US-Taiwan relationship: from legal to political perspective

Denny Roy describes the current political situation in Taiwan as both “peculiar and intriguing.” Roy also uses the terms “beautiful” and “beleaguered” to define Taiwan. These oxymoronic terms are natural reactions to the political turmoil and the economic success that characterize this island. The island itself appears harmless enough, yet it remains an indirect military threat to the world’s two most powerful nations: China and the US. At the heart of this threat is the question of Taiwan’s political status. Is it a sovereign nation in its own right or is it a part of mainland China? Taiwan believes it is sovereign and entitled to recognition as a sovereign state. China believes Taiwan is merely a renegade state and will eventually return to mainland China. The US is torn between foreign policies and relationships with both Taiwan and China and takes a rather ambiguous position. The result is decades of diplomatic wars between Taiwan and China with the US quite often caught in the middle. The purpose of this research study is to analyze and trace the origins and developments of Taiwan’s “peculiar and intriguing” circumstances and the consequences for world peace. This will require a detailed examination of the relations between Taiwan, China and the US and how foreign policy strategies and world politics have steered this triangle and the legal developments that have emerged. Certainly, conflict in the Middle East is a threat to world peace and security. However, no conflict or political impasse exists with the threat of war between the world’s two superpowers juxtaposed against one another as does the situation in the Taiwan Strait. A war between the US and China over Taiwan’s legal status may or may not happen. However, the mere prospect of such a war shapes and steers Taiwan’s domestic and international affairs. The focus on the colliding interests in and over the Taiwan Strait, automatically follow from the current status quo. For the second half of the 20th century each of the parties involved have gravitated toward largely incompatible goals. China takes the position that there is only one China and Taiwan is a part of China. Taiwan originally believed just as vociferously in the opposite contention and declared Taipei rather than Beijing as China’s legitimate capital. In recent years Taiwan has pursued autonomous status and international recognition. However, the greatest part of Taiwan’s population favors the status quo: rejecting independence and Chinese control all at once. The US is similarly positioned: acknowledging China’s one-China policy without expressing or demonstrating acceptance of it. Meanwhile the US has legally bound itself to providing military and economic assistance to Taiwan. These are the peculiar and intriguing circumstances surrounding the situation in Taiwan that motivate this study.Denny Roy describes the current political situation in Taiwan as both “peculiar and intriguing.” Roy also uses the terms “beautiful” and “beleaguered” to define Taiwan. These oxymoronic terms are natural reactions to the political turmoil and the economic success that characterize this island. The island itself appears harmless enough, yet it remains an indirect military threat to the world’s two most powerful nations: China and the US. At the heart of this threat is the question of Taiwan’s political status. Is it a sovereign nation in its own right or is it a part of mainland China? Taiwan believes it is sovereign and entitled to recognition as a sovereign state. China believes Taiwan is merely a renegade state and will eventually return to mainland China. The US is torn between foreign policies and relationships with both Taiwan and China and takes a rather ambiguous position. The result is decades of diplomatic wars between Taiwan and China with the US quite often caught in the middle. The purpose of this research study is to analyze and trace the origins and developments of Taiwan’s “peculiar and intriguing” circumstances and the consequences for world peace. This will require a detailed examination of the relations between Taiwan, China and the US and how foreign policy strategies and world politics have steered this triangle and the legal developments that have emerged. Certainly, conflict in the Middle East is a threat to world peace and security. However, no conflict or political impasse exists with the threat of war between the world’s two superpowers juxtaposed against one another as does the situation in the Taiwan Strait. A war between the US and China over Taiwan’s legal status may or may not happen. However, the mere prospect of such a war shapes and steers Taiwan’s domestic and international affairs. The focus on the colliding interests in and over the Taiwan Strait, automatically follow from the current status quo. For the second half of the 20th century each of the parties involved have gravitated toward largely incompatible goals. China takes the position that there is only one China and Taiwan is a part of China. Taiwan originally believed just as vociferously in the opposite contention and declared Taipei rather than Beijing as China’s legitimate capital. In recent years Taiwan has pursued autonomous status and international recognition. However, the greatest part of Taiwan’s population favors the status quo: rejecting independence and Chinese control all at once. The US is similarly positioned: acknowledging China’s one-China policy without expressing or demonstrating acceptance of it. Meanwhile the US has legally bound itself to providing military and economic assistance to Taiwan. These are the peculiar and intriguing circumstances surrounding the situation in Taiwan that motivate this study