China-Taiwan Ñonflict (Essay Sample)

The root-causes for the China-Taiwan conflict and way the conflict poses a major threat to regional stability
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Introduction
The impact of global peace has seen the world make significant development over the past century. However, there are global hotspots in the globe that are a cause for concern. One of the main pillars of development is global peace. This is according to Bill Clinton, former United States of America president. One of the main areas of concerns over the years has been Taiwan’s Democratization and Cross-Strait Security.
One of the most vital development in the development in the China-Taiwan conflict, commonly refered to as Cross-Strait relations, is the demorcratization of Taiwan. Over the duration of the conflict, a lot of research has been done on the causes conflict and the transformation of the Island. Since the Chinese-Taiwan war of 1949, he island had slowly but gradually shifted from an authoritarian regime to a thriving democracy.
Research Aim
The main aim of this research paper is to establish the deep root-causes for China-Taiwan conflict and in what way does this conflict pose a major threat to regional stability
Research objectives
The following research questions have been identified in this research:
* What role did China play in the China-Taiwan conflict?
* What are the effects of the conflict between China and Taiwan both locally and on a global scale?
* What way does this conflict poses a major threat to regional stability
* Is authoritarian rule the main cause of the China-Taiwan conflict.
Importance of the Research
Global peace has been regarded as one of the most elusive endeavor. This is primarily because of the difference between democratic nations and authoritarian rule. This research will highlight the root cause of major international conflicts and the measures that can be used to avoid further conflicts.
Theoretical/Conceptual Framework
As one of the world’s major flashpoint, the Taiwan strait was once dubbed the most dangerous spot on the planet. International affairs experts expected that this would be the factor hat ignited a clash between the United States of America (reigning superpower) and the Peoples Republic of China (Emerging power house)
As the cold war drew to an end, communism lost its appeal due to the many economic advantages seen to be brought about by democracy. Taiwan looked to get more recognition as china was suffering from a century of humiliation. Taiwan sought to be recognized as a sovereign state. Using the burner of economic reform and nationalism, Taiwan tried to become a democracy. After losing a civil war in 1949 against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on the mainland, China continued its grip over Taiwan through the CCP from Taiwan throughout the Cold War.
According to scholars, Taiwan’s democratization is regarded to as the third wave as described by Samuel Huntington. That was in the mid 1970’s at the height of the cold war. Tensions begun in 1986 when the ruling party Kuomintang (KMT) announced a political liberalization program and the opposition formed the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which ended 1995. The country held the first democratic election. Before the change,Taiwan was governed by the Repablic of China as an an authoritarian state ruled by dictatorship under a quasi-Leninist party.
After the KML lost the civil was in 1949, the fate of the island was sealed. Under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party, Taiwan remained under dictatorship. Despite this, the country was able to record and average of 9% gross domestic product (GDP) growth between 1960 and 1980. As the locals fought against communism, civil and political liberties, the population lived under martial law (Blanchard & Hickey 2012 p.38). China used various techniques such as maintaining representation in the National Assembly and Legislative Yuan after the enactment of the Republic of China constitution in 1947.
Locals tried to form local oppositions but those efforts were foiled by mainland China. However, with national growth, the population of the country grew exponentially. Education in the nation improved and with time there was a large educated middle class which demanded transparency and democratization. Chinese leaders had to rethink their strategy for Taiwan and started allowing Taiwan local's membership into the Central Standing Committee. The shift in political power saw the slots in the CPP, which was mainly occupied by mainlanders who moved to Taiwan in 1949 reduced. Local participation in party affairs increased which saw Tainan’s representation increase from 14% in 1973 to 52% in 1988. This represented a drastic change in political standing set the stage for future engagement with mainland china, which later escalated to China firing missiles in efforts to ease tension (Zhao 1999 p.12).
This research paper will seek to employ various data analysis techniques in order to compare and contrast the various differences and benefits of democratization and authoritarian rule (Elleman 2012 p.22). In an effort to establish the gains of each governance method, this research paper will analyze economic data of various countries and draw conclusions from the analysis (Shirk 2007 p.17). This will open the door for a broader analysis of the root cause of global conflicts and potential remedies (Hickey 2001).
The research will also explore the theory of The Democratic Peace and its effects in the conflict between China and Taiwan (Horowitz, Heo, & Tan 2007 p.11). The theory which uses pragmatic obse...