ABSTRACT
Trade grew rapidly between China and Taiwan after 1987 when the Taiwanese authorized travel to the mainland. Beijing's decision to respond to the Taiwan issue through military demonstration could have been a result of its assessment of Western military-diplomatic methodology. Taiwan had fewer than 30 diplomatic allies in the world at the end of the Cold War and it developed a 'calculated strategy' to keep itself at 'the forefront of international attention' and remind the world of its plight. The Taiwan Strait Crisis is fascinating because it shows naval diplomacy being used to counter naval diplomacy, with interlocking activities by three parties and multiple audiences. The Clinton administration from 1993 onwards shifted to a policy of 'dual containment' of both Iraq and Iran. North Korea's strategy often relies on playing one adversary off against another, particularly South Korea and the United States, and it has been regularly applied at sea.
