Analysis: Three views on Taiwan

CNN.com invited three leading scholars on U.S.-China-Taiwan relations -- John Copper of Rhodes College, Steven M. Goldstein of Smith College and Suisheng Zhao, a fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University -- to examine what is at stake for each government as Taiwan's presidential election approaches. Here are their thoughts.

Washington's fine line

By Steven M. Goldstein

After five decades, the United States remains entangled in the Chinese civil war, still vulnerable to manipulation by the combatants and unable to define clearly its own strategic objectives.

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Beijing's shifting strategy

By Suisheng Zhao

China's recent threat of force against Taiwan is nothing new. Beijing has used a mixture of military coercion and peaceful inducement over the past half-century in its attempt to take Taiwan back.

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Taipei's new path

By John Copper

Many experts say the March 18 election is simply a "consolidation" of Taiwan's democratic process. Yet it is significant to note that it will constitute the island's first-ever democratic transfer of executive power.

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