Hello, friends!
Tensions between China and Taiwan are on an up-rise.
The Chinese military is conducting military exercises in the seas around Taiwan.
missiles are tested. Chinese warplanes violate Taiwanese airspace.
Taiwanese government websites are the target of a cyber attack. Foreign
Minister of Taiwan responded by saying it was all part of the Chinese game plan.
What game plan?
The game plan to invade Taiwan.
They do this because China does not consider Taiwan independent.
country. China regards Taiwan as part of China. Hence the Chinese
government made statements to join China peacefully, otherwise they would
have invaded Taiwan and made it part of their country.
let's try to understand
the tensions between the two countries
and their history,
Nancy Pelosi is a senior American politician
and has been the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the USA since 2019.
The House of Representatives is basically the equivalent of the Lok Sabha.
She is pretty much the Speaker of the Lok Sabha in America.
She was on a tour of some countries in Asia,and for weeks, people had been
speculating,whether she would visit Taiwan on her tour.
An official visit to Taiwan is a milestone for an American politician.
China doesn't like that at all.
The Chinese government had warned Nancy multiple times,
to prevent her from going to Taiwan.
In fact, the Chinese dictator Xi Jinping had said this,
*Play with fire; you'll get burned.*
I'm not kidding, Xi Jinping had actually said this.
His exact words were
"Those who play with fire
will perish by it.
It is hoped that the US will be clear-eyed about it."
He told America to honor the principle of One China.
But despite this, Nancy Pelosi,decided to go to Taiwan.
Actually, till the moment she landed in Taiwan,officially, this was kept a secret.
No one was aware of it.On 2nd August, late at night,
the US military airplane landed in Taipei.As soon as China got to know about it,
the Chinese government was furious.Nancy Pelosi going to Taiwan is very significant
because over the last 25 years,she is the highest ranking government official from
America to visit Taiwan.She was welcomed with an open heart in Taiwan.
Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world once,was lit up with messages
welcoming Nancy.Taiwan's foreign minister Joseph Wu greeted her and said that
American solidarity with Taiwan has become even more important now.
As we are seeing the world face a choice between Democracy and Autocracy.
The Chinese Communist Party responded strongly to it saying that
if Taiwan tries to get independent in any way,the dream of independence would be
crushed by the powerful force of the Chinese people.These are just empty words,
because in reality, nowadays,Taiwan functions as an entirely independent country.
They have a separate government a Constitution,a military,the only thing is that the
other countries do not acknowledge Taiwan much.
The Chinese government was so furious with it,
that within hours of this event they announced military drills.
Taiwan is an island.It is completely separated from mainland China.
In the sea between Taiwan and China a Median Line is drawn at the midpoint,
it is a symbolic line, no one has actually drawn a line there,
but unofficially, this has been treated as the Line of Control for many years.
During the military drills, China had tested several missiles by intruding on this
Median Line.Several of their Navy's vessels and aircraft,reached quite close to the
island of Taiwan.
In response, Taiwan sent its Navy's aircraft to the Median Line
to drive out the Chinese military the Chinese dictator Xi Jinping said that
he wants a peaceful reunification of Taiwan with mainland China.
This isn't the first time he said something like this,in 2019, he had given similar
statements saying that reunification of Taiwan with China is inevitable.
That is would happen someday.And that if it doesn't happen peacefully,
as the last option,China may use military force as well.
This begs the question,
Is Taiwan truly a part of China?
What right does China have to demand Taiwan?
To know this, we have to know the history of the two countries.
Thousands of years ago,the very first settlers on Taiwanese land
were the Austronesian tribals.They are believed to have come from a part of
southern China.After that, the Chinese records mention the island of Taiwan
in 239 AD for the first time.An emperor of the time,
sent his force to explore the area.It might sound like an insignificant fact,
but actually, the Chinese government refers to this fact now, to claim that
it is a reason why Taiwan is a part of China now.
Moving on, from 1624 to 1661,Taiwan was a Dutch colony.
After that, from 1683 to 1895 China's Qing dynasty administered it.
During this period, many people migrated from mainland China to this island.
Most of these people were -- Chinese.They were from the Fujian province in China.
The descendants of these migrants are the largest demographic group in Taiwan
today. The first Sino-Japanese war broke out in 1895,japan won this war
and the entire territory of Taiwan fell into Japanese administration.
In 1912, the Qing dynasty was overthrown in the Xinhai Revolution in China.
After which, the Republic of China was established in Mainland China.
But then, Taiwan was a part of Japan,Only after World War II,
after Japan's loss, they had to leave Taiwanese territory.
As we know, the Allies won World War II,it included the USA, the UK, and even China.
The Republic of China was then given control over the Taiwanese area.
With the consent of the US and the UK.Later in February 1947,
anti-government protests began in Taiwan.Chinese government carried out a vicious
massacre.On 28th February 1947,thousands of civilians were killed,
you can compare it to the Jalianwala Bagh massacre.
It is estimated that about 18,000 to 28,000 people were killed.
In Taiwanese history, this incident is known as the 2-28 incident.
It is an important part of their history.
Over the next 2 years, there was a civil war in Mainland China.
The leader at the time, Chiang Kai-Shek,was defeated by Mao Zedong's Communist
Army.Chiang Kai-Shek's party KMT, Kuomintang,Chiang Kai-Shek and his supporters,
about 1.5 million people,fled mainland China and went to Taiwan.
This was in 1949.On the Taiwanese island, the KMT government and their
supporters,established a new government was like a Government in Exile.
For the next 25 years, they formed the separate government in Taiwan,
and then he was succeeded by his son Chiang Ching-Kuo.
The thing was that the KMT government was used to ruling all over China before the
revolution,after which the communist people like Mao Zedong came and overthrew
them in Mainland China.and they were restricted to Taiwan.But because they were
used to rule over the entire area,so for a long time, this Government in Exile,
kept claiming that whole of China was theirs.And that one day they would reclaim
all of China.
you need to understand the context of the '60s and '70s. It was the time of the
Cold War. With the United States and the Soviet Union on both sides, Capitalist
America and the Communist Soviet Union. And who won on the continent
China? Communist government of Mao Zedong.So obviously America was
against it Mao Zedong's communist government.
That's why, in the United Nations the government in Taiwan
Chiang's ROC,was considered to be the 'real' China
and China's seat at the United Nations' Security Council,
was given to the Taiwanese government.And most western countries at the time,
considered Taiwan to be the real Chinese government.But by the 1970s,
some countries started arguing that the Taiwanese government control only a small
island and they cannot be said to represent the whole of China the hundreds of
millions of people living in Mainland China cannot be controlled by a government on
a small island.It was unrealistic.
Then in 1971,the United Nations switched its decision.They reversed their opinion,
they said that the Chinese government in Beijing,Mao Zedong's Communist
government was the real Chinese government and the ROC government in Taiwan
fell out of their grace.Mao Zedong passed away in 1976,and the next Chinese ruler,
Deng Xiaoping,was a bit more open-hearted.
In 1978, he brought about economic reforms in his country,China began opening up
its economy to the rest of the world.America believed that communism would be
slowly eradicated from China so in 1979, they officially, establish diplomatic ties
with the Chinese government.The thing is that the government in mainland China,
claims all of China.
They claim Taiwan to be a part of China,and should be under their control.
And so the other countries eventually stop recognising Taiwan.
They stop seeing it as a separate country and consider it a part of China.
Eventually, fewer and fewer countries recognised Taiwan as an independent country.
Today, only 15 countries now consider Taiwan to be an independent country.
The period between 1949 and 1987,is known as the White Terror.
More than 100,000 people were jailed for political reasons.More than 1,000 people
were killed.Chinese dictator Mao Zedong on one side,killed people simply for being
anti-communist,even on the merest doubt of a person being anti-communist,the
person would be killed.
On the other hand, Taiwan's dictator Chiang Kai-Shek,would crush any criticism and
critic,and then labelled a communist sympathizer.Both were dictators.One of them
would kill people for being anti-communists,and the other would kill people for
being a communist.But there was something in Taiwan that couldn't reach Mainland
China.The growth of democracy.After dictator Chiang Ching-Kuo passed away,
in 1988, Taiwan's new President was Lee Teng-Hui.He brought about Constitutional
Changes.He is known as the Father of Democracy in Taiwan.He was done with the
dictatorships and gave power to the citizens.
Eventually, in 2000,the elections were conducted and the first non-KMT President of
the country was Chen Shui-Bian.At the same time, there were efforts to bring
democracy to China as well,in 1989, China was so close to adopting democracy.
There were thousands of students protesting on the roads.Demanding freedom.
But under the communist government,the Chinese military had open-fired.
"The noise of gunfire rose from all over the centre of Peking.It was unremitting."
Thousands were arrested in an effort to suppress the revolution.
And in the midst of it, the famous photo, still revered today, was taken.
There's a place Tian'anmen Square in Beijing,
the protests were taking place here.Chinese government deployed tanks to stop the
protests.When one braveheart stood alone before the tanks to stop them.
Even now, we don't know who this person was.Who was brave enough to face a line
of tanks alone?Despite knowing that the Chinese government had open fired on
students.Shot at the protesting students.We don't know the consequences this man
had to face.But this has become such an iconic photo that it is known as a Symbol
of Revolution now.
In 2000, when there was democracy in Taiwan,and the communist government was
ruling in China,China proposed the One Country, Two Systems option to China.
Wherein Taiwan would agree to be a part of China,but they can continue working
independently.That they would be given significant autonomy.Taiwan rejected this
offer.In 2000, Chen Shui-Bian openly said that his party wanted complete
independence from China.That they did not want to be associated with them in any
form.The KMT party still wants to reunify with China,but in 2016,
DPP, Democratic Progressive Party won the elections,and the new President of
Taiwan was Sai Ing-Wen.She is believed to be a competent and progressive
president.This is why she was reelected for the second term in 2020.
But now you must be wondering, after you've heard the entire story about its
history,it is understandable that China wanted to annex Taiwan,and Taiwan wanted
to annex China,but what about the citizens?What do the Taiwanese people think?
Because really, their opinion matters the most.
According to the latest poll, 64% of Taiwanese
identifies as Taiwanese. 30.4% identify as both Chinese and Taiwanese
and only 2.4% identify as Chinese.Less than 10% of people in Taiwan
wants to unite Taiwan with China.
In my opinion, this issue is illogical.The history of both countries separated after the
1950s.With the Communist Revolution in one place,and the Democratic reforms at
the other.When the ideology of both countries are so distinct from one another,
with a prevalent dictatorship in one place till now and people have no freedom,
and on the other hand, there's a full democracy.The current democratic rank of
Taiwan is quite good.They rank 32nd in the world.And 3rd in Asia.
Taiwan is now considered full democracy.Getting to America, as I told you,
in the 1970s, America's stance had taken a U-turn.The USA had begun developing
relations with communist China.But realistically seeing, America had maintained a
strategic distance from both countries.In 1979, a legislation was passed in the USA,
if China tries to invade Taiwan,the American forces would be deployed to help
Taiwan.Over the last few years,America's stance has been shifting more in favor of
Taiwan and against China.
American President Joe Biden had recently said,that America believes in the One
China policy.It believes that there is only one Chinese government but despite that,
if they try to forcefully invade and annex Taiwan,if the Chinese government tries to
use the military to invade Taiwan,it wouldn't be right.When Biden said this,the
Chinese foreign ministry replied that Biden should stay away from their internal
matter.That it is China's internal matter.For decades, Japan had maintained a
distance from this China-Taiwan issue.Japan considers it to be a politically sensitive
matter,and so it doesn't opine on it publicly.But in June last year,Japan's State
Minister for Defence,said that they have to protect Taiwan because Taiwan is a
democratic country.If China attacks Taiwan,Japan would join forces with America,
to defend Taiwan.
Here it is interesting to mention that America maintains unofficial relations with
Taiwan.America sells weapons to Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act
so that Taiwan can defend itself but at the same time, America has also said that
it does not support Taiwan's independence.This was reiterated one week ago,
by the US National Security Coordinator.America's stance might sound confusing,
but it is quite simple.America agrees that there is One China.
It supports peaceful reunification,but if the military is used to attack Taiwan
if China tries to forcibly take over Taiwan,the US will intervene with its military.
But coming to Nancy Pelosi,her stance has been even more clear-cut.
31 years ago, in 1991,regarding the Tian'anmen Square incident,
Nancy Pelosi had shocked the Chinese government with a white flower.
Only 2 years after this historic event,Nancy Pelosi went to China,
she went to a monument near Tian'anmen Square,and put down a white flower as a
symbol.And described the human rights mission.She unfurled a small black banner
with the words
"To Those Who Died For Democracy In China."
In 2010, she had gone to Oslo,to award a Nobel Peace Prize
to a revolutionary and critic of the Chinese government.Liu Xiaobo.
9 years later, in a rally in Washington DC,she unveiled the statue of the Tank Man to
the world.The same unidentified pro-democracy protestor,who is now a symbol of
revolution.
Not only this, the atrocities against the Buddhists in Tibet,against the Muslims in
Uyghurs,and against the people in Hong Kong.She has remained vocal about these
as well.In 2019, the USA had passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy
Act of 2019.In 2020, they sent the Uyghur Human Rights Bill to the White House
and got it signed.
Today, one thing is certain,the US and China relations are at an all-time low.
But one question still remains.Why is the Chinese government so obsessed with
Taiwan?It is just a small island.Why do they need to add fuel to the controversy?
To threaten them with war?The answer to it is hidden in one person.
Xi Jinping.In 2018, the Chinese government passed a law,that the 2-term limit for
the President be removed.This meant that Xi Jinping,could become the President for
the third term.Over the last 10 years,Xi Jinping had tried to crush all his opponents.
He tried to suppress everyone daring to oppose him.
He introduced his ideology to the Communist Party.His brand.By using large-scale
propaganda and censorship,he spread his agenda packaged as Nationalism.He has
manipulated the citizens of China at his will.Despite it all,
there was an economic crisis in China.then the coal crisis,a devastating lockdown,
there has been a series of problems in China.People aren't able to withdraw money
from their banks.Unemployment is rising,And there are a lot of problems with the
economy of the country.And the 20th National Congress is scheduled to be held in
some months.Here, Xi Jinping has to fight to get his tenure extended.To remain in power.
In such a case, as an image building move,what is he using?
The answer to this is in Rahat Indori's couplet."Are there tensions on the border?
Ah, elections must be around the corner,"The same muscle-flexing was seen in
another world leader.Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.And the same thing can be
seen in Xi Jinping.Similar to how the crisis in Ukraine,is a war between Putin and Ukraine,
the ongoing tensions between China and Taiwan,are the tensions between Xi Jinping
and Taiwan.The war in Russia and Ukraine,has been managed by the other
countries in some way or the other,there wasn't a devastating effect on the imports,
but if the same thing happens between China and Taiwan,the dire consequences of
it would be felt all over the world,the number of products exported by China and
Taiwan is significantly more.Several industries all around the world rely on these two
countries.And if the US and Japan intervene with their military,it's possible that
Russia starts backing China.And then Europe would have to back Japan and the US.
In such a case, the scale of the war can be unprecedented,in case China takes
military action against Taiwan.
Simply because of some alliances and militarization. That is expected
This time, those politicians in power would be wiser.
And wouldn't push the world into another war.
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