Having lived on both sides of the straits, I can`t understand for the life of me why any Taiwanese would willingly surrender their nation to that fascist, brutal, incompetant, racist regime in Beijing. I did some polling here in Taichung and found scant approval for “anschluss” with China, especially among the young people who are less influenced by the former authoritarian regimes.
I did some research and found out that Beijing has no real legal claim to Taiwan due to the absence of a treaty. Also Taiwan has not been a continuous part of China for the past 400 years as Beijing fraudulently brainwashes their people into believing.
I do hope the Taiwanese can rejoin the international community and that Beijing might relax its recalcitrant, imperial one-China approach to Taiwan. Unification may be the result one day, but its not fair to demand that Taipei first submit and surrender.
Because if/when the invasion happens, the Taiwanese would roll up the white flags before any American forces could come. While I agree that most Taiwanese don’t want to live under Beijing’s rule, have you asked how many would be willing to sacrifice their own life to defend Taiwan? I have a feeling that that number would be an awful lot less than the number of Americans (or just about any other Westerner) who would be willing to defend their own sovereignty with their lives.
I think so too. There is not a strong sense of Taiwan nationality yet. Most guys dream of moving to China (as an expat, of course), and keeping a wife on both sides of the strait.
That’s definitely an understatement. While I admire the generally peaceful nature of the Taiwanese people, if push came to shove with the Mainland then it’s a little disheartening to think they would probably just bend over and take it instead of fighting for their rightful sovereignty. :s
I think very few people actually care about this island (I mean just look at it!) and see it as a means to make a quick buck and then set up elsewhere. I have no problem with that in itself. No piece of land is worth dying for. A way of life might be, but the rich don’t need to fight for that (they just go to America and avail themselves of the protection of the US government), and the poor are going to get pooed on regardless of who’s in power. Is this shambles of a society here worth fighting for ? The mad, unrestrained experiment in pure unfettered capitalism has made a lot of people rich and kept a lot of people very poor.
Those without the money to leave in the event of a Chinese invasion need to put political pressure on the government to establish some sort of society here that would benefit them as well as the get-rich-quick-and-bugger-off crowd.
One possible reason for the apathy here is that the Taiwanese have not suffered as much from China as they like to make out. So they’ve been dealing with the PRC since 1949. Boo hoo. My heart bleeds. Ireland dealt with England for 400 years, and around 50 years after independence maintains cordial relations with the UK despite several important unresolved issues and remaining in the shadow of its biggest trading partner. The Irish have in this time switched the whole premise of their nationalism from blind hatred of England to something far more positive and mature and it’s a credit to them. I’m sick and tired of hearing stories about the poor little rich Taiwanese bullied by nasty China. Grow up ! That’s life ! Tough shit ! Build a country worth fighting for with the money you made in China and then let’s talk.
Ahhh, are our little feelings hurt because the ingrate prefers Taiwan over your motherland? You could always subject yourself to the same censorship that your comrades back home live under and resist visiting this forum At least know when to stfu about things you know nothing about.
Only one wife on the mainland? I guess the guys you know aren’t too ambitious.
Uh, that’s bullshit and you know it. When was the last time you heard Tony Blair say that unification of Ireland with the motherland was more sacred than anyone’s lives? I don’t recall the UK shooting missiles into the waters off Dublin during any of Ireland’s recent elections. Last time I was in Wales, I didn’t notice 500 truck mounted ballistic missiles pointed at Ireland. The Irish are able to tolerate the English because the English finally got the fuck out and let Ireland be Ireland. Who are you to deny the Taiwanese the same right? If they decide not to exercise it, then fair enough, but I don’t believe that you, me or Beijing should assume that we can deny them of it.
Well on the flip side when was the last time Taiwan formed a militia and place random bombs to make a political point. Although an interesting side note. The UK issues and their treatment of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland is not a very apt analogy.
First and foremost one has to accept the fact the formation of ROC on Taiwan is due to USA Cold War interest in the area. Not some nonsense about some crown, institutional ethnic racism, with a sprinkle of religous conflicts, and alcoholism.
If Zheng He went to Britain and carved out one of the islands of the UK as a sphere of influence for open trade, set up a dummy monarch, replaced Gaelic with Mandarin, perhaps there would be more similarities with UK and the Strait Issue.
Honestly do you think dividing Taiwan into North and South, with only the North being under China sphere of influence, an acceptable solution to the problem.
Just because most of the world does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign country, it doesn’t mean that Taiwan doesn’t have sovereignity over the island. I don’t know, maybe it’s a difficult concept to grasp.
Taiwan meets all the requirements of the 1933 Montevideo Convention for de facto status as a state under principles of customary international law. Most countries don`t officially recognize it due to heavy-handed pressure from Beijing.
It is in the sense that Beijing has colonial ambitions for Taiwan.
One also has to accept that the formation of the PRC was greatly aided by Moscow. However, in both cases this is historical baggage and doesn`t represent the present political reality of either side.
I`ve never witnessed such blatant and primitive racial discrimination and even ethnic cleansing as I saw in China, especially against minorities from East Turkestan.
It is in the sense that Beijing has colonial ambitions for Taiwan.
One also has to accept that the formation of the PRC was greatly aided by Moscow. However, in both cases this is historical baggage and doesn`t represent the present political reality of either side.
I`ve never witnessed such blatant and primitive racial discrimination and even ethnic cleansing as I saw in China, especially against minorities from East Turkestan.
It is in the sense that Beijing has colonial ambitions for Taiwan.
One also has to accept that the formation of the PRC was greatly aided by Moscow. However, in both cases this is historical baggage and doesn`t represent the present political reality of either side.
I`ve never witnessed such blatant and primitive racial discrimination and even ethnic cleansing as I saw in China, especially against minorities from East Turkestan.
That is not a proper historical interpretation. The Japanese made Taiwan a colony. The PRC ambition is the formal resolution of the Chinese Civil War.
I find you interpretation somewhat less than popular in historical circles. How is the formation of PRC, political baggage, or insignificant to the political reality at hand for the Straits Issues. What proof do you have that the formation of the PRC is what caused the issue in the first place?
Of course you haven’t, since you have never been to China. What does East Tukestan have to do with Taiwan? It’s not like Taiwan has a huge muslim community planting bombs on public buses.
[quote=“ac_dropout”]
That is not a proper historical interpretation. The Japanese made Taiwan a colony. The PRC ambition is the formal resolution of the Chinese Civil War.[/quote]Hey AC, the Chinese Civil war is over. Should you want the DPP to turn over all KMT war criminals and the artwork they stole from you Chinese, I am sure they would oblige. Since the PRC never ruled Taiwan, they should leave Taiwan to continue their own sovereignty in peace, lest they really piss off the USA/Taiwan by trying to invade Taiwan and the USA forces a regime change in Beijing. You Communist gangsters should just leave Taiwan alone and maybe you can continue robbing the PRC citizens for another 50 years.
I was here the day they announced that the president and ex-head of the secret police, fishlips (CCK) was dead. I saw the TV news and all the other shows broadcast in black and white with the silly announcer girl they had in her mourning garb. That night all of Taipei was out partying. Buffalo Town had a record night. I heard it widely reported the next day that the KMT faithful, the '49 carpetbaggers had spent the night cowering in cellars because they fully expected the Taiwanese to come and take retribution for the White Terror, for the theft of their assets, for the removal of the very few political rights even the Japanese had allowed, and to murder them in their beds for these things. Now tell me, what person with a clear conscience would fear such a thing? I sincerely hope that even once in your life you’ll experience such fear.
At least know when to stfu about things you know nothing about.