Boekbespreking door Nout Wellink
Sulmaan Wasif Khan’s The Struggle for Taiwan: A History is the outcome of his quest to uncover the causes of the recurring tensions surrounding Taiwan. To understand the present, Khan argues, one must first understand the past. Taiwan’s past is complex and riddled with contradictions. His book, which traces Taiwan’s history chronologically from the late 1940s onward, is richly documented with facts. Yet readers should bear in mind that in such a complex environment, facts are always at risk of subjective interpretation.
Khan does not regard the current relationship between the United States and China as the inevitable outcome of a classic power struggle between an established and a rising power – the so-called ‘Thucydides Trap’. Nations are not helpless victims of circumstances, he argues, but make their own choices. More often than not, those choices are driven by confusion, panic, stubbornness, nationalism, and a failure to consider long-term consequences.
The three central actors in Khan’s book are the United States, China, and Taiwan. All three are responsible for the complexity and unpredictability of Taiwan’s predicament.
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Despite his many roles and commitments in international banking and academia, Nout Wellink still finds time to read and to write an engaging review for ChinaNU+. This time he discusses The Struggle for Taiwan: A History by Sulmaan Wasif Khan. The book traces Taiwan’s recent history in order to shed light on the origins of the island’s ongoing and intensifying tensions. In Wellink’s view, it makes for compelling reading for anyone engaged with China in any way, whether as a politician, business leader, or investor.
