China, Taiwan and the US: The Present Stand-Off

21 Apr, 2000    ·   349

Sonika Gupta comments on the continuing acrimony between China and Taiwan
Sonika Gupta
With the recent settlement of its border dispute with Russia , China has solved all its outstanding land border disputes. (The Sino-Indian border dispute is an exception but this dispute does not figure significantly in China 's foreign policy calculations.) China 's maritime disputes, however, are a different story. It has outstanding problems regarding its claims to the Spratly Islands , the Senkakau Islands and most impotant of all, to Taiwan . The current tension between China and Taiwan is the latest in a series of similar threats issued by the People's Republic of China (PRC) against the Republic of China (ROC) or Taiwan . 

 

 

It would be simplistic to treat China 's claim to Taiwan as avarice for a rich territory. China 's claim has a historical basis.   For China , the 19th century was a "century of humiliation" with China being referred to as "the sick man of Asia ." During the European exploitation of China and the Japanese occupation, the concept of a strong and united China was articulated by the Nationalists. It was strengthened by Mao Zedong. In 1949, upon the formation of the PRC Mao announced that " China had stood up." He presented the goal of a "strong and united China " that could take its rightful place in the community of nations. Since 1949 the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) doggedly pursued this goal to place China on par with the most powerful nations in the world. In pursuing this objective the leadership of the CCP has remained unchallenged within China . China regards Taiwan as a renegade province, its intention to declare independence from the mainland is seen as a direct threat to the goal of a stable and united China . In other words, Taiwan 's intention to declare independence is seen by China not as self-determination by the Taiwanese people but as a threat to the leadership of the CCP and to China 's national goals.

 

 

Though China is in favor of a peaceful reunification of Taiwan with the mainland, it has categorically stated that it reserves the right to use force to achieve reunification. However, in the present scenario the use of force by China does not seem imminent as that would lead to direct confrontation with the US . Neither does a solution of this dispute seem forthcoming in the near future. China is highly critical of the US involvement in what it considers to be its internal dispute. The Taiwan Security Enhancement Act (TSEB) passed by the US House of Representatives in February came in for strong criticism in the Chinese media.  The TSEB explicitly commits the US to safeguarding Taiwan 's national security in the event of an attack by the PRC. For this reason it is difficult to forsee the use of force by China against Taiwan . However, China is definitely not ready to give up its aim its one China policy. In fact, after the peaceful reunification of Hong Kong and Macao , China forcefully advocates the "one-nation two systems" policy as an olive branch to Taiwan .

 

 

As for the US , though it is committed to protecting Taiwan from attack from China , it has other significant issues at hand in its engagement with China .  In February, President Clinton said that a trade deal with China is a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity and should not be rejected because of Chinese threats against Taiwan , global arms sales or human rights. Further, there is dissatisfaction within Taiwan regarding TSEB, which is seen as a more provocative version of the earlier Taiwan Relations Act of 1979. The TSEB offers Taiwan a higher level of protection, bordering on a military alliance with Taiwan For this reason the implementation of the TSEB might run into difficulty within the US itself. The TRA was the outcome of an agreement between the Democrats and the Republicans whereas the present TSEB has greater Republican support and hence was debated at length in the US Congress before being passed.  According to analysts in Taiwan , the TRA had laid the foundations for strong US-Taiwan relations and did not need to be upgraded. It had worked as a deterrent against China . The TSEB, being more detailed and hence more provocative in nature might goad China into taking the "drastic measures" that it has so often threaten to take.

 

 

With no apparent solution to the present stand-off, it seems that Taiwan will have to continue to exist in a limbo, hoping for a change in China 's claim to reunification which, at the moment, does not seem possible.

 

 

 

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