The Challenge of Cross-Strait Relations

For nearly five decades, the cross-Strait relationship between China and Taiwan has been marked by a constant mixture of tension, hostility, and controlled interactions. The militant rhetoric of "liberation by force" or the patriotic appeal for "peaceful unification" notwithstanding, Beijing never tried to project its military power and security threat directly on Taiwan before 1995. Even during the Quemoy-Matsu crises of 1953 and 1958, which involved large-scale artillery shellings of the off-shore islands and actual combat engagements of jet fighters and naval warships from both sides, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) always carefully controlled the zones of military conflict and engagement close to the mainland shores.