INSEPARABLE SEPARATION

“The great achievement of the two authors of this long, dense, and sophisticated study is to have made this complex and often volatile situation — this 'inseparable separation' — clear and comprehensible to a wide set of audiences … The book provides a crystal-clear picture of one of the great intra-national and international dramas of the past sixty years — a drama not yet in its final act — that centers on the attempt of two different Chinas to again become one.”

“First, it is a well-documented and rather comprehensive chronology of the triangular relationship between Beijing, Washington and Taipei since 1949. Second, it puts into historical perspective several PRC policy concepts that were forged as early as the mid-1950s: 'peaceful liberation', 'peaceful reunification', Taiwan's political autonomy, status quo in the Straits. Third, it demonstrates convincingly that Taiwan's room for maneuver has always been narrow, and has arguably become narrower, because of the growing 'co-management' by China and the US of the 'Taiwan issue'.”