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US Position
As a third party, the United States' opinion in this matter is less important as China and Taiwan's, but if it weren't for the United States, China could have easily brought Taiwan under its control and ended the issue by now. Officially, the United States sides with the PRC by not holding relations with Taiwan and supporting the "One China Policy", but the United States has unofficially acted in ways that show that they still partly support the ROC. This dual relationship has caused the PRC to question its position toward the US.

Up to 1979, the United States had been allied with the ROC because of the simple fact that they were a democratic society, and the PRC was a communist government. In 1979, President Nixon normalized the relationship with the Communist government, and switched diplomatic relations from the ROC to the PRC (12). It also adopted the "One China Policy" which means that the US equates China with the "Peoples Republic of China". (13).

Although the United States officially holds relations with the ROC, it still has unofficial economic ties with the US because of their extensive history of friendship (12). These economic ties include the sale of various arms to Taiwan, which directly undermines the PRC's authority. In 1998, the US sold $300 million worth of navy frigates armed with state of the art weaponry to help in modernizing the Taiwanese navy (14). Furthermore, even though the official foreign relations of the US is only with the PRC, US law still states that Taiwan is officially a sovereign state and should be treated as such (13). In this way, the US has assured that it can remain friendly with the PRC, while still enjoying the economic gains of Taiwan.

Although the US has switched relations to the PRC, the PRC is still at shaky ground with the US. The PRC continues to make sure that the United States does not intervene in the situation. The United States has stood by through these threats so as to not uproot the balance of the situation.

These three positions have created a delicate situation in which any shift in the balance can change the situation completely. One misstep from Taiwan or the United States could cause the highly determined PRC to react in a violent way. There are many possibilities in which this confrontation could end, but the highest possibility is that the Chinese will finally have had enough and take full control of Taiwan. The Chinese are completely determined to keep Taiwan under their rule, as they showed in their statements about nuclear retaliation. Moreover, their actions, like setting up missiles around Taiwan and conducting military exercises, further these statements.

Learn more about this author, Richard Hamilton.
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