China and Taiwan Relations - Research Paper Example

Table of Contents Table of Contents Introduction Significance of the Research 3 Research Questions 3 Research Objectives 3 Hypothesis 4 Literature Review 4 Methodology 8 Conclusion 9 Works Cited 9 Introduction The degree of trouble between China and Taiwan is a concern to many people globally. It can be traced back to 1949. This was shortly after the World War II that ended in 1945. During this period, there was a civil strife in China – the ‘Chinese Civil War.’ The Chinese communists defeated Chiang Kai-Shek and his followers- who then fled to Taiwan. Since then, there have been constant wrangles between the two nations (Gilpin 5). Even at the dawn of the 21st Century, the Strait between the two nations has been a big issue because each party claims certain rights thereto. However, experts all over the world see a positive future between the two nations. The economic ties between China and Taiwan have been increasing with time. In the liberal view, economic ties between any two states have been proven to create peaceful relationships between states. Holding these argument true, strengthening economic ties between the two states will eventually lead to peace between them (Chao 285). Therefore, this article will examine the relationship between domestic politics and international relations as far as China and Taiwan are concerned. Arguably, the relation between China and Taiwan is based on Taiwan’s domestic politics. The politics in Taiwan is in itself a central link between the economic ties and the relations between China and Taiwan. Omitting Taiwan’s domestic politics will thus mean a negative effect on the cross-strait relations between the two nations (Christensen 8). The domestic politics in Taiwan has a mixed influence since many citizens in Taiwan have their nationalities traced back to China. In essence, most Taiwan citizens are of China origin. During the Chinese civil war, there was a rift between the Chinese in Taipei and those in Beijing. They were arguing over which group should form the legitimate Chinese government. In the process, some Chinese from both Beijing and Taipei fled to Taiwan to seek refuge and never returned to China. In Taiwan, they multiplied in great numbers and sought Taiwanese citizenship. This made Taiwan to have so many citizens with Chinese origin (Deng 970). In the conflict between the two nations, some will be bitter with the population of Chinese origin while others will support them thereby creating mixed feelings in Taiwan. In Taiwan, there are also two great political factions. One faction strongly supports Taiwan before nationalism. The other faction sees more advancement in Taiwan after nationalism and is thus in support of the current Taiwan (Kahler & Scott 530). This heightens political rift in Taiwan an even before the rift is extended to the Chinese, who are now peaceful. As much as one political faction may be in support of these economic decisions of the two countries, the other political faction may completely reject the decisions. However, the most interesting part is that the decisions have to be central within the economic tie regardless of the rift between the two nations. Significance of the Research China and Taiwan clearly have a history of conflicts. This draws a major interest to establish whether the economic ties between them will create peace as scholars from across the world have argued. The interest comes in that in this case, it might not work out as expected since the problem between the two states is political and not economical, and economic ties are in no way related to the restoration of political problems. Noticeably, the different opinions are both feasible and so they raise an interesting concern. Research Questions a) Is there a possibility of future peaceful relations between China and Taiwan as far as the Strait is concerned? b) What role does economic ties between China and Taiwan play in creating peace between the countries? Research Objectives i. To establish the state of state of the cross-strait relationship between China and Taiwan ii. To determine the relative impacts of the cross strait relationship on Taiwanese citizens of China origin iii. To determine whether the economic ties between China and Taiwan can create peace in the region Hypothesis The main hypothesis in this research is that increased economic relations between China and Taiwan can create peace in the Taiwan Strait. Literature Review When it comes to international relations, the outcome of economic ties and wars always creates a concern. However, the results are not always the same. According to liberal minded people, economic ties between states create peace. The liberals give three good reasons in support of their view (Kastner 320). Firstly, they argue that waging war against a partner in an economic tie is very expensive and would be a major blow to the perpetrator. Secondly, they argue that when economic ties grow stronger, even formation of a unitary military may occur thus leading to peace between the nations in an economic tie. Finally, they argue that there would be no threats such as economic sanctions between nations that are involved in an economic tie, in which case there would be no catalyst for civil strife. Other experts argue that economic ties will not automatically lead to peace. Instead, it will lead to strife that is more political. They support their argument owing to the fact that in an economic tie, all the nations involved must comply with the decision made, favorable or unfavorable. It does not give room for independent decisions. Lack of dependency in decision-making will thus make other nations feel more insecure (White 104). In such a case, they may even withdraw from the economic tie, thus being viewed as an enemy, hence creating political straits. Definitely, their argument is also very crucial and practical, thus cannot be dismissed. The conflict between China and Taiwan can be a perfect experiment to determine whether economic ties will lead to peace or not. The two nations have been warring for over five decades. Not even a truce has been deliberated upon the two states. However, some scholars argue that if the economic tie between the two nations becomes more cohesive, then it shall restore peace between them. They believe that the economic ties can be used as a platform to bring about political reconciliation between the two nations (Chu 500). Still, some political analysts believe that economic ties between the two nations can never lead to peace. They suggest that though the economic relation between the two nations is growing, no nation intend good to the other nation. The theory of economic ties bringing peace is thus inapplicable to the situation of China and Taiwan. They report that China still threatens Taiwan verbally and at times militarily. On the other hand, Taiwan also keeps provoking China. Therefore, it is an ongoing rivalry that is seen as permanent (Gilpin 80). Moreover, they believe that the rivalry is purely political, and thus economic ties cannot restore any peace. One scholar applied the relative gains theory to Taiwan’s economic policies concerning China-Taiwan economic ties (Christensen 25). His findings were that the economic interdependence between China and Taiwan is actually an asymmetrical one since there is an excess of domestic capital outflow from Taiwan to China. Taiwan thus gains less than China. This thus makes some Taiwan leaders to express worry as to whether China will outdo them economically or not in future. They fear that they are actually losing to the Chinese and that the main intention of the Chinese is to weaken their economy completely; thus heightening the rivalry. Economically, China has both comparative and absolute advantage in production of very many commodities compared to Taiwan. China can thus depend on herself in production without any aid from Taiwan. When China enters into an economic tie with China, economists view it as a way in which they do not want to deplete quickly their raw materials (Kahler & Scott 527). China, therefore, makes Taiwan produce for her commodities that she can also produce even more efficiently than Taiwan. The idea behind this is still thus portrayed to be for other gains far off from peace creation. Taiwan also does not want to make herself both economically and militarily inferior to China. She has to keep provoking China so that she does not bring out herself as militarily and economically weak to China. This in turn makes China have the need for proving that she is superior to Taiwan both economically and militarily. In the process, the rift between the two nations keeps growing instead of reducing. The long run ambition of peace, when economic ties become more cohesive, is thus seen as ambiguous in the case of China and Taiwan (White 74). In the 1990s, nationalism arose in Taiwan. The president then, Lee Teng-Hui, began to promote ‘Taiwanese identity,’ and the opposition supported him. The Chinese, therefore, continued to view the Taiwan problem as a domestic scuffle. The Taiwanese, on the other hand, started to view it as something that has a magnitude of international concern. The contrast comes in that at the same time, some people in Taiwan also viewed the problem to be domestic just like the Chinese. This is because Taiwan also has a large number of Chinese that have Taiwanese nationality (Chao 300). This category of people will thus continue to support China though they stay in Taiwan. In the process, the rivalry will keep expanding thus giving no room for reconciliation. Another question that may arise from this is whether creating political peace in Taiwan will bring about stability hence leading to peace between the two nations. This is a very tricky part too since it may be not as definite a suggested. Political peace in Taiwan may just harmonize the nation and make them more cohesive towards suppressing China. If they become a single decision making unit, their decision may have a lot of negativity or positivity in restoring peace. It will all depend on whether they will forever remain united or will split in due course. Similarly, the outcome of Taiwan having a president whose origin traces back to China is questionable. It creates wonder if such a president smile to see Taiwan in peace with his original homeland or will it were an opportunity for him to express the bitterness for having fled from China. Both the outcomes are possible, but it is too hard to establish the most obvious one. A group of experts argues that this will intensify the rivalry since the leader will strike vengeance to China. Another group of liberals argues the brotherhood between the leader and the Chinese will automatically trigger peace (Kahler & Scott 522). Moreover, the Chinese stand is not yet determined. It is not yet certain whether her economic ties with Taiwan are genuine or just a flattery. It is on one hand argued that it might just be too genuine to eliminate economic threats such as sanctions. On the other hand, it is argued that it is an economic strategy to dominate over Taiwan economically (Deng 900). It is viewed as though they are playing a cat and mouse game that will eventually leave Taiwan an economically weak nation. With economic weakness, they will eventually suppress Taiwan militarily. Again, peace has not been reflected anywhere in the economic ties between China and Taiwan. It is not stated anywhere as an objective of venturing into the ties between the two nations. Being that it is not an objective in their arguments, it becomes so hard to establish whether peace will in itself occur naturally or must just be called for. Calmness between the two nations to touch about peace in their economic ties is just evidence that no state has yet decided on a peaceful co-existence with the other (Kastner 340). Methodology In conducting this research, the primary source of information will be scholarly journals. The latest studies on the topic will be used more so peer reviewed articles. A number of websites have also explored the topic at length. These will be relied on heavily to reinforce the arguments in this research. Because political analysts have a grasp of the relationship between China and Taiwan, a number of them they will be consulted to give an opinion on the topic of research. Economists will also have something to say about the China and Taiwan relationship, which will be a good starting point for this research. Government reports from both countries also contain relevant information as far as this topic is concerned. These will include statistics on such matters as population shifts and economic implications of the Strait to both countries. To gather individual opinions and comments, a closed-ended questionnaire will be prepared and given to a sample of respondents. These will include persons affected directly by the China-Taiwan relationship as far as the strait is concerned. In some instances, interviews will be used to draw information from government agents in both countries. Qualitative and quantitative analysis will be used to analyze the data gathered. The findings will be compared to those of related studies to determine the weaknesses and strengths. Conclusion Whether increased economic relations between China and Taiwan can create peace within the Taiwan Strait is debatable. A number of arguments on this matter largely ignore the complex nature of the domestic politics of Taiwan despite the fact that Taiwan’s internal politics has been at the center of the China-Taiwan relations over the years. If the domestic politics of Taiwan are considered for purposes of this study, it will be easier to prove that the increased economic relations between the two countries are crucial to their peaceful existence. The domestic politics in Taiwan are such that the pro-Taiwanese and the pro-Chinese identity forces compete against one another, which make the relationship between China and Taiwan critical. The two forces have dominated Taiwan politics since the year 2000 and have a huge bearing on the cross-strait relations. Moreover, increased economic ties between the two countries are advantageous to the pro-Chinese side of the coalition as it creates a link between businesspersons, farmers, and unskilled workers in Taiwan. Works Cited Chao, Chien-min. “Will Economic Integration between Mainland China and Taiwan Lead to a Congenial Political Culture?” Asian Survey, 43.2 (2003): 280-304. Christensen, Thomas. “Posing Problems without Catching up: China’s Rise and Challenges for US Security Policy.” International Security, 25.4 (2001): 5-40. Chu, Yun-Han. “Taiwan’s National Identity Politics and the Prospect of Cross-Strait Relations.” Asian Survey, 44.4 (2004): 497-503. Deng, Ping. “Taiwan’s Restriction of Investment in China in the 1990s: A Relative Gains Approach.” Asian Survey, 40.6 (2000): 858-908. Gilpin, Robert. “Sources of American-Japanese Economic Conflict” in International Relations Theory and the Asia-Pacific, edited by John Ikenberry and Michael Mastanduno, New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2003. Kahler, Miles and Scott, Kastner. “Strategic Uses of Economic Interdependence: Engagement Policies on the Korean Peninsula and Across the Taiwan Strait.” Journal of Peace Research, 43.5 (2006): 523-541. Kastner, Scott. “Does Economic Integration Across the Taiwan Strait Make Military Conflict Less Likely?” Journal of East Asian Studies, 6 (2006a): 319-346. Kastner, Scott. “The Economics of Cross-Strait Relations: A Reply to Ming Wan.” Journal of Asian Studies 6 (2006b): 350-351. White, Lynn. “Taiwan’s External Relations: Identity versus Security,” in The International Relations of Northeast Asia, edited by Samuel Kim, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publisher Inc., 2004. Read More