CHEN Ching-Chang
   Department   Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University  College of Asia Pacific Studies
   Position   Professor
Language English
Publication Date 2010/12
Type Research paper
Peer Review Peer reviewed
Title Understanding the Political Economy of Cross-Strait Security: A Missing Link
Contribution Type Single Work
Journal Journal of Chinese Political Science
Journal TypeAnother Country
Publisher Springer
Volume, Issue, Page 15(4),pp.391-412
Authorship Lead author,Corresponding author
Author and coauthor Ching-Chang Chen
Details This paper explores how and why China has been perceived as an economic threat in Taiwan through an examination of Taipei's post-Cold War economic policy with respect to the mainland. While Taipei's restriction on trade and investment across the Taiwan Strait until mid-2008 was widely considered a failure by both opponents and supporters of closer cross-Strait economic ties, this analysis points to an overlooked function of Taiwan's economic policy that was not just about tackling the problems of the security externalities or promoting the island's economic development. What appeared to be an ineffective policy can be understood as a successful boundary-drawing practice that discursively constituted a vulnerable Taiwan under Chinese economic threat, hence conducive to the (re)production of Taiwanese national identity. © 2010 Journal of Chinese Political Science/Association of Chinese Political Studies.