FREE ESSAY ON TAIWAN AND CHINA

TAIWAN AND CHINA

Taiwan perspective:
The major problem between Taiwan and China is the Taiwanese economy. If the island state
had never managed to industrialize under the GMD, it would have been absorbed by the CCP
and the rest of mainland China long ago. As is, its strong economy, international trade
and connections keep it steadily propped up in its uneven fight. Globalization and fine
balance between defence and parlay of Taiwan are the only things that will keep it out of
the hands of China.
Taiwan's modern life began the start of the peoples republic of China; almost all of the
fleeing neo-fascist and capitalist Goumindang went to Taiwan to escape persecution and to
reorganize for the struggle against the now-communist mainland. Due to their somewhat
unrealistic world-view and the previous experience that the GMD had in statecraft, they
dominated the native Taiwanese, establishing class distinctions and a industrial base
very quickly in China. This was aided by their closer connections with the western
powers, established early on and kept up through WW2, for example. The communist mainland
was forced to start from the ground up, more or less, receiving much less aid and having
vastly greater problems of organization, due to size and the rural state of the
population. Taiwan made quick, important gains in schools and infrastructure as well,
reinvesting money with the purpose to make Taiwan rich.
Taiwan was, due to foriegn connections, especially with the USA, also the first and only
representatives of Chinese people in the international community. They filibustered and
protested very loudly whenever the CCP tried to gain voice in international forums like
the UN, and insisted for a very long time that they(Taiwan) represented the entire land
area inhabited and governed by the CCP. They had a thriving international lassiez-faire
economy that also interested foreign powers in keeping the statist mainland from
absorbing Taiwan. 
Taiwan was also quick to arm, due to militaristic preoccupation and the threat of
mainland China. For many years, possibly even today, China could not annex Taiwan without
massive, debilitating effort, and would embroil itself in international conflict as well.
China has by today become an industrial nation of the first tier, and the 'cat theorist'
have brought it out of total isolation- to anger China now has economic ramifications,
and thus they make it costly to interfere with their goals. Military action is a constant
threat, but not likely unless a particular brand of revanche hard-line politics comes to
power in Beijing.
Culturally, also, times have changed in fifty years. National identity has grown apart-
enough mainlanders on Taiwan have given way to mixed generations, and the 'pure'
mainlanders no longer run politics completely. So it will be very hard to re-establish a
cultural over Taiwan again, should China r-gain control. The two governments are much the
same vintage, and neither one has more precedent or experience than the other- they are
truly separate states now. China now represents China in the UN, and Taiwan is not able
or willing to present its claims to rule the mainland anymore.
China feels it must re-gain control of Taiwan and its rich industrial base, in order to
augment its own resources and also to more thoroughly control the trade in the area.
Japan and the US, the only real competition in the area, certainly don't want that unless
they have guarantees of free trade and so forth. The Taiwanese are certain that Chinese
annexation would result in a great shift downward in their lifestyles and freedom, but
they must heed the realities of the situation, globally and locally, which is that China
is bigger, and has some claim to exercise, and will, given enough isolation and/or
ignorance from the world, take over Taiwan. The movement in Taiwan to open relations and
dialogue with China is the only way the rich, capitalist Taiwan is going to influence
events in the future. From the US perspective, it matters only if China redirects
Taiwanese capital and business into China rather than allowing it to continue freely. The
issue of trade control in SEasia is also a knotty problem- Taiwan may be seen as the
boulder in the stream that splits and weakens the Chinese river of regional control.