Bill Clinton's "Three Noes" and Taiwan's Future

Vincent Wei-cheng Wang, University of Richmond

Abstract

Diplomatic historians and political scientists have warned that when great powers make war or love, the smaller countries nearby feel the tremors.¹ As they look back, President Bill Clinton's 1998 summit visit to China marked the emergence of a new world order: With the end of the Cold War, China is poised to become a potential superpower, and its future evolution will have great implications for the U.S. "For better or worse, the U.S.Chinese relationship seems destined to be one of the principal pivots in international relations well into the 21st century," as Walter Russell Mead asserts.² That much is clear, but what is not clear is how to deal with this rising power.