Despite being a small country with barely 20 million inhabitants, for at least the last
seven decades, Taiwan has been a hot spot of international politics.
Its official name is not Taiwan, but the "Republic of China".
This is because its origin goes back to the country that emerged in China after the Xinhai
Revolution of 1912.
A revolution that led to the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
However, the story doesn't end there.
A few years later, China was to face a new nightmare with the invasion of the Japanese
Empire, which managed to control the richest and most powerful parts of the new country,
and whose capitulation in 1945 served as a breeding ground for the outbreak of a new
power struggle: that of Mao's communists against the republicans of the Kuomintang nationalists.
And so, you can imagine who won, right?
Mao was able to establish his people's republic in mainland China, while the leaders of the
counter-revolution and what remained of their army settled on the island of Formosa.
There, they created a state considered for decades to be the legitimate successor of
the model government that existed in Mainland China prior to the invasion of Japan and the
subsequent communist revolution.
That one thing is important, the legitimate government of the Republic of China.
And in this way, for more than 30 years the nationalist government of Taiwan was, for
many countries, the valid interlocutor, the Government of China.
The natural successor of the Xinhai Revolution.
The legitimate government of the entire country.
Viewed from this perspective, Mao's regime was nothing more than a government that illegitimately
occupied mainland China.
In fact, that has traditionally been the claim of the Taiwanese authorities.
And we need to tread carefully here, because we are not exactly talking about a democracy,
but of a rigid dictatorship under the control of Chiang Kai Sek.
To give you an idea, there were no elections held there until 1996.
In spite of this and thanks to its alliance with the United States, until 1971, the Republic
of China, i.e.
Taiwan, occupied the seat that belongs to China at the United Nations to the detriment
of the People's Republic founded and controlled by Mao Zedong.
In 1971, however, everything began to change.
That year Taiwan lost its seat at the UN in favour of the People's Republic of China.
Of course, let’s see, a country can only have one representative in the UN.
And if there are two governments that consider themselves to be legitimate, then… you have
to choose one or the other.
And therein lies the problem, Taiwan has never been considered as an independent country,
but as the legitimate China.
What a mess!
From that moment on, international recognition and the global influence of Taiwan have done
nothing but plummet.
Now, what happened to the Taiwan that was once fully recognized by all the major western
powers?
What will become of it now that mainland China has become a superpower?
What happened to Taiwan’s claims?
And what is even more important, what can we expect after the enormous protests that
have occurred in Hong Kong, and the recent presidential elections of January 2020 in
Taiwan?
Let’s take a look!
(FROM LEGITIMATE HEIR TO POLITICAL NUISANCE)
As I’ve just explained, for many years the government of Taiwan was, for most countries,
the sovereign representative of the Chinese nation.
Of course, the increasing influence of the People's Republic of China together with the
economic awakening of the Asian giant, has really turned the tables.
Taiwan began losing recognition from all the countries with a few exceptions from smaller
nations.
The United States, Taiwan’s most important ally, officially switched its recognition
to the People's Republic of China to the detriment of the Republic of China under the Carter
Administration in 1979.
Currently, only 14 countries in addition to the Vatican recognize the Republic of China
as the valid state of China.
This situation and the fact that even the fiercest allies of Taiwan cease to officially
recognize them, led the island government to abandon its claim as legitimate government
of China in the early 1990s.
Since then, Taiwan has relaxed its efforts on recognition and has opted for a strategy
that is becoming increasingly clear and is gaining more support over time: Not to be
recognized as the Republic of China, but only as Taiwan.
Given the story so far, that makes perfect sense.
The Taiwanese understand all too well that the political, social, economic and democratic
measures they have taken over the years on the island have created a great divide between
it and mainland China.
The lifestyle, current politics and society in Taiwan are completely different to what
exists in the People's Republic of China under the Communist Party dictatorship.
There are increasing differences in Taiwanese society and the island's government already
understands how insurmountable these are, and doesn’t view the possibility of melding
with mainland China worth the struggle.
Purely and simply, Taiwan is a foreign country.
(AUDIO: “China’s suppression of Taiwan in the international arena cannot change the
indisputable fact of Taiwan’s existence, nor can it coerce the Taiwanese people into
abandoning their democratic and free way of life,” - Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs)
We could say that those who only a couple of generations ago founded a country of exiled
people on an island have managed to create an independent nation with its own idiosyncrasies.
And that is precisely the idea defended by the current President Tsai Ing Wen, of the
Democratic Progressive Party.
But, wait a moment, there is one more important thing to point out.
This particular vision is not shared by all.
The Kuomintang, another major party in Taiwan defends a very different position: to build
closer ties and come to an understanding with the Chinese regime.
But...
Wait a moment, did I say Kuomintang?
Does that name ring any bells?
Exactly, the Kuomintang is the party founded by the nationalist republican leaders who
fought against the Chinese communist revolution and established the present Taiwan.
Yes, that’s right.
Even though it sounds incredible, the party that once went head to head with the Chinese
regime now advocates to be their friend.
Then, there are those that say nothing ever changes in politics.
Ha!
In this case the switches are more frequent than an Instagrammer snapping selfies.
Now, the question that crops up is…
What on earth has led to such a turnaround?
Well, money plays a crucial role in every aspect of this story.
Yes, yes, the money.
And I am not just referring to bribes, kickbacks or opaque agreements of all kinds, but to
the possibility of taking advantage of the huge economy that has been developed in mainland
China.
And it is precisely here where we hit a crucial question: Which would you choose?
Fight for the full independence of your country, although it means risking economic relations
with an Asian superpower or seek an understanding with Beijing?
That is not an easy question by any means.
This is the big question the Taiwanese are trying to answer and their collective answer
will determine the electoral result.
Now, before we go on, there is a question we haven’t covered.
What’s been happening with Taiwan since it began losing international recognition?
Has it been isolated?
The short answer is…
No.
Taiwan is an exception, it is not officially considered a country, but there is a de facto
international recognition regarding its sovereignty and self-government.
Their former international embassies have become "economic and cultural offices", which
act as embassies, de facto as well.
The Taiwanese have identity documents and passports issued by their own government that
are internationally recognized.
And, this is something that angers Beijing.
Few things bother the government of the People's Republic of China as much as seeing how Taiwan
is, in practice, an independent country.
(AUDIO: Taiwan must and will be reunited with China.
Independence will only bring hardship and the re-unification with the mainland was an
inevitable requirement for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese people.”
Xi Jinping)
But do not think for a second that they put up with this.
No.
The Chinese Government, the government of Xi Jinping, has been harassing the island
for years with strategies designed to wear them down.
How exactly?
Many of you can imagine, I’m sure.
China’s pockets are deep, extremely deep; and don’t make the mistake of thinking there
are only a couple of countries willing to cast Taiwan aside in exchange for a handful
of investments.
We all know too well that money talks.
But, just a moment, all this does not mean that Taiwan is alone in the world.
That’s something that China hasn’t managed to achieve.
Another thing that, by the way, drives them crazy as well.
You see, even if it is only recognized diplomatically by a handful of governments, the Taiwanese
retain many allies and common interests with a lot of countries.
In particular there’s an agreement with the US that has been in place since the end
of the 70s which states that the great American power ensures that the island will be stocked
with military equipment.
(AUDIO: “Changes in the diplomatic arena are indeed challenging.
But Taiwan still has many friends around the world willing to stand with us, and we are
not alone.”
- Tsai Ing Wen, president of Taiwan.)
So, as we’ve already discussed in a previous video that I’ll leave a link for in the
description, the Taiwanese government has opted for the strategy of differentiation:
We have nothing to do with China, we are Taiwan and we do not intend to rule over anyone other
than ourselves, nor allow anyone to rule over us.
This is the message from President Tsai that has struck a deep chord with Taiwanese voters.
In the recent presidential elections, the victory of Tsai has been overwhelming: she
got 58% of the votes, a difference of almost 20 points over the Kuomintang party of Han
Kuo Yu.
So this is much more than a simple victory.
What Tsai has done electorally is to take a steamroller, throw the candidates in the
asphalt and roll right over the top of them.
But why is it that the Taiwanese have voted in this way despite the constant warnings
of Beijing against the new government of Tsai Ing Wen?
Listen up!
(TAIWAN: THERMOMETER OF CHINESE EXPANSIONISM)
The recent elections of January 2020 in Taiwan have been a tremendous democratic slap in
the face to the Beijing regime.
With the lessons learned from the recent events in Hong Kong, the Taiwanese have seen the
eyes of the beast clearer than ever.
The constant meddling by Beijing in hongkongese affairs, the violation of the special status
of the city, and the huge protests to claim back freedom, have led the Taiwanese to lose
the very little trust they had left in China.
That is why they have voted against the Kuomintang and its trust in Beijing.
A trust which, they claim, would result in economic stability - That is to say, Chinese
money and peace in the region, or put another way, a reduction in the influence of the United
States.
However, the opinion of the Taiwanese people has been very different.
The nearly 20 points difference achieved by Tsai Ing Wen marks the greatest electoral
victory since elections have been held in the country.
(AUDIO: “The results of this election carry an added significance.
They have shown that when our sovereignty is threatened, the Taiwanese people will shout
our determination even more loudly back.”
Tsai Ing Wen, president of Taiwan)
Tsai has been able to take advantage of the fear the Taiwanese have about loss of freedom
due to the influence of China, and it’s a point she drove home in her final campaign
speech.
Listen:
(AUDIO; “The young people of Hong Kong have used their lives, as well as their blood and
tears, to demonstrate to us that ‘one country, two systems’ is unworkable.
Tomorrow, let our young people of Taiwan demonstrate to them that the values of democracy and freedom
will overcome all difficulties.”
- Tsai Ing Wen, president of Taiwan.)
The difficulties that Tsai is talking about are international political isolation and
loss of investments.
The Asian giant is hell-bent on isolating Taipei in order to stifle its economy and
force the island nation to surrender to their demands if they want to maintain their standard
of living.
And to this end they are not hesitating to flash some cash.
We have seen it most recently with two of the few countries that still recognized Taiwan
as the legitimate government of China: the Solomon Islands and Kiribati.
(AUDIO: China extends influence in Pacific as Solomon Islands break with Taiwan - The
Guardian)
(AUDIO: Taiwan loses another ally as Kiribati cuts ties - BBC)
Two small territories in the Pacific that could have been key for the United States
in the containment of Chinese expansionist aspirations.
But now the balance seems tilted more than ever toward Beijing.
Of the fourteen countries that still recognize Taiwan, there are only four in the South Pacific
area.
And the recognition or not of Taiwan by these countries implicitly represents their level
of loyalty to the United States against China.
Which leaves us very striking results.
The lax approach of the United States in this part of the world coupled with the giant deterring
power of Chinese money, have ensured that no wars nor military ships were needed to
ensure control of these seas which are very important for world trade.
But… let’s not stray from the issue.
The thing is that now, with another four years of the independentist Tsai ruling Taiwan,
it is expected that relations with Beijing will become colder than an ice cream in the
middle of the North Pole.
And when we talk about diplomatic relations and China… we’re often talking about economic
blockades.
That is the challenge that President Tsai is facing…
Because, if there’s one thing Beijing has argued for both actively and passively, it’s
that they will never tolerate the full independence of Taiwan.
(AUDIO; “We reject the ‘one country, two systems model.
We value the lifestyle of democracy, and we defend our sovereignty.”
Tsai Ing Wen)
But, at this point, it’s your turn, if you were Taiwanese, which would you choose, your
political and social freedoms, or China and the business?
Do you think that Taiwan can continue growing and developing leaving the Chinese superpower
aside?
Leave your answer in the comments.
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