no topic New Issue of Indo-Pacific Perspectives, from JIPA

"The Past, Present, and Future of Cross–Taiwan Strait Relations"

In his introduction to the second Indo-Pacific Perspectives roundtable, Dr. Harris points to "some serious questions about the durability of US policy toward Taiwan that demand consideration. Can the PRC be deterred forever, or will leaders in Beijing one day calculate that taking Taiwan by force is preferable to a never-ending standoff across the Strait? If push comes to shove, is the US truly committed to the military defense of Taiwan against a Chinese invasion? What about military actions short of a full-scale invasion? Is there any prospect for a peaceful resolution?"

This article examines why the US commitment to Taiwan is “rock-solid” and why it must remain so.

Taiwan’s Security in the Emerging Indo-Pacific Order
Dr. Sana Hashmi

Integrating Taiwan more formally into regional deliberations and processes would make countries more aware about the shared risks of a cross-Strait conflict.

Irresistible Trend: The US–China Interest Asymmetry and Taiwan’s Future
Dr. Zuo Xiying

There is a vast asymmetry of interests between China and the United States on the Taiwan issue, which leads to the asymmetry of resolve. That will be the crucial factor affecting the situation in the Taiwan Strait in the future.

This article examines how Taiwan’s enhanced military defenses have increased its capacity and capabilities to resist Chinese military threats, despite some drawbacks, and has thus contributed to the cross-Strait security’s stability.

While reunification is undoubtedly important to Chinese president Xi Jinping, his clear priority is to achieve the “China Dream”—something that Xi has explicitly invited Taiwanese to share in but regarded as a separate and higher-order goal than political reunification.

Any future confluence of views on the status quo regarding Taiwan is becoming increasingly unlikely—and with it, any common baseline for cross-Strait discourse between the two sides. This is an overlooked, yet fundamentally important, aspect of cross-Strait relations.