Taiwan's strategic relations with its neighbors: A countervailing force to rising China

Abstract

The international status of Taiwan/Republic of China (ROC) has been weaker since the day that the People's Republic of China (PRC) was recognized as the sole legitimate government of China at the United Nations (UN) in 1971, an action which was consequently followed by many other countries. Thus, whether Taiwan can still maintain its de facto sovereignty or not, hinges on its strategic relations with other nations who value Taiwan's security and international legitimacy and, since, for strategic reasons, China could also potentially be motivated to impose unification by force, Taiwan regards the United States as a particularly important guarantor of security. However, China's rapid rise, in terms of military power, economic factors and trade, has begun to be perceived as challenging U.S. hegemony in the Asia Pacific so that the ways in which other states react to the increasingly competitive relationship between the United States and China, and particularly the potential U.S.-China clash over Taiwan, have become matters of critical concern, as are Taiwan's strategic relations with its immediate neighbors: Japan, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the European Union (EU).