Face Off: China, the United States, and Taiwan's Democratization

by Garver, John W.

• ISBN13: 9780295976174
• ISBN10: 0295976179
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of Washington Pr

Summary

Taiwan's first presidential election, in 1996, sparked a Sino-U.S. military showdown that resulted in the biggest show of U.S. naval force in East Asia since the Vietnam War. This book is the first to explore the origins and triangular dynamics of that historic confrontation. Analyzing the key decisions and misperceptions that led to the Taiwan Strait crisis, Garver warns that it may usher in a more confrontational era of Sino-U.S. relations. China is already emerging as an economic powerhouse and fears of its becoming an expansionist military power have grown in recent years as China has rapidly built up its armed forces since 1989. It has also adopted a more assertive stance in several territorial disputes with its neighbors, arousing new security concerns for Asia as a whole. When China tried to intimidate Taiwan's voters by firing missiles and conducting large-scale military exercises off its coasts in the period preceding the 1996 election, the U.S. dispatched two aircraft carrier battle groups to Taiwan. The prestige of all sides was fully engaged as powerful do domestic interests demanded an assertive posture. Eventually, China adopted a more cautious stance and the crisis passed. But it marked the first instance of Chinese nuclear coercion of the U.S. and gave the "China threat" new credence in the U.S. and elsewhere in Asia. The author has studied the Taiwan question for more than 30 years and has witnessed first-hand the growth and culmination of Taiwan's democratization. This sober, mature reflection of decades of thought is certain to inform the debate on the "China threat" and the future of Sino-U.S. relations. John W. Garver is professor of international affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His previous books include Foreign Relations of the People's Republic of China and China's Decision for Rapprochement with the United States.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix	(2)
Abbreviations	xi
1 / The Significance of the 1996 Crisis	3	(10)
2 / Taiwan's "Drifting Away"	13	(14)
3 / Taiwan's "Pragmatic Diplomacy"	27	(8)
4 / Beijing's Objections to U.S. Policy	35	(12)
5 / The Taiwan Issue in Chinese Domestic Politics	47	(20)
6 / The U.S. Visa Decision and Beijing's Reaction	67	(7)
7 / Beijing's Probing of U.S. Intentions	74	(15)
8 / The December Legislative Yuan Elections	89	(7)
9 / The Confronatation	96	(15)
10 / Were China's Leaders Surprised by U.S. Intervention?	111	(7)
11 / PRC Strategy	118	(9)
12 / Nuclear Coercion with Chinese Characteristics	127	(7)
13 / The International Effect of the Crisis	134	(14)
14 / Appraising the Gains and Costs of Beijing's Coercive Exercises	148	(9)
15 / Conclusions	157	(10)
Notes	167	(14)
Bibliography	181	(7)
Index	188