“One China” and the Cross-Taiwan Strait Commitment Problem

Abstract Fifty years after the current “one China” framework emerged in international politics, cross-Taiwan Strait dispute has transformed from its historical nature of indivisible sovereignty. As Taipei stopped competing internationally to represent “China” since 1991, Beijing now worries that compromising “one-China principle” cross-Strait reconciliation would enhance Taiwan's separate statehood and enable island push towards de jure independence. In contrast, any perceived concessions on question China's sovereignty claim over Taiwan for unification coercively with fewer concerns about backlash. Improved relations thus rely circumventing this quintessential commitment problem politics.