Why Taiwan?: Geostrategic Rationales for China's Territorial Integrity

Studies in Asian Security

by Alan M. Wachman

Why has the PRC been so determined that Taiwan be part of China? Why, since the 1990s, has Beijing been feverishly developing means to prevail in combat with the U.S. over Taiwan's status? Why is Taiwan worth fighting for? To answer, this book focuses on the territorial dimension of the Taiwan issue and highlights arguments made by PRC analysts about the geostrategic significance of Taiwan, rather than emphasizing the political dispute between Beijing and Taipei. It considers Beijing's quest for Taiwan since 1949 against the backdrop of recurring Chinese anxieties about the island's status since the seventeenth century. In recent years, the PRC has become dependent on international maritime commerce and has undertaken to expand considerably its navy to ensure access to the sea. PRC analysts concerned about strategy have articulated rationales for eliminating rival influences over Taiwan, the location of which is deemed as critical to China's projection of naval power. This book traces the evolution, explains the appeal, and suggests implications of the geostrategic calculations that pervade PRC strategic considerations of Taiwan.

Genres: China

272 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2007

Reviews

[Hubert Han · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moderately useful overview of Chinese attitudes towards Taiwan in the context of the fluctuating self-definition of the Chinese nation and consistent (and often legitimate) anxiety about Taiwan being used as a bridgehead to restrain the Chinese nation. The level of analysis drops abruptly regarding the 1940s, as Wachman unconvincingly speculates about Taiwan's sudden emergence as a salient issue in the Chinese mind.

I do suspect, contrary to Wachman's attempt to convince his readers of the utility of 'geostrategic' motivations viz. zero-sum Pacific dominance and the outer geographical limits of China's conceptual boundaries, that Taiwan remains so important due to a confluence of factors, each of which would have to be utterly subverted to produce any shift in the PRC position.

[Jeany Lin · Rating 5 out of 5]

我覺得這本書完全可以當台灣史來看耶！作者真的超懂台灣的，故事也是從明朝、荷領時代開始講。

想到本書明明是2007年出的書，到現在大部分西方媒體介紹台灣還是都從1949年開始，就覺得作者超讚的。雖然他做中國、台灣研究必須懂，還是很酷！

現在此時，應該會覺得他講中共要武統台灣是因為地緣政治，這不是廢話嗎？

台灣，乃至全球新聞媒體，現在天天都在講地緣政治。

但如果考慮到其實原文在2007年出版，是中美關係還是非常甜蜜、兩岸關係即將進入馬英九任期（2008 - 2016）的時代背景，我覺得很了不起！

因為那時候應該還很多人覺得中國會因為經濟成長而走向民主化，那麼意識形態的問題就不是問題了。

所以他才要著重在「地緣政治」這一點，討論中共執著於台灣，不只是民族情感、領土問題這麼簡單。因為其他地區的領土爭議，也不見中國如此堅持。

作者提出的觀點，現在來說，我覺得變成很真知灼見的常識（？），所以也不能說不熟悉。

但我覺得對我收穫最大的，應該是看作者怎麼梳理文獻❤️

--吵架需要的時候直接找的到超棒的--

[Alexander Song · Rating 3 out of 5]

书一般。作者总是尝试在历史经纬中寻找台湾对于中国不同的意义，似乎借此证明台湾不是“自古以来”大陆的领土。在我看来，这样的论证是毫无意义的。毕竟，历史是由胜利者书写。但这本书也不是完全一无是处，其中关于中国“认知地图”和中国人“想象中”的中国有启发性。