'The other China or an emerging Taiwan?' Democratic Taiwan and British foreign policy, 1996-2021.

This project seeks to chart the trajectory of Sino-British relations through the lens of Taiwan. Undertaking
a discourse analysis of parliamentary language in reference to Taiwan since Taiwan's first democratic
election in 1996, this project seeks to understand how the emergence of democratic-Taiwan has shaped
British foreign policy in East Asia vis-a-vis China's rise. Taiwan is an issue of central importance for China,
who deem the self-governing island to be a renegade province. Since 2004 China has committed to a
military invasion of Taiwan, as part of their long standing 'national unification' aim, if self-governing
Taiwan seeks de-jure independence. However, since the first 1996 democratic election a 'Taiwanese
subjectivity' has emerged, in which Taiwanese people increasingly perceive an independent country, with
a unique history, geography and culture, separate from China. Politically this has been enshrined by the
pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan with China cutting all Cross-Strait contact
following Tsai Ing-wen's 2016 election. Tensions have been raised by the increase of Chinese military
'sorties' in Taiwanese airspace, leading to the threat of armed conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
Correspondingly, the US has offered military and unofficial diplomatic support, with Taiwan long being
held as central to US foreign policy. Yet, little is known about Taiwan's import within British foreign policy,
which in light of the UK's 2021 Indo-Pacific 'tilt' will inevitably become crucial to UK foreign policy. This
project seeks to bridge that gap by understanding how Taiwan has been constructed in British foreign
policy discourse since 1996.