2025/09/29 by James Lin · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis #Chinese history and philosophy #Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics
paper · doi:10.1093/ahr/rhaf466
In recent years, Taiwan has been a recurring fixture in media headlines. Chinese military exercises and threats of further military action have made the Taiwan Strait among the most-watched regions in the world. Sulmaan Wasif Khan’s book, The Struggle for Taiwan: A History of America, China, and the Island Caught Between, tells us how this conflict emerged. The Struggle for Taiwan is a diplomatic history for a broad, non-scholarly audience. The pacing is rapid. Khan covers the US–China–Taiwan relationship dating back to 1943 and ends with the Biden administration in 2024. This is an impressive span that roots Taiwan’s current situation in its colonial past. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s decision in the 1943 Cairo Conference to hand Taiwan to the Republic of China under Chiang Kai-shek was reminiscent of the dealings of empires over colonial possessions. As Khan puts it, “There was something imperialistic about distributing territory in this casual manner—a handshake at Cairo, without any thought of what the people whose future was being decided might want” (27).