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I'm by no means an expert, but Taiwan has a very interesting political scene due to the relationship with China. The dominant party is Taiwanese nationalistic a

I'm by no means an expert, but Taiwan has a very interesting political scene due to the relationship with China. The dominant party is Taiwanese nationalistic and for Taiwanese independence, whereas the biggest opposition is Chinese nationalistic. The Sunflower Student Movement, mentioned a throughout this article, lead to the formation of the progressive nationalistic New Power Party in 2015. This party was co-founded by lead singer of the political metal band Chthonic, Freddy Lim, who is now one of 5 members of the party in the Taiwanese legislature (out of a total of 113 seats).

rangibaby 8y ago
PRC is also dead against ROC declaring independence as Taiwan because it would open the door to others to do the same (eg Hong Kong)
- hawkice 8y ago
  The ROC has declared not just independence, but sovereignty over all of China. This... does not meaningfully reflect reality. Hong Kong is extremely unlikely to be able to emulate the political success Taiwan has had (which is, baring some diplomatic hiccups, total - it is, contrary to PRC, USA, and occasionally ROC statements, a totally normal country similar to China in language and, to a lesser extent, culture, but not otherwise related). Mainland China knows this and has been ignoring statements of sovereign control by the Republic of China for some time. But they do control the island of Taiwan, as well as several others.
  - CogitoCogito 8y ago
    > The ROC has declared not just independence, but sovereignty over all of China. This... does not meaningfully reflect reality. To be fair, the PRC claims over the territory controlled by the ROC are just as ridiculous as the corresponding claims made by the ROC over lands controlled by the PRC. (Arguably the PRC claims are crazier, since they have _never_ controlled Taiwan, Kinmen, etc.) The ROC is as much a legitimate government over its territory as the PRC is of its territory. To believe otherwise requires some seriously twisted historical revisionism.
    - rangibaby 8y ago
      to add, ROC never declared independence. > The ROC is as much a legitimate government over its territory as the PRC is of its territory. To believe otherwise requires some seriously twisted historical revisionism. De jure, yes. I'm sure Chiang wanted to re-conquer China from the PRC as well. I think if ROC is reestablished on the mainland at some point it will NOT be a direct successor state to ROC (Taiwan). A real world example is Russia, it is a successor state to the USSR with little (no?) direct connection to the Russian Empire even though it restored the flags and symbols of that state.
      - CogitoCogito 8y ago
        > to add, ROC never declared independence. Neither has the PRC. I'm not sure why that's relevant here. > De jure, yes. _And_ de facto. The PRC has _never_ exercised control over Taiwan, Kinmen, etc. The PRC claims to the lands controlled by the ROC are as ridiculous as the ROC claims to lands controlled by the PRC _both_ de jure and de facto. By any reasonable measure, there have been two independent countries sitting next to each other for almost 70 years now.
        rangibaby 8y ago
        > The ROC has declared not just independence, but sovereignty over all of China. > Neither has the PRC. I'm not sure why that's relevant here. (de jure) ROC is the same Republic of China that was established in 1912. PRC was declared in 1949. > there have been two independent countries sitting next to each other for almost 70 years now. Yes, but the PRC (and KMT until it became clear that retaking the mainland was impossible) is openly hostile to that viewpoint, which is what I originally posted.
    - taobility 8y ago
      Are you kidding? how could ROC is the legitimate government of China? KMT has lost the civil war in 1949, which means they already lost the legitimate ownership for China. They can still keep ROC in Taiwan just as PLA didn't conquer Taiwan at that time, and they got support from US.
- namlem 8y ago
  It's actually more because the Communist Party has invested a great deal of political capital in the idea of Taiwan being a rogue province that must be brought back into the fold. It is a source of national shame not just for the government, but for the public, due to years of propaganda.
robjan 8y ago
An important bit of context to this comment is that the official name of Taiwan is "the Republic of China", as opposed to "The People's Republic of China". According to international treaties there can only be one China. The nationalist party claims that the Taiwanese government is the government of all of China and is not, as the comment may seem to suggest, "pro China"
- koube 8y ago
  I want to clear up some terminology here. The revolution was between the Communist party and Nationalist party. The Nationalist party, the Kuomintang, has it's roots in China, consider themselves Chinese, and consider themselves the true government of China as they were in the past. They only claim this officially. Of course people in reality know that they don't actually have any control of China and have zero chance of regaining it in the future. Typically they are descendants mainland Chinese. This is the blue party. In an extreme simplification, they can thought of as the republican party. Usually older people, more conservative, more friendly to China, and consider themselves more Chinese. (Extreme extreme oversimplification.) There is also the Green party, which grew in opposition to the kuomintang. They were not as involved in the revolution and I think they care even less about sovereignty over China than the blue party, who as I mentioned, already care very little about it. The green party members are typically descendants of families that were in Taiwan before the revolution. In an extreme simplification, they can be thought of as the democratic party. Usually younger people, more liberal, less friendly to China, and consider themselves more Taiwanese. (Extreme extreme oversimplification.) I don't have enough knowledge to elaborate past the very very basics but I thought I would clear up some of the differences, and point out that both parties care little about sovereignty over China. Also, the grandparent comment I think made a good distinction by specifying "taiwanese nationalist" and "chinese nationalist", removing ambiguity about what the "nation" in "nationalist" refers to. The capital-n Nationalist party does claim sovereignty over China, but only in an official capacity and they are indeed more pro-China.
  - ykhorizon 8y ago
    If someone needs more history background, you can check out this article https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34729538 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34729538

rangibaby 8y ago

PRC is also dead against ROC declaring independence as Taiwan because it would open the door to others to do the same (eg Hong Kong)

hawkice 8y ago
The ROC has declared not just independence, but sovereignty over all of China. This... does not meaningfully reflect reality. Hong Kong is extremely unlikely to be able to emulate the political success Taiwan has had (which is, baring some diplomatic hiccups, total - it is, contrary to PRC, USA, and occasionally ROC statements, a totally normal country similar to China in language and, to a lesser extent, culture, but not otherwise related). Mainland China knows this and has been ignoring statements of sovereign control by the Republic of China for some time. But they do control the island of Taiwan, as well as several others.
- CogitoCogito 8y ago
  > The ROC has declared not just independence, but sovereignty over all of China. This... does not meaningfully reflect reality. To be fair, the PRC claims over the territory controlled by the ROC are just as ridiculous as the corresponding claims made by the ROC over lands controlled by the PRC. (Arguably the PRC claims are crazier, since they have _never_ controlled Taiwan, Kinmen, etc.) The ROC is as much a legitimate government over its territory as the PRC is of its territory. To believe otherwise requires some seriously twisted historical revisionism.
  - rangibaby 8y ago
    to add, ROC never declared independence. > The ROC is as much a legitimate government over its territory as the PRC is of its territory. To believe otherwise requires some seriously twisted historical revisionism. De jure, yes. I'm sure Chiang wanted to re-conquer China from the PRC as well. I think if ROC is reestablished on the mainland at some point it will NOT be a direct successor state to ROC (Taiwan). A real world example is Russia, it is a successor state to the USSR with little (no?) direct connection to the Russian Empire even though it restored the flags and symbols of that state.
    - CogitoCogito 8y ago
      > to add, ROC never declared independence. Neither has the PRC. I'm not sure why that's relevant here. > De jure, yes. _And_ de facto. The PRC has _never_ exercised control over Taiwan, Kinmen, etc. The PRC claims to the lands controlled by the ROC are as ridiculous as the ROC claims to lands controlled by the PRC _both_ de jure and de facto. By any reasonable measure, there have been two independent countries sitting next to each other for almost 70 years now.
      - rangibaby 8y ago
        > The ROC has declared not just independence, but sovereignty over all of China. > Neither has the PRC. I'm not sure why that's relevant here. (de jure) ROC is the same Republic of China that was established in 1912. PRC was declared in 1949. > there have been two independent countries sitting next to each other for almost 70 years now. Yes, but the PRC (and KMT until it became clear that retaking the mainland was impossible) is openly hostile to that viewpoint, which is what I originally posted.
  - taobility 8y ago
    Are you kidding? how could ROC is the legitimate government of China? KMT has lost the civil war in 1949, which means they already lost the legitimate ownership for China. They can still keep ROC in Taiwan just as PLA didn't conquer Taiwan at that time, and they got support from US.
namlem 8y ago
It's actually more because the Communist Party has invested a great deal of political capital in the idea of Taiwan being a rogue province that must be brought back into the fold. It is a source of national shame not just for the government, but for the public, due to years of propaganda.

robjan 8y ago

An important bit of context to this comment is that the official name of Taiwan is "the Republic of China", as opposed to "The People's Republic of China". According to international treaties there can only be one China. The nationalist party claims that the Taiwanese government is the government of all of China and is not, as the comment may seem to suggest, "pro China"

koube 8y ago
I want to clear up some terminology here. The revolution was between the Communist party and Nationalist party. The Nationalist party, the Kuomintang, has it's roots in China, consider themselves Chinese, and consider themselves the true government of China as they were in the past. They only claim this officially. Of course people in reality know that they don't actually have any control of China and have zero chance of regaining it in the future. Typically they are descendants mainland Chinese. This is the blue party. In an extreme simplification, they can thought of as the republican party. Usually older people, more conservative, more friendly to China, and consider themselves more Chinese. (Extreme extreme oversimplification.) There is also the Green party, which grew in opposition to the kuomintang. They were not as involved in the revolution and I think they care even less about sovereignty over China than the blue party, who as I mentioned, already care very little about it. The green party members are typically descendants of families that were in Taiwan before the revolution. In an extreme simplification, they can be thought of as the democratic party. Usually younger people, more liberal, less friendly to China, and consider themselves more Taiwanese. (Extreme extreme oversimplification.) I don't have enough knowledge to elaborate past the very very basics but I thought I would clear up some of the differences, and point out that both parties care little about sovereignty over China. Also, the grandparent comment I think made a good distinction by specifying "taiwanese nationalist" and "chinese nationalist", removing ambiguity about what the "nation" in "nationalist" refers to. The capital-n Nationalist party does claim sovereignty over China, but only in an official capacity and they are indeed more pro-China.
- ykhorizon 8y ago
  If someone needs more history background, you can check out this article https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34729538 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34729538