Chapter 1: The Washington–Beijing–Taipei Triangle: An American Perspective

The day to day relationships of the United States, the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China on Taiwan (ROC) have never been better. Trade across the Taiwan Strait grows by leaps and bounds, and to a great extent it involves American companies and targets the American market. The PRC is Taiwan's largest trading partner and largest export market. Meanwhile the American relationship to the PRC grows thicker. Hillary Clinton wants a 1,00,000 Americans to study abroad in China, and almost 2,74,439 Chinese are already studying in the United States, one-quarter of the total number of foreign students. The very scale of American concerns about trade deficits, jobs and debt owed to China underscores the extent of the economic connection. Lastly the United States–Taiwan relationship remains strong, with almost 21,266 students studying in the United States, seven times China's per capita rate. Although U.S.–Taiwan trade has been rather flat for the past decade at around $70 billion dollars, direct exports are estimated to be only one-half the value of Taiwan components reaching the United States as inputs to Chinese products…