IN SEARCH OF STRATEGY: XI JINPING’S APPROACH TOWARD TAIWAN

Abstract

Whether Xi Jinping will pursue reunification with Taiwan presents a serious challenge for scholars and policy practitioners alike. But is reunification still an option, or is Xi’s pursuit of this steadfast goal of the Communist Party too little, too late? This research project utilises strategic theory to examine how the concepts, resources, and objectives of Chinese strategy toward Taiwan align. In doing so, it answers the question of why a strong China has not yet been successful in achieving its long-standing goal of reunification. Cross-Strait experts in examining the trajectory of relations have never explicitly used a theory of strategy. Rather than relying on widely-used tropes for strategic analysis, this research will advance the assumptions of strategic theory as a guide for the analysis of four instruments of the Chinese strategic tradition toward Taiwan: political, sovereignty, military, and geo-economics.