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1) The PRC exerts indirect control over Taiwan's economy by pressuring its trading partners, so the distinction is academic. 2) That's a historic stance and no

1) The PRC exerts indirect control over Taiwan's economy by pressuring its trading partners, so the distinction is academic. 2) That's a historic stance and not one claimed by most Taiwanese people today. Meanwhile, PRC passports devote a page to each province of China, including a page for Taiwan.

letstrynvm 8y ago
The distinction is far from academic. China itself is Taiwan's top trading partner https://www.trade.gov.tw/english/Pages/Detail.aspx?nodeID=94&pid=651990&dl_DateRange=all&txt_SD=&txt_ED=&txt_Keyword=&Pageid=0 https://www.trade.gov.tw/english/Pages/Detail.aspx?nodeID=94... Followed by the US. China does not need to "pressure its trading partners". Taiwan has its own currency, does not pay tax to the mainland, has a real democracy, and is an ally to the US. Chinese passports can devote a page to whereever they want, it means nothing. Interesting fact... phone numbers in the Taiwanese capital begin 02. That's because when the KMT invaded, they reserved 01 for Nanjing, their base of operations when they were the mainland government, and for whatever reason they wanted to believe they would be able to retake it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numbers_in_Taiwan#Area_codes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numbers_in_Taiwan#Ar... Does this mean Taiwan owns Nanjing? :-) Nor does the passport page act as a deed of ownership for Taiwan...
- markjdb 8y ago
  And Taiwan isn't even one of China's top ten trading partners. So who has more power over the other? The passport thing doesn't mean anything in and of itself. That's not the point.
  - letstrynvm 8y ago
    You actually claimed: >> The PRC exerts indirect control over Taiwan's economy by pressuring its trading partners, so the distinction is academic. That's not what happens. What does happen is China pressures international bodies like the UN and the Olympic committee to pretend if they want to talk to Taiwan, they must talk to only China. But it has mainly cosmetic effect... eg, despite all that effort, Taiwanese passports (not issued by China) are recognized almost everywhere except China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_passport#Limitations_in_usage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_passport#Limitations_in... Of course the nuclear-armed mainland is bigger and scarier than a small island of 20-something million with only conventional forces. But China has not been suppressing Taiwan's trade as you wrongly said, it has been encouraging and benefitting from it to the point it's the #1 partner with double the value of the US.
  - chrischen 8y ago
    China has more power, obviously, but most of their claims are purely cosmetic, since if they wanted to truly absorb Taiwan they can put a whole lot more pressure on Taiwan than 1) letting them open factories and conduct business in China 2) letting them visit and vacation in China 3) trade with China at all If you want an example of an actual embargo check out Iran, Cuba, for great examples of pointless aggression (from the US).
chrischen 8y ago
1) Such soft power is exerted by PRC everywhere in the region, and even against the US as exemplified by the trade "war" (it takes two to fight a war). If Taiwan was under the thumb of China then it wouldn't be able to, or need, to ban Chinese social media. 2) Same can be said for average PRC citizens too—they're not really day-to-day concerned about owning Taiwan. They often travel there for vacation too.
- markjdb 8y ago
  1) So why doesn't Taiwan have a seat at the UN? 2) That just indicates that the PRC will continue to exert soft power over Taiwan instead of something more overt.
chillwaves 8y ago
Taiwan acts as an independent country. That's why they have independent elections for a president, etc. They have different beauractic bodies and welfare programs. There are many more examples of how Taiwan is a separate country. The distinction is far from academic.

letstrynvm 8y ago

The distinction is far from academic. China itself is Taiwan's top trading partner https://www.trade.gov.tw/english/Pages/Detail.aspx?nodeID=94&pid=651990&dl_DateRange=all&txt_SD=&txt_ED=&txt_Keyword=&Pageid=0 https://www.trade.gov.tw/english/Pages/Detail.aspx?nodeID=94... Followed by the US. China does not need to "pressure its trading partners". Taiwan has its own currency, does not pay tax to the mainland, has a real democracy, and is an ally to the US. Chinese passports can devote a page to whereever they want, it means nothing. Interesting fact... phone numbers in the Taiwanese capital begin 02. That's because when the KMT invaded, they reserved 01 for Nanjing, their base of operations when they were the mainland government, and for whatever reason they wanted to believe they would be able to retake it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numbers_in_Taiwan#Area_codes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numbers_in_Taiwan#Ar... Does this mean Taiwan owns Nanjing? :-) Nor does the passport page act as a deed of ownership for Taiwan...

markjdb 8y ago
And Taiwan isn't even one of China's top ten trading partners. So who has more power over the other? The passport thing doesn't mean anything in and of itself. That's not the point.
- letstrynvm 8y ago
  You actually claimed: >> The PRC exerts indirect control over Taiwan's economy by pressuring its trading partners, so the distinction is academic. That's not what happens. What does happen is China pressures international bodies like the UN and the Olympic committee to pretend if they want to talk to Taiwan, they must talk to only China. But it has mainly cosmetic effect... eg, despite all that effort, Taiwanese passports (not issued by China) are recognized almost everywhere except China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_passport#Limitations_in_usage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_passport#Limitations_in... Of course the nuclear-armed mainland is bigger and scarier than a small island of 20-something million with only conventional forces. But China has not been suppressing Taiwan's trade as you wrongly said, it has been encouraging and benefitting from it to the point it's the #1 partner with double the value of the US.
- chrischen 8y ago
  China has more power, obviously, but most of their claims are purely cosmetic, since if they wanted to truly absorb Taiwan they can put a whole lot more pressure on Taiwan than 1) letting them open factories and conduct business in China 2) letting them visit and vacation in China 3) trade with China at all If you want an example of an actual embargo check out Iran, Cuba, for great examples of pointless aggression (from the US).

chrischen 8y ago

1) Such soft power is exerted by PRC everywhere in the region, and even against the US as exemplified by the trade "war" (it takes two to fight a war). If Taiwan was under the thumb of China then it wouldn't be able to, or need, to ban Chinese social media. 2) Same can be said for average PRC citizens too—they're not really day-to-day concerned about owning Taiwan. They often travel there for vacation too.

markjdb 8y ago
1) So why doesn't Taiwan have a seat at the UN? 2) That just indicates that the PRC will continue to exert soft power over Taiwan instead of something more overt.

chillwaves 8y ago

Taiwan acts as an independent country. That's why they have independent elections for a president, etc. They have different beauractic bodies and welfare programs. There are many more examples of how Taiwan is a separate country. The distinction is far from academic.