U.S. Interests in the New Taiwan (review)

Reviews 473 Lam's summaryjudgment ofDeng is perhaps too harsh: that he will be remembered as "the fool on the hill who tried to force the earth to spin the other way" (p. 49). I think Dengwill be more famous for his courage in dismantling Maoism than for what he built in its place. Mao brought communist rule to China. Deng tried to save communism with one hand and bury it with the other. Because his main achievement was reversing Maoism, there isn't much ofa policy agenda to pass on to Jiang and the others. Ifthe communist monopoly on political power only lasts a few more years, Deng will be seen as a Gorbachev, the one who unwittingly pulled the essential planks from under the structure, causing the resulting collapse. Ifcommunist rule persists, Deng will for a time be viewed as its savior, who kept communism going by undermining it. Yet eventually he will be criticized, even by those who try to remain communists, for mismatching politics and economics. Ross Terrill Fairbank Center, Harvard University Martin L. Lasater. U.S. Interests in the New Taiwan. Boulder, San Francisco , and Oxford: Westview Press, 1993. xiv, 258 pp. Hardcover $61.50, isbn 0-8133-8396-X. Since the late 1970s, Taiwan has initiated a series of remarkable reforms that have resulted in the creation of the "new" Taiwan. Taiwan's democratization and its increasing economic clout are fueling pressure on Washington to update U.S.Taiwan relations. This book provides a new analysis ofU.S. interests in and U.S. policy toward Taiwan. There is much literature detailing political and economic development in Taiwan, yet Lasater's brief account produces some novel interpretations ofhow "the phoenix" rose up out ofits difficulties. According to the author, there have been substantial changes involving the liberalization ofthe political system and the "Taiwanization" ofthe ruling party. As a result ofthese key reforms, the Kuomintang (KMT) membership became over 70 percent Taiwanese, and the number© 1996 by University ofTaiwanese officials in both the Party and the government exceeded 50 percent ofHawai'i Pressby 1988 (pp. 35-36). After more open competition emerged between KMT and tangwai (non-Party) candidates in the township, city, and provincial elections, "democracy was established early at the local grassroots" (p. 36). The middle class 474 China Review International: Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall 1996 and a well-educated public demanded more political freedom, and the establishment of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 1988 marked the beginning of an irreversible trend toward political liberalization. Lasater does not neglect the controversy over this process of democratization, and he argues that "Taiwan needs a legal and political framework to 'take off politically" (p. 67). The "Taiwan model" of economic development, as the author points out, has attracted worldwide attention. The book describes the stages of development and analyzes key economic policies. With a high growth rate of GNP, large foreignexchange reserves, and the prosperity of its foreign trade, Taiwan has moved to the threshold of a fully developed economy. This economic success "is vital to Taiwan's survival as an international entity" (p. 98). Taiwan's geostrategic value has been a long-term subject of U.S. interest, yet "as the 'new' Taiwan emerges, U.S. interests in Taiwan will likely increase" (p. 221). Lasater approaches this issue from a special perspective, demonstrating that the "new" Taiwan shares fundamental values with the United States and that democratization and liberalization, economic trends, and foreign policies in Taiwan have been very much in accord with U.S. interests. Lasater views these American interests through the prism of changing world politics. He argues that during the Cold War period, the United States limited its relations with Taiwan in order to protect American strategic interests with Beijing. Today, with the foundation of Sino-American strategic relations shaken by the collapse of the Soviet Union, these limitations may be no longer appropriate . In weighing the relative value to U.S. interests of ties with Beijing and Taipei, however, the book does not provide enough analysis of the growing American economic ties with mainland China. It also de-emphasizes the necessity of cooperation between Washington and Beijing on some...