China-Taiwan Relation
Is the China-Taiwan war a possibility and a start to WW3? As depicted by some media outlets visit of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, to Taiwan has escalated things quickly and the relations between China and USA are at their lowest point in decades.
What led to this? What is its history? I will be discussing it all according to my findings.
Before we get into it, I request you to join my newsletter. I guarantee you something insightful in the future. Let’s feed our hungry minds with amazing contents, you can even personally message me to learn and write about something or your take on it.
The History
To begin with, Taiwan was first mentioned in the document that dates back to 239 AD when a group of Chinese explorers visits eastern islands inhabited by indigenous people which historians identify as Taiwan.
Dutch, Spanish, and Ming Rule
Taiwan and China were ruled by their own rulers before Dutch established the Dutch East India Company in Taiwan in the 17th century and ruled for 37 years. Looking at the Dutch and viewing it as a threat to their colony in the Philippines, Spanish adventurers established bases in northern Taiwan but were ousted by the Dutch soon. During the Dutch rule, they estimated only about 1000 Han Chinese were living in Taiwan but after the Ming dynasty was succeeded by Qing Dynasty this number went up due to refugees. Koxinga, the then-loyalist of the Ming forces, defeated the Dutch after losing control over mainland China and established the Kingdom of Tungning.
Qing Rule
The Kingdom of Tungning was soon conquered by the Qing Rule and Taiwan increasingly became an integrated part of the Qing Empire. To date, the Qing Rule over Taiwan was longer than any other powers than had or would come to control the island. It lasted for over 200 uninterrupted years and this was a crucial period that shaped the national identity of the Taiwanese and the identity of Taiwan with mainland China was developed. The Qing Rule came to an end as part of the settlement for losing the Sino-Japanese War.
Japanese Rule
Japanese ruled Taiwan for 50 years from 1895 till the collapse of the Japanese Empire in World War II. While Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule, in 1912, Chinese revolutionaries overthrow the Qing Empire and establish the Republic of China (ROC). During World War II, ROC leader Chiang Kai-shek meets with U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Cairo. After the conclusion of the conference, the Cairo Declaration is released, stating that
“…Formosa [Taiwan], and the Pescadores [the Penghu Islands], shall be restored to the Republic of China…”
Republic of China Rule
In 1945, following the end of hostilities in World War II, the nationalist government of the Republic of China (ROC), led by the Chinese Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT), took control of Taiwan with no transfer of territorial sovereignty. In 1949, after losing control of mainland China in the Chinese Civil War, the ROC government under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) withdrew to Taiwan and Chiang Kai-shek declared martial law. 2 million refugees, predominantly from the Nationalist government, military, and business community, fled to Taiwan.
On October 1, 1949, the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.) was founded in mainland China by the victorious communists which were several months before Chiang Kai-shek had established a provisional ROC capital in Taipei and moved his Nanjing-based government there.
The point to be noted is that the ROC didn’t announce Taiwan as another independent country but rather claims that the real China is Taiwan and the official Chinese government is ROC.
Taiwan has its own government, army, and constitution however, there are only 15 countries that recognize it officially. It is because of the One China Policy.
One China Policy
The One China principle is the position held by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that there is only one sovereign state under the name China, with the PRC serving as the sole legitimate government of that China, and Taiwan is a part of China.
Due to the One China policy, even US and UK do not recognize Taiwan officially. The US had officially scrapped its diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (ROC) that is Taiwan, in 1979, only to recognize the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the government in mainland China, the same year.
The move by the US meant that the communist government in mainland China was the legitimate representative and Taiwan was a breakaway part of it.
However, the One China policy of the US is guided by its Taiwan Relations Act which was passed soon after the US established its diplomatic ties with China.
The Act rendered support to Taiwan in form of defending the island from external aggression along with continuing “deep commercial and economic links, and strong people-to-people ties” with Taiwan, according to the US Department of State. The Act also promotes a peaceful resolution to the Taiwan issue and asks for a status quo until that is achieved.
The Act, in effect, allows the US to maintain “a robust unofficial relationship” with Taiwan, as the US Department of State puts it, while also acknowledging China’s stand on the issue.
