A cross-party parliamentary delegation from New Zealand visited National Taiwan University on May 6, 2026, for a roundtable discussion with faculty and students from the College of Social Sciences and the College of Law. The discussion focused on “New Zealand’s Democracy, Regional Challenges, and Relations with Taiwan.”
Distinguished guests included Chris Langley, Director of the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office, and Members of Parliament Maureen Pugh, Duncan Webb, David Wilson, and Laura McClure. Participants from NTU include: Vice Dean Chen-Ling Hung, Associate Dean for International Affairs Jason Kuo, and Associate Professor Kai-Ping Huang; Professor Jiunn-Rong Yeh and Associate Professor Chun-Yuan Lin from the College of Law; as well as more than twenty students from various departments. Consul-General Kevin Chen-Fu Lin and Officer Alfred Er-Fu Tsai from the Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also joined the event.
In her opening remarks, Associate Dean Hung noted that Taiwan and New Zealand are important democratic partners in the Indo-Pacific. Both are maritime democracies and face shared challenges, including information security, geopolitical pressure, democratic institutional adaptation, and climate change. Director Chris Langley also highlighted the continued deepening of Taiwan–New Zealand relations in recent years, pointing to substantive progress in trade, education, direct flights, student exchange, and Indigenous peoples’ exchanges.
Moderated by Professor Yeh, the roundtable centered on four major themes and generated lively discussion. First, on disinformation and the use of AI, participants discussed the new challenges that rapid advances in artificial intelligence pose to democratic societies. While Taiwan has demonstrated resilience through fact-checking, media literacy, and civil society engagement, AI-generated content and disinformation still require transparent labeling, literacy education, and careful governance.
Second, on international trade and political coercion, participants examined how major powers use economic measures as instruments of political pressure. Taiwan’s experience with restrictions on agricultural imports prompted further reflection on supply chain security and market diversification. New Zealand parliamentarians also shared how small trading nations can reduce risks when facing pressure from larger powers by relying on multilateral mechanisms, building international trust, and diversifying trade relationships.
Third, on democracy and electoral institutions, participants compared Taiwan’s two-party competitive structure with New Zealand’s mixed-member proportional representation system. New Zealand’s experience with a multi-party system and coalition governments offered an important reference point for Taiwan in considering how to balance representation, diverse voices, and stable governance.
Finally, on climate change and just transition, participants discussed the tensions among energy security, carbon reduction policies, and industrial development. New Zealand’s policy experience in renewable energy, geothermal energy, hydrogen, and emerging nuclear technologies also prompted NTU faculty and students to reflect further on Taiwan’s net-zero transition, energy supply, and the electricity demand of the semiconductor industry.
The roundtable deepened NTU faculty and students’ understanding of New Zealand’s democratic institutions and regional role, while also highlighting shared concerns between Taiwan and New Zealand in democratic governance, economic security, digital resilience, and climate policy. Looking ahead, Taiwan and New Zealand are well positioned to further strengthen cooperation in trade, education, Indigenous exchanges, digital governance, and sustainable transition, bringing new momentum to democratic partnership in the Indo-Pacific