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US-China Rivalry and Taiwan's Mainland Policy

Security, Nationalism, and the 1992 Consensus

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  • © 2017

Overview

Authors:
  1. Dean P. Chen

    1. Political Science, Ramapo College of New Jersey, Mahwah, USA

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  • Provides the most detailed and sophisticated analysis of Ma's cross-Strait policy to date

  • Offers insight into the evolution of US policy toward the Taiwan Strait and in particular the strategic ambiguity in Washington's policy toward Taiwan

  • Contributes to neo-classical realist theory

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
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  2. The Xi–Ma Summit Meeting and US Interests Across the Taiwan Strait

    • Dean P. Chen
    Pages 1-40

  3. Politics Beyond the Water’s Edge: Neoclassical Realism

    • Dean P. Chen
    Pages 41-67

  4. Defining “One China”

    • Dean P. Chen
    Pages 69-100

  5. The KMT Rebuilds the ROC: Useful Foreign Foes and Enemies from Within

    • Dean P. Chen
    Pages 101-135

  6. US Strategic Ambiguity, Rising China, and Taiwan’s Security

    • Dean P. Chen
    Pages 137-171

  7. Tsai Ing-wen and the Weakening of the “1992 Consensus”

    • Dean P. Chen
    Pages 173-202

  8. Back Matter

    Pages 203-207
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Keywords

About this book

This book examines changes in Taiwan’s policies toward Mainland China under former Republic of China (ROC) President Ma Ying-jeou (2008-16) and considers their implications for US policy toward the Taiwan Strait. In recent years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s increasingly assertive foreign policy behaviors have heightened tensions with its regional neighbors as well as the United States. However, under the Kuomintang (KMT) administration of Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan discounted Beijing’s coercion and pursued rapprochement on the basis of the “1992 consensus,” which was a tacit agreement reached between the KMT and Chinese Communist Party in 1992 that both Taiwan and the mainland belong to one China though that “China” is subjected to either side's different interpretations. The author of this volume analyzes why Taipei underreacted towards the security challenges posed by the PRC and chartered policies that sometimes went against the interests of Washington and its allies in the Asia-Pacific. The KMT was pushing for nation-building initiatives to rejuvenate the ROC’s “one China” ruling legitimacy and to supplant pro-independence forces within Taiwan. The island’s deeply fragmented domestic politics and partisanship have led policy elites to choose suboptimal strategy and, thereby, weakening its security position. The implications from this study are equally applicable to Taiwan’s newly elected Democratic Progressive Party government that has taken off ice in 2016.


Reviews

“Overall, this is an important and innovative work, which will be required reading for anyone interested in cross-Strait relations or the dynamics of Taiwan’s politics.... Unlike some highly partisan work in Taiwan studies, Dr. Chen develops an analytic model which shows the strengths and weaknesses of both the KMT and DPP.” (Cal Clark, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Auburn University, USA)

“Dean Chen once again contributes substantially to our understanding of Taiwan’s trajectory with this important study explaining how and why dysfunctional domestic politics in Taiwan influenced President Ma Ying-jeou (2008-2016) to soft pedal security challenges posed by China’s recent belligerence in eastern Asia. The argument that Ma’s sub-optimal security policies were often at odds with the United States and its Asian allies and weakened Taiwan’s security remains especially relevant as President Tsai Ing-wen (2016-) avoids concessions weakening Taiwan’s sovereignty amid unbending demands from Beijing and angst in Washington.” (Robert Sutter, Professor of Practice of International Affairs, George Washington University, USA)

“An important and timely contribution to the scholarly literature focusing on the tangled relationship between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland.  Without question, this book is a must-read for both academics and practitioners.” (Dennis V. Hickey, The James F. Morris Professor of Political Science, Missouri State University, USA)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Political Science, Ramapo College of New Jersey, Mahwah, USA

    Dean P. Chen

About the author

Dean P. Chen is Associate Professor of Political Science at the Ramapo College of New Jersey, USA. He is the author of US Taiwan Strait Policy: The Origins of Strategic Ambiguity (2012) and several journal articles that appeared in Asian Survey, Asian Security, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, and the American Journal of Chinese Studies. 

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