Guest Speaker: George Takach

George Takach

His topic is Taiwan and Cold War 2.0: What Canadians Need to Know

Taiwan is a very important country that Canadians don’t know enough about. Taiwan is a first-rate democracy with a vibrant civil society that adheres to the rule of law; it has a population accepting of religious, gender and sexual diversity; it has a health care system that is the envy of Asia; it has a culture that fuses east and west; and it boasts 175 universities and colleges on an island the size of Vancouver Island. In terms of strategic geopolitics, Taiwan is indispensable to the democracies because it produces over 90 % of the most advanced semiconductor chips used in the world, including the critical chips that run the most powerful artificial intelligence software in civilian and military applications. Unfortunately for Taiwan and the rest of the world, the autocracy in Beijing claims Taiwan to be part of China, and Xi Jinping threatens to take over the small island by military force if necessary.

In his new book, Inspired By Taiwan, former lawyer and now author and geopolitical analyst George S. Takach discusses Taiwan and its outsized importance to geopolitics and countries all over the globe, including Canada.  In his presentation, using some images taken from the book, George will highlight what Canadians need to know about this marvelous, very relevant, and dangerously situated country, including the critical posture of the United States and President Trump towards Taiwan.

George makes the case that the world’s democracies should support Taiwan in order to keep the peace in Asia. George also argues that Canada has a lot to learn from Taiwan, given Canada’s own challenges with a much larger neighbour that is threatening Canada’s own well-being.

George has undergrad and law degrees from the University of Toronto and an MA from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. He practiced technology law for 35 + years as a partner at McCarthy Tétrault. During his legal career, he was also an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall

 Currently, he is a Senior Fellow of the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary History at the University of Toronto.