This book's almost nonsensical, but brilliantly chosen title, Inseparable Separation, captures the deep dilemma that Hanren (Chinese) on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have had to confront since 1950. In that year Chinese troops marched into Korea, and, in response, United States president Harry Truman sent the American Seventh fleet into that now famous hundred-mile body of water that separates the PRC from the ROC to this day. By doing so he and subsequent American leaders insured the continued existence of the Guomindang regime that had taken over Taiwan from the Japanese in August 1945.
This book defines and analyzes the stages of the now sixty-one-year-long process of strategic and tactical policy development and implementation designed to make the “Inseparable Separation” come to an end. It examines public negotiations as well as private, one-on-one initiatives. This book's central objective is stated in the introduction:
This study hopes to...