Content area
Full text
Abstract
This study aims to examine Taiwan's foreign relations under Lee Teng-hui's twelve-year rule of the island country. The analysis shows that Taiwan's "pragmatic diplomacy" originated from Lee's determination to break the international isolation imposed by Beijing as well as a combination of domestic and international factors. By creating a complex functional interdependence through foreign aid programs, trade and investment, arms purchases, and the exercise of informal diplomacy, Taiwan has maintained a high profile in the international community and its de facto independence generally has been recognized. It appears that Lee has set a permanent course for Taipei's foreign policy and the quest for Taiwan's legitimacy will continue in the years to come. To avoid possible cross-Strait military conflicts, the international community can act as a restraining factor against any aggressive response by Beijing. For its part, Taipei needs to avoid being perceived as unduly provocative lest it be blamed as a "troublemaker" or forced into unequal negotiations with Beijing where its fate would be beyond its control.
When Lee Teng-hui succeeded Chiang Ching-kuo as the president of the Republic of China (ROC) in 1988, he was facing a daunting task of relieving the island country from the international isolation that defined Taiwan as an "international orphan" or "pariah state." Employing a new foreign policy known as "pragmatic diplomacy" (wu-shi wai-jiao), the Taipei government under Lee's leadership started to challenge the "one-China" policy as it previously had been understood within the island as well as in the international community. In an attempt to alter the widely received notion that there is but one China and Taiwan is a part of China, the essence of "pragmatic diplomacy" is to seek a new framework in which the island can be treated as a distinct and separate state from the People's of Republic of China (PRC).
During Lee's twelve years in office, his efforts at asserting Taiwan's de facto independence and sovereignty irked Chinese leaders. Considering Lee's attempt an unacceptable bid for separation aiming to create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan," Beijing repeatedly warned that it would use military force should the island country declare itself independent. Cross-Strait relations deteriorated sharply after Lee's successful visit to the US in 1995, culminating in Beijing's provocative missile tests...