| Summary: | 碩士 === 東吳大學 === 政治學系 === 95 === The core of subject in this thesis is an exploration on Taiwan’s strategic value to China. Meanwhile, Peter Taylor’s theory of Geopolitical Codes will be applied as the fundamentals in discussing.
Taylor defined Geopolitical Codes as the set of strategic assumptions that a government makes about other nations in forming its foreign policy. Geopolitical Codes are outlined at three levels that are local level, regional level, and global level. At first, the consideration to the local level is the fundamentals to governments of all countries, no matter big or small. Next, regional level codes are taken into account when a nation intends to be more and more influential in its neighborhood. Further, there are still a few nations with worldwide influence whose governments have their own view on geopolitics. Their foreign policies are mapped out through global level.
As far as China is concerned, the strategic value of Taiwan is focused on the legitimacy of authority on local level. As for regional level, China measures the value of Taiwan from the geographical strategic point of view. When it comes to global level, China emphasizes the importance of peace and development. With the end of cold war, the international current tends to be multiple. Under this circumstance, China is in pursuit of proceeding modernization peacefully and smoothly; then, to be listed among the great powers in the world but not to challenge the status of the United States. Currently, the purpose of the rise and development of China is to benefit the countries in the Asia-Pacific area instead of seeking the international leading position.
However, the assumption of the strategic value of Taiwan to China is paradoxical and to be questioned domestically and internationally. Domestically, China is facing the fallacy of its totalizing power over Taiwan, the contradictive claim of its legitimacy on Taiwan, and most important of all, the democratization and localization of Taiwan. Internationally, China is also aware of the interference of the United States and Japan that tries to balance its rising power and ambitions to take Taiwan.
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