Tensions in the Taiwan Strait: International Responses and Strategies

This edited volume offers international perspectives on managing the escalating tensions surrounding Taiwan.

The book examines responses of key stakeholders to the issue, including Japan, Australia, South Korea, India, Canada, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. The chapters analyze how these states navigate and manage the intricacies of the US-China rivalry over Taiwan, focusing on strategies such as balancing and hedging. While existing works explore the policies of China, Taiwan, and the United States regarding Taiwan’s status, there is little scholarship addressing the stances other international stakeholders. This volume fills that gap by analyzing the strategies and policies these stakeholders adopt to deter China, their efforts to safeguard economic and political interests, and the challenges they face in balancing relations with the US, China, and Taiwan. Collectively, the chapters deepen our understanding of the strategic dynamics surrounding Taiwan and shed light on the roles played by key actors striving to uphold peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

This book will be of interest to students of Asian security, Chinese politics, and International Relations.

Keiko Hirata is Eugene Price Professor and Chair of political science at California State University, Northridge USA. She is the author of Civil Society in Japan: The Growing Role of NGOs in Tokyo’s Aid and Development Policy (2002), co-author of Japan: The Paradox of Harmony (2014), and co-editor of Norms, Interests, and Power in Japanese Foreign Policy (2008).

Hidekazu Sakai is Professor of International Relations at Graduate School of Language and Cultural Studies Division at Kansai Gaidai University, Japan. He is the author of The US-Japan Security Community: Theoretical Understanding of Transpacific Relationships (2018) and co-editor of Re-rising Japan: Its Strategic Power in International Relations (2017) and Alternative Perspectives on Peacebuilding: Theories and Case Studies (2022).