United States Policy Toward Taiwan Under The Ninxon’s Regime

As a China’s internal affairs problem, the Taiwan issues is the question left over by history.With the United States’s meddling, the Taiwan issue become more complicated, being the most sensitive topic between the two sides, up to present this issue is still plagued by the development of Sino-US relations. Tracking back to the Truman’s administration period, based on strategic interests in the world and East Asia, the United States have spared no effort to support Taiwan and implemented a containment policy to the People’s Republic of China totally.Between the fifties and sixties of the20th century, the three governments, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson’s administrations, have taken Taiwan as an important area for the U.S. Pacific defensive perimeter, and pursued a "two China " policy. However, until the late1960s when faced with serious domestic and international dilemma, after Nixon’ ascension in January1969,the United States has embarked on adjusting the foreign policy and executing the contraction strategy with Kissinger’s balance of power theory abided by.While changing the mode of thought characterized by the ideology that has distinguished between friends and foes in the early postwar period, the united states has try best to use other forces to constrain an arch-rival, the Soviet Union, so as to improve the strategic position of the United States among the key steps to the overall strategy adjustment aimed at to reconciliate relations with China.As a momentum emerged, the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations in the late 1960s provides a good opportunity for the Nixon administration to adjust its China policy, which has become the driving force to promote the both country to forge new relationships. So the United States began to walk the major step for relaxation of US-China relations, however a sensitive topic, the Taiwan issue, get in the way of easing US-China relations, how to adjust the policy toward Taiwan during the Nixon administration is the key point for reconciliation between both countries.For the American’s interests in Asian-Pacific region, President Nixon plotted "double-way" policy between China mainland and Taiwan. On the one hand, to ease Sino-American relationship, excess forces in Taiwan had been withdrawn and more flexible measures had been applied to back up Taiwan’s military and economy; on the other hand, to safeguard its strategic position in Asian-Pacific region, measures like substituting arms sales with military support had been carried out to ensure Taiwan’s military defense capability, and economical methods like expand foreign trade had been implemented to help Taiwan. The implementation of "double-way" policy leads America to be the largest winner among triangular relationship among China, Taiwan and America, maximizing American’s benefits in Asian-Pacific region.