Switching Diplomatic Recognition Between Taiwan and China

This book examines the economic and social impacts of switching diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China, and vice versa, and investigates how China achieves its foreign policy objective of dissuading Taiwan's diplomatic partners and other third parties from engaging with Taiwan. Highlighting the critical regions of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Oceania, where the diplomatic competition between Taiwan and China is fierce, the contributions to this book analyze China's promises of economic benefits, threats of economic coercion and the perils of its foreign aid to the countries in these regions in pursuit of its anti-Taiwan policy. In addition to the competition of formal diplomatic ties, it also examines how existing informal relations have influenced Taiwan's increasing interactions with Central and Eastern European countries. Finally, the book explores how Taiwan's advantage in technology sectors has successfully been translated into economic leverage for Taiwan's international diplomacy. Built upon the interdisciplinary expertise and collaborative efforts of 14 international scholars, this book will be a valuable resource to scholars and students of Taiwan studies, China studies and international relations. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Chien-Huei Wu is Research Fellow and Professor at the Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. His research interests cover US-China relations, EU external relations law and international economic law.

Introduction. Studying the diplomatic competition of Taipei and Beijing in New Geopolitics and its Contribution. 1. The Threat of China's Economic Coercion. 2. The Perils of Chinese Foreign Aid. 3. The Promise of Growth: A "Difference-In-Differences" Analysis of the Economic Impact of Switching Diplomatic Relations Between Taiwan and China. 4. The Impact of Diplomatic Ties on Economic Development: Taiwan and China in Latin America and the Caribbean. 5. Economic Development and Africa's Diplomatic and Grassroots Relations with China and Taiwan. 6. Economic Development, Diplomatic Relations and Engagement with Taiwan and China In Oceania 7. Economic Versus Political Engagement with China and Taiwan in Central and Eastern Europe. 8. Foreign Investment by Taiwan's High-Tech Sector and its Impact. Conclusion. China's Promise Fails.