2007 US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference

The United States-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference 2007 was held September 9-11, 2007 in Annapolis, Maryland. This was the sixth in a series of ongoing conferences addressing the future of U.S. defense cooperation with Taiwan, the defense procurement process, and Taiwan’s future defense and national security needs.

The 2007 conference featured keynote addresses from Ko Chen-Heng, Deputy Minister (Policy) at Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, by David Sedney, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asian & Pacific Security Affairs at the U.S. Department of Defense, and by Thomas J. Christensen, Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian & Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

Sessions at the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference featured moderators and several speakers. Each speaker presented a short summary of a paper on the session topic from his or her own viewpoint, followed by a moderator-driven question and answer period. This format provides the maximum amount of time for exchanges between the panel and the audience, offering a forum for substantial and valuable interaction and discussion.

Three sub-sessions within Session IV concentrated on each branch of the services. These sessions consisted of discussions focusing on current issues from the perspective of each individual branch, Army, Air Force, and Navy. This year, the themes discussed included Joint Offshore Defense (Air), Joint Offshore Defense (Sea)