[Date] 2019/05/22 Wednesday

[Time] 14:00 – 16:00

[Venue] Conference Room 1, Administration Building, Taipei Main Campus, National Taiwan University

[Registration]

Please register via NTU's online activity signup system: https://ppt.cc/fqC4xx

For any inquiries, please contact Ms. Chang: gigichang@ntu.edu.tw

The diplomatic relationship between Taiwan and the United States has recently encountered a major breakthrough in the past 40 years. The US House of Representatives recently passed the "Taiwan Assurance Act of 2019" with 414 votes in favor and no votes against it, symbolizing the significant changes in the strategy of the US upon the Taiwan Strait. This change also represents the upgrade in the relationship between Taiwan and the US. In order to achieve better understanding of international changes and the impact due to the US-China trade war, the International College Provisional Office of National Taiwan University will hold an international seminar on May 22nd, 2019. Former AIT Director, Dr. William A. Stanton, will be the moderator of the event and Mr. William Foreman, the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei is invited to speak with the faculty and students, so that individuals can get the latest information on the 2019 Taiwan White Paper in addition to the current essential issues that are affecting Taiwan's economic development.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, as known as AmCham Taipei, was founded in 1951. It is a non-profit, non-partisan international business organization dedicated to promote the business development of multinational corporations in Taiwan; it is also the most influential international business organization in Taiwan. The main activities of AmCham Taipei include advocating policy issues, developing business networks, sharing information, and promoting professional growth of members. It also serves as an important bridge and connection between the United States and Taiwan.

AmCham Taipei currently has more than 500 corporate members. Each year, 24 committees gather industries’ opinions and regularly publish the "Taiwan White Paper", which is a statement from the US companies in Taiwan to the Taiwan government to improve business operations. The government deeply values and gives great importance to this White Paper since the US is the most important economic partner to Taiwan and has been one of the major sources of foreign investment in Taiwan. This document will also be submitted to the US government for reference, thus making it more influential. The 2019 Taiwan White Paper is about to be released. In this speech, Mr. William Foreman will analyze the challenges faced by member companies in today’s world as well as sharing the contents of this year’s Taiwan White Paper. As a person who pursues excellence, you do not want to miss this wonderful conversation.

[About Speaker]

A graduate of the University of Kansas, Foreman developed a deep affinity for Taiwan while doing Chinese language studies on the island during the late 1980s. He then worked for The Associated Press for 15 years, first in the Kansas City bureau and later as an editor on the International Desk in New York. He was posted to Taiwan in 1999, serving as bureau chief responsible for news coverage, business development, and government relations. Major news during that period included the 921 earthquake, election of President Chen Shui-bian, SARS, and the booming semiconductor industry.

Foreman served as the vice president of the Taipei Foreign Correspondents’ Club. While continuing to direct Taiwanese news coverage, Foreman’s role was expanded in 2004 to include Hong Kong and Macau, and in 2007 he opened the AP’s bureau in Guangzhou and was named the South China Chief. Throughout his AP career, Foreman frequently traveled for special assignments that included the Boxing Day tsunami disaster in Indonesia, North Korean nuclear tests, war on terror in Pakistan, Beijing Games, EU-Asia Summit in Helsinki, and the second intifada in Israel. 

In 2010, Foreman was awarded the prestigious Knight-Wallace Fellowship that allowed him to take a year off from journalism to take MBA courses and Korean-language classes at the University of Michigan. When the fellowship ended, the University – the nation’s biggest public research university in terms of funding – hired Foreman to develop and execute the institution’s first global communication’s strategy. 

Foreman left the university five years later to serve as the director of public relations at Heifer International, a nonprofit working to end poverty with business development and sustainable agriculture. He helped lead the organization’s new strategic communications team seeking to obtain increased funding from corporations and donor institutions before he joined AmCham Taipei as President in 2018.