The large island due east of mainland China, Taiwan, continues to be in the news because the communist government in Beijing believes that the island is a renegade province and should be forcibly brought under the control of their government. Fighter jets from the communist-occupied mainland have been routinely penetrating Taiwanese airspace this past year. And with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it seems very plausible that the “People’s Republic of China” will launch an attack against the armed forces of the Republic of China on Taiwan.
But does the island “belong” to the Chinese government on the mainland? Of course, no group of people “belongs” to any government, but do the communists in Beijing have a legitimate claim to bring back Taiwan under their control?
For millennia Taiwan was inhabited by various Aboriginal tribes who were not related to the Chinese at all. It was only from the 11th to the 16th centuries that Chinese from Fujian province began immigrating there. They were a small minority, either trying to escape Chinese justice or establishing trading posts.
The first foreign government to lay claim to the island was the Dutch government, not China! This happened in 1622 with the establishment of Dutch trading posts. The Spanish followed in 1626. From 1644-1652 a Chinese Ming general named Koxinga went on his own campaign to oust the Europeans. Major Chinese immigration followed from 1662-1664. However, imperial Chinese forces never thought of Taiwan as a part of the empire until 1683. Until then they described it as “a ball of mud beyond the pale of civilization.”
The Japanese defeated imperial Chinese in 1895 and imposed their own rule on Taiwan until their defeat at the end of World War 2 in 1945. The Chinese Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-Shek took over at that time. However, when Chiang’s forces were defeated and driven off the mainland in 1948-49, he re-established his government in exile on the island of Taiwan. His government was known as The Republic of China, whereas the communist occupiers on the mainland called their government “The People’s Republic”.
The two governments are mortal enemies, each laying claim to be the legitimate government of the Chinese people. While the communists on the mainland continue to enslave and terrorize their people with their one party rule, the Chinese on Taiwan have been enjoying free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, a booming capitalist economy, and a multi-party political system since the 1980s.
That could all go away if the communists take their cue from Putin and decide that now is a good time to attack a free, peaceful nation.