I'm surprised this isn't higher up in the comments. Historically the island of Taiwan was "China" according to the US. The switch happened thanks to a career cr

I'm surprised this isn't higher up in the comments. Historically the island of Taiwan was "China" according to the US. The switch happened thanks to a career criminal, Richard Nixon. US textbooks conveniently omit this entirely. Taiwan is certainly an independent government welcome to pass its own laws and govern itself. But for military defense, the US has been in charge since the end of the civil war. The same is true of several other Pacific island nations. The international relations of Taiwan is a non-issue because outside of Haiti I don't think anyone bothers to recognize them.