The peculiar status of the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan as an independent state but not quite a nation-state is important for our understanding of modern East Asia. Too often we have tended to view the existence of the two political entities across the Taiwan Strait as a logical and most likely consequence of the Chinese civil war. While such an account addresses the importance of the military constraint to Taiwan’s state development, it does not situate its theory in a broader Cold War structure. We seeks thus to explore the complex and critical role of the U.S. government and various American individuals in the shaping of this island state. The aim is to explore the explanation for transformation of a de facto state on Taiwan separate from the de facto state ruling the Chinese mainland that took place in 1949 in which the influence of the US is emphasized. We study Taiwan’s state-building in political-military affairs, economy, and technology progress, respectively.

Sponsored by the The Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange research grant “Transition and Transformation: The United States and the Making of Postwar Taiwan’s Economic, Military and Political Security, 1949-1970.”