Abstract:
The primary cause was the control of Chinese territory. The two political groups in Taiwan (Chinese Nationalist Party or KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party or DPP) and China are the main actors whereas Japan and the United States are the secondary actors. The conflict has escalated into war, crises and unstable peace with 4 main climaxes. The initial issue was the sovereignty dispute over China and Chinese people in both territories of the mainland China and the island of Taiwan. Due to the de-Sinification and the Taiwanisation policies as well as divergent socio-political and economic developments, the issue has evolved into cultural and political identity issue creating 3 identifiers: few Chinese, more Taiwanese and some ‘Chiwanese’. Peacemaking process: The United States has prevented a reunification war; the tracks 2, 3 and 4 diplomacy have advanced the economic interdependence and social interactions with no political reunification. Policy recommendations: all the actors (China, KMT, DPP and US) need to change their policies, mainly by reviewing the “one China, different interpretations” principle, establishing a trilateral relationship, and supporting Taiwan’s participation into international organizations. This can be achieved by applying all the nine tracts of the multitrack diplomacy (MTD) approach.
