All William Kirby Quotes
The greater concerns in China and Taiwan are on the political side, not on the economic side.
William Kirby
56% of people like this quote
Now, I believe that war is never inevitable until it starts, but there has been a great proclivity in human history, and including in recent history, for war.
William Kirby
55% of people like this quote
So, I think China desperately needs to legitimize some form of opposition.
William Kirby
53% of people like this quote
I don't believe that economic and cultural interaction automatically brings greater peace and understanding, although it may help in that regard.
William Kirby
53% of people like this quote
The PRC is the big brother in this relationship, and it has the capacity to be generous to Taiwan on this issue in a manner that might do much to defuse that issue internally in Taiwan.
William Kirby
52% of people like this quote
There is no question that Taiwan is a state in any political science definition of a state.
William Kirby
51% of people like this quote
The Chinese government since 1979 has been very successful in economic development, and successful enough, simply by surviving, in the realm of political development.
William Kirby
50% of people like this quote
So, anything that avoids a conflict that could draw in, unhappily again, outside powers such as the United States or revisit, for example, Japan's interests in the Taiwan area would be the last thing that anyone would want.
William Kirby
50% of people like this quote
You could argue that war is always an irrational act, and yet many states enter into military conflict out of rational calculation or national interest or the stability or longevity of their regime.
William Kirby
48% of people like this quote
East Asia has prospered since the end of the Vietnam War, and Northeast Asia has prospered since the end of the Korean War in a way that seems unimaginable when you think of the history of the first half of the century.
William Kirby
48% of people like this quote
A war in the Taiwan Strait would destroy China's international relations overnight. It would destroy Chinese - Japanese relations, not to mention Chinese - American relations.
William Kirby
48% of people like this quote
The most important thing that certainly the United States and other Asian and Pacific actors have done is to urge that whatever happens, however the dispute is resolved, that it be resolved peacefully.
William Kirby
44% of people like this quote
And look at the mess that Russia is; most Chinese don't want to follow that.
William Kirby
44% of people like this quote
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