China-Taiwan relations: a modest proposal

Negotiations without preconditions * Why war won't work * China's new strategy

Everybody's business China has for many years insisted that the "Taiwan question" is an "internal affair" of the People's Republic of China and has vehemently opposed what it calls the "internationalisation" of the discussion concerning Taiwan's status. The US and many other countries have conceded that China and Taiwan are part of "one China". However, China is still concerned that these countries might not recognise its sovereignty over Taiwan, especially if a war breaks out across the Taiwan Strait. Even if China's national sovereignty is accepted unconditionally, it is not clear that this would prevent the US, for example, from actively defending Taiwan. NATO's intervention in Kosovo signalled a change in attitude towards sovereign states which China found unacceptable because it opened the door to future interventions in states where the international community feels that governments, legitimate or not, can not be allowed to mistreat their own subjects on their own territory. The gradual replacement of national sovereignty by international sovereignty is part of a trend towards supra-national entities like the European Union. The expression of this trend in the form of military action to defend human rights abroad may be compared with the increased preparedness of police forces in democratic countries to intervene in cases of domestic violence. But the main reason why the relationship between China and Taiwan should be discussed by the international community is that the damage of a Sino-Taiwan war would be felt by many other countries and regions. The US and Japan could be drawn into a conflict not of their own seeking. Hong Kong's economy, now recovering strongly from recession, would be devastated. Major world industries, such as semiconductor and computer manufacturing, would be starved of the components produced in Taiwan. The developing trust between China and its South-east Asian neighbours would be seriously undermined. So what happens between China and Taiwan, however defined, does matter to the rest of us. We do, therefore, have the right to express an opinion on it. © Ken Davies, May 2000.

Taiwan page

Last updated 25 May 2000.