Though a strong supporter of the Democratic Progressive Party, Hsu was not surprised to find himself on the guest list.
"I think they want to show they're willing to talk to everyone and not just the opposition," he said.
He dismissed the academic value of the conference as "a mere talking shop," but said his Chinese counterparts appeared to relish the opportunity to gain some insight into contemporary Taiwanese thinking.
"They tried very hard to interact with us," he said.
The conference had no impact on Hsu's anti-unification sentiments, which he said have grown more pronounced since Chen became president in 2000.
"Ten years ago I may have thought of myself as Chinese," he said. "But now I'm Taiwanese. I'm not Chinese at all."
Such certainty eludes Shaun Chang, 36, who has studied media for the past three years at Beijing's Tsinghua University, home to about 100 Taiwanese students.
Chang, whose grandparents came to Taiwan from China in 1949, says she goes out of her way to disguise her background.
"When I'm in cabs in Beijing I speak with a local accent to hide the fact that I'm Taiwanese," she said. "If anyone asks me where I'm from I say I'm a Taipei-er living in Beijing -- never someone from Taiwan. I guess I'm kind of rootless."
But even if she appreciates several aspects of life in China -- particularly its rapid economic growth -- she resists thinking of herself as exclusively Chinese.
"I always try to think what is best for my people -- the Taiwanese first and then afterward the Chinese," she said.
"Because for me, the Taiwanese still come first," she said.
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