Maritime Asia: A Taiwanese Perspective

The unique political status of Taiwan and the strict ‘One China’ policies followed by many of the countries of the Asia-Pacific region make it difficult for Taiwan to play a role in the developing scene in the region that its intrinsic maritime interests require. Nonetheless it follows events in both the South and East China Seas closely. President Ma has accordingly proposed an ‘East China Sea Peace Initiative’ which is designed to stabilize tensions between China, Japan and Taiwan as claimants to the East China Sea and to develop a cooperative framework for the management of the dispute. In addition to this Taiwan has to balance between increasing calls for more cross-strait cooperation with mainland China and developing its relationship with the United States as that country ‘rebalances’ towards the Asia-Pacific.