The Fourth World Congress of Taiwan Studies: ‘Taiwan in the Making’, University of Washington, Seattle, 27–29 June 2022

Abstract

This report highlights and offers reflections on three unique features of the fourth World Congress of Taiwan Studies (wcts4) held in Seattle in June 2022. First, following the covid-19 pandemic, wcts4 was one of the first large-scale conferences in the field of Taiwan studies to be held in hybrid mode. Second, although three previous editions have taken place since 2012, wcts4 was the first to be held in the United States. Third, it is the first Congress to launch a major new publication, the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Taiwan Studies. Most media coverage of wcts4 has emphasised only that it was held in the United States. This report goes further, focusing on why it was held in the US, and why Seattle in particular, and on the Congress’s importance more generally to the global field of Taiwan studies.