The UW Taiwan Studies Program will welcome Professor Sabella Abidde to discuss his book Taiwan in Africa: Seven Decades of Certainty and Uncertainties.
Taiwan in Africa addresses gaps in the literature regarding Taiwan’s engagement with African states and societies. From the 1960s to 1971, more African countries had diplomatic relations with Taiwan as opposed to China. But five decades after the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 was passed, there was a reversal of fortune in terms of supremacy and diplomatic recognition with only one country, Eswatini, recognizing Taiwan as an independent nation. Furthermore, it addresses Taiwan’s early engagement with the continent and the geopolitical and economic considerations that influenced African governments in their decision-making vis-à-vis their relationship with Taipei.
Sabella Abidde is a professor of political science and a member of the graduate faculty at Alabama State University. His PhD -- in African Studies, World Affairs, Public Policy and Development Studies -- is from Howard University. Professor Abidde’s scholarship includes published volumes on Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean; and Africa-China-Taiwan Relations. He is the editor/coeditor, most recently of Palestine, Taiwan, and Western Sahara: Statehood, Sovereignty, and the International System (Lexington Books, 2023); Xenophobia and Nativism in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean (Routledge, 2023); and China and Taiwan in Africa: The Struggle for Diplomatic Recognition and Hegemony (Springer, 2022).
This event was made possible by the generous support of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange.