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The PoD has got to be late enough so that it does no contaminate China's decision to undertake market reforms in the 1980s.

What if China and Taiwan reunified in the late 80s or so? Possible PoD would be Chiang Ching-kuo starts going crazy in teh 80s running the island into the ground such that unification with China ends up looking attractive after he's transitioned out of power.

An alternate PoD could be a Taiwanese-Soviet alliance emerging by the end of the 70s in response to increasing US-PRC ties. The collapse of the USSR leaves Taiwan friendless and more ready to reunify.

Fast forward to the 1991-2006 era. What will be the degree of tension between the US and China over this time? What will be the degree of US Chinese cooperation or conflict over matters like Korea, the Middle East, etc.?

Will US-Chinese relations be more cooperative, because the Taiwan irritant is removed (and the lack of a splittist issue for the US to support, means the US does not make China feel as insecure) and war scares are correspondingly reduced and economic ties encourage common thinkng on world political problems?

Or will they be less cooperative, because both countries still need to find a new enemy in each other without the Soviets in the equation (power rebalancing)....and furthermore, would China actually be more assertive and troublesome from Washington's perspective because they don't need to worry about risking more American support for Taiwan, because that issue is off the table.

Or will US-Chinese relations be about the same, indicating that in OTL US-Chinese global relations are not decisively effected by the US-China-Taiwanese triangle which exists in its own geopolitical cul-de-sac
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