The US-China Taiwan Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The US-China Taiwan Crisis - Essay Example History of the US – China Taiwan Crisis The crisis that emerged in China and Taiwan began as early as 1949 with the Kuomintang Party. This Party is the nationalist party of China and was defeated to Communist rule during this time. The tensions which arose caused the party to move across the Taiwan Straight from Beijing, causing the Communist Rule to stay in China and Taiwan to try to separate under the rule of the Kuomintang (Christensen, 1: 1999). The main approach that Kuomintang took was to try to separate from mainland China and to continue with the nationalist rule and regulations which were believed to be a part of the party, often referred to as the Taipei Regime. By 1979, there was a call from Beijing for the Kuomintang Party to stop trying to divide Taiwan and instead to reunify into one China. The approach was to both liberate Taiwan and to work toward national development within each region, despite the differences in party agreements. The proposal was based on ope ning santong, which included commercial, postal and travel exchanges. The exchanges included siliu, which was four areas of concern, including academic, cultural, economic and athletic interests. It was believed that this approach would stop the differences on both sides and would lead to equal and fair agreements among both (Zhao, 22: 1999). Relationships with China After the Korean War in 1950, the US became involved with the political imbalances and began to pressure China to accept this party as the true government. To further establish this, the Chinese government was able to retain the seats they held at the UN with five members still sitting at the Security Council. The approach was furthered in 1972 with Nixon visiting China and trying to create a peaceful agreement between China and Taiwan. This was the first involvement with the United States to the Taiwan and Chinese debate, even though there was acknowledgement of the divisions from 1950 with Taiwan as a rogue state (Ros s 48: 2002). The relationship approached developed the Taiwan Relations Act, which persuaded both sides to create mutual security treaties, as opposed to separating as a nation. The main approach was to persuade both sides to work in cooperation and to open foreign relations ties for more opportunities. The persuasion was followed with a sense of security that could be used for those in East Asia (Goldstein, Schriver, 147: 2001). The Relations Act became effective in 1979, the year in which China worked toward economic agreements with Taiwan to stop the tensions between both countries. This stated that the United States would be involved with supplying the needed defense items to Taiwan in the case of an outbreak, specifically because the division of 1949 left the different area with a threat to the security of the area. This was combined with the act stating that there was only one China, as opposed to being a Taiwan and China. Even though there was acknowledgement that both could remain separate, the legitimate source of government pointed to only one China existing. By 1982, this was followed by six assurances, which consisted of guidelines which could be used for bilateral relations (Dumbaugh, 11: 1998). While there was acknowledgement at this point that both wanted to remain separate countries, the foreign relations