| Semester | Spring Semester, 2025 | ||
| Department | International Doctor Program in Asia-Pacific Studies, First Year International Doctor Program in Asia-Pacific Studies, Second Year International Doctor Program in Asia-Pacific Studies, Third Year | ||
| Course Name | US-Taiwan Relations | ||
| Instructor | HARRY HARDING | ||
| Credit | 3.0 | ||
| Course Type | Elective | ||
| Prerequisite | |||
| Course Objective |
| Course Description |
| Course Schedule |
Course Schedule and Readings
Required Readings
George H. Kerr, Formosa Betrayed, “The Heart of the Matter,” “Foreword,” “Acknowledgments, ch. II, “Island X,” ch. VII, “Unwelcome Witnesses,” and ch.X, “The Search for Recognition.”
Richard C. Bush, At Cross Purposes, ch. 2, “The Wartime Decision to Return Taiwan to China.”
Lin Hsiao-ting, “The Accidental State: The Making of Taiwan,” Hoover Digest (Summer 2016).
Recommended Readings
Kerr, Formosa Betrayed, ch. III, “Surrender on Formosa, 1945”; ch. IV, “Americans in Uniform;” ch. IX,“The Formosans’ Story: A Year of Disenchantment”; ch. XI, “On the Eve of Disaster”; ch. XII, “The February Incident, 1947”; “ch. XIV, “The March Massacre”; and ch. XV, “The Aftermath.”
Required Readings
Dean Acheson, “Speech on the Far East (excerpts),” National Press Club, January 12, 1950.
Russell D. Buhite, "’Major Interests’": American Policy toward China, Taiwan, and Korea, 1945-1950, Pacific Historical Review, 47 (1978), pp. 425-451.
Required Readings
Shannon Tiezzi, “How Eisenhower Saved Taiwan,” The Diplomat, July 29, 2015.
William I. Hitchcock, The Age of Eisenhower: America and the World in the 1950s, chs. 8 -9.
Marshall Green, “Working with Dulles.” [on the 1958 Taiwan Straits Crisis]
(CLASS BEGINS AT 11:00 AM )
Required Readings
Kenneth T. Young, Negotiating with the Chinese Communists, ch. 4, “Impasse over the Renunciation of Force and over Taiwan.”
Leonard H. D. Gordon, “United States Opposition to Use of Force in the Taiwan Strait, 1954-1962,” Journal of American History (1985), pp. 637-660.
Required Readings
Bush, At Cross Purposes, ch. 4, “The Status of the ROC and Taiwan, 1950 – 1972.”
Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, “John Foster Dulles and the Taiwan Roots of the Two China Policy,” in Richard H. Immerman (ed.), John Foster Dulles and the Diplomacy of the Cold War.
Required Readings
“Taiwan’s Bomb,” National Security Archive Briefing Book, January 10, 2019
David Albright and Andrea Stricker, Taiwan’s Former Nuclear Weapons Program: Nuclear Weapons on Demand.
Required Readings Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, “Taiwan Expendable? Nixon and Kissinger Go to China,” Journal of American History, 92 (2005), pp. 109-135.
Recommended Readings
Richard C. Bush, At Cross Purposes, ch. 5, “The ‘Sacred Texts’ of United States –China -Taiwan Relations.”
David Ta-wei Lee, The Making of the Taiwan Relations Act: Twenty Years in Retrospect
Required Readings
“Declassified Cables: Taiwan Arm Sales and The Six Assurances” https://www.ait.org.tw/declassified-cables-taiwan-arms-sales-six-assurances-1982/?_ga=2.13221171.509512087.1692937279-402688503.1692937279
President Ronald Reagan, “The August ’82 Communique and Reagan’s Interpretation” https://www.ait.org.tw/u-s-prc-joint-communique-1982/
Harvey Feldman, “President Reagan's Six Assurances to Taiwan and Their Meaning Today” https://www.heritage.org/asia/report/president-reagans-six-assurances-taiwan-and-their-meaning-today
Required Readings
Winston Lord, “Taiwan, Statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Washington, DC, September 27, 1994.
Required Readings
Huang Jing and Li Xiaoting, Inseparable Separation: The Making of China’s Taiwan Policy, Introduction.
Chen-yuan Tung, Assessment of China’s Taiwan Policy under the Third Generation Leadership,” Asian Survey, 45 ((2005), pp. 344-61.
Xin Qiang, “Selective Engagement: Mainland China’s Dual-Track Taiwan Policy,” Contemporary China, 29 (2020), pp. 535–552.
Wei-chin Lee, “Multiple Shades of China’s Taiwan Policy after the 19th Party Congress,” Journal of Asian and African Studies, 55 (2020), pp. 201-20.
Recommended Readings
Gerald Chan, “The "Two-Chinas" Problem and the Olympic Formula”
Required Readings
Bob Davis and Lingling Wei, Superpower Showdown, ch. 9, “Flood the Zone.”
Ryan Hass, “After Lifting restrictions on US Taiwan Relations What Comes Next?” https://www.brookings.edu/articles/after-lifting-restrictions-on-us-taiwan-relations-what-comes-next/
Wikipedia, “2022 Visit by Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_visit_by_Nancy_Pelosi_to_Taiwan
Raymond Kuo, “’Strategic Ambiguity’ Has the U.S. and Taiwan Trapped”
Steven M. Goldstein, “In Defense of Strategic Ambiguity in the Taiwan Strait.” https://www.nbr.org/publication/in-defense-of-strategic-ambiguity-in-the-taiwan-strait/
Michael R. Pompeo, “Lifting Self-Imposed Restrictions on the U.S. Taiwan Relationship” https://2017-2021.state.gov/lifting-self-imposed-restrictions-on-the-u-s-taiwan-relationship/
Recommended Readings
Harry Harding, “Has U.S. China Policy failed?”
Required Readings
Johanna M. Costigan and Aidan Powers-Riggs, “U.S. shouldn’t Make Its Semiconductor Policy All About China: American Chip Policy Doesn’t Just Hurt China: It Hurts Taiwan, Too.” https://restofworld.org/2023/us-semiconductor-policy-china-taiwan/ Syaru Shirley Lin, “Taiwan: “Walking the Tightrope between The United States and China.”
Aidan Powers-Riggs, “Taipei Fears Washington Is Weakening Its Silicon Shield” https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/17/united-states-taiwan-china-semiconductors-silicon-shield-chips-act-biden/
Recommended Readings
Alexander Neill, “Doubts Grow on Taiwan's Silicon Shield.” https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/china-taiwan-silicon-shield/
John Liu and Paul Mozur , “TSMC Chairman Mark Liu Says Company Will Keep Its Roots in Taiwan" https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/04/technology/tsmc-mark-liu.html
Required Readings
Tanner Greer, “Why I Fear for Taiwan.” https://scholars-stage.org/why-i-fear-for-taiwan/
Mark F. Cancion et al., “The First Battle of the Next Warr: Wargaming a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan.”
Peter Ong, “CSIS Wargame: Wargaming a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan in 2026,” Naval News, March 1, 2023. https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2023/01/csis-wargame-chinas-invasion-of-taiwan-in-2026/
Bonnie Lin, Samantha Lu, et al., “ How China Could Blockade Taiwan” https://features.csis.org/chinapower/china-blockade-taiwan/
Matthew Becerra, “The Battle for Reality: Chinese Disinformation in Taiwan,” Geopolitical Monitor, August 24, 2022 https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/the-battle-for-reality-chinese-disinformation-in-taiwan/
Recommended Readings
Ian Easton, The Chinese Invasion Threat, Taiwan's Defense and American Strategy in Asia.
Required Readings
Hankyoreh, “Growing skepticism in Taiwan — not about China, but the US” https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/1088733.html
John Mearsheimer, “Say Goodbye to Taiwan.”
Elbridge A. Colby, “Why Protecting Taiwan Really Matters to the U.S.” https://time.com/6221072/why-protecting-taiwan-really-matters-to-the-u-s/
Elbridge A. Colby, “Letters: The U.S. and Taiwan Must Change Course.”
Lev Nachman, “Will Trump take the Musk Path or the Rubio Path on Taiwan? Uncertainty and Unpredictability Cloud the Future of the U.S.-Taiwan Relationship.” https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Will-Trump-take-the-Musk-path-or-the-Rubio-path-on-Taiwan
Austin Ramzy, “Taiwan Worries About Its Future Under Trump 2.0.”
Recommended Readings
Charles L. Glaser, “Washington Is Avoiding the Tough Questions on Taiwan and China: The Case for Reconsidering U.S. Commitments in East Asia.” https://www.viet-studies.net/kinhte/ReconsideringChinaTaiwan_FA.pdf
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| Teaching Methods |
| Teaching Assistant |
Course assistant: Benedetto Fioravanti is a graduate student at National Chengchi University in the International Doctoral Program in Asia-Pacific Studies (IDAS). A native of Italy, Fioravanti received his bachelor's and master's degrees in international relations from the University of Bologna, with a period spent at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. Upon graduation, Fioravanti interned at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, working at the Embassy of Italy in Tallinn, Estonia. Subsequently, he furthered his education at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies in Milan. While in Taiwan, Fioravanti has studied Mandarin for about two years at National Taiwan Normal University. In his free time, he enjoys learning Chinese, traveling across Asia, watching movies and reading. He can be contacted at benedetto.fioravanti@gmail.com
Administrative assistant: Jerrel Lai (Lai Chun-kuei) manages Professor Harding's office. He holds an undergraduate degree from Fu Jen Catholic University in English Language and Culture, a master's degree in international studies from NCCU, and a Ph.D. from NCCU's International Doctoral Program in Asia Pacific Studies. A specialist in energy technology and energy policy, during his doctoral studies he studied abroad in Germany at both the Technical University Berlin and the Free University of Berlin. He then returned to Taiwan to complete his required military service. In addition to serving as Professor Harding's administrative assistant, he is also a project manager at NCCU's International College of Innovation. |
| Requirement/Grading |
Course requirements
This course has no prerequisites. But for those unfamiliar with the history of U.S.- Taiwan relations, here are some useful background readings on that subject that might also be useful resources for term papers:
Sulmaan Wasif Khan, The Struggle for Taiwan: a History of America, China, and the Island Caught Between.
Shao-cheng Sun, Hedging the China Threat: US- Taiwan Security Relations since 1949.
Richard C. Bush, At Cross Purposes: U.S.-Taiwan Relations Since 1942.
Students are expected to attend each class session and to participate actively in the seminar discussions. In addition, they should write a short reaction paper (one paragraph, or around 250 words), presenting a single question or conclusion based on the required readings for the class, and be prepared to present and discuss it in class on Thursday. Those reaction papers should be posted on the course website on Moodle by midnight on the Tuesday before each class session so that they can be read by both the instructor and fellow students before the class meets on Thursday. (Instructions on how to do this will be provided at the first class meeting). Class attendance and participation, in addition to these short “take-aways” and their presentation in class, will count for 30 points toward the total course grade of 100 points.
Students will also be required to write a relatively short (no more than 2,500 words, not counting footnotes or bibliography) term paper on the evolution of American relations with Taiwan, focusing on the issues of change and continuity around which the course is organized.
The topic of the paper can be (1) one of the key episodes in the relationship discussed in class; or (2) an analysis of the ways in which Taiwan has felt betrayed by the U.S. and the U.S. has felt disappointed by Taiwan; or (3) another topic of the student’s own choosing, such as how one of the issues in the relationship, such as Taiwan’ security, the government- to- government relations between them, their economic relationship, or human rights issues in Taiwan, have been treated differently over time. While the papers can draw on the assigned readings in the course, students are also expected to do some additional research in either primary or secondary resources. Relevant primary and secondary sources include those listed on the syllabus as "recommended readings,” and chronological treatments contained in such journals as Asian Survey, on-line publications such as Comparative Connections (http://cc.pacforum.org/past-issues/), and relevant chapters in histories of US-China or US-Taiwan relations such as John Pomfret, The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, 1776 to the Present; Gordon H. Chang, Fateful Ties: A History of America’s Preoccupation with China; Tao Wenzhao, A Brief History of China-U.S. Relations 1784-2013; James Mann, About Face: A History of America’s Curious Relationship With China From Nixon To Clinton; Bob Davis and Lingling Wei, Super Power Showdown: On US and China Relations During the Trump Administration; or the other background readings listed above.
Students interested in exploring primary sources may wish to consult the Miller Center’s oral history project (https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-oral-histories) and the declassified materials acquired by the National Security Archive at George Washington University through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. See: (https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/guide-researchers). You are also welcome to use Chinese language materials published on either Taiwan or the mainland.
A brief statement of the proposed topic, including a short list of these additional research materials, will be due on April 17. The paper itself will be due no later than June 19 (one week after the last class).The term paper will contribute the remaining 70 points toward the total course grade of 100. Details on the statement of the paper topic and the formatting of the term papers will be provided later. But for now, let me emphasize that both of them should be submitted as Word documents rather than as pdfs, so that I can put my suggestions and comments directly on them before returning them to you. If you do not have access to the Word word-processing program, please let me know as soon as possible. |
| Textbook & Reference |
| Urls about Course |
| Attachment |