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China does not want to take over Taiwan other than not having a non-US-ally close at door. Previous government of Taiwan had good relationship with China, altho

China does not want to take over Taiwan other than not having a non-US-ally close at door. Previous government of Taiwan had good relationship with China, although China didn't allow them to join WHO as an independent country, it did permit it to join WHA and WHO as a non-member state. China's trade deficit with Taiwan is tens of billions dollars every year. It is just that US's strategy of containing China works really well with the pro-independence party in Taiwan. Anyone allowing Taiwan to be fully independent will lose power in China. It is mainly a proxy power fight between US and China. Taiwan is the most important spot in the first pearl chain containing China. China will have to make a decision either to break the chain or be contained forever. It is a interesting year, since we already have three or four wars broke out this year so far.

andy_ppp 5y ago
Business as usual you could say...
elefanten 5y ago
This is wholly contradicted by decades of Chinese statecraft and diplomacy, and more recently and directly by Xi’s repeated, insistent rhetoric about unification. They badly want Taiwan. Not at any cost, but certainly at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives —- especially those of the ‘ungrateful’ and ‘unruly’ Taiwanese. The existence of trade between them in no way contradicts those desires.
- powerapple 5y ago
  You are right about the situation now. I was mainly talking about how did we end up here. The "Taiwan is part of China" has been in the text book of China since the People's Republic of China founded. If you looked at diplomacy, one thing China did previously was to maintain the status quo to a degree that it has refused to take the few countries which recognize Taiwan in order to maintain the friendly relationship. I have to say that now things changed. That's why it has become a hotspot for a potential war zone between US and China. As for TSMC, I believe the decision should be attributed to Biden's government's push for having production capacity in the US rather than a pure business decision.
  - sofixa 5y ago
    > he "Taiwan is part of China" has been in the text book of China since the People's Republic of China founded Well... The island has been a part of China historically, taken by the Japanese in the first Sino-Japanese war, and after WWII returned to China, which was in the middle of a civil war, in which the losing side ran away to the island. Their flag and official name are the ones of the Kuomintang party and regime, aforementioned losing side. It'd be like if the CSA run away to Hawaii, assimilated the local population, called itself CSA with flag and all, and the USA still said from times to times it belongs to them. And not only that, the UN and all members see it like that as well - officially and for diplomatic purposes, Taiwan doesn't exist and is a part of China.

andy_ppp 5y ago

Business as usual you could say...

elefanten 5y ago

This is wholly contradicted by decades of Chinese statecraft and diplomacy, and more recently and directly by Xi’s repeated, insistent rhetoric about unification. They badly want Taiwan. Not at any cost, but certainly at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives —- especially those of the ‘ungrateful’ and ‘unruly’ Taiwanese. The existence of trade between them in no way contradicts those desires.

powerapple 5y ago
You are right about the situation now. I was mainly talking about how did we end up here. The "Taiwan is part of China" has been in the text book of China since the People's Republic of China founded. If you looked at diplomacy, one thing China did previously was to maintain the status quo to a degree that it has refused to take the few countries which recognize Taiwan in order to maintain the friendly relationship. I have to say that now things changed. That's why it has become a hotspot for a potential war zone between US and China. As for TSMC, I believe the decision should be attributed to Biden's government's push for having production capacity in the US rather than a pure business decision.
- sofixa 5y ago
  > he "Taiwan is part of China" has been in the text book of China since the People's Republic of China founded Well... The island has been a part of China historically, taken by the Japanese in the first Sino-Japanese war, and after WWII returned to China, which was in the middle of a civil war, in which the losing side ran away to the island. Their flag and official name are the ones of the Kuomintang party and regime, aforementioned losing side. It'd be like if the CSA run away to Hawaii, assimilated the local population, called itself CSA with flag and all, and the USA still said from times to times it belongs to them. And not only that, the UN and all members see it like that as well - officially and for diplomatic purposes, Taiwan doesn't exist and is a part of China.