Cross-strait relations and international organizations: Taiwan’s participation in IGOs in the context of its relationship with China

Abstract

Taiwan has been excluded from the United Nations and other organizations for which statehood is required and its presence in IGOs is mainly limited to functional and regional organizations that allow flexible models of participation, having a specific name, status and activity space in each organization. Taiwan’s exclusion from major IGOs derives from its unique international status as well as the political controversy over the representation of China in the international arena. Björn Alexander Lindemann provides a substantial analysis of the relationship between Taiwan and China in and with regard to IGOs in the time period between 2002 and 2011. Based on a neoclassical realist approach, he takes a look at the case studies of the WTO, APEC, WHO and UN, and explains Taiwan’s new IGO strategy under President Ma Ying-jeou after 2008 and its impact on Taiwan’s international space.