TY - JOUR
T1 - Making sense of war games in the Taiwan strait
AU - Ji, You
N1 - Funding Information:
*You Ji received a Ph.D. from the Australian National University and is assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, the University of New South Wales, Australia. Since 1989, he has published widely on China's political, economic, military and foreign affairs. He is the author of two forthcoming books China's Enterprise Reform: Dismantling the Party/State (Routledge); and Winning the Next War? China's Armed Forces in the Hi-Tech Era (Allen & Unwin). The Author thanks Dr Chris Connolly for his valuable comments on this paper. It was first presented to a workshop Little China, Big China: Political Dynamics and Strategic Foundations of Taiwan's Future, at Australian National University, Canberra, May 1996. 1. For instance, see Andrew Yang, 'Taiwan Strait crisis, what crisis?' paper presented to The Chinese Military and Asia-Pacific Security, RAND/CAPS, Hawaii, 25-28 June, 1996.
PY - 1997/7
Y1 - 1997/7
N2 - China's missile tests in March 1996 reflected a changing leadership consensus on the Taiwan issue. Although the goal to achieve reunification through peaceful means remains the basis for the consensus, there has emerged a new mainstream opinion that peaceful overture alone has become inadequate to reach the goal. This is especially true when Taiwan is believed to have acquired military technological edge over the PLA. The new policy direction is mainly a response to the evolving political situation in Taiwan. Yet it has also been driven by the dynamics of China's domestic politics which has entered the last stage of power transfer. Under the circumstances different party leaders and political institutions may have different stakes in such a risk endeavor but at the end of the day they have accorded their support to the policy change. As a result, their judgment on the missile tests in March has been one of success. This paper shows the reasons why they believe so.
AB - China's missile tests in March 1996 reflected a changing leadership consensus on the Taiwan issue. Although the goal to achieve reunification through peaceful means remains the basis for the consensus, there has emerged a new mainstream opinion that peaceful overture alone has become inadequate to reach the goal. This is especially true when Taiwan is believed to have acquired military technological edge over the PLA. The new policy direction is mainly a response to the evolving political situation in Taiwan. Yet it has also been driven by the dynamics of China's domestic politics which has entered the last stage of power transfer. Under the circumstances different party leaders and political institutions may have different stakes in such a risk endeavor but at the end of the day they have accorded their support to the policy change. As a result, their judgment on the missile tests in March has been one of success. This paper shows the reasons why they believe so.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0031428025&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10670569708724279
DO - 10.1080/10670569708724279
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0031428025
SN - 1067-0564
VL - 6
SP - 287
EP - 305
JO - Journal of Contemporary China
JF - Journal of Contemporary China
IS - 15
ER -