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

这个项目试图通过台湾的透镜来描绘中英关系的轨迹。本研究通过对1996年台湾第一次民主选举以来英国议会中有关台湾的语言进行语篇分析，试图了解民主台湾的出现如何影响英国在东亚的外交政策。台湾是中国的一个核心问题，中国认为这个自治岛屿是一个叛乱的省份。自2004年以来，中国一直承诺，如果自治的台湾寻求法律上的独立，那么作为其长期“国家统一”目标的一部分，中国将对台湾进行大规模入侵。然而，自1996年第一次民主选举以来，出现了一种“台湾主体性”，即台湾人越来越多地认为一个独立的国家，具有独特的历史，地理和文化，与中国大陆分离。在政治上，这一点已被支持独立的台湾民进党所铭记，蔡英文2016年当选后，中国大陆切断了两岸的所有联系。中国军队在台湾空域的“出击”次数增加，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的外交支持，台湾长期以来一直是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年的印度-太平洋“倾斜”将不可避免地成为英国外交政策的关键。本项目旨在通过了解自1996年以来台湾在英国外交政策话语中是如何构建的来弥合这一差距。

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.