A Convenient Crisis: Looking Behind Beijing`s Threats Against Taiwan

Abstract

To explicate the discord between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan in terms of the former’s reactions to the rising independence sentiments in Taiwan barely touches the surface of the problem. The roots of Being’s militancy toward the ROC lie within the PRC. The Jiang Zemin administration has escalated tensions over the Taiwan Strait in order to divert and externalize domestic predicaments. Specifically, Jiang’s tactics for achieving national unity, intra-Party cohesion, the loyalty and effectiveness of the military, and personal status have contributed to conflicts across the Strait. To unj5 the country, Jiang has appealed to regressive nationalism, a force which castigates the ROC as a national traitor Jiang also exploits conflicts with the ROC in order to resolve the penetration crisis inside the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The high command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) practices brinkmanship in the Taiwan Strait in order to mask corruption and disunity within the military Last but not least, Jiang has assumed the role of a strong nation-builder in order to compensate for his feelings of insecurity and lack of legitimacy as apolitical leader As long as Beijing continues to rely on these tactics for domestic purposes, tenisions over the Taiwan Strait will not sign flcantly decline.