Abstract:


The election to the Presidency of Taiwan of Chen Shui-bian in March 2000, marks a turning point in relations between Taiwan and Peking. Dominated over a long period by the nationalism of the Kuomintang on one side, and by frequent demonstrations of force on the other, the Sino-Taiwanese imbroglio reveals two faces: a sometimes inflammatory, but always complex, rhetoric suggests political uncertainty over the future of the Island, whereas economic reality would seem to play in favour of a peaceful coexistence of the regimes on either side of the strait. It may be possible to find the resolution of the independence-resolution dilemma, a major source of instability in the North East Asia region, through market forces and globalisation.


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