TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Academia Sinica announced on Monday the fifth World Congress of Taiwan Studies, which is slated to begin on May 21.

The three-day conference will open with two keynote speeches: "The Diversity of Formosan Languages and Austronesian Homeland" by Paul Jen-kuei Li (李壬癸), a research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Linguistics and "Taiwan: Thriving in a World of Geopolitics and Mercantilism," by Wu Yu-shan (吳玉山), distinguished research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Political Science, according to Academia Sinica.

Li’s speech will explore the origins and dispersal of Austronesian peoples across the Pacific and Indian Oceans from a linguistic perspective. Wu will analyze the challenges and opportunities Taiwan faces under the current global geopolitical and economic climate.

The conference will include 155 events, covering topics such as literature, history, economics, archaeology, and Indigenous studies. Leading global scholars in Taiwan studies will engage in interdisciplinary dialogues to examine Taiwan’s place and connections in a rapidly changing global context.

WCTS held its first meeting in 2012 to foster scholarly exchange among researchers with diverse perspectives and to follow Academia Sinica’s attention to global academic trends.

By facilitating in-depth academic dialogue, the congress seeks to elevate the quality of research and strengthen international academic networks in Taiwan studies. Participation has grown from just over 100 scholars to several hundred, per Academia Sinica.

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