The last time China ruled Taiwan was in 1895, or about 130 years ago—an eternity in historical time. Here’s some historical facts:
In 1895, the Qing dynasty ceded Taiwan “in perpetuity” to Japan after the Treaty of Shimonoseki. From 1895 to 1945 Taiwan developed under Japanese rule for 50 years.
Formosa (Taiwan) was part of Qing province of China from 1887 to 1895 and before that, it was part of Fujian Province from 1683 to 1887.
When Japan lost World War II, it surrendered Taiwan to the Republic of China (ROC), ruled by the Kuomintang (NOT THE CCP), on 25 October 1945 which ruled China.
It was the violent Chinese communist CCP and Mao that forced the Republic of China and president Chian Kai-shek to flee to Taiwan in 1949.
Since then, Taiwan has had its own military, government, constitution, borders, currency, and 78 years of separate governance. Most scholars describe this as de facto independence, regardless of different legal interpretations.
Speaking from personal experience, Taiwanese now have an entirely different culture and a vastly more prosperous and truly inventive economy than mainland Chinese. When mainland Chinese visit Taiwan, Taiwanese people often note that the mainlanders are boorish, loud and uncultured. I’ve seen this for myself; it’s true. Taiwanese don’t even like the Chinese—they ‘tolerate’ them. No one in SE Asia likes the Chinese; except for their tourist dollars.
The most important thing is that Taiwan WASN’T a party to Mao’s massive murder tallies and total destruction in China.
As a reminder, from the “History of Communism,” here’s the massive destruction of Mao that the Taiwanese didn’t have to endure:
Land Reform and Campaign to Suppress “Counterrevolutionaries” (1949-1953): An estimated 1 to 4.5 million landlords were executed.
The Great Leap Forward (1958-1962): Mao’s crash industrialization and collectivization campaign killed an estimated 15 to 55 million from starvation and overwork.
The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976): Mao unleashed the Red Guards to violently purge perceived capitalist and traditional elements, killing up to 20 million and subjecting countless others to public torture, humiliation, and labor camps.
His rule turned China into a land of death, paranoia and repression and death on a colossal scale.
Taiwan avoided all of that and is now a normal, prosperous democracy with a very high per capita GDP. Taiwan is distinctly different country, both economically, culturally and politically.
China Continues to Absurdly Claim the Entire South China Sea as It’s Own
China claims the entire South China Sea — including absurd claims on ALL of the South China Sea including territorial waters that many neighboring countries are lawfully exploiting. A tribunal in The Hague has ruled against these ridiculous claims on the entire S.China Sea.
From my re-post Ridiculous Chinese Claims On S. China Sea, originally from 2012:
Have a look at a map showing Chinese territorial claims versus claims of it’s SE Asian neighbors. (UNCLOS, referenced in the map below, is an acronym for UN Convention on Law of the Sea.) Most of the world operates within the UNCLOS agreement which gives each country the right to exploit waters out to 200 miles for their own exclusive economic use. It is the basis for every offshore leasing programs for every country in the world including the US. Only China is making ridiculous claims that contradict the UNCLOS.
Obviously this is outrageous. It is also totally inconsistent with any modern maritime agreement. The Chinese are ramping up naval military confrontations to enforce their claimed territories. Note that the Vietnamese have active oil/gas leases within their 200 mile “Exclusive Economic Zone” (intended for all nations to retain mineral rights and exclusive fishing rights in these zones).
China is trying to upend this working United Nations agreement to which the entire world has agreed.
