Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Writing in the Asian American Press, Richard Kagan provides a Book Review on Shih-shan Henry Tsai. Maritime Taiwan: Historical Encounters with the East and the West. M.E. Sharpe: Armonk, New York. 2009. 265pages. $24.95.

There is a cultural and intellectual revolution occurring in Taiwan. It is about its national identity. While the new administration of President Ma Ying-jeou and his Kuomintang Party are preparing the way to unification with Beijing by stressing the common history of Taiwan and China, the intellectuals, human rights advocates, historians, and local Taiwanese are writing a new history of Taiwan.

The United States Supreme Court has now been asked to answer the longstanding 'Taiwan question' that has haunted U.S. foreign policy since World War II. In April, the District of Columbia U.S. Court of Appeals declared Taiwan to be in a state of "political purgatory" and urged President Barack Obama to act "expeditiously" to resolve the matter.

The appellate court declined to interpret the San Francisco Peace Treaty that governs Taiwan saying the issue was a "political matter" outside the scope of the court's authority. President Obama has been silent on Roger Lin, et al vs. United States, which seeks U.S. protection while the formal international legal status of Taiwan is resolved.