Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Larus

Elizabeth Freund Larus, Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs, explained to the Saudi Al Sharq news service that comments by the U.S. military and government officials indicating possible dates for the outbreak of hostilities between the US and China are not predictions. Rather, they are designed to strengthen the ability of the U.S. military to respond to Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific, particularly concerning Taiwan. Watch the segment.

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Larus

Elizabeth Freund Larus,  Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs, offered the guest lectures【2023年中美關係路徑】(The path of US-China relations in 2023) to undergraduate students at Taiwan’s Tamkang University in Tanshui on February 23 and 【中美關係中近期的關鍵問題】(Recent critical issues in US-China relations) to graduate students at National Cheng-chih University in Mucha, Taiwan on February 24. In both lectures,  Professor Larus indicated that China’s failure to allow an international investigation into the origins of Covid, repression in Xinjiang and nullification of the ‘one country, two systems’ formula in Hong Kong contributed to US  government and public suspicion of China well before the recent balloon controversy. Larus claimed that there is little to foster US-China cooperation in 2023.

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Larus

Elizabeth Freund Larus, Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs, commented to WION news that China is using every tool in its kit to survey the US, including balloons. The U.S. needs to retrieve the remains of the balloons it shoots down, and show the world the goods. Access her commentary.

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Larus

In the segment, “After Twitter, Will Facebook Reinstate Donald Trump’s Account?” WION News, January 19, 2023, Elizabeth Freund Larus, Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs, indicated that Trump’s Twitter and Facebook accounts were important fundraising tools during the 2016 presidential campaign against Hilary Clinton and would be equally important for his 2024 bid. She also indicated that Trump could face security fraud charges if he were to abandon or slight his own social media platform, Truth Social, for Twitter. Access the interview.

Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs Elizabeth Larus

Elizabeth Freund Larus, Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs, on Dec. 6, 2022, offered a presentation on Taiwan’s foreign policy to the Pacific Forum, a foreign policy research institute based in Hawaii. Professor Larus analyzed Taiwan’s foreign policy making since the island became a democracy in the year 2000, indicating that Realist Theory does not explain why Taiwan’s diplomatic allies chose the island over relations with mainland China. She claimed that China’s lack of transparency on the origins of COVID-19 was a gift to Taiwan, but that factions among the two dominant political parties in Taiwan unnecessarily complicate foreign policy making.

• She offered commentary to the Financial Times on U.S. restrictions on travelers from China. Professor Larus stated that the measures highlighted a “lack of trust” in Xi’s administration. “U.S. officials believe that the Chinese government has been less than forthcoming about the origins of Covid-19 and less than truthful about the number of positive Covid cases in China … The Chinese government allowed millions of tourists to travel domestically and abroad for lunar new year in 2020 knowing that there was a new coronavirus infecting the population. When the mortality and infection rate became evident . . . it was already out of control in the U.S. Washington is not going to make the same mistake twice.” Read the article.
• She spoke to WION for a segment titled “George Santos rejects calls to resign, refuses to step down.” In the clip, Larus says, “He is a Republican seat in the House of Representatives that the Republicans need very much now. The Republicans have only about a ten-seat majority and so they really don’t want to lose that seat,” said Elizabeth Larus. Watch the segment.