The front cover of this book, which includes contributions from 13 distinguished authors, shows two separate photographs of the national leaders of Taiwan and China extending their hands as if they want to reach for a warm handshake. The analytical texts in the book say a different story. The hands may be extended, but will they ever reach each other? Two Taiwanese professors, Chien-min Chao at the National Chengchi University and Chih-chia Hsu at Ming Chuan University, say China has successfully isolated Taiwan and threatened its survival. The arguments presented by the two professors are convincing.

"Legally the Republic of China might be annihilated," they say in the essay on the isolation of Taiwan. They describe the situation in Taiwan as "dire" because the island nation exists only as a de facto entity, supported by its economic miracle and not by its diplomacy. They suggest that Taiwan may find ways to break out of the isolation, which has weakened its international standing. Taiwan "needs to be more flexible and accommodating towards China and to engage, instead of confront, its giant neighbor not only in economic terms but also in political terms," the two authors say. They urge Taiwan to present itself as a responsible democracy following its economic achievements. They say China should realize that its policy of suffocating Taiwan is not succeeding.

Taiwan's state of isolation has compelled Taiwanese to search for an identity. Masahiro Wakabayashi traces the origin of Taiwanese nationalism to the Japanese occupation of the island, which lasted 50 years and ended with the defeat of Japan by allied forces in 1945. Taiwanese nationalism is closely defined by ideas and political movements that resulted in the widely accepted concept of an "independent Taiwan," which is an autonomous nation with a sovereign community that now exists on Taiwan.

It is well known that Taiwan has been trying to break out of its isolation. It has tried to join international organizations, including the World Health Organization, and to regain its place in the UN General Assembly. These efforts have not been successful. Dennis V. Hickey, a professor of political science at Southwest Missouri State University, believes that the world, by excluding Taiwan from the WHO, is losing priceless medical assistance and expertise. The cost is also high for Taiwan, because it has no easy access to the WHO's vast medical data and scientific ties with many countries. The main opponent to Taiwan's joining WHO is, of course, China.

T.Y. Wang, a political science professor at Illinois State University, offers a long-term strategy for Taiwan's campaign to get membership in the UN General Assembly and specialized agencies. He says trying to join those agencies could be time-consuming but feasible. Membership in the IMF and the World Bank is a possibility because those two institutions have regulations that are different from those of the UN.

For Vincent Wei-cheng Wang, professor of political science at the University of Richmond, China's isolation of Taiwan is costing almost everyone in the age of globalization. Taiwan is a key player in the global supply chain of information technology because it has the largest firms producing motherboards, modems, keyboards and monitors. Thomas Friedman, a guru on globalization, has said: "Buy Taiwan, hold Italy and sell France." The editor of this book, Edward Friedman, sums up the triangular relationship between China, Taiwan and the US as "nothing less than war and peace in the 21st century." Such a description is based on the protracted conflict between the two sides of the strait and the failed attempts to hold dialogue to settle that conflict. The contributing authors all want to raise hopes for peace in the Taiwan Strait, Friedman says. He says many people on the mainland, pushed by nationalistic sentiments, believe that conciliatory and generous approaches have failed to bring Taiwan back, so other means, including force, should be used. China's behavior and its propaganda against the island nation have hurt many people on Taiwan. China's rise in the world has created an imbalance in terms of power between the two countries. Based on the writings by the scholars, Friedman says China has bullied and humiliated Taiwan "all over the world."

"There is consequently almost nothing Taiwan can do to reverse the trend of China eventually winning away from Taiwan every one of its few remaining formal diplomatic partners," Friedman says. He points out that Taiwan is too weak to control its international destiny and it lacks the power to change the status quo.

China also has its own dilemmas. China is scared by its own fears of a legal declaration of independence by Taiwan. But the authors say it is unlikely that Taiwan will be able to declare independence unless drastic action, like a military attack, is launched by China.