Gerrit van der Wees

Gerrit van der Wees

Gerrit van der Wees

Adjunct Faculty

World History

Dr. Gerrit van der Wees is a former Dutch diplomat, who served in the Dutch government from 1982 through 2005, including seven years in Washington (1994-2000).

From 1980 through 2016 he also served as chief editor of Taiwan Communiqué, a bi-monthly publication chronicling developments in and around Taiwan’s transition to democracy. The publication played a key role in focusing the attention of the American Congress, the State Department, and the international community on Taiwan’s special history and status.

From 2005 through 2016 he worked at the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), a Taiwanese-American grassroots organization. At FAPA, he was responsible for contacts with the US Senate, the State Department, foreign embassies, and think tanks in Washington. 

He is continuing to write commentaries on Taiwan’s history and political developments in and around Taiwan for the Taipei Times, The Diplomat, The National Interest, and TaiwanInsight @ the University of Nottingham. He has been teaching History of Taiwan at George Mason University since 2012, and a graduate course on Current Issues in East Asia since 2020.