Prof. Jean-Pierre Cabestan is Professor and Head, Department of Government and International Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. He is also associate researcher at the Asia Centre at Science Po, Paris. From 2003 to 2007 he was Senior Researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (Centre national de la recherche scientifique), attached to the Institute of Comparative Law of the University of Paris 1. From 1998 to 2003, he was Director of the Taipei Office of the CEFC. In 1990-1991, he was Lecturer at the Politics Department of the School of Oriental and African Studies. His most recent publications include Chine-Taiwan: la guerre est-elle concevable? La sécurité extérieure de Taiwan face à la menace de la Chine populaire, Paris, Economica, 2003;(with Benoît Vermander) La Chine et ses frontières. La confrontation Chine-Taiwan, Paris, Presse des Science Po, 2005;translated and published in Chinese as a special issue of the journal Renlai (Taipei), January 2007 and La Chine et la Russie: entre convergence et méfiance,Paris, Unicomm, 2008 (co-author). He has also published numerous articles and contributions in English on China's political system and reform, Chinese law, the relations across the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan politics. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Paris 1 (Panthéon-Sorbonne).

Prof. Cabestan's current research deals with Cross-Strait relations, the Beijing-Washington-Taipei Triangle, Taiwan's security and confidence building measures in thet Taiwan Strait.