Abstract:

Since the turn of the century, the rise of China has sparked global controversy. Today, the looming influence of China in international geopolitics is an undeniable fact. In this context, it is thought that the paradox between China’s growing purchasing power and its political weakness may make Chinese policies even more aggressive in the coming period. China, which has attracted attention with its silent economic growth in the last 10 years, is becoming more noticeable in global competition. In fact, China’s economic and technological rise has enabled it to accelerate its military modernization. These developments caused China, which is the third largest country in the world after Canada and Russia, with an area of 9.6 million square kilometers, to be seen as a threat in Asia. Finally, on October 6, 2021, Taiwan’s Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng stated that China-Taiwan relations are at their most tense and worst period in the last 40 years. Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng also said that China will have the ability to fully occupy Taiwan by 2025. China did not rule out the possibility of using force to unite the island (Taiwan) with the mainland in the face of these statements made by the Taiwanese Minister of Defense on the BBC. In the light of these explanations, it is thought that Taiwan, which has begun to lose its influence in the region and in the world, in the face of the rise of the mainland of China, will be a matter of regional “strategic competition” for China in the coming period. In this article, China’s Taiwan policy and the future scenarios that this policy may lead are discussed.

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