Asia Academy #25: Preparing for the Worst: Japan and a Taiwan Strait Crisis

Name: Asia Academy #25: Preparing for the Worst: Japan and a Taiwan Strait Crisis
Start: 2026-01-27T16:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-01-27T17:00:00+00:00

Event information

Organised by Leiden Asia Centre

Start

End

What would happen if a crisis in the Taiwan Strait forced large numbers of people in Japan to flee their homes? How prepared is the Japanese government to protect and support them, and what can Europe learn from this?

On 27 January, LAC Asia Academy welcomes Mina Pollmann, Japan Research Fellow at the Leiden Asia Centre and a regular contributor to The Diplomat. Drawing on her recent report Preparing for the Actual Worst: Supporting Japanese Internally Displaced Persons in a Taiwan Strait Contingency, she will examine how Japan is planning for a possible evacuation from Okinawa in the event of conflict, where those plans fall short, and what governments can do to better support displaced populations in long term crises.

The lecture will be followed by a response from Thomas Kavadias, Policy Officer for East Asia at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who will reflect on the policy implications for the Netherlands and Europe.

This one-hour lecture is part of the LAC Asia Academy series, which brings together academic, business and government experts to deepen public understanding of contemporary developments in East, South and Southeast Asia. The event is open to everyone and offers a unique opportunity to engage directly with leading specialists on one of the most important geopolitical challenges of our time.

About the speaker(s)

Mina Pollmann

Dr. Mina Pollmann is a Japan Research Fellow with the Leiden Asia Centre. Her research interests include Japan’s security and diplomacy, the U.S.-Japan alliance, alliance politics, and Indo-Pacific security. She regularly writes on these topics for The Diplomat. Her previous work experiences include: Presidential Management Fellow with the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Japanese Affairs; Associate Political Scientist with the RAND Corporation’s Defense and Political Science Department; and News Producer for TV Tokyo’s Washington, DC Bureau.

Thomas Kavadias

Thomas Kavadias is a policy officer at the Asia and Oceania Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Working in the East-Asia team, he is responsible for the Dutch bilateral relations with Japan, South Korea, and Mongolia. As such, he is in close contact with the Dutch embassies in Seoul and Tokyo, the embassies of Japan and South Korea in The Hague, and the Mongolian embassy in Brussels. Thomas holds degrees in sociology and Modern Greek literature from the University of Amsterdam, and a master’s degree in Asian studies from Leiden University. Prior to his current position, Thomas worked for an NGO in Dakar, Senegal.