The Importance Of Taiwan To Us China Relations Politics Essay

The Importance Of chinaw ar To Us china strugglee Relations Politics EssayDoes chinaw be Matter? An analysis of the Strategic Importance of mainland china to the U.S.- china Relations. AbstractThere is no motion that the transaction in the midst of Peoples nation of mainland mainland mainland china and the fall in States is polar to the world. In economic aspect, mainland china and the States are so intertwined that their symbiotic birth is described as Chimerica however divergence waivelessly emerges among the deuce on form _or_ system of government-making sleep together ons, in bulge outicular, the china ware issue. This essay analyses the strategic spl completeour of mainland China to the Sino-U.S. relations by answering the enquiry- what routine mainland China plays in the relations of the mainland China and U.S.? and the essay c everywheres four points 1) mainland China issue is at the eye of this bilaterally symmetric relations, 2) it is an intractabl e issue, 3) it is as well as a contentious and about(prenominal) potentially un preventive issue, 4) still it is non always the most central ane troubling the ii countries at ALL times since h integrityy oil economic interests between the tierce still exist.Key Words chinaware China the unify States strategic enormousness U.S.-China relations chinaware issue the rise of ChinaINTRODUCTIONThere is no doubt that the relations between China (mainland China)the largest developing acres and the unify Statesthe largest developed country is crucial to the world. In economic aspect, China and the States are so intertwined that their symbiotic relationship is described as Chimerica however divergence always emerge between the two on political issues, in particular, the mainland China issue. On January 29, the U.S. pass of a $6.4 billion weapons sale to mainland China followed Chinas tempestuous response froze the bilateral relations. Does chinaware matter? Of course, it doe s and it is the core issue in the Sino-U.S. relations. What role chinaware plays and how it governs the two countries relations? This essay will rate chinawares strategic importance to the U.S.-China Relations by answering those questions.WHAT ROLE chinaware PLAYS IN THE U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS? Assessing mainland Chinas Strategic Importance to the U.S.-China RelationsTaiwan matters a lot to both China and the United States who ingest familiar interests plainly besides divergence. In this part, the author analyses three roles it plays in the two countries bilateral relations.It is ace of the core issues in the U.S.-China relationsTaiwan issue could not be avoid or overlooked as it is the central question in almost every meeting between Chinese and Ameri flush toilet officials, in every academic gathering that includes Chinese scholars, and in much than than private conversations with Chinese visitors to the United States (Halloran,2003). Why both countries attach so much importance on this issue? This section offers near explanations of why Taiwan issue lies at the core of the U.S.-China relations from the perspectives of both the chinaware and the U.S..-The PRC Taiwan question touches the core interests of ChinaThe PRC never ceases its effort to unite with Taiwan which is touch oned by mainlanders as part of their autonomous territory. Following four factors amplify why Taiwan has such a ardent hold on the Chinese foregoerships psyche.Taiwans historic importance and Chinese patriotismTaiwan is the island off mainland Chinas southeastern coast and was long a backwater of the Chinese empire for over a thousand years before it was colonized by japan in 1894. When lacquer surrendered in 1945, the Re universe of China (ROC) acquired sovereignty over Taiwan under Cairo Declaration. Although recently, the advocates of Taiwan granting immunity claim that the Cairo Declaration was not a licit document, and Taiwan has not been officially re dour to the ROC, it is neither a part of lacquer nor China, most Chinese elites still entrust it is a province of China even after the Chinese Communist political party seized power and Kuomintang pull away to Taiwan in 1949. Moreover, some Chinese scholars who place huge violence on history as a barometer for Chinas future think the reunion of Taiwana former colonial possession and a relic of the Cold Waris the strong demand of the whole Chinese nation (Thompson and Zhu, 2004). Chinese scholar subgenus subgenus Chen (2002) also notes that it is hard for Americans, who deplete a shorter history than China, to appreciate its Taiwan importance to the Chinese people. The pot that taking Taiwan which is the go away send wordion of the humiliation by Japan and the West during the colonial conclusion would staring(a) the trilogy after China has reclaimed Hong Kong and Macau in 1997 and 1999 respectively is widely shared out among Chinese mainlanders (Halloran, 2003 Business Mon itor, 2010). And some mainlanders even see continued mail sales to Taiwan by the United States as an example of un desire powers trying to hinder Chinas rise as they did before.Taiwans political importance to the mainland callable to a large major(ip)ity of the Chinese people hope to reunify the mformer(a)land, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) does not have any itinerary of retreat regarding the Taiwan issue. The CCP has placed Taiwan issue at a high place on its agenda, linking the Partys success or failure to reunification. As Thompson and Zhu (2004) have noticed no Chinese leadership group can afford to be the one who lost Taiwan since Taiwan bother could potentially disrupt the first peaceful, institutionalized transfer of power in China. Further more(prenominal), the loss of Taiwan could spur dissent in other provinces with stopaway tendencies, such as Xinjiang and Tibet. Thompson and Zhu kick upstairs argue that losing Taiwan could upset the regional semipermanent plan s for incremental integration that have been relatively successful to understand and foreign influence in Taiwan also sets a dangerous precedent for Xinjiang and Tibet. Additionally, Taiwan issue could exacerbate domestic social and political tensions, as some analysts believe that CCP plays up the Taiwan issue to diverge attention from Chinas political struggles and social instableness such as the decadency and unemployment (Halloran, 2003). In essence, Taiwan could father an excuse for dissidents and activists in China to jibe the ruling Communist Party.Economic significance of the islandAbsorbing Taiwans vibrant rescue and technological prowess, especially in electronics, would be a cocksure for the Chinese economic system (Halloran, 2003). China has already benefited from Formosan investment and trade, and the economic ties between the two are strengthened since the mid-1980s, Taiwan companies have come to regard the mainland as their recognise lower-cost production p latform and a potential grocery for the PRC, Taiwan companies bring capital and management experience and create a lot of jobs. accord to Taiwans Ministry of Economic Affairs, more than three-quarters of Taiwans companies have an investment on the mainland, reaching $60 billion in more than 50,000 ventures (Bush, 2002).The islands geo-strategic importanceAccording to Halloran (2003), Chinese leaders see Taiwan as a crucial link in a chain of the U.S. containment that begins in South Korea and Japan and runs south through Taiwan to the Philippines, Thailand, and Australia, nations with which the United States has certification treaties. If capital of Red China seeks to break that chain and to project power into the peaceful, controlling Taiwan would be the take up way. A similar view is shared by Thompson and Zhu (2004), as they believe that Beijing worries just about the U.S.s intention of integrating Taiwan into a de facto emberition with Japan and South Korea to contain its ascent power in Asia since Taiwan could be used as a perfect foreign troops base. Furthermore, China has become more and more dependent on energy resources in the Middle eastward. In this case, a hostile or even self-directed Taiwan has the ability to cut off Chinese energy furnish lines, and that also worries Chinese leaders.-U.S. Taiwan is meaning(a) to maintain its hegemony in AsiaSince the PRC puts Taiwan issue at such a high position, the United States could never ignore its importance when interacts with China. More importantly, the U.S. attaches great importance to Taiwan be establish the island could help to maintain its hegemony in this region.According to a RAND (2001) report, the U.S.s pivotal long-term objective to East Asia is to prevent a worsening of the security authority in this region. Central to this objective is to preclude the rise of a regional or continental hegemon that could challenge the U.S.the on-going hegemon of East Asia (Khalilzad et al., 2001 Bush, 2005255). At the moment, no nation in Asia is close to becoming a regional or continental hegemon as the U.S., but there do exist some potential rivals that could challenge the U.S.s dominance and China is number one on the list. And the Taiwan issue which not just now could be a putz to contain China but also could be a go bad to harm the regions stability attracts much of the U.S. attention. In this section, Taiwans strategic importance to America will be further analyzed from three perspectivesTaiwans geo-strategic importance to the U.S.Taiwans geo-strategic importance lies in maintaining American hegemony in East Asia. Early in mid-1850s, on his way to Japan, Commodore of the U.S. Navy-Matthew C. Perry anchored off in Formosa, to investigate the potential of mining the coal deposits in that area. Later he emphasized in his reports that Formosa provided a well-off mid-way trade location and it was also very defensible providing a nice base for exploration for America. Though his suggestion was declined by the death chair, his point of view that occupying Formosa, controlling Asia was inherited by generations of policymakers in the U.S. (Zhao, 1997 Zhou, 1995).In the East Asian security context, Taiwan becomes the focal point of clashing strategic interests between the United States and some East Asian countries. Its geo-strategic significance arises from its lying astraddle the occidental Pacific sea lanes of communication (SLOCs) which run from the byes of malacca cane to Japan, South Korea and eastwards, and its being adjacent to the Taiwan Strait which connects the South China Sea to East China Sea in the northeast(Kapila,2006). Taiwan accordingly commands the East Asia waterways and also the Chinese domestic waterway linking South China Sea to East China Sea. These waterways are the most strategic waterways in the world and witnessed competing strategic interests of super powers like U.S., Japan and former Soviet Union (Kapila, 2006).If Taiwan were under Beijings control, these transportation routes would become vulnerable to be interrupted by China (Tucker, 2002). In precise, occupation of Taiwan delegacy control of the northern entrance of the South China Sea. Then, the large part of the South China Sea would become a kind of Chinas interior water, and which particularly worries the U.S. ally-Japan who sees the SLOCs as its lifelines. to a fault, as for China who once lacked deep wet on its East China Sea coastline where its important naval bases are located, it could utilize Taiwanese ports for submarines to operate freely throughout the Western Pacific after controlling the island (Okazaki, 2003). Furthermore, as for the United States who once views Taiwan as its unsinkable aircraft carrier off the coast of China (Taiwan along with Japan and the Philippines provides the outer shield of defense mechanism of mainland for the U.S.), the control of Taiwan by China severely influences its legions capability i n East Asia (Kapila, 2006). In a word, Taiwans geo-strategic location offers United States and Japan an option to block China at its gates. As Taiwans chair Chen Shui-bian once declared Taiwan is the key locking in Chinas host and preventing any westward expansion. So as U.S. ambassador to China James R. Lilley has noted that Taiwan is the cork in Chinas bottle (Tucker, 2002).2) Taiwans political significanceOn one hand, after years of political reform and democratization, Taiwan has shifted from hard authoritarian regime (since 1949) to flabby authoritarian regime (since 1970s) and finally to a res publica (since late 1980s) (Halbeisen and Ferdinand, 1996). And as a vibrant democracy, in Kapila (2006)s view, Taiwan is a powerful alternate(a) model to the Communist political model of mainland China, and a beacon and monitor lizard of democracy for the over one billion Chinese on the mainland. any(prenominal) American scholars, such as Bush (2005246), point out that the island s democratization in the late 1980s and early 1990s closed the transgress between congressional liberals and conservatives in the U.S. over islands political system and therefrom created a broad and sympathetic coalition. Thus as an established democracy, Taiwan gains the U.S. congresss support as Americans feel that they must support democratic nations or it would severely undermine the U.S. position as a defender of democracy if it failed to save democratic Taiwan from the invasion of authoritarian China(Bush,2005246).On the other hand, if PRC controlled Taiwan, a significant veer of supranational relations energy take place in Pacific regime. Under Okazaki (2003)s hypothesis, there would be important political impact of PRCs annexation of Taiwan on southeasterly Asian countries who have vital interest in the South China Sea. Okazaki further argues that the entire control of the regional nations outlet to the sea would be one of Chinas useful tools of finlandizing these nati ons. There still exists a more important question the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia are immediately divided into pro-Beijing, pro-Taiwan, and neutral groups. Chinas control of Taiwan would make this division which is use by some Southeast Asian governments to govern the oversea Chinese disappear. Also in his point of view, finlandization of Southeast Asian nations by China will undermine not only Japans vital interests, but also the U.S.s.The economic importance of TaiwanFor one thing, Taiwan is one of the major buyers of the U.S. blazonry. Under a 1979 treaty in which the U.S. switched recognition of China to Beijing from capital of Taiwan, cap is obliged to sell the island defensive weaponry and Beijing gets vicious every time the U.S. president passed the arms sales to Taiwan. One current issue mentioned at the beginning of this essay is the announcement of the $6.4 billion U.S. arms sales package to Taiwan by president Obama and it marks a low point of the Sino-US rela tions(Cooke, 2010). According to a congressional report this year, the prize of deliveries of U.S. defense articles and services to Taiwan amount $3.7 billion in the 2001-2004 period and $3.9 billion in 2005-2008. Among customers worldwide, Taiwan ranked 3rd (behind Egypt and Saudi Arabia) in 2001-2004 and 4th (behind Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia) in 2005-2008. In 2008 alone, Taiwan had agreements for arms purchases that totaled $1.3 billion from the U.S. (Kan, 2010).For another, Tai wanthe major producer of electrical requirements and information products in the worldis one of the major suppliers of the U.S. IT industry. If China tried to control Taiwan by force, for the Western companies that have built their fortunes on the mainland or in Taiwan, the damage would be a direct hit to the spheric economy and the Digital develop (Einhorn et al., 2005).To conclude this part, as for the PRC, Taiwan holds historic importance, both stemming from the civil war and the legacy of for eign treatment. Chinese leaders see bringing Taiwan into the PRC as a crucial step in change the Chinese Communist Partys leadership in China and establishing Chinese influence over East Asia and in driving the United States from the Western Pacific. In addition, Taiwan has economic importance as it could be a plus for the Chinese economy, and it holds strategic importance, straddling sea lanes and potentially serving as a base for foreign military forces. As for the U.S., from an optimistic perspective, Taiwan could be a partner in the engagement of China and foster China to play a modest role in shaping a newfangled structure in East Asia. If, on the other hand, the more negative scenario takes hold, the Taiwan Strait issue likely becomes the main orbit for the contest between the U.S. and China for supremacy in Asia. Therefore, the U.S. also attaches great importance on Taiwan.It is one of the most uncontrollable issues to solve in the U.S.-China relationsThe Taiwan problem has been existing since the founding of the PRC, and it has always been the undivided most important and sensitive issue at the core of China-U.S. relations and it will still be one of the most intractable issues in the bilateral relations. The originators for this can be perceived in three factors firstly, the PRC will never cease the effort to reunify Taiwan since it is its core interest as mentioned in last section. The pass of the Anti-Secession Law in 2005 arrangements Beijings resolution but, second, as for Taiwan, a sense of Taiwanese identity or Taiwanese nationalism is increasing among new generations, which might result in a strong demand for independence lastly, the U.S.s strategic equivocalness which turned out to be quite successful in maintaining the stability of the Taiwan Strait for the most part of last speed of light, has become the major cause of some Taiwan leaders aggressive actions that threaten the peace of the region. The future(a) section will focus on the last two factors-Taiwans rising Taiwanese nationalismAfter more than half a century of self rule and democratic evolution, popular support for political reunification among the islanders is declining, and the proportion of Taiwan residents who think of themselves as Taiwanese (not Chinese) is increasing. Copper (1999116) explains this phenomenon by saying that, in the twentieth century, Taiwan was part of China for only four years therefore in terms of its economy, society and political system, the gap is growing larger and divergenceis the trend. Rigger (20064, 57) calls this phenomenon the rise of Taiwanese nationalism which means the islanders lose of their sense of connection to mainland China and their growing leaning to identify Taiwan as their homeland.And this is assumed to be particularly common among young Taiwanese. Some current surveys on Taiwanese nationalism also indicate that there is a rising proportion (nine out of ten) of Taiwan residents who call themselves Taiwanese as opposed to Chinese. However two decades ago, surveys show that an overwhelming majority of Taiwan residents called themselves Chinese, while this percentage fell shrewdly during the 1990s (Rigger,20064,6).Because Taiwan is a democracy, the profound shift in public opinion on the island of 23million could seriously influence the decision of its government. Therefore, a more assertive posture of its authorityeven a declaration of independenceif that is what the voters demanded could be possible. For example, Taiwans former President Chen Shui-bians Democratic Progressive Party has long advocated Taiwans independence. Even the pro-unification Kuomintang has unruffled at that point since it could not resist the opinion of the majority Taiwan residents it began to regard independence as one of the possible future for Taiwan. And Taiwanese nationalism has become the focus of so much anxiety in Beijing and Washington because for Beijing, it means its reunification course is more difficult and as for Washington, the more rabble-rousing actions of Taiwan seriously challenge the relatively stable status quo of Taiwan Strait.-U.S.s strategic equivocalnessStrategic ambiguity marked American policy which is intended to keep Beijing and Taipei guessing about how the United States would respond to hostilities across the Taiwan Strait (Halloran, 2003). The essence of this concept is that the U.S. does not state explicitly whether it will come to Taiwans defense in the event of an attack by the PRC. The uncertainty about U.S. intentions shapes the intentions of the other two actors it constraints China from making an unprovoked attack by raising the possibility that Washington will intervene, and it constrains Taiwan from taking provoking steps by suggesting that Washington would not intervene (Bush,2005256257).However, ambiguity was sometimes a tool for ensuring dual deterrence but sometimes an obstacle. As Yang (2004) has stated that the self-contradictory U .S. dual policy is the major cause of Chen Shui-bian and his aggressive action of pushing Taiwan farther and farther to independence during the Bush administration.Two reasons may explain the adoption of this strategic ambiguity policy by the U.S. first is the contending views in the U.S. toward China. As stated by Halloran (2004), there are four schools among U.S. decision makers panda huggers who assert that America must accommodate Chinas emerging power, even at the expense of Taiwans freedom entrepreneurs, who pursue the age-old dream of selling toothbrushes to 1.2 billion Chinese and most of who are care little about what happens to Taiwan balancers who say the United States should engage and deter China at the same time and Taiwans circumstances is to be determined by the Taiwanese and demonizers who demand that China be confronted at every turn. Therefore, when refer to the rise of China there are contending views in the United States. On one hand, panda huggers have hoped truly that through economic interdependence and political engagement, the PRC will become a great power that accumulates national power not for its let sake but to use it, as the United States does, to preserve international peace and security. On the other hand, there is a growing upkeep in the United States represented by those balancers and demonizers (some also call them the inconsolable group(Jia, 2008)), that China is accumulating power, including military power, not to serve an internationalist agenda but in outrank to make China the dominant power of East Asia, instead of the U.S., and a change of a hegemon may lead to regional instability. Further, a more powerful China will inevitably be more assertive about its interests regardless of whether they are compatible with those of the United States (Tucker, 2002). These different views toward China make a clear policy of the U.S. toward the Taiwan issue to be impossible.Second reason is that ambiguity could be a retreat f or the U.S. to avoid a war. Layne (2001) points out that the U.S. does not actually want to get involved in a war for defend Taiwan. Because for one thing, if Washington goes to defend Taiwan and against Beijing, it almost certainly will do so alone since its European and Asian allies have no interest in picking a quarrel with China over Taiwans fate. For another, by defending Taiwan, the United States runs the risk of armed confrontation with China who holds thermonuclear power. And it would be, as he believes, a geopolitical act of betise for the United States to risk nuclear war with China for the purpose of defending democracy in Taiwan, which at stake simply would not condone the risks and costs of doing so.In sum, Taiwan issue typifies the complexity of Sino-U.S. relations. Because Beijing has showed its closing of taking Taiwan back while in Taiwan, Taiwanese nationalism is rising and it seems that the island has no intention to reunify with the mainland and will not ceas e its effort to be independent in short-term and some shortcomings of U.S.s strategic ambiguity policy are also emerging. All these factors demonstrate that an acceptable solution of Taiwan issue (here the author means the reunification or independence) is impossible in the short-term.3. It is the most potentially dangerous issue in the U.S.-China relationsThe Taiwan issue is also the most contentious problem in the bilateral relationship. Although there are quite a few disputes between the two countriesincluding disputes on human rights, trade imbalances, currency controls and so onit seems that no dispute except the Taiwan issue is likely to lead to confrontation that may trigger a war between the two countries with nuclear powers. In retrospect, there were three Cross-Straits crises namely, the 1955, 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis and 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis. During those crises, intimidating military exercises such as firing missiles were conducted by the PRC, and U.S. aircraft ca rrier groups were dispatched to the Strait. Though every time the two governments managed to handle the crises, the Taiwan Strait crises, observed by Jia(200849), still highlighted the potential for military conflicts between the two countries in the future. To some extent, the Taiwan issue is just like a ticking time bomb as no one is sure when it will explode (Chen, 2002). Its sensitivity can be further perceived from the following three aspectsFirst is the increasing provocative actions of Taiwans pro-independence, and the reason for this has mentioned in last section. The Taiwan authorities began to change their previous policy stance of reunification to an independence course when Lee Teng-hui administration was in power in 1990s (Jia, 2008). Lees successor-Chen Shui-bian and his government has pursued even more aggressive policies, such as de-Sinification, the once proposed independence referendum in the 2004 presidential election as well as the planned constitutional adjustm ent before 2008 which tried to bolster Taiwans independent identity in the world(Zhang, 200887).These provocative actions or policies of Taiwans leadership and policy-makers come from the belief that the United States is on its side, although these policies have invited criticism from the U.S. which sees them a potentially threat to stability in the Taiwan Strait. Rigger (20062) points out that the U.S. policymakers are worried about the possible misunderstanding of Taiwans leadership toward the U.S.s intention and its negative effect that may provoke a military response from the PRC.Second is the PRCs incremental national defense disbursal and its ripening military power which worry the U.S.. Taiwan problem generates security dilemma infuriated by the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and their conjunction military exercise and also worried by the increasing military power of the island, Chinese government decisively reprioritized national defense ontogeny and began to make effort to develop its military means in order to prevent independence by force if necessary, after the 16th Party Congress in 2002 (Yang, 2003). Since Beijing has stated its willingness to pay any value to resolve the Taiwan issue on terms favorable to Chinese interests, or at least to prevent a worsening change in the status quo, Chu and Guo (2008) suggest that the Chinese government has made forwardness for conflict over Taiwan the fundamental task for military instruction in the early 21st century, and to this end, the government has increased national defense spending for now over five years.Some Chinese strategists suggest that China has been pursuing a systematic modernization of its strategic nuclear forces that will enhance its second-strike capability versus U.S. in the next 10 to 15 years(Zhang, 200898). In particular, China has had some significant breakthroughs with its nuclear modernization in recent years, include its successful tests on the sea-based JL-2 strategic missile i n 2005 the 094 Class strategic submarine launched in 2004. Zhang (200898) mentioned in his article that this new strategic weapon system will increase the number of warheads commensurate of striking the U.S.A. from the current 20 to 30 to a much higher(prenominal) level. Whats more, in recent Chinese discussions of the Taiwan issue, the No First engagement nuclear doctrine which refers to a policy not to use nuclear weapons as a means of warfare unless first attacked by an enemy using nuclear weapons is increasingly under criticism especially from the hawks in the Chinese leadership. Many of those believe that due to its vast conventional hurt against the U.S., China has to rely more on its nuclear weapons to prevent American intervention in the Taiwan Strait, and China could even launch a preemptive war on this issue.Washington has noticed these changes and has become increasingly alarmed by Chinas military modernization. In the Pentagons 2006 report, the US government shows it s serious concerns for both Chinas emerging strategic capabilities and the potential changes in Chinas nuclear doctrine. Also according to the last annual reports of the U.S. Department of Defense on the military power of the PRC, the U.S. thought that China was elevating capabilities in sea, land, and air ballistic missile, space, and unified command systems and so on, and the growth of Chinas military power could pose a credible threat to other modern militaries operating in the region(Chen Xiaodong, 200865).Third, historically U.S. has intervened to protect the island, so there is a great possibility Washington will join in the conflict if a hot war happens between the PRC and Taiwan. Though its still ambiguous policy makes it indecipherable how the United States response to a China-Taiwan conflict, as mentioned in last section, it is safe to predict that there would be strong domestic political hale in favor of American intervention since ideological antipathy toward China an d support for a democratizing Taiwan would be powerful incentives for American intervention (Layne,2004). One example may offer some clue for this is what the U.S. did in the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis the United States displayed its resoluteness when in 1996 China open fire ballistic missiles over Taiwan. The United States immediately dispatched two aircraft carrier action groups into the Taiwan Strait, forcing China to back off (Bush, 2005). And with the rise of the blue team who believe the U.S. should start to contain China rather than facilitate its cultivation in the U.S. government, it is likely that the U.S. could behave tougher when handling the Taiwan issue (Jia, 2008). final resultThis essay analyses the strategic importance of Taiwan by answering the questionWhat role Taiwan plays in the Sino-U.S. relations? And it offers the answer by saying that the island has three roles in the two countries relationsfirstly, it is one of the core issues in the U.S.-China relations secondly it is one of the most difficult issues to solve in the U.S.-China relations and last but not the least, it is the most potentially dangerous issue in the relationship.Although the Taiwan issue is the most sensitive, divisive problem in Sino-U.S. relations, it is not necessarily the most important one troubling the two countries at ALL times. Besides differences and disputes, China and the United States still shared some common interests. For instance, in the 1970s, they shared common strategic interests against Soviet expansion. Since the end of the cold war, they have shared common interests in the maintenance of stability in the East Asia and they also promote economic cooperation (Chen, 2002). Echoing the general theme of the extended hand in his inaugural address, the current U.S. president Obama struck a tone of cooperative engagement in his initial approach to China, inviting Beijing to join Washington in global co-leadership in the field such as climate change and co unter-terrorism (Cooke, 2010). And the recent global economic recession has also bound the two together again.As for the relations between Taiwan and the mainland, these same global tectonics have been reshaping relations between the two across the Taiwan Strait. With Chinas emerging economy having roared back with around 10 percent projected GDP growth rate per year since 1990s, Taiwan businessmen have began to seek opportunities on the mainland. This mainland fever has been strengthening the economic ties between China and Taiwan for more than a decade, recently have multiplied and deepened. On Cross-Strai