd '08 are eager to expand their program to other campuses across the country, starting with a pilot program at the University of California, Berkeley.
Founded in 2005 by Lin, the Strait Talk Symposium serves as a forum for 15 domestic and international student delegates to discuss the relationship between the United States, China and Taiwan.
The expansion comes at a time of "great opportunity" for the historically frayed and sensitive Chinese-Taiwanese relations, said Shepherd, pointing to some of the progress that has been made in the area in the past few years.
Ma Ying-jeou, a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party, took office as President of Taiwan in May. Ying-jeou has proposed stronger economic relations between mainland China and Taiwan, and this summer leaders from both countries signed an agreement that would resuming direct flights between the two nations.
Challenging old views
Growing up in a household with a Taiwanese father and a mother who was born in Taiwan but has mainland Chinese roots, Lin said that he often heard family stories about the conflict.
"I realized that when most of the people talk about the Taiwan Strait issue, we hear arguments instead of really listening to what the other side has to offer," Lin said.
Lin created his project in order to break from this one-sided tradition, encouraging honest dialogue from all sides of the debate. The central focus of the five- to seven-day conference is the interactive conflict resolution workshops, which strive to reshape long-standing perspectives on the issue.
"The people who attend the symposium have the basic idea of who they are and what they think about the conflict very strongly challenged," Shepherd said.
"They can't even agree at what the conflict really is or when it started or who started it, and it really gets them to think about their own notions."
Organizers were also eager to increase awareness on the subject, as well as help build relationships between students who may be on their way to becoming influential leaders within their own countries.
"In five or 10 or 20 years, when they are the ones sitting on either side of the negotiation table and they see people on the other side, they will have a different notion of what it means to have an enemy or an adversary," Shepherd said.
Many who are familiar with the subject think open discussion is a necessary step to promote dialogue that will resolve the conflict.
"It's just a really good model, to bring together people from mainland China, Taiwan and America to a somewhat neutral ground and discuss these issues," said John Delury, associate director of the Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations, who became involved with the symposium while at Brown as a visiting professor.
'Bigger than just Brown'
Since discussing the idea of bringing Strait Talk to a number of universities across the country and abroad, Lin said the reactions have been largely positive.
"There's something inherently attractive about Strait Talk, especially in how it empowers students," Lin said.
For now, the upcoming Berkeley symposium is the first big experiment for the fledgling organization, which recently submitted its paperwork to gain non-profit status.
Eric Cheng, a recent Berkeley graduate, introduced the idea to students at the campus after he participated in a Strait Talk Symposium on the Brown campus. His experience at Brown was "life-changing," he said.
"Participating in it and really seeing the genuine opinions from people from Taiwan and China is really invaluable," he said.
Impressed with the symposium's success on the Brown campus, Cheng thought it could work just as well at his university.
"I think the presence of a much larger Asian population at Berkeley and being in the Bay Area, in general, gives it the potential to reach a much larger audience," Cheng said.
Currently, two Berkeley undergraduates are heading up the project, which is slated for March and will largely continue using Lin's model of a 15-student delegate panel.
Strait Talk will also gain more exposure when it presents its project to members of the Asia Society in New York, which will include members of the United Nations and the Council on Foreign Relation, as well as various policy-makers.
"We're hoping to meet some people who will give us more advice and help us connect to more delegates and speakers," Shepherd said.
Shepherd is still on campus helping the 25-person steering committee plan the upcoming symposium, while Lin is in San Francisco working at Bridgespan Group, a consulting firm for non-profits.
Though Lin and Shepherd said they are taking the project one step at a time, Lin said he expects the project to expand to about five or six schools in the next 10 years.
"I definitely think that this will be bigger than just Brown or Berkeley," Cheng said. "If it wants to have any lasting impact, it has to go beyond these two campuses."
