Abstract
Taiwan’s South China Sea policy is influenced by its domestic party politics and cross-strait relations with China. Generally, the Kuomintang (the KMT) adopts a different course from that of the Democratic Progressive Party (the DPP) on this matter. Before the 1980s, the claims of the two Chiang administrations in Taiwan resembled that of the Chinese. In the first half of the 1990s when Lee Teng-Hui served his first term of presidency in Taiwan, Taipei still based its claims on the historical rights arguments and promoted joint development as an important policy goal. In the second half of the 1990s, cross-strait relations turned sour when relevant talks were halted. This adversely affected emerging cross-strait joint development cooperation talks. The revival of governmental attention and policy interests took place after the incumbent President Ma Ying-Jeou obtained the power in 2008. Returning to the old stance long upheld by the KMT, Taiwan continues to face the challenges in earning more space in international negotiation forums of the dispute. It faces a key dilemma of how to secure a position by distinguishing its claims from those of the Chinese, and the outcome of such clarification with a referential implication of Taiwan’s independence.
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© 2015 Hui-Yi Katherine Tseng
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Tseng, HY.K. (2015). Taiwan in the South China Sea Disputes: Policies and Prospects. In: Huang, J., Billo, A. (eds) Territorial Disputes in the South China Sea. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137463685_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137463685_8
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