Abstract
The most difficult and dangerous issue that may lead to war between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the United States (US) is a confrontation across the Taiwan Strait. This is not changed by the fact that none of those directly involved, Taiwan, the PRC and the US wishes to see a military conflict. War or peace across the Taiwan Strait remains a serious issue as the PRC is determined to secure sovereignty over Taiwan while the latter is equally adamant that its own future must be decided not by the PRC or any other power but by the people who live in Taiwan, and the US is committed to help Taiwan defend itself and its democratic way of life. The assertion of its right, inherent in a democracy, to self-determination by Taiwan raises the prospect that its people may choose never to become part of the PRC or even of a China to be constituted by a union of the PRC and Taiwan. From Beijing’s point of view, such a development would be tantamount to Taiwan opting for independence and would be a trigger for war.
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Notes
For Taiwan’s history in the context of Chinese history, see W.G. Goddard, Formosa: A Study in Chinese History (London: Macmillan — now Palgrave Macmillan, 1966).
The Cairo Declaration is reproduced in Hungdah Chiu (ed.), China and the Taiwan Issue (New York: Praeger, 1979), 215.
Frank S.T. Hsiao and Lawrence R. Sullivan, ‘The Chinese Communist Party and the Status of Taiwan 1928–1943’, Pacific Affairs, vol.52, no.3, Fall 1979, 446–58.
Edgar Snow, Red Star Over China (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1961), 128–9. The word ‘colony’ was apparently used by Mao.
Peng Mingmin and Huang Chaotang, Taiwan zai guoji fa shang de di-wei (Taipei: Yushan Chubenshe, 1995), 142–4.
Stephen E. Ambrose, Eisenhower: Soldier and President (New York: Touchstone, 1990), 380.
For the 1995–96 crisis, see Suisheng Zhao (ed.), Across the Taiwan Strait (New York & London: Routledge, 1999). The other significant crisis of a sort happened in 1962–3 when Chiang Kai-shek seriously contemplated an invasion of the mainland with American backing. He was restrained by the Americans.
Lawrence Freeman, Kennedy’s Wars (New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 251–5.
Xingzhengyuan Dalu Weiyuanhui (ed.), Kuayue Lishi de Honggou (Taipei: Luweihui, 1997), 293 (President Lee’s reply to a reporter on 30 Apr. 1991).
On the issue of whether there was a consensus between Beijing and Taipei to fudge the issue of ‘one China’, see Su Qi and Zheng Anguo (eds), ‘Yige Zhongguo, gezi biaoshu’gongshi de shishi (Taipei: Guojia yanjiu zhengce jijinhui, 2002).
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Li Denghui, Taiwan de Zhuzhang (Taipei: Yuanliu, 1999), 262–3.
Deng Xiaoping, Deng Xiaoping Wenxuan (1975–1982) (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing, 1983), 173–4 (speech of 15 June 1979).
Steve Tsang, Hong Kong: An Appointment with China (London: I.B. Tauris, 1997), 91.
The classic exposition of the united front remains, Lyman van Slyke, Enemies and Friends: The United Front in Chinese Communist History (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1967).
Xingzhenyuan Dalu Weiyuanhui (ed.), Dalu Gongzuo Cankao Ciliao (Hedingben) Vol.2 (Taipei: Xingzhengyuan Dalu Weiyuanhui, 1998), 95–6 (Main points for work towards Taiwan in the future, 11 Feb. 1992), and 117–2 (guidelines for united front work in the 1990s, 20 April 1992).
See Zhang Nianqi, Liangan guanxi yu Zhongguo Qiantu (Hong Kong: Zhongguo pinlun wenhua youxian gongsi, 2002), 82–3.
For Clinton’s handling of Lee’s visit, see Patrick Tyler, A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China (New York: Century Foundation, 1999), 21–5.
Xingzhenyuan Dalu Weiyuanhui (ed.), Dalu Gongzuo Cankao Ciliao (Taipei: Xingzhengyuan Dalu Weiyuanhui, 1998), 157–9 (Excerpt from )iang’s 15th Congress political report, 12 Sept. 1997).
Yongnian Zhen, Discovering Chinese Nationalism in China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 19–20.
Steve Tsang, ‘China and Taiwan: A Proposal for Peace’, Security Dialogue, vol.31, no.3 (Sept. 2000), 327.
Martin Lasater ‘The Taiwan Issue in Sino-American Relations’ in Martin Lasater and Peter Kien-hong Yu (eds), Taiwan’s Security in the Post-Deng Xiaoping Era (London: Frank Cass, 2000), 210.
Qingxin Ken Wang, ‘Japan’s Balancing Act in the Taiwan Strait’, Security Dialogue, vol.31, no.3 (September 2000), 338–40.
For Britain’s earlier involvement over Taiwan, see Steve Tsang, The Cold War’s Odd Couple: The Republic of China and the United Kingdom, 1950–1958 (London: I.B. Tauris, 2004).
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© 2004 Steve Tsang
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Tsang, S. (2004). War or Peace Across the Taiwan Strait. In: Tsang, S. (eds) Peace and Security Across the Taiwan Strait. St Antony’s Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230524538_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230524538_1
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