How a snub of the one-China policy almost led Beijing and US into war in the 1990s
Crisis sparked by Washington’s permission for Taiwan’s then leader Lee Teng-hui to make ‘private trip’ to US
The one-China policy, which maintains that Taiwan is part of China, has been the bedrock of Sino-US relations for four decades.
Beijing considers it has sovereignty over Taiwan, and that issues related to the island are part of its core interest. It has issued furious responses to any moves by the US that are regarded as supporting Taiwan’s independence, including selling weapons to the self-ruled island. Beijing has never given up on the idea of unifying Taiwan by force if necessary.
The two nations almost engaged in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait between 1995 and 1996, which is known as the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis.
How did the crisis erupt?
During the crisis, Beijing carried out a series of the missile firings and combined military exercises near Taiwan, while Washington dispatched its largest size of combat forces to Asia since the Vietnam War, with two carrier battle groups – two aircraft carriers and its escort warships – to confront China.
The prelude to the crisis began in June 1995, when then-US president Bill Clinton granted Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan’s president at the time, a visa so he could make a “private trip” to accept an invitation to attend Cornell University’s alumni reunion.
It was the first visit to the US by the top leader of Taiwan since Washington had shifted its diplomatic recognition from the Taipei-based Republic of China (ROC) government to the Beijing-based People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1979.
