Taiwan's Sovereignty - Jadyn Cleary

Taiwan's Sovereignty
Ever since China first regained ownership of Taiwan after WWII, there has been a dispute about how much sovereignty Taiwan has and how much power mainland China has over them. Throughout their many negotiations and disputes, they have both adhered to both realist and liberal views of power. In 1992, an agreement was made between the mainland and the ruling Taiwanese government called the 1992 Consensus to lessen the tension between the two countries. It is from this consensus that the term “one China, two systems” comes from. The consensus was able to stop each country from threatening the other with military force and allow for amicable trade and travel between the two. However, the mainland and Taiwan have different ideas as to what “one China” means which has been leading to more controversy as of late. 
In 2000, the newly elected leader of Taiwan began backing Taiwan’s independence. In recourse, the mainland passed an anti-secession law which would allow China to use any military force to stop Taiwan for succeeding. Since the election of the Democratic Progressive Party candidate, Tsai Ing-wen, who heavily leans toward the secession of Taiwan. This has caused mainland China to begin flexing their military power by increasing its number of military demonstrations and tests near Taiwan. 
The relationship between mainland China and Taiwan supports the realist view of power. China and Taiwan used their military and sanctions to try and gain power over the other. When both states realized they were not getting what they wanted, they resorted to a liberal method to gaining power by ceasing to flex their military power, allowing their companies to operate in the other, opening trade, and allowing free travel. Now, as Taiwan has begun to move towards succeeding again, China has resumed its military threats which will probably lead to tariffs being placed by Taiwan. Mainland China’s display of offensive realism has forced Taiwan into a state of defensive realism to maintain the sovereignty they have. Although other countries have recognized Taiwan as a sovereign state, others continue to contest it. As it appears now, Taiwan will need more than some external sovereignty to convince China to allow them to peacefully succeed or even diffuse the current tension between them and the mainland. 
Works Cited
Albert, Eleanor. “China-Taiwan Relations.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, 27 June 2019, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-relations.
Westcott, Ben. “A Chinese Invasion of Taiwan Would Be a Bloody, Logistical Nightmare.” CNN, Cable News Network, 24 June 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/06/23/asia/taiwan-china-invasion-intl-hnk/index.html.
“What's behind the China-Taiwan Divide?” BBC News, BBC, 2 Jan. 2019, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34729538.

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