home > by publication type > op-eds > Taiwan's Deteriorating Strategic Position and Cross-Strait Relations
Email
| Author: | Scott A. Snyder, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Korea Studies |
|---|
May 11, 2009
GlobalSecurity.org
During its first year in office, the Ma Ying-jeou administration has brought greater stability to the cross-strait relationship and has sought to introduce greater predictability to relations between Taipei and Beijing (and by extension to U.S.-Taiwan relations). From April 24-26, representatives from Taiwan and the PRC met in Nanjing and signed three agreements in the effort to strengthen economic cooperation across the strait. The renewed dialogue--the Nanjing meeting was the third at that level since Ma assumed office--has introduced greater stability to cross-strait relations for the time being, but the renewal of cross-strait dialogue has thus far done little to shore up Taiwan's deteriorating long-term strategic position resulting from the Mainland's rising global political and economic leadership role and its growing military power.
As participants in a Center for Strategic and International Studies Freeman Chair-sponsored week-long observation tour of Taiwan that coincided with the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Taiwan Relations Act, we met with a range of senior government and party officials from the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). We were also able to observe Taiwan's efforts to address the effects of the global financial crisis. These conversations underscored both Taiwan's vibrancy and its vulnerabilities; future developments in cross-strait relations now hold an important key both to Ma's political success and Taiwan's capacity to pursue an effective international economic growth strategy.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.