By Hao Xie Abstract The Sino-US relations can be regarded as one of the most important bilateral relations in the world, and th...
By Hao Xie
Abstract
The Sino-US
relations can be regarded as one of the most important bilateral relations in
the world, and the Taiwan issue is the core of the relations. The main purpose
of this paper is to analyze the impacts of the Taiwan issue on the Sino-US
relations. These impacts are analyzed in the following four aspects: 1) the
attitude of the US to the Taiwan independence forces; 2) the adjustment of
global strategic objectives of the US; 3) the rise of China and the adjustment
of the US’s China strategy; 4) the factors of Taiwan issue influencing on
pattern of common interests of China and the US.
Keywords: China, The
US, Sino-US Relations, Taiwan
Image Attribute: This photograph depicts President Ford making remarks at a Reciprocal Dinner in honor of the People's Republic of China (PRC) Official Party that he and First Lady Betty Ford hosted in the Peking Room of the Great Hall of the People. December 4, 1975 / SOURCE: Wikimedia Commons [Link]
1.
Introduction
Since China
carried out the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, it has been gradually
integrated into the Western-dominated international community. Although there
are fundamental differences in basic beliefs about the nature of man and
society between China and the US, and these differences make it difficult for
Chinese to understand the US, and vice versa (Shambaugh,
1988) ; there is still constantly increasing level of interdependence
between China and the US. If China and the US deal with their relationship with
a long-term strategic vision, and actively seek common interests in different
fields, probably, the relations between them will be stable, though they still
need to consider their own interests at the same time.
However, the
US, the only superpower in the world, has to face the fact that China is
becoming a rising power in existing international system. The world history has
witnessed many cases that the hegemonic powers would try to block or attack the
rising power for safeguarding their own power. National interest can be
regarded as a basic driving force behind the international activities of a
country, especially when the country deals with relations with other countries
in the international community. This is helpful for understanding the analysis
of the Sino-US relations from the perspective of the Taiwan issue.
2. The Attitude
of the US to the Taiwan Independence Forces
After the Cold
War and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, China and the US had partly
lost the base of cooperation. However, a large number of facts have proved that
this opinion is not totally correct especially after the 9/11 event. In fact,
China and the US have broad common interests in different fields. For example,
the 9/11 event gave China and the US a new opportunity to seek new common
interests in security area and they could cooperate with each other to fight
against terrorism.
The 9/11 event
can be regarded as a watershed event in Bush administration’s China policy. The
China policy of every previous government of the US had a feature that, at the
beginning of the presidential term, the American administration take a
hard-line policy toward China but then adopt a pragmatic and rational attitude
to the Sino-US relations. For instance, when George W. Bush just
became the president of the US in 2001, he took the hard-line policy toward
China and pro-Taiwan policy. Bush administration undermined the tradition that
only sold defensive weapons to Taiwan, via intensifying military cooperation
with Taiwan. On 24 April 2001, President Bush said that the US would do
“whatever it took to help Taiwan defend herself” in the event of attack by
China (Wallace, 2001) . It was good news for Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP), the representative of Taiwan separatist force, and it
could be seen as a kind of support for them. Therefore, the Sino-US relations
has been tense since the Bush administration publicly declared that opinion.
After the 9/11
event, some officials in the Bush administration believed that the American
campaign to fight terrorism should reinforce cooperative relations with US
allies in East Asia and create incentives for accommodating relations with China (Krauss,
2003) . In October 2001, although the domestic situation of the US was
very tense, Bush still went to Shanghai to participate in Informal APEC
Economic Leaders’ Meetings (IAELM) and held bilateral meeting with Chinese
President Jiang Zemin. Bush and President Jiang were both
willing to build constructive and cooperative China-US relations.
When US Vice
President Dick Cheney met with Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao in
the May 2002, he expressed that the American administration did not support
Taiwan independence and also did not support the development of Taiwan
separatist force. When Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited the US in October
2002, Bush said that one-China policy means that the issue ought to be resolved
peacefully and we’ve got influence with some in the region; we intend to make
sure that the issue is resolved peacefully-and that includes making it clear
that we do not support independence (The
White House, 2002) .
After
September 2003, Chen Shui -bian, The President of the Republic
of China, launched the constitutional referendum which could be seen as the
Taiwan independence timetable. This leaded to sustained tension in the Taiwan
Strait and brought the relations between China Mainland and Taiwan to the brink
of danger. The Chinese government explicitly asked the American administration
to stop the Taiwan independence provocation. As a response, the US
administration sent Michael Green , who was the senior director
for East Asian affairs of the US National Security Council, to Taiwan with
President Bush ’s letter to put pressure on Chen Shui -bian.
After that, he came to Beijing to communicate with Chinese government. Because
of failing to dissuade the Taiwan independence movement led by Chen Shui -bian,
the US administration had to increase the pressure on Chen Shui -bian.
Richard Boucher, US State Department spokesperson, said that Washington would
be opposed to any referenda that would change Taiwan’s status or move towards
independence (Boucher, 2003) . A few years later, Ma Ying-jeou from
Kuomintang won presidential elections in 2008 and 2012, which relieved the
cross-strain relations between Mainland China and Taiwan.
From these
facts it can be seen that China and the US actually have established dialogue
mechanism and crisis management mechanism. This means that the Chinese
government and the US government are able to communicate with each other in
time when they encounter significant problems, such as the Taiwan issue. This
demonstrates that the ability of China and the US to deal with frictions under
control.
It is
important to note that some measures adopted by American administration have
positive impacts on stabilizing the situation of the Taiwan Strait and
promoting the development of the Sino-US relations. However, the slight
adjustment of Taiwan policy of the US does not mean that the US government
intends to change its fundamental principles. On the one hand, the US has to
take some measures to constrain the development of Taiwan independence forces
and not allow Taiwan authorities to go too far down the path of separatism; on
the other hand, the US still sells arms to Taiwan and provides protection for
it. By strengthening its military alliance with Japan, the US wants to include
Taiwan in its scope. What the US does on the Taiwan issue, in some extent, can
be understood because it worries about the unstable aspects of a non-democratic
China. In this sense, this is the continuation of the US’s policy toward
Taiwan.
3. The
Adjustment of Global Strategic Objectives of the US
The Taiwan
policy of the US can be regarded as a part of its China policy, which can be
seen as an important part of its global strategy. After the Zhenbao Island
incident, the general Soviet policy toward China consisted of denunciations,
criticism, threats, and blandishment (Robinson,
1982) . So, Beijing and Washington had submerged their differences
because of their common interest of confronting a common adversary, the Soviet
Union (Calabrese, 1992) , and they were able to find the base
of strategic cooperation. However, they did not need help from each other anymore
in this field after the end of the Cold War. Thus, the Sino-US relations have
been changed. Some officials of the US thought that China could be considered
as a strategic adversary of the US. Some anti-China forces in the US
rediscovered the value of Taiwan issue and they were trying to contain China by
playing the Taiwan card.
After the 9/11
terrorist attacks, the US administration has immediately adjusted its global
strategy and has shifted its focus on anti-terrorism activities. Under this
circumstance, anti-terrorism has been considered as the top priority on global
strategy by the government of the US. The American government holds that the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is the major threat to the
survival and security of the US. Once terrorist forces obtain these weapons,
the consequences are unthinkable. Therefore, anti-terrorism and
non-proliferation are the core interests of the US. In order to achieve this
objective, the US needs to cooperate with China in many fields. It is obvious
that the anti-terrorism activities actually promote the improvement of the
Sino-US relations.
The wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan triggered anti-US rallies in the Muslim world. The US
government hoped that China could play a greater role on the North Korea and
Iran nuclear issues. Therefore, because of the adjustment of the global
strategic objectives of the US and its increased demand for China, the US
enhanced its relations with China. Since China and the US decided to establish
the diplomatic relations in 1972, the US- Taiwan relationship has been
subordinate to the Sino-US relations. Every time when the US plans to readjust
its policy towards Taiwan, it has to seriously consider its relations with
China. According to Robert S. Ross, during the war in Afghanistan,
the US minimized involvement by its NATO allies and the US would be no more
interested in cooperation with Taiwan in the event of a US-China war in the
Taiwan Strait (Ross, 2002).
4. The Rise
of China and the Adjustment of the China Strategy of the US
The US has
realized that the tectonic plates of power that have characterized Asia for
half a century are shifting, and China may be returning to its traditional role
as the central actor in Asia (Shambaugh,
2006) . Although the relationship between China and the US is stable
now, the US still cannot regard China as its real friend. Ideological
differences between them are one of the reasons. Nevertheless, as Liu puts it,
ideology is playing an increasingly insignificant role in China’s relations
with foreign countries (Chen,
2005) . Another important reason is the rise of China.
Understanding
China as a rising power in the world has become a difficult question for the US
government, and Western and Asian fears of a potential “China threat” are
driven largely by the assumption that continued Chinese economic growth
eventually provide the foundation for a substantial increase in Chinese
military power, and by uncertainty how China is likely to use this power in the
future (Saunders, 2000). The government of the US worries
about the development direction of China. Some officials of the US with a
realist perspective think that China represents an explicit challenge to the
position of the US in Asia and the world (Saunders,
2000).
The US has
misgivings about the rise of China, so it has increased vigilance against a
possible threat from China. After Bush became the President of the
US, he launched to promote the capability of military coordination with its
alliances in the Asia-Pacific region such as Japan, Korea and Australia. The US
regarded the US-Japan alliance as the key point of its strategic position in
Asia-Pacific region. In February 2005, the US announced that it would include
Taiwan into the scope of US-Japan security cooperation and it also attempted to
extend its missile defense system to cover Taiwan. The US and Japan issued a
joint statement after the one-day consultation that for the first time included
the peaceful resolution of issues concerning the Taiwan Strait through dialogue (Yuan,
2005). The China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman expressed that Beijing
resolutely opposes the US and Japan in issuing any bilateral document
concerning China’s Taiwan, which meddles in the internal affairs of China, and
hurts China’s sovereignty (Yuan,
2005). For further confronting China’s rise, on Nov. 17, 2011 US
President Barack Obama delivered a speech in the Australian Parliament, and
proposed the “return-to-Asia” strategy. In his speech, President Obama stressed
that let there be no doubt: in the Asia-Pacific in the 21st century, the US of
America is all in (Feller,
2011). Although President Obama did not mention the
Taiwan issue, in the geopolitical considerations behind the “return-to-Asia”
strategy, Taiwan will undoubtedly occupy an important position, and would
produce impacts on Sino-US relations that could not be ignored.
In today’s era
of globalization, both China and the US have many common interests in regional
affairs, global security and their bilateral relations, so it is possible and
necessary for them to cooperate with each other. China’s position in the US
global strategy is significantly increasing, especially in economic field.
Actually, it is a simplistic view to regard China as a strategic competitor.
The government of the US already has new understanding of complexity and
importance of the Sino-US relations. China has the ability to help the US to
prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and fight against
terrorism in the world, though China has the potential to challenge the global
status of the US.
Robert B. Zoellick,
former Deputy Secretary of State of the US, stated that we need to urge China
to become a responsible stakeholder in that system (Zoellick,
2005), the international system. It shows that China and the US have
built a new framework for the development of their relationship. The complex
relations between them include seeking mutual cooperation and guarding against
each other. However, since the US has qualified China as a stakeholder and
asked China to be a responsible member of the international community, it
should also honor the promise it has made to China that it does not support
Taiwan independence (Huang,
2006).
If the content
of the American strategy towards China includes containing China, Taiwan will
be its trump card. However, the effect of Taiwan has to not only be
subordinated to the global strategic objectives of the US, but be limited by
the development of Sino-US relations. Thus, the development of the Sino-US
relations fundamentally constrains the evolution of Taiwan issue and also
restricts American policy toward Taiwan. Although there are some conflicts and
differences between China and the US, many facts have proved that cooperation
is the mainstream of the Sino-US relations now. With the rise of China, both
China and the US will broaden the scope of cooperation and will strengthen
coordination, and they can find out more potential for cooperation in the
future.
5. The
Factors of Taiwan Issue Influencing on Pattern of Common Interests of China and
the US
The Taiwan
issue is a historical problem which is left over by China’s civil war. Chinese
government believes that the Taiwan issue is Chinese internal affair, so it
cannot brook direct or indirect interference by any foreign forces. Both Cairo
Declaration issued by China, the US and the United Kingdom in December 1943 and
the Potsdam Proclamation signed by China, the US, the United Kingdom and the
Soviet Union in 1945 announced that all territories, including Taiwan, occupied
by Japan before the end of the Second World War should be returned to China. On
25 October 1945, the Japanese government completed the returning of sovereignty
of Taiwan to China. Thus, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and it has
been proven through history. However, political behavior of states is not
always dominated by rationality. In many cases, the political behavior will be
irrational due to national interests. This is one of important reasons why the
Taiwan issue can be regarded as a barometer for Sino-US relations.
As the
superpower in the world after the Cold War, the US seeks its national interests
on a global scale, and Taiwan becomes an important American agent which is able
to help the US to obtain strategic interests in the Asia-Pacific region. In the
system of national interests, the status of various interests of countries is
not immutable. At different periods of history, the core interests of different
countries keep changing due to changes in international situations. The Taiwan
issue is the core interest of China, and Chinese leaders believe that
reunification of China is their historical mission. With constant enhancement
of its comprehensive strength, China should widely participate in international
affairs, actively integrate into the international community and develop
friendly and cooperation relation with other countries in different fields.
Thus, China is likely to continue to pur- sue its current external policy,
marked by overall caution, pragmatism and an emphasis on a peaceful regional
environment so as to permit China’s modernization program to succeed (Hieronymi,
2004). The Sino-US relations can be seen as one of the most important
bilateral relations in the world. If both sides intend to promote their
relations, they should not challenge each other’s core interests. If the
government of the US continues to challenge China’s core interests, especially
about the Taiwan issue, and does not comply with the promise of one-China
policy, the relationship between China and the US is bound to inevitably face
setback.
Obviously,
striving for the peaceful reunification of China accords with the interests of
China, the US and other Asia-Pacific countries. Chinese people are reluctant to
see the horrible situation where they have to fight their compatriots across
the Taiwan Strait. In fact, leaders in Beijing undoubtedly will be preoccupied
with daunting domestic problems and unwilling to see a tense cross-Strait
situation, which would distract them from their domestic agenda (Cheng,
2005). Maintaining good surrounding environment and stable Sino-US relations
is very important for the development and modernization of China. From Taiwan’s
perspective, the war means a tremendous, absolute, comprehensive disaster which
will destroy its painstaking efforts after the China’s Civil War ended in 1949.
From the Asia-Pacific countries’ perspective, maintaining stability in the
Taiwan Strait and maintain East Asia security is common aspiration of people in
East Asian region. From the American view, the US and its allies will have to
pay a high price for this possible war across the Taiwan Strait in the future.
Therefore, the Sino-US relations will decide and contain the development of
relationship between the US and Taiwan.
With the
peaceful rise of China and the decrease of Taiwan’s international space, the
common interests between China and the US will keep on increasing, but the
common interest between the US and Taiwan will be made smaller than before. A
divided Taiwan does not have enough special interest for the US if China can
promote economic development and achieve democratization. Maintaining peace and
stability in the Taiwan Straits aligns with the common interests of China and
the US, so the American government should not send any wrong signal to the
Taiwan independence force.
The current
American policy toward China will continue for quite a long time if the Chinese
government still adopts its open policy and promotes democracy. On the current
international situation, this policy in some extent will be effective and will
lead to peaceful and stable relations between the US and China. Thus, this
policy is very pragmatic. The US should realize that so long as Beijing eschews
the use of force and works peacefully to adapt to and shape the future
international system, the most destabilizing consequences of growing Chinese
power will be minimized (Swaine,
2000). Actually, both China and the US do not want to use military
means to resolve the Taiwan issue. It should be noted that China and the US
have common interest in many aspects but it does not mean that the US can
challenge the core interest of China.
Since China
and the US established the formal diplomatic relations in 1979, both Chinese
leaders and the leaders of the US have been trying to use different ways to
promote the Sino-US relations. Without doubt, they have already yielded
fruitful results in various fields of cooperation which can lead to a better
understanding of the Taiwan issue. In fact, in many fields they have reached
consensus which is based on common strategies and interests. They are willing
to promote world peace and development of the Asia-Pacific region and try to
enhance economic cooperation and seek common development and prosperity.
6.
Conclusion
The US
strategy toward China is one of the most important factors which can influence
the development of Sino-US relations and US strategy toward China is
subordinate to its global strategy. China’s modernization is a long-term
undertaking. In the process of reform, opening-up and modernization, China
needs to maintain good bilateral relations with the US. The government of the
US would emphasize particularly different aspects or fields, and thus, it could
lead to volatility in the US strategy toward China. From the current
international situation, the US is having increasing demand of cooperation with
China, so the Sino-US relations can be seen as constructive and cooperative.
It can be
expected that the global strategy of the US will not be fundamentally changed
in the next ten or twenty years. The government of the US realizes that it
needs to prepare for and fight a long-duration war against terrorism. At
present the war against radical Islamic forces has been going for many years,
but the threat of terrorism has not diminished. In addition, the situation of
preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons is becoming growingly complex
due to the Iranian nuclear issue and the North Korea nuclear issue. The
government of the US clearly knows that it will take a long time to resolve all
of these problems.
On the one
hand, some officials in the government of the US still hold negative views on
the impacts of China’s development. They guard against China’s development
because they regard China as future threat to the US. However, on the other
hand, China’s development has also made the US government realize the
importance of cooperation between China and the US in the international
community.
The Chinese
government proclaims to the world that China will follow the road of peaceful
development and would never seek hegemony. If the Chinese government can prove
that it will not change the existing international order which is mainly
dominated by the US, the US strategy towards China will be more rational.
The Taiwan
issue is inextricably linked to the development of Sino-US relations and
probably is the only possibility that leads to military conflicts between China
and the US. In fact, due to their strategies, maintaining peace and stability
across the Taiwan Strait can help Beijing and Washington to obtain common
interests on the Taiwan issue. However, the Taiwan independence forces gravely
threaten the common interests of China and the US. Both of them should ensure
timely communication and cannot give any opportunity to the Taiwan independence
forces which are able to destabilize the stable situation of the Taiwan issue.
A new scene of
relations among big powers can be seen after the Cold War and the main theme of
the relations is seeking win-win cooperation. The interests and relations of
big powers are so complicated that we cannot say the relationship among big
powers is completely antagonistic. Actually, they are seeking cooperation in
many aspects and the relationship between China and the US is also in the frame
of relations among big powers. In the foreseeable future, both China and the US
will not have strong motivation to break through the framework of relations
among big powers.
After the 9/11
event, international security situation has become more complex and non-traditional
security threat is now growing. Terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, energy security, financial security, infectious diseases,
environmental degradation and other threats become growingly serious. They
endanger society and public interests of mankind. In respond to these threats,
every country, especially major powers in the world should cooperate with each
other. China and the US are able to find common interests and share broad space
for cooperation. Because of the increase of interdependence and common
interests, the major powers are willing to seek cooperation but not
confrontation and conflict. In the future, economic globalization and world
multi-polarization can be regarded as a trend which will be conducive to the
relationship between China and the US.
About The Author:
Hao Xie, Shanghai-Hongkong Development Institute,
Fudan University, Shanghai, China, Email: xiehao1978@hotmail.com
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Publication Details:
Open Journal of Political Science
Vol.04 No.04(2014), Article ID:50573,6 pages
10.4236/ojps.2014.44025
Copyright © 2014 by author and Scientific Research
Publishing Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution
International License (CC BY) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
