Representing Taiwan in DC: How Taiwanese Americans Can Bridge Culture and Policy
Monday, October 6th, 2025
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM ET
Hybrid Event
Lindner Family Commons
1957 E Street NW Washington, DC 20052
Elliott School of International Affairs
Limited boba will be offered at the event!
The event will be held at George Washington University’s Lindner Family Commons, located on the sixth floor (room 602) of the Elliott School of International Affairs at 1957 E Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20052. Doors will open at 5:00 PM, and the event will begin at 5:30 PM. If you plan on attending in-person, please RSVP by October 5, as seating is limited. Please direct questions or concerns to Senior Programs Manager Adrienne Wu at awu@globaltaiwan.org.
Schedule:
Introductions from GTI and Opening Remarks (10 minutes)
Speaker presentations (15 min each = total 45 minutes)
Discussant remarks (10 minutes)
Q&A (20 minutes)
Conclusion from GTI (5 minutes)
About the Panelists:
Tim Chng is a Principal Software Developer at Yahoo
Inc. and a longtime advocate for Taiwanese American
and Asian Pacific American communities. He is a co-
founder of ITASA (Intercollegiate Taiwanese American
Students Association) and a volunteer at TANG
(Taiwanese American Next Generation). A Baltimore
resident since 1999, he serves on the Board of
Trustees for the Baltimore School for the Arts, the
Maryland Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific
American Affairs, and as the President of the FAPA
Maryland Chapter.
Adam Peir is a data professional and community leader based in the DMV area. He works in data analytics for the federal government, where he develops tools to support law enforcement investigations. Within the Taiwanese American community, Adam has served as a board member and president of Taiwanese American Professionals–DC and was Director of Civic Engagement with the Taiwanese American Citizens League through 2024. He has organized voter outreach campaigns, cultural programs, and community events to strengthen Taiwanese American civic participation and representation.
David Tang has been dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Taiwanese culture since 2008. As Principal of the Washington DC Taiwanese School since 2019, he has led period of rapid growth in student enrollment for Taiwanese language, Mandarin, and cultural studies. In 2021, he founded the Mandarin Learning Center to emphasize the importance of traditional Chinese characters in mainstream education. David currently serves as a board member of Rockville’s Siste City Corporation in Maryland, helping to promote Taiwanes culture within the City of Rockville. He is an advisor to the Formosa Association of Student Cultural Ambassadors and Co-Founder of Millennial Global Youth (MGY). Since 2024, he has successfully hosted Taiwanese Heritage Day events wit the Washington Wizards and Nationals, elevating public visibility for the Taiwanese American community.
About the Discussant
Richard J. Haddock is the Assistant Director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at the George Washington University, where he leads the Center’s robust Taiwan affairs programming, outreach, and curriculum development. He is also a member of the UC Berkeley U.S.-Taiwan Next Generation Working Group, where his research focuses on U.S.-Taiwan education diplomacy and exchange. Previously, he has held positions at the GW East Asia National Resource Center, the National Democratic Institute’s Asia team, the American Institute in Taiwan’s Public Diplomacy Section, and the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Haddock is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Policy and Public Administration at The George Washington University, focusing on digital democracy and e-governance development in the Asia-Pacific. He holds an MA in Asian Studies from the Elliott School, with a concentration on domestic politics and foreign policy of East Asia. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a BA in Political Science and minors in Asian Studies and Diplomacy.
About the Moderator
Carissa Cheng is the 2025 Ya-Hui Chiu Summer Fellow for the Global Taiwan Institute and a recent graduate of Stanford University, where she majored in International Relations with a focus on Asia. At Stanford, she served as the Co-President of Stanford’s Taiwanese Cultural Society (TCS), where she enthusiastically spread awareness of Taiwan’s vibrant culture. Through her studies on Taiwanese history and politics, she also connected with local Taiwanese organizations to learn about how Taiwanese Americans can support Taiwan in its unique geopolitical struggles. She completed her senior thesis on Taiwanese American intergenerational storytellin and perceptions of China as a threat. She hopes to use her degree to help the US buil stronger alliances in Asia through deeper cross-cultural understanding in order to collaboratively solve global challenges.
