I am going backpacking throughout Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia for over a month. Life of David, life in mono... for this trip. I will spend most of my time in Indonesia because it is the most fun--meaning cheap and politically dangerous. Indonesia has the following terrorist groups: Abu Sayyaf, Jemma Islamyah, Islamic Jihad. It also has huge Muslim-Christian tensions. Cool! It's a one stop shop for danger and adventure!

Next Monday, I am giving a presentation to US diplomats on the topic of politics in Taiwan and China at AIT, the defacto US Embassy in Taipei. The announcement is below.

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For this noon discussion 3/26 in the GSO Conference Room, AIT has invited David An to share his insight on elections in Taiwan (presidential, local, legislative) and China (village-level) from his year of Fulbright research. He discusses liberal democracy for the Chinese context by exploring Taiwanese domestic politics on its foreign policy and key factors in Taiwan's upcoming 2008 presidential election. He then discusses how China's CCP is cautiously developing village level elections and its socio-economic impact to date.

David shares insight gained from interviewing China's academics, military officers, and civilians regarding the prospect of democracy in China . In Taiwan, he has been interviewed on Taiwan's ICRT news radio regarding this research. Taiwan's Vice President Lu invited him to brief herself and visiting international election observers in a televised meeting at the Presidential Palace in 2005.