Richard C. Bush's Book on Taiwan

In his book, Richard C. Bush offered a fresh perspective on why economic links between China and Taiwan had not led to political reconciliation.

In "Untying the Knot Making Peace in the Taiwan Strait", Bush argued that contrary to Chinese and international perceptions, both former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui (李登辉) and present leader Chen Shui-bian (陈水扁) had not and did not harbor separatist tendencies.

One of Bush's central premise was that Beijing had wrongfully assumed that both Lee and Chen harbored separatist tendencies, and were uninterested in reunification.

Bush wrote: "Beijing misunderstood and misrepresented the intentions of Lee and Chen. It regarded their opposition to the one-country, two-systems formula as opposition to unification itself. In the PRC's eyes, they were separatists, promoting either two Chinas or Taiwan's independence. A disagreement over how Taiwan might be a part of China was translated, in Beijing's mindset, into a dispute over whether Taiwan saw itself as a part of China."

By analyzing the statements of the two leaders, Bush noted that both leaders essentially had three goals, none of which included separation from China. The goals were: 1) getting China to renounce the use of force, 2) ensuring more international space for Taiwan, 3) ensuring equal treatment of the island.

Bush added: "This is not to say that Lee and Chen did not contribute to the deadlock but that the reason for the stalemate did not lie in their fundamental goals. Rather it is the function of the interaction of three factors: their serious substantive concerns about China's approach to unification; Beijing's relatively inflexible response to their concerns; and an increasingly competitive political environment on the island."

Bush concluded that "it was that interaction that produced conceptual deadlock and a spiral of mutual antagonism and mistrust," adding that while the tactics adopted by Lee and Chen have changed, the principles have not.

Certainly not a view that will find ready nor wide acceptance, especially within China, but at least it is a newer way of looking at cross-strait ties.