Print

Mail

wiki links

Gerald Segal: a friend of Taiwan

After a six-month-long struggle against cancer, Gerald Segal, Director of Studies at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, passed away on Nov. 2.

I met Gerald 13 years ago when he was invited to attend an international conference on the Chinese People's Liberation Army at the National Sun Yat-Sen University. He was a rising Asian security strategy researcher and specialist. A quiet and reserved man of slender build who wore glasses, Segal, however, made quite an impression when he spoke at the conference.

He was not an argumentative man, but his unique approach of analyzing problems from unorthodox standpoints won him the recognition of his peers. Academic conferences attended by Segal never had a dull moment and attracted detailed coverages by a large number of media.

Among the many Asia Pacific security strategy issues, Gerald had a passion for those related to China, the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait security strategy. After joining the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, he opened the gate for the research on Asia Pacific security strategies at that institution.

Under the coordination of former director of the Sun Yat-sen Center for Policy Studies, Professor Yang Jih-hsu (楊日旭), the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Chinese Council of Advance Policy Research, a private research institution in Taiwan, jointly hosted an international academic conference on the People's Liberation Army and Asia Pacific security issues virtually every year. Instructed to prepare for these conferences, I had the opportunity to establish a close working relationship with Gerald which further blossomed into a friendship.

These conferences, held in Hong Kong, Vancouver, Washington and Canberra, among other places, attracted much international attention. While on his sickbed, Gerald suggested inviting important scholars of the Institute for Strategic Studies to visit Taiwan at the time of the next presidential elections for a collective discussion with Taiwan's specialists and scholars about the opportunities and challenges facing Taiwan in the 21st century.

Not only did Gerald have interesting views, he was also an excellent writer. It was his combination of quick and clear thinking and outspoken character that made him such a productive scholar.

During the past 13 years, he finished eight books on China and Asia Pacific security, countless dissertations which appeared in the International Herald Tribune, Wall Street Journal, South China Morning Post and The Straits Times, among other newspapers.

Due to his commitment to freedom and democracy and a deep hatred for totalitarian regimes, many of his articles on China enraged Beijing.

After the June 4 Incident, Gerald was placed on a list of scholars not permitted to enter China. He was one of the few contemporary scholars of China issues who never visited the country.

Gerald's resisted China's efforts to extend the boycott. Before 1997, we held three People's Liberation Army conferences in Hong Kong. Beijing exerted tremendous pressure on the British government in Hong Kong to prohibit the hosting of these conferences. However, the reputation of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Gerald's friendship with the governor of Hong Kong ensured that Beijing's pressure was ineffective.

Gerald's bravery in fighting evil until the end was demonstrated in his battle against cancer. Even after his relapse, he never ceased brainstorming and writing articles. In October, the journal Foreign Affairs ran the last article published by Gerald before his death. The topic, "Does China Matter?," was most thought provoking and caused quite a stir in academic circles. In fact, people are still talking about the article.

Based on a national strength appraisal index widely accepted by the academic world, Gerald compared the performance of China in terms of politics, economics, military and education with that of other advanced countries. He believed that China was actually a second-rank power and that it has misled the international community with its cunning maneuvers in foreign affairs.

This last strike by Gerald will keep us talking and thinking about him in the days to come.

Andrew Yang is the Secretary General of Chinese Council for Advanced Policy Studies (中華民國高等政策研究協會).
This story has been viewed 4141 times.