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

本项目旨在透过台湾的视角描绘中英关系的发展轨迹。本项目对1996年台湾第一次民主选举以来的议会语言进行了话语分析，旨在了解民主台湾的出现如何在中国崛起的情况下塑造了英国在东亚的外交政策。台湾问题对中国来说是一个至关重要的问题，中国认为这个自治的岛屿是一个叛离的省份。自2004年以来，如果自治的台湾寻求法律上的独立，作为其长期“国家统一”目标的一部分，中国已承诺对台湾进行军事入侵。然而，自1996年第一次民主选举以来，一种“台湾主体性”出现了，台湾人越来越多地认为台湾是一个独立的国家，拥有独特的历史、地理和文化，与中国分离。中国军方在台湾空域的“架次”增加加剧了紧张局势，导致台湾海峡发生武装冲突的威胁。相应地，美国提供了军事和非官方外交支持，台湾长期以来一直被视为美国外交政策的核心。然而，人们对台湾在英国外交政策中的重要性知之甚少，鉴于英国2021年的印太“倾斜”，这将不可避免地成为英国外交政策的关键。这个项目试图通过理解自1996年以来台湾在英国外交政策话语中的建构来弥合这一差距。

This project seeks to chart the trajectory of Sino-British relations through the lens of Taiwan. Undertakinga discourse analysis of parliamentary language in reference to Taiwan since Taiwan's first democraticelection in 1996, this project seeks to understand how the emergence of democratic-Taiwan has shapedBritish 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 amilitary invasion of Taiwan, as part of their long standing 'national unification' aim, if self-governingTaiwan seeks de-jure independence. However, since the first 1996 democratic election a 'Taiwanesesubjectivity' has emerged, in which Taiwanese people increasingly perceive an independent country, witha unique history, geography and culture, separate from China. Politically this has been enshrined by thepro-independence Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan with China cutting all Cross-Strait contactfollowing 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 beingheld 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. Thisproject seeks to bridge that gap by understanding how Taiwan has been constructed in British foreignpolicy discourse since 1996.