Ian Inkster, PhD, is professorial research associate at the Centre of Taiwan Studies, SOAS, University of London, and a senior fellow at the Taiwan Studies Programme, China Policy Institute, University of Nottingham.
Not in the shadows, but rather in the limelight of the visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, we now have available China’s white paper, issued freely for all to read. My comments here will not state the obviously expected: China remains determined that Taiwan is a natural, historical and cultural component of the Chinese nation, and of in a broader spirit Chinese civilization. All of this is one compounded “indisputable fact.” There seems little point in analyzing this well-known position.
What is of great interest is the manner, if any, in which the present Chinese
US intervention in the Indo-Pacific pact arrangements, and US President Joe Biden’s subsequent discussions with Japan against Chinese regional influence and the need to defend Taiwan and isolate China, have rightfully promoted heated discussion throughout Taiwan.
This is the opposite of what is needed. In fact, this can be viewed as a US attempt to become central to the new Asian recovery as it occurs, in stark opposition to Chinese centrality in the region at present.
The general claims of the Western media, aided and abetted by a few premature forecasters in places such as Chicago, Harvard, Cambridge, or employed by the
There has been a flush of media statements on the implications of the Ukraine-Russia war for future Taiwan-China relationships.
Does the reaction of the US over Ukraine somehow act as an indicator of likely US reactions in the case of a possible Taiwan-China armed conflict? That is a question put without any qualification.
However, what is argued is whether the two cases are in sufficient contrast to make any deductions from the one or the other. The contrasts are enormous, but perhaps require some elaboration and focus.
First, the Ukraine-Russia war is in Europe, and involves Ukrainian borders of tremendous importance and
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