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Taiwan--Independent from China or be a part of China? |
Travel Info Everyone knows that there is a big arguement between Taiwan and China. Somebody thinks that Taiwan should be independent, while somebody thinks that Taiwan is a part of China. What about thee? Do you think that Taiwan should be a part of China? or should be independent? Travel Tips I just got to say that andy b's comment just made me laugh. hahaha!!!! And it looks like the pro China viewers are busy giving negative ratings for the pro Taiwan viewers. Interesting enough, although I love both places passionately and have lived in both places, I'm neutral on this rare occasion. The way I see it, Taiwanese want to retain their economy and their freedoms. They have democracy (even though it is a WWE style of political debate at times, but hey - no one can say that politics in Taiwan is dull!) and once people realise that they have certain freedoms, they will never want to give it up again. No doubt that Taiwan looks very close at Hong Kong to see how developments are after it went back to Chinese ownership in 1997. For China, it's definitely a very tight balancing act, trying to reign in the pro democracy elements in HK but at the same time not wanting to scare the Taiwanese away from the thought of unification by using hard handed tactics in HK. At the same time, China is trying to keep its territory unified. With Xinjiang and Tibet vying for independence, China is forced to show a strong front toward Taiwan. To say to Taiwan "go ahead and be independent" is sending a message to Xinjiang and Tibet to do the same. It must demand unification otherwise other territories will also want to break away. We saw this in Indonesia when East Timor was granted independence, and then Aceh province soon tried to follow in its footsteps. The Indonesian army put its foot down heavily, crushing any independence activists and kicking all foreign media out, declaring a media blackout throughout Aceh. China also has had a history of losing territory - the northeast part of China to the Russians, Manchuria to the Japanese, the Hong Kong to the English, Macau to the Portuguese to name a few. It has been carved up and raped by foreign powers. The thought of losing yet another territory (and a wealthy one at that) injures China's pride deeply and is a great loss of face. Mind you, those territories were pretty well managed while under foreign hands, as you can see from the economies and the historical buildings left behind. Culturally there is so much between the two that are similar. Language no doubt, the number of Han Chinese on both sides, history. You can't deny that there are also a lot of Taiwanese that don't want to lose their identity and roots through independence. Even a lot of overseas Chinese feel the same way. Geopolitically, it's in China's best interest for unification. Taiwan provides an excellent location for launching potential attacks against the mainland. It is also in the US' interest to protect Taiwan for this very reason. To eliminate this threat, Beijing would definitely want to reclaim Taiwan back. For those who don't understand this, this is very similar to the Cuban missile crisis when the Russians wanted to send nuclear missiles to Cuba (a fellow communist state). The US reacted alarmingly to this, no doubt because missiles shot from Cuba could hit so many important cities in the States, including DC. I'm not sure if the US has bases in Taiwan or not, but with Taiwan's reliance on the US militarily, you can imagine China being extremely alarmed if the US shipped missiles to Taiwan. If I was from Taiwan I would be happy to keep Taiwan as it is - the culture is pretty much the same. Essentially it is independent right now, if not by name. However I respect those who wish to officially be separate, and to have their own separate identity. I would also not be willing to give up my rights and freedoms to express my thoughts without fear of reprisal, to be able to choose my government, and to get rid of the ruling party if it doesn't perform its job to help the people. I would also want to maintain the same standard of living and to practice my religion as I see fit. These are the things that I would want whether Taiwan is independent or not. Others I don't really know. I think thst it is a decision that should be made by the Taiwanese people, if they want to be part of China and China will let them then so be it. If they dont want to be part of China and China wants Taiwan to be part of China the UN must defend Taiwan. At present it is a seperate nation with its own society and values. My girlfriend's Taiwanese and we're always arguing these days. If that's anything to go by I think China shouldn't bother with Taiwan. They're just really high maintenance. Does anyone really have a say in it? You should stick with the status-quo for now. China has come along way over the past 35 years... and is slowly coming in to alignment with Taiwan in their attitudes. However China still has a long way to go (politically and with law and human rights). All China is concerned with for now is that Taiwan doesn't declare formal independance and embarrass China. The Taiwanese have a great deal of political freedom already... there is no point in antagonising this current China with their mindset of today. Independent. Because Taiwan had its own President. China's too big already. But if its for improving Taiwan's economy, i think they should merge. But i don't think it is necessary. |
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