ABSTRACT
The security of Taiwan became an important US interest in 1950, but that interest continues today. In the post-Cold War period many new factors have emerged in calculations of US interests in Taiwan's security. The United States wanted to speed the evolution of non-democratic countries into market democracies; China viewed this as US hegemonism, big power politics, Western cultural imperialism, and interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states. Chinese security analysts believed the United States to be a declining power, but they also viewed Washington as the principal threat to China in the post-Cold War period because of US military power and tendencies to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations. To help Taiwan maintain an adequate deterrence, President Clinton can take both military and non-military steps. Militarily, the United States should assist in the modernization of the ROC armed forces and maintain US readiness to intervene in the Taiwan Strait.
