Yang, Ching-Yun
(1993)
One country, two systems: Mainland China's policy towards reunification with Taiwan 1979-87.
PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Abstract
This research examines mainland China's reunification policy towards Taiwan with a particular focus on the years of 1979-1987. Following the establishment of Sino-U.S. diplomatic relations in January 1979, Communist leaders in Beijing carried out a series of intensive campaigns to woo the Nationalists in Taiwan to accept peace talks and to re-unify Taiwan and mainland China under the formula of "One Country Two Systems". The formula implies that, after unification, two different systems will remain - Socialism on the mainland and Capitalism in Taiwan for at least 50 years. Although Beijing's reunification policy has been further developed and persistently propagated, its efforts, so far, have met with little success. The Taiwan issue is by no means solved, neverthe-less, the peaceful initiatives from Beijing have significantly changed Taiwan-China relations as well as the situation in East Asia. The questions this study is seeking to answer are: What are the origins and development of contention over the issue of Taiwan. In the period of 1979-87, what have been the main factors which have led China's decision-makers to change their position on Taiwan from that of an antagonist seeking military liberation to one of a seeming conciliator seeking benign-sounding peaceful reunification. To what extent has the "One Country Two Systems" policy been effective in shaping Taiwan-China relations. In what sense does the policy theoretically and practically modify the continuing contest over the separation of Taiwan and China. Internationally, how has the "One Country Two Systems" formula been applied to solve the issues of Hongkong and Macao, as they have become important models for the future settlement of the Taiwan problem. And how has the policy been conditioned by Washington-Beijing and Washington-Taibei relations. Because these questions are closely interlinked, the study makes detailed review from international and intranational perspectives so as to disentangle the complexities of the Taiwan issue. Although the policy readjustment made in 1987 by the Taipei government in response to the PRC peaceful proposal signalled a crucial change on the route of China's national reunification and in relations between Taiwan and the mainland, the One Country Two Systems formula, as the study argues, has continued to fall short of providing an acceptable political solution of the Taiwan issue. However, as long as the Chinese Communists are in power, it seems certain that the formula will be maintained as their paramount principle for managing China-Taiwan relations.
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