Event

Countering Authoritarian Influence in Southeast Asia

Alan H. Yang, Executive Director of Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation

Dr. Alan Hao Yang is Executive Director of Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF). He also serves as Deputy Director of the Institute of International Relations (IIR) and Executive Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) at National Chengchi University, Taiwan. CSEAS is the Secretariat of the Consortium for Southeast Asian Studies in Asia (SEASIA) since 2018. He teaches at the Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies (GIEAS) as a distinguished professor of Southeast Asia studies and offering courses related to regionalism and Sino-Southeast Asian relations. Dr. Yang engages in track II diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific. He was the Executive Secretary and Executive Director of the Secretariat of Taiwan Participatory Group to the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP Taiwan) between 2010 to 2018.

Alysa Wen-li Chiu, Deputy Director of the DPP’s Department of International Affairs.

Prior to this role, Alysa served as a Consultant at the Presidential Office, responsible for driving international promotion from 2016 to early 2023. She previously worked at the DPP International Affairs Department from 2015 to 2016 as an Associate Researcher focused on the 2016 Presidential election campaign. In 2014, Ms. Chiu served as Lead Coordinator for the Young Professional Group of the Formosa Association for Public Affairs (FAPF-YPG), a Washington, DC-based organization advancing US support for Taiwan. In March 2014, Ms. Chiu participated in the Sunflower Movement in Taiwan, disseminating real-time information in English through various channels targeting the international audience. In 2013, she worked as an Assistant to the Project Manager for the Parliamentary Forum for Democracy (PFD) as well as an Assistant to a Lithuanian MP at the Seimas in Vilnius, Lithuania.  In 2012, Ms. Chiu worked for Legislator Bi-Khim Hsiao as a congressional aide in the Legislative Yuan.

Celito Arlegue, Executive Director, Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats

Lito is the executive director of Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD). Apart from his work in CALD, he also serves as lecturer in the Diplomacy and International Affairs Department of the De La Salle - College of St. Benilde in Manila. He also taught political science, social science and economics courses in several universities in the Philippines.  He obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the University of the Philippines, where he has also finished the course work for Ph.D. in Political Science. He also completed a certificate course on international relations research at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva, Switzerland and a summer school in the Rene Cassin Foundation - International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

Francis Gerald “Blue” Abaya, Secretary General, Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, Philippines

Francis is the Secretary General of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, and a former member of the Philippine House of Representatives representing the 1st District of Cavite. At the House, he was the Chairperson of the Committee on Bases Conversion; Vice Chairperson of the Committees on Science and Technology, Climate Change, and Information and Communications Technology; and a member of the Committees on Housing and Urban Development, Social Services, and Government Enterprises and Privatization. Francis was an Architect prior to his stint in Philippine Congress. He graduated from Wenworth Institute of Technology in Boston, USA in 2002.

Florencio “Butch” Abad, Former Philippine Secretary (Minister) of Budget and Management, and Former Chairperson, Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats

Florencio “Butch” Abad previously served as the Secretary (Minister) of the Department of Budget and Management of the Republic of the Philippines (2010-2016). He also served the Liberal Party as the National Campaign Manager and worked in the transition team of then President-elect Noynoy Aquino in 2010. He was a member of the House of Representatives elected in 1987 to represent the Lone District of Batanes. He was re-elected in 1995, 1998 and 2001. He became president of the Liberal Party of the Philippines from 1999 to 2004 and chairperson of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats in 1999. He served as Secretary (Minister) of Agrarian Reform during the first Aquino administration and served as Secretary of Education under the Arroyo administration. His stint as Education Secretary was cut short in 2005 when he resigned from his post due to the electoral fraud controversy charged against then President Arroyo. Butch finished his Bachelor of Science in Business Management, and Bachelor of Laws at the Ateneo de Manila University and passed the Bar Examination in 1985. A fellow of the Edward Mason Program in Public Policy and Management at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Butch also holds a Masters in Public Administration degree.

Moritz Kleine-Brockhoff, Head, Regional Office Southeast and East Asia, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom

Moritz joined the Foundation in 2009 as Project Director Myanmar, Malaysia and Cambodia. From 2012 to 2013, Moritz was Head of the Asia Department and the Human Rights Department at the FNF Head Office in Potsdam. He later became Project Director of FNF Indonesia and Malaysia in 2013, before taking up the position of Head of Regional Office in Bangkok in December 2018. He began his career as a journalist at Deutsche Welle (DW) in 1998. In 2000, Moritz moved to Indonesia to be the Southeast Asia Correspondent for German Newspapers Frankfurter Rundschau, Tagesspiegel and Stuttgarter Zeitung.

Rainer Adam, Interim Head of Office, FNF Global Innovation Hub

Rainer Adam, a native of Trier (1954), Germany, studied agricultural economics at Bonn University.  He did research on land markets and property rights in Taiwan in 1983 and 1984. For three years he worked at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome, Italy. In 1990 he joined the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom and became Project Director in Beijing, China (1991-96). Dr Adam worked for the Foundation in various capacities in Singapore, India, Indonesia and Thailand. His last post was Regional Director for Eastern Europe based in Sofia, Bulgaria. After serving the Foundation for 30 years, Dr Adam retired in 2020 to his farm near Melbourne, Australia. He runs a family business and works as analyst, trainer and coach.

Moderator

Ya-wei Chou, Program Manager, FNF Global Innovation Hub

Ya-wei serves as the Program Manager of FNF Global Innovation Hub, and her work in the Hub focuses on innovation for democracy. She enjoys exploring how people can use technology and innovation to foster democracy, freedom, and human rights. For example, she initiates the Innovation for Democracy Café projects and manages the Hub’s collaboration with its partner organizations on projects about open source, digital democracy, civic tech, and youth participation. Before joining FNF, she has worked for democracy and digital rights NGOs and a political party. She holds a master degree in International Relations from National Taiwan University.