ABSTRACT
In 1985, in a paper prepared for an Atlantic Council conference concerning Taiwan, the Chinese scholars Li Shenzhi and Zi Zhongyun, director and deputy director of the American Affairs Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), made an insightful analysis of U.S. policy toward Taiwan. They referred to the American approach as "straddling two boats" and asserted that for security, foreign policy, and ideological reasons, the United States sought to maintain its exclusive influence in Taiwan and keep it separated from the mainland. Li and Zi criticized this policy along the following lines:
To keep the status quo is simply a way to escape the reality for a temporary ease. It is tantamount to having no policy, giving up one's initiative and drifting with the events. By setting each of his feet on a different boat, one has to decide at certain [sic] point whether to jump onto one boat or to fall into the water.1
