Interesting ... where did you get this piece of wrong history? You should read modern Chinese history starting from the 1911 uprising again the Manchu Chin dynasty. Then the Japanese invasion of China. Then the beginning of Communist China and KMT.Originally posted by sanath:Why does communist china want Taiwan? Because Taiwan's economy and infrastructure is good, and being greedy, it just wants to expand its territory. If Taiwan were backward, i don't think they'd even want to care about it. This was why they gave it to the Japanese in 1895.
Originally posted by sanath:Hi,
in one of the books on Taiwan history, it quotes from the diary of the Prime Minister of the Qing Dynasty during Cixi's reign, Li Hongzhang who wrote, "The Taiwanese (Formosans) are neither with us nor of us" and so he ceded Taiwan (Formosa) to the Japanese in 1895.
Correct, if it wasn't part of China originally, how cud the Manchu cede it to Japan? Hong Kong was also ceded to Britain for 100 years. China in the 19th became weak with Western colonisation.
Now i have Taiwanese friends at the University in Kyoto that i am studying at. And not anyone of them wants Taiwan to be reunited with communist china, and they also regard Taiwan as a separate country from china. One of them (a guy) even said to me factly, "if china and Taiwan were to have a war, even if i am in Japan i will go back and fight for Taiwan" In fact, Chiang Kai-shek did make a statement when ROC pulled out of the UN that, "now, the Republic of China is no longer in existence", only that he stopped short of calling Taiwan an independent country, probably because he still dreamt of recovering mainland china from the communists. Of course, he died before he could fulfill that.
That is correct, the KMT still holds itself as the ruler and authority of whole China. The fact that ROC came about was precisely this: a govt in exile! And it wanted legitimacy by being admitted into UN. As for Japan and US - their positions are clearly selfish - they want a China divided! If the Chinese fight amongst themselves, it will not be a threat to Japan and USA. Your friend wants to fight for Taiwan - hahaaha, you believe? Very naive. No Japanese or Americans will want to die for the Chinese. It is different if they are soldiers!
Another fact is that the older generation of local Taiwanese (Ben Shen Ren) felt that the Japanese were better colonisers than when the KMT came in. Do not forget, who was responsible for the 228 incident.
There is this: between the devil and the deep blue sea. Neither are angels to the locals or indigeneous Taiwanese. Both are 'colonial', only difference: which is lesser of the two evils?
OK, the mistaken part - sorry.Originally posted by sanath:My friend is NOT a Japanese, he is a Taiwanese, if you read my post correctly. Taiwan probably did belong to mainland china in the past (Qing), but if you ask any Taiwanese now if it belongs to communist china, they'd probably say NO!
One way for reunification is maybe if china ceases to be a communist state, but that will probably not happen in our lifetime.
but most opinion poll shows only a few ppl think they are ppl of china .Originally posted by Beyond Religion:I would say that China is a communist state in name only. I also agree that some countries want to contain China by keeping it divided.
I only wish that someday they will be peacefully re-united.
Various regions in China are eyeing for independency too, such as Tibet, XinJiang region etc. If Taiwan succeed in her independent quest, what message will it send to the rest of the separatist regions?Originally posted by uncle_abc:china got so much land area,
why bother about taiwan,
if the taiwanese do not want to be reunited,
what is the point of forcing them?
hmmmm .... an interesting history written by Taiwanese or KMT or you?Originally posted by goldevil:ROC is nt an exile government .
it has not been overthrown .
overthrown means losing all its original territory like soviet union .
ROC originally hold taiwan as part of its territory .
it still retain parts of it original territory .
during kmt's reign , they include all of china in the territory cos they wanna reclaim it back with usa help .
they did not eventually reclaim mainland china .
Originally posted by TheGoodEarth:just curious only. u born in china? or you read the history stuff from books?
...
KMT still holds power in Taiwan, the majority of the paliament is with KMT, just that the head of state is a DPP.Originally posted by sanath:Well the fact is that the KMT no longer holds power in Taiwan now (dont forget DPP is in power, at least until the next election next year)
, and not forgetting even Chiang Kai-shek himself admitted when ROC was removed from UN that "ROC is no longer in existence" (this i heard from my Taiwanese friend), but had just stopped short of calling Taiwan "Republic of Taiwan".As for Chiang Kai Shek? Come on, this is a guy that tried collaborating with the japs, abandoned his fellowman in mainland/nanjing and subsequently lost the whole of China. besides, he is dead for like 30+ years already..
protest are common in HK even during the British rule, besides, the protests that Hkers made are to their own domestic policies with the local Hk govt. Nothing to do with the central govt in Beijing.
Talking about Hong Kong, well, not all are happy that it got reunified with China. Remember the number of protests that have happened in Hong Kong over the past decade against the central China government? Even my Hong Kong friend in University here was very unhappy on the anniversary of HK's reunification, because she felt that the HKers have not benefitted at all from the reunification.
Tibet would be worst off if they had their independence..they were one of the poorest country in the world. Although chinese rule was suppressive in the 50s, much of tht has ease. Now is an economic boomtime for china's western area. There is no real support for independent from tibetians in tibet anyway..
And of course, not forgetting that Tibet and Xinjiang were taken by force in the 1950s, it is no wonder that these two regions want independence from the mainland.
yes, totally agree.Originally posted by TheGoodEarth:Interesting ... where did you get this piece of wrong history? You should read modern Chinese history starting from the 1911 uprising again the Manchu Chin dynasty. Then the Japanese invasion of China. Then the beginning of Communist China and KMT.
Then you will know why China wants Taiwan. Do remember this: Taiwan is not a separate and different country from the old China before communism and KMT. It is KMT who created ROC. Actually another name for Taiwan is Formosa.
Originally posted by sanath:Hi,
in one of the books on Taiwan history, it quotes from the diary of the Prime Minister of the Qing Dynasty during Cixi's reign, Li Hongzhang who wrote, "The Taiwanese (Formosans) are neither with us nor of us" and so he ceded Taiwan (Formosa) to the Japanese in 1895.
Now i have Taiwanese friends at the University in Kyoto that i am studying at. And not anyone of them wants Taiwan to be reunited with communist china, and they also regard Taiwan as a separate country from china. One of them (a guy) even said to me factly, "if china and Taiwan were to have a war, even if i am in Japan i will go back and fight for Taiwan" In fact, Chiang Kai-shek did make a statement when ROC pulled out of the UN that, "now, the Republic of China is no longer in existence", only that he stopped short of calling Taiwan an independent country, probably because he still dreamt of recovering mainland china from the communists. Of course, he died before he could fulfill that.
Another fact is that the older generation of local Taiwanese (Ben Shen Ren) felt that the Japanese were better colonisers than when the KMT came in. Do not forget, who was responsible for the 228 incident.
Originally posted by sanath:Talking about Hong Kong, well, not all are happy that it got reunified with China. Remember the number of protests that have happened in Hong Kong over the past decade against the central China government? Even my Hong Kong friend in University here was very unhappy on the anniversary of HK's reunification, because she felt that the HKers have not benefitted at all from the reunification. With that, do you think that the Taiwanese will ever agree to the "one country, two systems"?
Human nature is such: no matter what is done with the best of good intention, there will always be some disgrunted, unhappy, dissatisfied people. Even if you give freely, some are also not happy. To me, that few individuals are not more important than the society at large. If you have to cater to each and every individual wishes and likings, there will be no end.
My take is this: unhappy or dissatisfied - either you doing something to make it better or go find another place where you can hold your peace.
And of course, not forgetting that Tibet and Xinjiang were taken by force in the 1950s, it is no wonder that these two regions want independence from the mainland.
For that matter, Inner Mongolia today is not part of original China. The Great Wall of China actually marked the boundary of ancient China - from north to south, and east to west. Tibet, Xinjiang and Manchuria were not Han China. Han China was invaded by the Mongols who set up the Yuan dynasty and made Beijing the capital. Manchuria also invaded Han China and set up the Qing dynasty.
That aside, personally, I think both Tibet and Xinjiang should be returned to its own people. They have not been really part of China but was annexed or occupied by China. Together, Tibet and Xinjiang is about 1/3 the whole of present day China, so you can see why China will never return these two regions. That's why the insurgents and rebels for independence. I feel sorry for them.