"Whither the '1992 consensus'? The Future of Taiwan's China Policy"
The so called '1992 consensus' has served as Taiwan's conceptual approach to China since 2008, when the Nationalist Party (KMT) regained power after eight years of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rule. Since then, remarkable progress has been made in normalising cross-strait relations. However, after the inauguration of the Xi Jingping administration in China in 2012, pressure on the Taiwan government to discuss a political agreement on Taiwan's relationship to China has mounted. The question is, how much leeway there is for Taiwan to develop cross-strait relations further by circumventing the sovereignty issue. At the same time, the DPP sticks to its rejection of the 'One China-principle', invoking the danger of deteriorating relations after a possible victory of the party in the 2016 presidential elections.
This projects analyses the scope and limits of Taiwan's China policy by tracing the relevant discourse within both the KMT and the DPP. It also assesses efforts to find common ground between both parties, and looks at the latest developments in Taiwan's highly politicised civil society with respect to the debate of Taiwan's relationship with China.
(Project duration: 2014-2016)