Thucydides to U.S., China and Taiwan Relations
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Thucydides to U.S., China and Taiwan Relations
The China and Taiwan issue became a hot topic on the international scale after the Communist Party took over the mainland at the end of the Chinese Civil War. The United States has been aiding military power to Taiwan since 1979 (Wu). The tension between China and Taiwan has been tightened during the recent years. This phenomenon could relate to the book “History of the Peloponnesian War” by Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War broke out between two great powers in the Greek world - Athens and Sparta. The Island of Melos was conquered violently by the Athenians. In this case, the United States had the position as Sparta, China as Athens and Taiwan as Melos. Thucydides would approve the United States’ stance to keep aiding Taiwan to avoid a possible war in the future.
In 2003, the Taiwanese electorate returned President Chen Shui-bian, an outspoken proponent of independence from the mainland, to office. Chen has vowed to put a new draft constitution into effect in 2006, flouting the longstanding “one China” principle (Chen Shui-bian). Alarmed at this plan, China has threatened to use force to compel talks on reunification. “China has positioned five hundred short-range ballistic missiles across the strait to intimidate the island’s leadership into opening talks or, failing that, to bludgeon the island into submission” (Holmes). Since the U.S. has a military alliance relationship with Taiwan, China has embarked on a military buildup with the explicit purpose of denying U.S. aircraft carriers access to the strait. “China has state-of-the-art diesel attack submarines, surface warships, and anti-ship missiles, as well as a new diesel submarine, only recently known by the West to exist” (Holmes).
Meanwhile, on the other side of the strait, the deeply divided Taiwanese electorate and legislature have been unable to agree to arm themselves. Plans to purchase diesel submarines from the United States, for example, have...
The China and Taiwan issue became a hot topic on the international scale after the Communist Party took over the mainland at the end of the Chinese Civil War. The United States has been aiding military power to Taiwan since 1979 (Wu). The tension between China and Taiwan has been tightened during the recent years. This phenomenon could relate to the book “History of the Peloponnesian War” by Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War broke out between two great powers in the Greek world - Athens and Sparta. The Island of Melos was conquered violently by the Athenians. In this case, the United States had the position as Sparta, China as Athens and Taiwan as Melos. Thucydides would approve the United States’ stance to keep aiding Taiwan to avoid a possible war in the future.
In 2003, the Taiwanese electorate returned President Chen Shui-bian, an outspoken proponent of independence from the mainland, to office. Chen has vowed to put a new draft constitution into effect in 2006, flouting the longstanding “one China” principle (Chen Shui-bian). Alarmed at this plan, China has threatened to use force to compel talks on reunification. “China has positioned five hundred short-range ballistic missiles across the strait to intimidate the island’s leadership into opening talks or, failing that, to bludgeon the island into submission” (Holmes). Since the U.S. has a military alliance relationship with Taiwan, China has embarked on a military buildup with the explicit purpose of denying U.S. aircraft carriers access to the strait. “China has state-of-the-art diesel attack submarines, surface warships, and anti-ship missiles, as well as a new diesel submarine, only recently known by the West to exist” (Holmes).
Meanwhile, on the other side of the strait, the deeply divided Taiwanese electorate and legislature have been unable to agree to arm themselves. Plans to purchase diesel submarines from the United States, for example, have...