Is a clash over Taiwan just around the corner?

The Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS:ACRI) will host Ms Linda Jakobson, Founding Director and former Deputy Chair of China Matters, for a public lecture examining cross-Strait developments. She will address former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s recent warning that People's Republic of China (PRC) President Xi Jinping may underestimate US resolve to defend Taiwan and move to take the island by force as early as 2028.

Ms Jakobson will provide her assessment of this potentially 'dangerous window', including whether an overconfident Xi could view the confluence of presidential elections in the US and Taiwan as a 'unique opportunity'. Drawing on her ongoing research, presentations and engagement with policymakers in China and Europe, Ms Jakobson will explore the challenges facing policymakers if such a scenario materialises.

Following the lecture, UTS:ACRI Director James Laurenceson will join Ms Jakobson in conversation to discuss the implications for Australia.

The event will conclude with audience Q&A.

About the speaker

Ms Linda Jakobson

Ms Linda Jakobson returned to Finland in 2023 after a 32-year international career as a China specialist. She is best known for her publications about China’s foreign policy, China’s ambitions in the Arctic, and the Taiwan question. A Mandarin speaker, Jakobson lived and worked in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for 22 years, after which she moved to Sydney. In Australia she headed the East Programme at the Lowy Institute and then founded China Matters, an independent think tank. She has served as a policy advisor to the head of state or foreign minister in six countries. She is the author of six books about the PRC and East Asian politics. Jakobson is currently a board member of the China Office of Finnish Industries, an organisation she helped establish in 2022. 

About the moderator

Professor James Laurenceson 

Professor James Laurenceson is Director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS:ACRI). His research interests relate to the Chinese economy and the Australia-China economic and broader relationship.