Impact of learning about democracy upon China's Taiwan policy, 1995-2005.

Abstract

This dissertation studies the evolution of China's Taiwan policy from 1995 to 2005, from a fresh angle— the impact of learning about democracy. This paper argues that learning about democracy has become an important source of input in shaping China's Taiwan policy during this period. Firstly, Chinese academics studies about democracy (both US and Taiwan) increases year by year and the scope of learning about democracy has also broadened gradually. The increase in the studies of democracy by China's academics is mainly due to China's need to understand democracy in shaping its Taiwan policy. Secondly, the major changes of China's policy towards Taiwan from 1995 to 2005 show that learning about democracy has played a more important role in China's Taiwan policy. This