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“One China” in the Beijing-Washington-Taipei Trilateral Relationship
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2025
Abstract
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50 years after President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China, the Taiwan issue remains the most difficult and potentially most explosive dispute between the United States and China. At the core is the concept of “one China.” While Beijing insists that the “one China principle” with the People's Republic of China (PRC) representing all of China is the foundation of US-China relations, Washington emphasizes its “one China policy” that treats Taiwan as a separate entity from the PRC. Meanwhile, Taipei, under the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party, has asserted that Taiwan is already independent and the two sides across the Taiwan Strait are not subordinate to each other. Tensions have reached a record high in the Taiwan Strait and all three parties involved demonstrate intentions to change the status quo. To restore stability and avoid war in the Taiwan Strait, all three parties should provide reassurance to reestablish confidence and refrain from taking unilateral actions to further damage the delicate status quo.
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Notes
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19 See Tsai's speech on October 10, 2021. In her interview with the BBC in January 2020, she said, “We are an independent country already and we call ourselves the Republic of China (Taiwan)” and “We deserve respect from China.”
20 The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, December 7, 2021.
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23 Ibid.
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25 Shelley Rigger. The Tiger Leading the Dragon: How Taiwan Propelled China's Economic Rise. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2021. Also, Jenny Chan, Mark Selden, Pun Ngai. Dying for an iPhone: Apple, Foxconn, and The Lives of China's Workers. Haymarket Books, 2020.
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27 Ibid.
28 Paul Heer, “Has Washington's Policy Toward Taiwan Crossed the Rubicon?” The National Interest, December 10, 2021.
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