DISADVANTAGE/CHINA

ANSWERS: OTHER SOLUTIONS TO THE TAIWAN PROBLEM PRESENT THEMSELVES

CHINA WANTS A NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT WITH TAIWAN

Gary Klintworth The Straits Times (Singapore) March 19, 1999 SECTION: Commentary Analysis; Pg. 51 HEADLINE: Missile system will provoke China // lnu-acs

Even before Macao returns to China in December, Beijing is working on a negotiated solution for Taiwan.

Taiwan, however, will not easily return to the fold.

NO TAIWAN SOLUTION OUTSIDE OF A ONE-CHINA APPROACH

DAVID SHAMBAUGH, Director of the China Policy Program and Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University January, 2001 / February, 2001 Foreign Affairs HEADLINE: Facing Reality in China Policy SECTION: CHALLENGES FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT; Pg. 50 //VT2002acsln

Any official cross-strait dialogue must take the "one China" principle as its starting point. This principle, which holds that Taiwan is part of China, had been the accepted bottom line in Washington, Beijing, and Taipei until the 1990s, when the government of Taiwan progressively drifted away from that position. Even though in the eyes of all but a dozen or so countries Taiwan is not a sovereign nation-state, it does possess substantial international autonomy, and its democratic progress commands the world's respect. This autonomy must be turned from a negative into a positive factor and should serve as the basis for serious talks over forming a newly constituted Chinese nation-state.

CONFEDERATION IS THE BEST ANSWER TO THE CHINA-TAIWAN PROBLEM

The concept of confederation offers the best hope for an ultimate solution: it would bring the island back into the sovereign fold of China while guaranteeing substantial autonomy to Taiwan. Indeed, many intellectuals (and some officials) on both sides of the strait have been actively exploring the implications of the confederal, federal, and commonwealth models. Washington should actively encourage this search for possible solutions and may have much to offer in the process. Nations with similar political structures, such as Great Britain, India, Australia, and Germany, may also have useful ideas and experience to contribute.