March 18, 2000
Chronology of Taiwan-China Relations Since 1945
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
TAIPEI, March 18 - Taiwanese voted in presidential polls Saturday
under intense pressure from China to reject any steps towards
independence or face war.
The three leading candidates, Lien Chan of the ruling Kuomintang, Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progress Party and independent James Soong all say Taiwan enjoys "independent sovereignty" and is not prepared to return to provincial status.
Here is a chronology of the main events in cross-strait relations since 1945.
1945: Japan is defeated in World War II and the Republic of China (ROC) takes possesion of Taiwan, which has been under Japanese colonial rule for 50 years, in a move agreed by the Allied Powers in their 1943 Cairo Conference.
1949: Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government is defeated by Mao Zedong's Communist forces and retreats to Taiwan, but vows to reclaim the mainland at a later date.
1950: People's Republic of China (PRC) goes to North Korea's aid in the 1950-53 Korean War, causing hostilities with the US-led UN forces in the South and a strict trade embargo which lasts for two decades. Taiwan becomes a full-fledged US ally.
1971: Beijing finally supplants Taipei as China's representative at the UN with 76 votes in favour, 35 against and 17 abstentions.
1979: Washington switches diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing, although it pledges to keep Taiwan supplied with defensive weapons.
1987: Taiwan ends decades of martial law as Beijing and Taiwan cautiously start towards rapprochement, with the island allowing family visits to the mainland and trade and investment activities via third parties.
1991: Taiwan renounces its long-standing stance of using force to recover the mainland, officially ending a state of war with China.
1992: The quasi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) handling civilian cross-strait issues start functioning.
1993: SEF chairman Koo Chen-fu and ARATS president Wang Daohan hold historic China-Taiwan dialogue in Singapore, followed by four rounds of lower-level meetings which run through to May 1995.
---------- 1995 ----------
Jan: Chinese President Jiang Zemin offers an "eight-point proposal" for peaceful reunification with Taiwan. Taiwan later issues a counter proposal for reunification.
June: China is enraged by a visit by Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui to his alma mater, Cornell University in the US. Although the visit is private, Beijing sees it as promoting Taiwan's independence and suspends SEF-ARATS contacts.
July: China starts a series of military wargames near Taiwan.
The drills shake the stock market and help the island's minor New Party -- regarded as the most concilliatory towards China -- triple its parliamentary seats in elections at the end of the year.
March 1996: China conducts three missile tests and military maneouvres ahead of the Taiwan's first direct presidential elections. Lee is elected with 54 percent of the vote.
June 1997: Beijing holds up the smooth return of Hong Kong to its sovereignty as an example for reunification with Taiwan.
---------- 1998 ----------
Feb: ARATS and SEF agree the resumption of high-level talks and a second Koo-Wang encounter is proposed.
April: SEF sends its deputy secretary-general to Beijing and confirms Koo's mainland visit in the autumn.
July: ARATS sends deputy secretary-general to Taiwan, but details of Koo's visit are not confirmed until September by SEF's deputy chairman in a visit to Beijing. Despite the agreement on the landmark visit, major differences remain, with Beijing hoping to open political negotiations and Taipei wanting to start with small-scale functional issues to build confidence.
Oct: Koo makes a landmark visit to the mainland to break ice following the prolonged stagnation in cross strait relations. Koo invites Wang for a visit. Wang accepts and responds that spring of 1999 could be a good time.
---------- 1999 ----------
March: ARATS deputy secretary-general Li Yafei comes to Taiwan to prepare for Wang's visit. But disagreements remain and no conclusions reached.
June: SEF deputy secretary-general Jan Jyh-horng goes to China to prepare for Wang's historic visit. But disagreements continue.
July: Lee claims Taipei and Beijing are having "special state-to-state relations," infuriating China which protests with military exercises along its southeast coast.
Sept: Chinese officials say Wang will not visit Taiwan this year unless Lee drops his statehood claim.
Sept: Jiang asks US President Bill Clinton not to sell arms to Taiwan and to block pro-Taiwan security legislation at the APEC summit in Auckland. Jiang reaffirms China would "never renounce the use of force" against Taiwan.
Oct: Jiang says in The Times interview in London that Taiwan will return to the Chinese fold in the first half of the next century.
Nov: Taiwanese defense minister Tang Fei confirms China has deployed nearly 100 of its newest short-range missiles at a base across from the Taiwan.
Dec: Jiang says after Macau, Taiwan would soon also be returned to Beijing's sovereignty.
---------- 2000 ----------
Feb 21: China issues White Paper hardening its stance, warning Taiwan to start reunification talks or risk war.
Feb 22: The United States warns China any aggression against Taiwan would be "grave."
Feb 24: China accuses Washington of interfering in its internal affairs and increasing tension across the Taiwan Strait.
March 6: China says it has millions of troops on "high alert" ready for an immediate strike if Taiwan moves towards independence.
March 7: The Pentagon says it is prepared to sell Taiwan upgraded Hawk anti-aircraft missiles and items to upgrade an air surveillance radar.
March 15: In a direct address to Taiwan voters, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji warns not to choose independence. The presidential candiates tell China that Taiwan enjoyed "independent sovereignty."
March 18: Taiwan's 15.46 million voters go to the polls in the island's second democratic presidential election
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