Taiwan and the sleeping giant

 

Taiwan is a picturesque island located in the Pacific Ocean, inhabited by about 24 million people, with its capital, Taipei. Taiwan may seem like other developed countries crowded on its territory with high-rise buildings with unique architecture, but for other countries it is more than just that.

Let us take, for example, China, which believes that Taiwan is an inalienable part of its territory. As for Taiwan, it rejects this and considers itself an independent country with its own entity and sovereignty.

Of course, due to the fierce competition between China and America as an economic power, the latter announced its support for Taiwan in its independence and even established a military base on Taiwanese territory. What is the reason for the US-China conflict over Taiwan?

In order to understand the reasons, we must go back in time. Specifically with the end of World War II. When a civil war broke out in China in 1946 between the two main political currents in the country. They are the Communists and the Nationalists, or as they are called “Komintang.” The war ended in 1949 with the defeat of the Nationalists at the hands of the Communists led by Mao, who announced the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. It is located in China, with its capital, Beijing. As for the nationalists, to the island of Taiwan, which originally belonged to China, and they took Taipei as their capital. . They declared their independence from China and the establishment of the National Republic of China, or as it is known in Taiwan, and each party claimed that it is the sole and legitimate representative of the Chinese all over the world.

Which caused the division of the world's countries into two poles: the first pole, which included America and the capitalist Western countries that recognized democratic Taiwan and granted it a seat at the United Nations. And the other pole, which included the countries of the Soviet Union and recognized China as the legitimate representative of the Chinese.

The situation continued until 1971, after a secret meeting that brought together former US Secretary of State Henry Kensinger and Chinese Prime Minister Xu Online to discuss issues of neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and the Soviet Union. China's only demand at this meeting was the abolition of Western recognition of Taiwan. And the demand to adopt the one-China policy, which means withdrawing Taiwan’s seat from the United Nations and the Security Council, which is what actually happened and was replaced by the seat of China and America reduced its military presence on the island. He demanded the return of Taiwan's support against China even if military intervention is required.

You may be wondering now what is the importance of Taiwan to America? Taiwan is a strategic location that enables America to comfortably extend its influence on the eastern edge of Asia and to extend the upper hand in the event of an escalation of Sino-US tensions. As for China, it considers Taiwan a part of its territory since history. We do not forget the island's commercial importance, especially the Taiwan Strait, which is an important trade entry point for oil and gas goods to Japan, South Korea and China.

A study by the American Hoover Institution predicted that the tide of war will swing in favor of China, which will extend its authority on the island by 2025.