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US-China Rivalry and Taiwan's Mainland Policy pp 1–40Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

The Xi–Ma Summit Meeting and US Interests Across the Taiwan Strait

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Abstract

This chapter provides the background information of the Kuomintang’s rapprochement policy toward the People’s Republic of China since 2008. Specifically, the historic summit meeting, in November 2015, between the Chinese president Xi Jinping and Taiwan’s president Ma Ying-jeou will be examined to illustrate how such an encounter, though unprecedented, took place in the context of heightening of tensions between Washington and Beijing and Taiwan’s rising domestic discontent about Ma’s pro-China position.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The last time Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong met was in September 1945, in Chongqing, China, when both leaders, at the urging of the Harry S. Truman administration, sought to forge a coalition government for a united China. However, the deep-seated mistrust and animosity between the KMT and CCP prevented a lasting peace agreement, and an all-out civil war soon ensued that eventually drove out Chiang’s government to Taiwan in 1949. See Richard Bernstein, China 1945: Mao’s Revolution and America’s Fateful Choice (New York: Vintage Books, 2014).

  2. 2.

    Austin Ramzy, “When Leaders of Taiwan and China Meet, Even Tiny Gestures will be Parsed,” The New York Times (November 5, 2015), accessible at: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/05/world/asia/china-taiwan-xi-jinping-ma-ying-jeou-protocol.html.

  3. 3.

    Banyan, “The Emperor’s Descendants: Smiles and Handshakes Usher in What will be a Rocky Period for China-Taiwan Relations,” The Economist (November 14, 2015), accessible at: http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21678247-smiles-and-handshakes-usher-what-will-be-rocky-period-china-taiwan-relations-emperors.

  4. 4.

    “Hey Mister, Meet Mister: The Problems of Titles in China-Taiwan Meeting,” The Wall Street Journal (November 4, 2015), accessible at: http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2015/11/04/hey-mister-meet-mister-the-problem-of-titles-in-china-taiwan-meeting/. In another reminiscence of history, Chiang and Mao also addressed each other as “shensheng” or “mister” in many of their telegrams and letters, showing respect for each. See “Leaders Join Hands across Taiwan Strait for the First Time in 66 Years,” The Xinhua News Agency (November 7, 2015), accessible at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-11/07/c_134793648.htm.

  5. 5.

    Richard Bush, “Two Chinese Leaders Walk into a Room: The Singapore Meeting between Ma Ying-jeou and Xi Jinping,” Brookings Institution (November 4, 2015), accessible at: http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/order-from-chaos/posts/2015/11/04-ma-xi-taiwan-china-meeting-bush.

  6. 6.

    “Xi, Ma to Salute Each Other “Mister” in Historic Meeting,” The Xinhua News Agency (November 4, 2015), accessible at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-11/04/c_134782057.htm.

  7. 7.

    Ma Ying-jeou, “When I said ‘Mr. Xi’: Ma Ying-jeou,” USA Today (November 22, 2015), accessible at: http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/11/22/taiwan-china-xi-jinping-ma-ying-jeou-1992-consensus-column/76215872/.

  8. 8.

    Taiwan’s Liberty Times published an exclusive story that cited a “credible source” as saying that the Ma administration had only notified the US government through theAIT on November 3, 2015, merely a day before the news broke out and four days before the summit. However, President Ma refuted against this report, commenting that his administration “would never let the U.S. learn about such a development from the media.” See Stacey Hsu, “Ma Rebuffs Claims on U.S. Notice of Xi Meeting,” Taipei Times (November 17, 2015), accessible at: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2015/11/17/2003632643. See also “Ma Stresses ‘Zero Surprise’ Policy in Taiwan-U.S. Relations,” The Focus Taiwan News (November 16, 2015), accessible at: http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201511160009.aspx.

  9. 9.

    In this author’s interview on February 24, 2016 with Dr. Robert Sutter, professor of Practice of International Affairs at the Elliot School of International Affairs, the George Washington University, he noted that while it is understandable why the planning of such a meeting would be kept secret, the United States was “taken by surprise.” In an interview with this author on February 25, 2016, Dr. Richard Bush, director for the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institute, said that President Ma informed the U.S. “on a very short notice before the news went public.” Bush served as the chairman of the Board and managing director of the AIT, from 1997 to 2002. The AIT is the United States’ unofficial representative office or embassy in Taiwan.

  10. 10.

    “Leaders of Taiwan and China Hold Historic Meeting: A Display of Amity Points to Tougher Times Ahead,” The Economist (November 7, 2015), accessible at: http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21678115-display-amity-points-tougher-times-ahead-leaders-taiwan-and-china-hold-historic.

  11. 11.

    J. Michael Cole, “China-Taiwan Summit: Empty Symbolism or Game Changer?” The CNN (November 5, 2015), accessible at: http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/05/opinions/china-taiwan-summit-no-game-changer/.

  12. 12.

    Dennis Hickey and Emerson Niou, “Taiwan in 2015: A Turning Point?” Asian Survey 56, no. 1 (2016), p. 61.

  13. 13.

    David Brown and Kevin Scott, “China-Taiwan Relations: KMT Disarray Shapes Campaign,” Comparative Connections 17, no. 2 (September 2015), pp. 77–86, accessible at: http://csis.org/files/publication/1502qchina_taiwan.pdf.

  14. 14.

    This author’s interview with Chih-wei Chou on July 28, 2016. Chou was chairperson of the Kuomintang’s Culture and Communications Committee from April 2016 to October 2016.

  15. 15.

    Simon Denyer, “China, Taiwan Leaders Pledge Peaceful Ties at Historic Encounter,” The Washington Post (November 7, 2015), accessible at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/china-taiwan-leaders-shake-hands-smile-before-historic-encounter/2015/11/07/1b2ee572-84c5-11e5-8bd2-680fff868306_story.html.

  16. 16.

    Te-Ping Chen, “China-Taiwan Summit: A High Stakes Gamble for Xi Jinping, Ma Ying-jeou,” The Wall Street Journal (November 4, 2015), accessible at: http://www.wsj.com/articles/china-taiwan-summit-a-high-stakes-gamble-for-xi-jinping-ma-ying-jeou-1446645837. See also Austin Ramzy, “Meeting with Taiwan Reflects Limits of China’s Checkbook,” The New York Times (November 6, 2015), accessible at: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/07/world/asia/china-taiwan-meeting-economy-protests-singapore.html?action=click&contentCollection=Asia%20Pacific&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article.

  17. 17.

    “President Ma, Mainland Chinese Leader Xi Meet in Singapore, Agree to Jointly Consolidate Cross-Strait Peace and Prosperity,” The Mainland Affairs Council, Republic of China (Taiwan) Press Release No. 062 (November 7, 2015), accessible at: http://www.mac.gov.tw/public/Attachment/511811162758.pdf.

  18. 18.

    Wu, “Heading towards Troubled Water”? p. 64.

  19. 19.

    “Historic Ma-Xi Meeting Focuses on ‘1992 Consensus,’” The Focus Taiwan News (November 7, 2015), accessible at: http://focustaiwan.tw/news/acs/201511070043.aspx.

  20. 20.

    “China Focus: Xi Calls for Adhering to One-China Principle in Meeting with Ma,” The Xinhua News Agency (November 7, 2015), accessible at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-11/07/c_134793533.htm.

  21. 21.

    Ibid.

  22. 22.

    Ibid.

  23. 23.

    Shannon Tiezzi, “China and Taiwan Leaders Emphasize Kinship, 1992 Consensus in Historic Talk,” The Diplomat (November 7, 2015), accessible at: http://thediplomat.com/2015/11/china-and-taiwan-leaders-emphasize-kinship-1992-consensus-in-historic-talks/.

  24. 24.

    Ma Ying-jeou, “When I said ‘Mr. Xi’: Ma Ying-jeou.”

  25. 25.

    William Wan, “Ahead of Taiwan Elections, Presidential Candidate Defends Outreach to China,” The Washington Post (November 17, 2015), accessible at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/17/taiwans-ruling-party-now-the-underdog-a-q-a-with-its-presidential-candidate/.

  26. 26.

    Ma mentioned Taiwan’s concerns about China’s military threats, especially its missiles, to Xi, who only responded that these were “not aimed at Taiwan.” President Ma revealed that he wasn’t satisfied by Xi’s reply. See Stacy Hsu, “Ma Defends Significance of Meeting with Xi,” Taipei Times (November 9, 2015), accessible at: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2015/11/09/2003632021. See also “Taiwanese Concerned about China’s Military Threat, Ma Told Xi,” The Focus Taiwan News (November 7, 2015), accessible at: http://focustaiwan.tw/news/acs/201511070033.aspx.

  27. 27.

    To be sure, the DPP and many critics challenged that Ma did not firm up when meeting with Xi, as the president failed to fully address Taiwan’s democracy and freedom to choose its future and the existence of the ROC—at least these issues were absent in Ma’s opening remarks. They further questioned whether the president even raised these topics in the closed-door meeting with Xi Jinping, noting that the PRC side only stressed on the “one-China” principle component of the “1992 consensus.” See “DPP Presidential Candidate Bashes Ma’s Advocacy of ‘1992 Consensus,’” The Focus Taiwan News (November 7, 2015), accessible at: http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201511070040.aspx. To dispel any doubts, the ROC’s Mainland Affairs Council released the full transcript of Ma’s remarks during the closed-door portion of the conference. See Austin Ramzy, “Taiwan Debates Its President’s Meeting with Xi Jinping of China,” The New York Times (November 9, 2015), accessible at: http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/09/taiwan-china-xi-ma-meeting/?ref=world&_r=0. See also “MAC Head Seeks to Dispel Doubts about Ma’s Remarks in Xi’s Meeting,” The Focus Taiwan News (November 9, 2015), accessible at: http://focustaiwan.tw/news/acs/201511090009.aspx.

  28. 28.

    “Full Text of ROC President Ma Ying-jeou’s Remarks in Meeting with Mainland Chinese Leader Xi Jinping,” the Mainland Affairs Council, Republic of China (Taiwan) (November 7, 2015), accessible at: http://www.mac.gov.tw/public/Attachment/511923353567.pdf.

  29. 29.

    Ibid. See also “China Focus: Xi Calls for Adhering to One-China Principle in Meeting with Ma,” and Shannon Tiezzi, “China and Taiwan Leaders Emphasize Kinship, 1992 Consensus in Historic Talk.”

  30. 30.

    “Xi Tells Ma: No Force Can Pull Us Apart,” The Xinhua News Agency (November 7, 2015), accessible at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-11/07/c_134793106.htm.

  31. 31.

    “Xi-Ma Meeting Turns Historic Page in Cross-Strait Relations: Official,” The Xinhua News Agency (November 9, 2015), accessible at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-11/09/c_134795583.htm.

  32. 32.

    Jean-Pierre Cabestan, “Cross-Strait Integration and Taiwan’s New Security Challenges,” in Gunter Schubert ed., Taiwan and the “China Impact” (New York: Routledge, 2016), p. 283.

  33. 33.

    “Opening Remarks by President Ma Ying-jeou at His Meeting with Mainland Chinese Leader Xi Jinping,” the Mainland Affairs Council, Republic of China (Taiwan) (November 7, 2015), accessible at: http://www.mac.gov.tw/public/Attachment/511923294871.pdf.

  34. 34.

    “Xi: Cross-Strait Chinese Have Capabilities, Wisdom to Solve Their Own Problems,” The Xinhua News Agency (November 7, 2015), accessible at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-11/07/c_134793175.htm.

  35. 35.

    Zheng Wang, “The Real Reason the Xi-Ma Meeting Was Historic,” The Diplomat (November 9, 2015), accessible at: http://thediplomat.com/2015/11/the-real-reason-the-ma-xi-meeting-was-historic/.

  36. 36.

    “Taiwan’s Political Landslide: Not Trying to Cause a Big Sensation,” The Economist (January 23, 2016), accessible at: http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21688916-much-anything-victory-tsai-ing-wen-and-her-party-represents-generational-change-not.

  37. 37.

    “Voter Turnout was Lowest since 1996,” Taipei Times (January 18, 2016), accessible at: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2016/01/18/2003637469.

  38. 38.

    This author’s interview with Douglas Paal on March 16, 2016. Paal is vice-president for Studies and director of the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He previously served as the director of the AIT between 2002 and 2006.

  39. 39.

    Christopher Hughes, “Revisiting Identity Politics under Ma Ying-jeou,” in J-P Cabestan and Jacques deLisle, eds., Political Changes in Taiwan under Ma Ying-jeou (New York: Routledge, 2014), pp. 120–136.

  40. 40.

    Shelley Rigger, Why Taiwan Matters (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011), Chapter 4.

  41. 41.

    Nancy Tucker, Strait Talk (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009), Chapter 1. See also Dean P. Chen, U.S. Taiwan Strait Policy: The Origins of Strategic Ambiguity (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers/First Forum Press, 2012).

  42. 42.

    Thomas Christensen, The China Challenge: Shaping the Choice of a Rising Power (New York: W.W. Norton, 2015), p. 190.

  43. 43.

    This author’s interview with Douglas Paal.

  44. 44.

    This author’s interview with Robert Sutter.

  45. 45.

    This author’s interview with Richard Bush. Bush further elaborated that given the PRC’s authoritarian system, the mainland Chinese people’s preferences cannot be easily measured and accessible, but Taiwan’s democracy has changed cross-strait relationship. The Taiwanese people should “have a seat at the table” to express their wishes.

  46. 46.

    Robert Ross, “The 1995–96 Taiwan Strait Confrontation: Coercion, Credibility, and the Use of Force,” International Security 25, no. 2 (Fall 2000), pp. 87–123.

  47. 47.

    Thomas Christensen, The China Challenge, pp. 192–193.

  48. 48.

    Ibid., p. 195.

  49. 49.

    Ibid., pp. 209–216.

  50. 50.

    “U.S. Concerned about Taiwan Candidate,” The Financial Times (September 15, 2011), accessible at: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f926fd14-df93-11e0-845a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3bm75hK48.

  51. 51.

    J-P Cabestan, “Cross-Strait Integration and Taiwan’s New Security Challenges,” p. 292.

  52. 52.

    Shelley Rigger, Why Taiwan Matters, p. 7.

  53. 53.

    J-P Cabestan, “Cross-Strait Integration and Taiwan’s New Security Challenges,” p. 293.

  54. 54.

    John Tkacik, “Pacific Pivot, Taiwan Fulcrum: Maritime Taiwan and Power Transition in Asia,” in Peter Chow, ed., The U.S. Strategic Pivot to Asia and Cross-Strait Relations (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), pp. 227–261. In that same volume, also see Lowell Dittmer, “Taiwan’s Narrowing Strait: A Triangular Analysis of Taiwan’s Security since 2008,” pp. 15–29. See also Cheng-yi Lin, “The Rise of China and Its Implications for U.S.-Taiwan Relations,” in Gunter Schubert ed., Taiwan and the “China Impact” pp. 261–281.

  55. 55.

    Robert Sutter, The United States and Asia (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015), p. 95.

  56. 56.

    Simon Tisdall, “China Initiates Taiwan Meeting as South China Sea Tensions Rise,” The Guardian (November 4, 2015), accessible at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/04/china-taiwan-meeting-south-china-sea-tensions.

  57. 57.

    In their interviews with this author, Sutter, Bush, and Paal all expressed similar views on this matter.

  58. 58.

    This author’s interview with Richard Bush.

  59. 59.

    Ibid.

  60. 60.

    Ralph Jennings and Julie Makinen, “Taiwan President Makes Waves with South China Sea Visit,” The Los Angeles Times (January 28, 2016), accessible at: http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-taiwan-south-china-sea-20160128-story.html.

  61. 61.

    “Taiping Island is an Island, Not a Rock,” Press Release No. 023, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan) (January 23, 2016), accessible at: http://www.mofa.gov.tw/en/News_Content.aspx?n=1EADDCFD4C6EC567&s=542A8C89D51D8739.

  62. 62.

    “U.S. ‘Disappointed’ over Ma’s Taiping Island Visit,” The Focus Taiwan News (January 28, 2016), accessible at: http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201601280007.aspx.

  63. 63.

    On February 24, 2016, Admiral Harry Harris, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command, stated in a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee: “In my opinion, China is clearly militarizing the South China Sea; you’d have to believe in a flat earth to believe otherwise.” See “Pacific Command Chief Urges New Capabilities as Tensions Mount with China,” Navy Times (February 24, 2016), accessible at: http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2016/02/23/pacom-harry-harris-china-militarizing-south-china-sea/80796756/.

  64. 64.

    Shannon Tiezzi, “South China Sea Militarization: Not All Islands Are Created Equal,” The Diplomat (March 1, 2016), accessible at: http://thediplomat.com/2016/03/south-china-sea-militarization-not-all-islands-are-created-equal/.

  65. 65.

    Bush, in his interview with this author, commented that although President Ma made a long and good speech on Taiping, there was no reason why he couldn’t make the same speech in Taiwan. While the ROC has established a permanent presence and administration on Taiping since 1956, the island was also claimed by the PRC, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

  66. 66.

    On these abandonment arguments, see Bruce Gilley, “Not So Dire Straits,” Foreign Affairs 89, no. 1 (Jan/Feb 2010), pp. 44–60; Charles Glaser, “Will China’s Rise Lead to War?” Foreign Affairs 90, no. 2 (March/April 2011), pp. 80–91; John Mearsheimer, “Taiwan’s Dire Strait,” National Interest no. 130 (March/April 2014), pp. 29–39; and Charles Glaser, “A U.S.-China Grand Bargain?” International Security 39, no. 4 (Spring 2015), pp. 49–90. The rejoinder arguments are: Nancy Tucker and Bonnie Glaser, “Should the United States Abandon Taiwan?” The Washington Quarterly 34, no. 4 (2011), pp. 23–47; Richard Bush, “U.S.-Taiwan Relations since 2008,” in Jean-P Cabestan and Jacques deLisle eds., Political Changes in Taiwan under Ma Ying-jeou (New York: Routledge, 2014), pp. 217–231.

  67. 67.

    Cheryl Pellerin, “Carter: Responses to Russia, China Involves Innovation,” The U.S. Department of Defense News (November 7, 2015), accessible at: http://www.defense.gov/News-Article-View/Article/628144/carter-response-to-russia-china-involves-innovation.

  68. 68.

    “White House Cautions on Historic China-Taiwan Meeting,” The AFP (November 3, 2015), accessible at: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-cautious-historic-china-taiwan-meeting-200700481.html.

  69. 69.

    David Brunnstrom, “U.S. Says Unclear if Taiwan-China Meeting will Influence Taiwan Elections,” Reuters (November 4, 2015), accessible at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/05/us-taiwan-china-usa-idUSKCN0SU07920151105. See also “White House Cautions on Historic China-Taiwan Meeting,” The AFP (November 3, 2015), accessible at: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-cautious-historic-china-taiwan-meeting-200700481.html.

  70. 70.

    Shannon Tiezzi, “Cross-Strait Relations: The DPP’s Tightrope Walk,” The Diplomat (June 5, 2015), accessible at: http://thediplomat.com/2015/06/cross-strait-relations-the-dpps-tightrope-walk/. Shannon Tiezzi, “What Taiwan-Japan Relations Might Look Like in 2016,” The Diplomat (October 9, 2015), accessible at: http://thediplomat.com/2015/10/what-taiwan-japan-relations-might-look-like-in-2016/. See also Tsai’s remarks, “Fostering Peace through Global Contributions: A Pragmatic and Sustainable Approach to Taiwan’s Foreign Policy,” (September 22, 2015), accessible at: http://english.dpp.org.tw/dpp-29th-anniversary/. And, “Taiwan Can Build on U.S. Ties,” The Wall Street Journal (June 1, 2015), accessible at: http://www.wsj.com/articles/taiwan-can-build-on-u-s-ties-1433176635.

  71. 71.

    Tsai Ing-wen, “Taiwan Meeting the Challenges: Crafting a Model of New Asian Value,” Speech at the CSIS (June 4, 2015), accessible at: http://csis.org/files/attachments/150603_Tsai_Ing_wen_transcript.pdf.

  72. 72.

    Wu, “Heading towards Troubled Waters”? p. 69.

  73. 73.

    Peter Gourevitch, “The Second-Image Reversed: The International Sources of Domestic Politics,” International Organization 32, no. 4 (1978), pp. 881–912. See also Steven Lobell, “Second Image Reversed Politics: Britain’s Choice of Freer Trade or Imperial Preferences, 1903–1906, 1917–1923, 1930–1932,” International Studies Quarterly 43, no. 4 (1999), pp. 671–693; and Ayse Zarakol, “Revisiting Second Image Reversed: Lessons from Turkey and Thailand,” International Studies Quarterly 57, no. 1 (2013), pp. 150–162.

  74. 74.

    Peter Gourevitch, “The Second Image Reversed,” p. 882.

  75. 75.

    Ibid., p. 883.

  76. 76.

    Ibid., p. 896.

  77. 77.

    Ibid., pp. 896–897.

  78. 78.

    Steven Lobell, “Second Image Reversed Politics,” p. 688.

  79. 79.

    Jeff Frieden, “Sectoral Conflict and Foreign Economic Policy, 1914–1940,” International Organization 42, no. 1 (1988), pp. 59–90. See also Judith Goldstein, Ideas, Interests, and American Trade Policy (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1993).

  80. 80.

    Jeff Frieden, “Sectoral Conflict and Foreign Economic Policy, 1914–1940,” p. 88.

  81. 81.

    Ibid., p. 89.

  82. 82.

    Ronald Rogowski, Commerce and Coalitions: How Trade Affects Domestic Political Alignments (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989), p. 3.

  83. 83.

    Ibid., p. 6.

  84. 84.

    Ibid., p. 7.

  85. 85.

    Ibid., p. 33.

  86. 86.

    Harris Mylonas, The Politics of Nation-Building: Making Co-Nationals, Refugees, and Minorities (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012), p. 31.

  87. 87.

    Ernest Gellner, Nations and Nationalism (Itaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2006), p. 1.

  88. 88.

    Ibid., p. 2.

  89. 89.

    Wayne Norman, Negotiating Nationalism: Nation-Building, Federalism, and Secession in the Multinational State (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 25.

  90. 90.

    Jochen Hippler, “Violent Conflicts, Conflict Prevention and Nation-Building—Terminology and Political Concepts,” in Jochen Hippler ed., Nation-Building: A Key Concept for Peaceful Conflict Transformation? (London: Pluto Press, 2005), p. 6.

  91. 91.

    Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities (New York: Verson, 2006), pp. 6–7.

  92. 92.

    Ibid., pp. 11–12.

  93. 93.

    Ernest Gellner, Nations and Nationalism, p. 52.

  94. 94.

    Ibid., p. 54.

  95. 95.

    Wayne Norman, Negotiating Nationalism, p. 33.

  96. 96.

    Ibid., p. 37.

  97. 97.

    Ernest Gellner, Nations and Nationalism, pp. 55–56.

  98. 98.

    Jochen Hippler, “Violent Conflicts, Conflict Prevention and Nation-Building,” pp. 6–7.

  99. 99.

    Harris Mylonas, The Politics of Nation-Building, pp. 21–22.

  100. 100.

    Wayne Norman, Negotiating Nationalism, pp. 54–55.

  101. 101.

    Shirley Lin 2016c, p. 211.

  102. 102.

    Mylonas 2012, pp. 25–26. Also, the non-core groups and the ruling elites do not necessarily correspond, respectively, to the numerical minority and majority. The ruling state may comprise a minority group but, due to its greater military and/or economic capabilities as well as strong foreign support, is able to subdue and dominate the majority population.

  103. 103.

    Many path-breaking studies have examined these relationships. See Erin Jenne, “A Bargaining Theory of Minority Demands: Explaining the Dog That Did Not Bite in 1990s Yugoslavia,” International Studies Quarterly 48, no. 4 (December, 2004), pp. 729–754; Erin Jenne, Ethnic Bargaining (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2007); Idean Salehyan, “Transnational Rebels: Neighboring States as Sanctuary for Rebel Groups,” World Politics 59, no. 2 (January 2007), pp. 217–242; Arman Grigoryan, “Third-Party Intervention and the Escalation of State-Minority Conflicts,” International Studies Quarterly 54, no. 4 (December 2010), pp. 1143–1174; and Harris Mylonas, The Politics of Nation-Building.

  104. 104.

    Alexis Heraclides, “Secessionist Minorities and External Involvement,” International Organization 44, no. 3 (Summer 1990), pp. 341–378; Pieter Van Houten, “The Role of a Minority’s Reference State in Ethnic Relations,” European Journal of Sociology 39, no. 1 (1998), pp. 110–146; Stephen Saidman, “Explaining the International Relations of Secessionist Conflicts: Vulnerability versus Ethnic Ties,” International Organization 51, no. 4 (1997), pp. 721–753; David Davis and Will Moore, “Ethnicity Matters: Transnational Ethnic Alliances and Foreign Policy Behavior,” International Studies Quarterly 41, no. 1 (March 1997), pp. 171–184; and Stephen Saidman, “Discrimination in International Relations: Analyzing External Support for Ethnic Groups,” Journal of Peace Research 39, no. 1 (2002), pp. 27–50.

  105. 105.

    Sidney Tarrow, War, States, & Contention (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2015), pp. 3–4.

  106. 106.

    John Copper, The KMT’s Return to Power (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2014), p. 18.

  107. 107.

    Chang Hui-chin and Richard Holt, Language, Politics, and Identity in Taiwan (New York: Routledge, 2015), pp. 20–21.

  108. 108.

    Chang Bi-yu, Place, Identity, and National Imagination in Postwar Taiwan (New York: Routledge, 2015), p. 24.

  109. 109.

    Ibid., p. 30.

  110. 110.

    Rigger 2013, p. 297.

  111. 111.

    Chang Bi-yu, “So Close, Yet So Far Away: Imagining Chinese ‘Homeland’ in Taiwan’s Geography Education,” Cultural Geographies 18, no. 3 (2010), pp. 385–386.

  112. 112.

    Chang 2015, p. 1.

  113. 113.

    Chang 2010, p. 389.

  114. 114.

    Lin Hsio-ting, Accidental State: Chiang Kai-shek, the United States, and the Making of Taiwan (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016).

  115. 115.

    “Meeting in the President’s Office with Senators Wherry and Bridges on China,” April 28, 1949, Secretary of State Acheson’s Memorandum March-May1949/Box8/RG59/250/49/5/6-7, National Archives, College Park, MD.

  116. 116.

    Lin 2016b, 128–134.

  117. 117.

    “Statement by the Secretary of State (Acheson) at the 35th Meeting of the National Security Council on The Formosan Problem,” March 3, 1949, PSF/NSC Meeting # 35/Truman Papers/Box 220, HST Library.

  118. 118.

    “Memorandum on Formosa,” April 21, 1950, John F. Dulles Papers, 1860–1988/China, People’s Republic of, 1950/Box47, Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University.

  119. 119.

    Warren Cohen, Dean Rusk (Totowa, NJ: Cooper Square Publishers, 1980), p. 46.

  120. 120.

    Thomas Christensen, Useful Adversaries (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996), p. 130; Robert Accinelli, Crisis and Commitment (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1996), p. 27.

  121. 121.

    Warren Cohen, America’s Response to China (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010), p. 187.

  122. 122.

    Harry Harding, A Fragile Relationship (Washington DC: Brookings Institute, 1992), p. 44; William Burr ed., The Kissinger Transcripts (New York: The New Press, 1998), p. 66.

  123. 123.

    The excerpts from the Shanghai Communiqué (formally entitled “The Joint Communiqué of the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America,” February 27, 1972) are quoted from Bush 2004, 128–129. See also Romberg 2003, 233–234. See the full text of Shanghai Communiqué at: http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v17/d203.

  124. 124.

    Dennis Hickey, “America’s Two-Point Policy and the Future of Taiwan,” Asian Survey 28, no. 8 (1988), p. 883.

  125. 125.

    Kissinger’s quote is taken from Timothy Crawford, Pivotal Deterrence (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2003), p. 190.

  126. 126.

    Bush 2004, p. 129.

  127. 127.

    Romberg 2003, p. 47.

  128. 128.

    Rigger 2013, p. 295.

  129. 129.

    Rigger 2011, p. 75.

  130. 130.

    Rigger 2013, p. 297.

  131. 131.

    Copper 2014, p. 20.

  132. 132.

    Ibid.

  133. 133.

    This author’s interview with Richard Bush and Robert Sutter.

  134. 134.

    Susan Shirk, China: Fragile Superpower (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 207.

  135. 135.

    Ibid., p. 208.

  136. 136.

    Copper 2014, p. 171.

  137. 137.

    Goldstein and Keohane 1993, p. 20.

  138. 138.

    Ibid., p. 21.

  139. 139.

    Gideon Rose, “Neoclassical Realism and Theories of Foreign Policy,” World Politics 51, no. 1 (1998), pp. 144-72. Randall Schweller, Unanswered Threats: Political Constraints on the Balance of Power (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006).

  140. 140.

    Randall Schweller, Unanswered Threats, p. 51.

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  1. Political Science, Ramapo College of New Jersey, Mahwah, New Jersey, USA

    Dean P. Chen

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Chen, D.P. (2017). The Xi–Ma Summit Meeting and US Interests Across the Taiwan Strait. In: US-China Rivalry and Taiwan's Mainland Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47599-8_1

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