Alexandre Gandil is a teaching and research fellow (ATER) at D2iA – Bordeaux Montaigne University (France), and an associate researcher at CERI (Center for International Studies) – Sciences Po (Paris Institute of Political Studies). As a political scientist specializing in the historical sociology of the nation-state, his research primarily revolves around the mismatch between state borders and the limits of imagined communities in the Sinophone world, from the perspectives of both state actors and political societies across the Taiwan Strait. His PhD research focused on the territorialization of the Taiwanese nation-state beyond Taiwan proper, specifically examining the case of Kinmen archipelago. Currently, he is investigating Taipei’s sovereignty claims over the South China Sea through the same lens.