Protests, Pandemic, and Security Predicaments : Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and the US in the 2020s

This book examines how Asian countries have responded to urgent challenges against a backdrop of climactic political developments, as well as the effects of issue linkage in policy making. Chapters are arranged according to localities but interlinked through their thematic and critical analyses. The section on Hong Kong focuses on the theme of protests, highlighting its intersection with identity and generational shifts in addition to legal, political and economic changes before and after the adoption of Hong Kong National Security Law. The section examining Taiwan’s policies discusses electoral calculations, identity reconstruction, cross-Strait stalemate and alliance maneuvers within USA-China-Taiwan triangular international relations, providing an overview of its domestic and external policies. Through their analysis, the authors here determine that China has emphasized the prerogatives of history, culture and territorial sovereignty in its dealings with the Hong Kong protests and Taiwan, and that cross-Strait analysis must be deliberated and ultimately determined within the USA-China-Taiwan triangular framework. In the final section, authors examine the USA’s role and policy in dealing with both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Hegemonic power transition has been a primary concern in both countries with the USA’s hegemonic status facing daunting challenges from China, increasingly perceived as an ascending revisionist power waiting to overtake the USA in the future. Acknowledgments Contents Notes on Contributors List of Figures List of Tables 1 An Introduction: Protests, Pandemic, and Security Predicaments in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and the US Hong Kong: Waves of Protests for Democracy and Rights Taiwan: Riding the Anti-China Tide China: Coping with the Turbulent Currents of Challenges United States: Breaking the Grip of the Rip for Hegemonic Status Thematic Implications Notes Bibliography Part I Hong Kong: Waves of Protests for Democracy and Rights 2 Contesting Identities: Hong Kong’s Protests, Taiwan’s Concerns, and China’s Challenges Storm Gathering in Hong Kong Hong Kong: The Beat of the Storm in 2019–2020 Taiwan: Surfing on the Storm Wave China: Weathered the Storm Conclusions Notes Bibliography 3 Authoritarian Crackdown Without Bloodshed: China’s Securitization in Post-NSL Hong Kong Introduction Establishing a National Security Regime in Hong Kong: Why and How? A “Circumcised” Independent Judiciary Eradicating Civic Space and Political Opposition Academic Freedom and Student Activism at Risks Indoctrinating National Security in Local Schools Conclusion Notes Bibliography Part II Taiwan: Riding the Anti-China Tide 4 Threat Perception and Taiwan’s 2020 Presidential Election Threats and Political Behavior Threats and the 2020 Presidential Election Explaining the 2020 Presidential Election Conclusions Notes References 5 Taiwan Can Help: The Political Impacts and Lessons of Taiwan’s Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic Introduction Theoretical Framework Methods and Case Selection A Case Study Lessons Learned Appendix: The Data Used for Process-Tracing Methods A. Historical Archives B. Newspapers C. Statistics Notes Bibliography 6 Taiwan Amid the US–China Rivalry: From the Perspective of a Two-Level Game US–China–Taiwan Relations: An Overview Friends or Foes: A Typology of Taiwanese Voters Types of Voters and Their Partisanships US–China–Taiwan Relations: A Two-Level Game Conclusion Notes Bibliography Part III China: Coping with the Turbulent Currents of Challenges 7 The Pandemic Further Sickens US-China Relations Deterioration of the Atmospherics Increased American Ill-Will Toward China China Hits Back Aggressively The Rise of Wolf Warriorism The Wuhan Laboratory Theory Taiwan and the Pandemic The Pandemic’s Impact on Chinese Domestic Politics Unvarnished Rivalry Notes Bibliography 8 China’s Policy Toward Taiwan in the Xi Era Introduction Change in the Decision-Making of Taiwan Policy: From “Local Pilot Initiative” to “Top-Level Design” “Top-Level Design” Provides Guidance to Taiwan Policy Implications of Enhanced Functional Department Authority Change in Dealing with Taiwan Society: From “Exchange and Yield Benefits” to “Integrated Development” Favor-Granting Policy Silently Abandoned Full-Speed Implementation of “Integrated Development” Change in the International Context: Cross-Strait Relations Have Gone from Stable to Uncertain United States’ New Position in Cross-Strait Relations China is Heading toward “Strategic Ambiguity” Conclusion Notes Bibliography 9 A Pyrrhic Victory? The Political Economy of US-China Competition from Trump to Biden Introduction Moving toward Competition The Xi Era The Trade War The Tech War The Huawei Case Impact on Hong Kong The Indo-Pacific Strategy A Pyrrhic Victory? Conclusion Notes Bibliography 10 Will Taiwan Become the Next Ukraine? Xi Jinping’s Preparation for Armed Reunification Xi Jinping’s Sense of Empowerment The “Public Opinions” for Armed Unification The Selective Engagement with Tsai Ing-Wen Putin’s Ukraine Invasion and Xi’s Military Preparation Minimization of Economic Vulnerability The US Factor in the Taiwan Contingency Conclusion Notes Bibliography Part IV The US: Breaking the Grip of the Rip for Hegemonic Status 11 Competitions and Coalitions: An Emerging US Domestic Nationalist Consensus, Executive Branch Prerogatives, and the Taiwan Strait Tensions Introduction Pelosi’s Visit to Taipei in August 2022 US Nationalism and the Taiwan Strait49 Ideas and Coalitions of Fortress America Furies at Globalization and Liberal Trade with China Ineffective Engagement Congressional Actions Adding the Six Assurances to the One-China Matrix122 Revisiting State-Centered Realism: Executive Dominance Over Foreign Policy Notes Bibliography 12 America Counters China: Congress, Resolve, and Constraints Trump Administration Developments 2021: Biden Administration Developments Washington’s Dire View of China’s Challenges 2022: Countering China: US Strategies, Implementation, and Gaps Impact of Russia’s War with Ukraine Biden Administration Strategies Supporting Administration and Congressional Actions Impediments, Gaps, Shortcomings in American Competition with China Notes Bibliography Index