ABSTRACT
Like Japan and South Korea, Taiwan is often considered to be a latent nuclear power, possessing the technological basis for developing nuclear weapons. Like South Korea, Taiwan twice went down the weapons path in a post-war period of authoritarian rule and deep security anxieties. Today, the authoritarianism is gone but the reasons for anxiety remain. Taiwan did not consider its weapons programme a violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which it signed in 1968. Although very few people in Taiwan today advocate nuclear weapons, some of those who know the history talk about it wistfully, with expressions of regret that the US prevented Taiwan from acquiring a nuclear equaliser. Since 1988, occasional statements by Taiwan officials about nuclear hedging reinforced suspicions that a nuclear option was being maintained. The US State Department spokesman said it was part of the agency's efforts to evaluate Taiwan's nuclear history.
