Taiwan Gaiko no Keisei: Nikkadanko to Chukaminkoku kara no Tenkan [The formation of Taiwan diplomacy: Japan-ROC diplomatic rupture and transformation from Republic of China]

Taiwan is emerging as a key place amid the ongoing US–China geopolitical and strategic confrontation. It is not easy to explain the existence of Taiwan by a simple IR theory. The physical reality that there exist two different governments across the Taiwan Strait has been theoretically denied according to the internationally accepted supreme principle of “One China.” This discourse’s normative power has guided the behaviors of the third countries for a long time, thus contributing to the regional stability. The contradiction between the physical reality and public notion has been successfully managed by the name of “status quo” without a decisive conclusion. Dr. Shimizu Urara, a leading scholar of Taiwan’s diplomatic history, provides fresh insight on the unique nature of status quo of Taiwan Straits by examining the primary sources mainly from the 1940s to the 1970s. She observes that this deeply situated status quo was a natural outcome of cumulative attitudes of all involved parties that had to “give up” other options. Her book focuses on the diplomatic efforts of the Republic of China (ROC) in the struggle for its version of One China and the eventual transformation of its essential nature in the changing international environments. She pays weighty attentions to the ROC's relationship with Japan as the title suggests. Except for introduction and conclusion, the book consists of nine main chapters. This review article summarizes each chapter’s main findings and discusses the total significance of the book.