The Changing of the Guard: President Clinton and the Security of Taiwan

The increased military power of China since the close of the Cold War has forced the United States to reconsider its security policy toward Taiwan. In this volume, Martin Lasater explores the many new factors that are now influencing U.S. calculations of one of its more enduring and important security interests in Asia. He considers such security concerns as the reduction of U.S. military forces in the western Pacific, a new arms race in the Taiwan Strait, Sino-American tensions over human rights and arms proliferation issues, increased calls for Taiwan’s independence, the Clinton administration’s concentration on domestic issues, and the shifting balance of power in the Asia Pacific-especially the PRC’s growing influence. Considering the difficult issues President Clinton must weigh, Lasater provides a timely analysis of Taiwan’s security in the 1990s within the broader context of Sino-American relations.