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.
By Hao Xie
Shanghai-Hongkong
Development Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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.
Publication Details:
This article is an excerpt from a research paper titled The Impacts of the Taiwan Issue on Sino-US Relations Hao Xie, Shanghai-Hongkong
Development Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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2014 by author and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.
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