Abstract
Taiwan occupies a strategic position in the Western Pacific between Northeast and Southeast Asia. Claimed by the People’s Republic of China since its foundation in 1949, Taiwan has nevertheless remained under the control of the Republic of China, thanks to a security guarantee provided by the United States as early as 1950. Although this guarantee has taken another form (the Taiwan Relations Act) since the Sino-U.S. normalization of relations in 1979, it has compelled both sides of the Taiwan Strait to take Washington’s view and interests into account in the resolution of their differences and the future of their relationship. While the U.S. government remains agnostic about the final outcome of this dispute, it has insisted upon its peaceful resolution, the preservation of the status quo in the Strait and its opposition to any solution that would not be approved by the majority of the Taiwanese. Since the 1990s, the U.S. has also declared its support for and protection of Taiwan’s democracy. Although the EU is not in a position to offer any similar security guarantee to Taiwan, the political stance of the EU with regard to Taiwan’s future is identical to that held by the U.S.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Annual Report to Congress (2008) Military Power of the People’s Republic of China 2008, Washington DC: Office of the Secretary of Defense (March).
Annual Report to Congress (2009) Military Power of the People’s Republic of China 2009, Washington DC: Office of the Secretary of Defense (April).
Annual Report to Congress (2010) Military Power of the People’s Republic of China 2010, Washington DC: Office of the Secretary of Defense (August).
Annual Report to Congress (2011) Military Power of the People’s Republic of China 2011, Washington DC: Office of the Secretary of Defense (August).
Brown, David C. (2009) “China-Taiwan Relations: Moving Relations towards a New Level,” Comparative Connections (July): 77–86.
Cabestan, Jean-Pierre (2005) “Specificities and Limits of Taiwanese Nationalism,” China Perspectives, 62 (November-December): 32–43.
Cabestan, Jean-Pierre (2006) “The Taiwan Conundrum,” in Chung, Jae Ho (ed.) Charting China’s Future. Political, Social and International Dimensions. Lanham, Ma.: Rowman & Littlefield, 165–190.
Cabestan, Jean-Pierre (2010) “The New Détente in the Taiwan Strait and Its Impact on Taiwan’s Security and Future”, China Perspectives, 2010/3:22–33.
Cabestan, Jean-Pierre and Vermander, Benoît (2005) La Chine en quête de ses frontières. La confrontation Chine-Taiwan (China in quest of its frontiers. The confrontation between China and Taiwan), Paris: Presses de Sciences Po; Chinese translation published in Taiwan in January 2007 under the title Liang’an guanxi 1949–2005: Chongtu huajie yu zhengzhi fazhan in a special issue of the journal Renlai.
Cabestan, Jean-Pierre and Le Pesant, Tanguy (2009) L’esprit de défense de Taiwan face à la Chine. La jeunesse taiwanaise et la tentation de la Chine (The will to fight against China in Taiwan. The Taiwanese youth and mainland China’s temptation): Paris: L’Harmattan.
Chu, Yun-han and Yang, Philip (eds) (2004) “Taiwan minzhong dui Taihai anquan renzhi zhi diaocha” (Survey on Taiwan population’s perception of the security in the Taiwan Strait), Taipei: Election Study Center, Chengchi National University.
Cohen, Danielle F. S. D.; Swaine, Michael and Zhang, Tuosheng (eds) (2006) Managing Sino-American Crises. Case Studies and Analysis, Washington DC: Brookings Institution.
Dumbaugh, Kerry (2007) Underlying Strains in Taiwan-U.S. Political Relations, Washington DC: Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, RL33684 (Updated 20 April 2007): 3.
Feldman, Harvey (2001) “Taiwan, Arms Sales, and the Reagan Assurances,” American Asian Review, XIX, 3 (Fall): 75–101.
Glaser, Bonnie and Grosserman, Brad (2008) “Promoting Confidence Building across the Taiwan Strait. A Report to the CSIS International Security Program and to Pacific Forum CSIS,” Washington DC: CSIS (September).
Glaser, Bonnie (2010) “Building Trust Across the Strait: A Role for Military Confidence-building Measures”, Washington DC: CSIS (January).
Hsiao, Russell (2009) “Hu Jintao’s ‘six-Points’ Proposition to Taiwan,” China Brief, IX, 1 (12 January): 1–3.
Hu, Jintao (2007) “Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive for New Victories in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in all. Report to the Seventeenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China on 15 October 2007. Xinhua.Online. Available HTTP: <http://www.china.org.cn/english/congress/229611.htm> (accessed 20 November 2009).
Jiang, Xin (2009) “Mainland China’s Taiwan Policy Adjustment,” China Security, 5, 1 (Winter): 60–61.
Kan, Shirley A. (2007) “China/Taiwan: Evolution of the ‘One China Policy,’ Key Statements from Washington, Beijing and Taipei,” Washington DC: CRS Report for Congress (13 December): 28.
KMT (2007) Defense White Paper of the KMT. A New Military for a Secure and Peaceful Taiwan, Taipei (2 September).
Lampton, David (2005) “Paradigm Lost. The Demise of ‘Weak China,” The National Interest (Fall 2005): 71.
Medeiros, Evan (2005) “Strategic Hedging and the Future of Asia-Pacific Stability,” The Washington Quarterly, Winter 2005–2006, 145–167.
Nathan, Andrew (2000) “What’s Wrong with American Taiwan Policy,” The Washington Quarterly 23, 2 (Spring): 93–106.
Niou, Emerson (ed.) (2005) 2005 nian liang’an guanxi he guojia anquan minyi diaocha, 2005, Taiwan National Security Survey, Duke University: Program in Asian Security Studies.
Romberg, Alan D. (2008) “Cross-Strait Relations: First the Easy Steps, Then the Difficult Ones,” China Leadership Monitor (26: September).
Romberg, Alan D. (2009a) “Cross-Strait Relations: ‘Ascend the Heights and Take a Long-term Perspective,’” China Leadership Monitor, 27 (Winter).
Romberg, Alan D. (2009b) “Cross-Strait Relations: First the Easy, Now the Hard,” China Leadership Monitor, 28 (Spring).
Romberg, Alan D. (2010) “Ma at Mid-Term: Challenges for Cross-Strait Relations,” China Leadership Monitor, 33, (Summer).
Ross, Robert (2000) “The 1995–1996 Taiwan Strait Confrontation; Coercion, Credibility and Use of Force,” International Security 25 (Fall): 87–123.
Shichor, Yitzhak (2008) Missiles Myths: China’s Threat to Taiwan in a Comparative Perspective. Taipei: CAPS Papers, 45 (August).
Shlapak, David A.; Orletsky, David T.; Reid, Toy I.; Tanner, Murray Scot and Wilson, Barry (2009) A Question of Balance.Political Context and Military Aspects of the China-Taiwan Dispute. Washington DC: Rand.
Su, Chi (2009) Taiwan’s Relations with Mainland China. A Tail Wagging Two Dogs, London and New York: Routledge.
Sutter, Robert (2009) “Cross-Strait Moderation and the United States – Policy Adjustments Needed,” PacNet, 17 (5 March).
Swaine, Michael D. (2005) “Non-Military Considerations: Evolving Trends and Policies in the U.S., China, and Taiwan,” paper prepared for the conference: “Preventing and Resolving Conflict Across the Taiwan Strait,” (6 April). Online. Available HTTP: <http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/SwainePaper1.pdf> (accessed 20 November 2009).
Ting, Wai (2006) “The Potential Flashpoint Taiwan,” in Bolt, Paul and Willner, Albert (eds) China’s Nuclear Future. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 143–162.
Tucker, Nancy Bernkopf (2002) “If Taiwan Chooses Unification, Should the United States Care?” Washington Quarterly 25 (Summer): 15–28.
Tucker, Nancy Bernkopf (2009) Strait Talk.United States – Taiwan Relations and the Crisis with China. Cambridge, Ma: Harvard University Press.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften | Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cabestan, JP. (2012). The Strategic Triangle between Taiwan, China and the USA: A European Perspective. In: Damm, J., Lim, P. (eds) European Perspectives on Taiwan. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-94303-9_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-94303-9_7
Publisher Name: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften
Print ISBN: 978-3-531-18580-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-531-94303-9
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)