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Relations across the Taiwan Strait were unstable for decades before May 2008. Several acknowledged "crises" raised the possibility of war between China and the US and/or Taiwan and at times political disputes wracked the US-Taiwan relationship. Nevertheless, the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) of 1979 helped maintain peace by deterring coercive actions by China against the island.

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Foreword; S.Krasner Taiwan´s Political Development and US-China Relations; J-P.Cabestan The ´ASL´ as the ´Anti-TRA´: The Impact of China´s Anti-Secession Law on U.S. Relations with Taiwan; J.Tkacik Jr. The TRA, Cross-Strait Relations, and Sino-U.S Relations: Searching for Cross-Strait Stability; R.Hu A Status Quo with Different Interpretations: Taiwan, China, the US and Security in the Taiwan Strait; C.Lin Lobbying for a ´US-Taiwan FTA´ in the US Congress: Which ´Fast track´? What Target?; D.Huang Taiwan´s Participation in the World Health Organization: The U.S. ´Facilitator´ Role; J.Chang The US as a Balancer in Cross-Strait Relations, 2000-2008; J.Wu The U.S.-China-Taiwan Relationship: New Circumstances, Persistent Challenges; D.Roy Japan´s Perspective of US-China-Taiwan Relations; Y.Nakai U.S. Debates about Taiwan´s Security, 1979-2009; M.Pillsbury Appendix: Taiwan and the TRA: Past, Present and Future; S.Young

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"Taiwan has effective domestic and Westphalian/Vattellian sovereignty and limited international legal sovereignty in the form of recognition from a relatively small number of states. The lack of formal recognition, however, has not prevented other countries from conducting what are, in fact, diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The U.S.-Taiwan Relations Act, for instance, essentially creates an embassy, the American Institute in Taiwan, without calling it an embassy. The Act states that Taiwan is to be treated in the same way as foreign countries, nation states, and similar entities." - from the Foreword by Stephen Krasner, Professor of Political Science, Stanford University

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CHENG-YI LIN Executive Director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Area Studies (CAPAS) and Research Fellow in the Institute of European and American Studies at Academia Sinica in Taiwan

DENNY ROY Senior Fellow in the Research Program at the East-West Center, Hawaii

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