Defiant Taiwan and unreliable Washington: U.S.-Taiwanese relations during George W. Bush's presidency
Abstract
This chapter analyzes the developments in the Sino-American relations with particular attention to the role of Taiwan. Following 2000, Taiwan was able to uphold its de facto independence and stay strong despite increasing pressure from Beijing for unification.
For the U.S., which in fact guarantees Taiwan's security and plays a major role in security framework in Far East and South East Asia, the loss of Taiwan would be a serious blow to its policy of containing China. The U.S. role was complicated by the victory of the DPP in 2000, which generally supports moving towards Taiwan's independence, even contrary to the U.S. interests.
President Chen Shui-bian's confrontational and populist style of politics was not welcome in Washington, as it had complicated its relationship with Mainland China. However, the PRC itself contributed to rising tensions, as it has passed the so-called Anti-secession law, which stipulated potential use of force in the case of Taiwan moving towards independence.
U.S. relations with Taiwan are a good example of the complicated nature of Sino-American relations. During Bush presidency, both Beijing and Washington tried to forge a cooperative relationship where both sides carefully avoided going into extremes, which were often provoked by Chen Shui-bian's politics.