2020 US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference

2020 US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference Banner

On October 5 and 6, 2020, the US-Taiwan Business Council welcomed the bilateral defense community at the 2020 Virtual US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference.

We were disappointed that the attendees were unable to gather in person this year, as the face-to-face interactions at the annual conference are so important. However, we were delighted to have a robust lineup of speakers for the virtual event. Speakers came from the U.S. and Taiwan governments, as well as from defense industry and academia. The panelists held vibrant and engaging discussions on U.S. defense cooperation with Taiwan, the defense procurement process, and Taiwan’s defense and national security needs.

Released Speeches

October 5 – Opening Keynote: Prepared remarks by General Guan-Chung Chang, Vice Minister (Armaments), Ministry of National Defense (MND)

October 5 – Opening Keynote Introduction: Prepared remarks by James Moriarty, Chairman, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT)

October 6 – Closing Keynote: David Helvey, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs (Performing the Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Defense/IPSA), U.S. Department of Defense [As Delivered]

The US-Taiwan Business Council thanks all our speakers and panelists for their comments and discussions during the course of the event. We also thank our sponsors and all our attendees for your participation.

Save the Date!

Note that the 2021 US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference will take place October 10-12, 2021 at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Virginia. We hope to see you in person then!

Conference History

The first conference in this series was the St. Petersburg, Florida event where former Taiwan Minister of National Defense Tang Yiau-ming gave the keynote address in March of 2002. The second conference took place in February 2003 in San Antonio, Texas, and the third in October 2004 in Phoenix, Arizona. The fourth was held in September 2005 in San Diego, California, the 5th in September 2006 in Denver, Colorado, and the 6th in September 2007 in Annapolis, Maryland.

In September 2008 on Amelia Island, Florida, Taiwan’s Minister of National Defense Chen Chao-min gave the keynote address at the 7th conference. The 8th took place in September 2009 in Charlottesville, Virginia, the 9th in October 2010 in Cambridge, Maryland, and the 10th in September 2011 in Richmond, Virginia.

The 11th conference took place in September 2012 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the 12th in September 2013 in Annapolis, Maryland, and the 13th in October 2014 in Williamsburg, Virginia. The 14th took place in October 2015 in Williamsburg, Virginia. The 15th conference in October 2016 was likewise held in Williamsburg, Virginia. The 16th took place in Princeton, New Jersey in October 2017, the 17th in Annapolis, Maryland in October 2018, and the 18th in Ellicott City, Maryland in October 2019.

Application to Attend & More Information

The website for the conference is located at www.taiwandefenseconference.com.

Original Event Text

Hosting the 2020 US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in person will unfortunately not be possible in 2020. While we are disappointed that the community will be unable to gather this year, this is the right decision to ensure the health and safety of all our conference attendees, speakers, staff, and venue personnel.

In place of our normal face-to-face event, the Council will be hosting the 2020 Virtual US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in a fully online format. The online conference will take place as a smaller two-day event, with sessions and keynotes the mornings of October 5 and October 6, 2020.

While we will take the conference completely online this year, we look forward to offering you the same vibrant and engaging discussions on U.S. defense cooperation with Taiwan, the defense procurement process, and Taiwan’s defense and national security needs. We also hope to provide opportunities to connect with others working on Taiwan defense and national security issues.

Due to the virtual format, the 2020 conference will be free of charge. However, the event will remain off the record to ensure substantial and valuable interaction and discussion. We will accept applications to attend, and will work with our members, conference sponsors, and other relationships to ensure that all online attendees have gone through a vetting process.

We look forward to having you join us for this fully online event, and apologize for any inconvenience that this decision has caused. Should you wish to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to contact us.