Overview
- 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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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 Washingtonand 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.
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Keywords
Table of contents (6 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
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
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.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: US-China Rivalry and Taiwan's Mainland Policy
Book Subtitle: Security, Nationalism, and the 1992 Consensus
Authors: Dean P. Chen
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47599-8
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-83778-9Published: 20 July 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-47599-8Published: 21 March 2017
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIX, 207
Number of Illustrations: 4 b/w illustrations, 2 illustrations in colour
Topics: Foreign Policy, Asian Politics, US Politics, Diplomacy, Conflict Studies, Regionalism