You must have heard about Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan, or about the constant military harassment specifically this China’s neighbour sees for mere political endeavours. Geographically, Taiwan consists of 168 islands, its main Island also known as ‘Formosa’ is 100 miles away from the Chinese mainland. Politically, only 13 countries have formally recognized Taiwan as an independent State and have full diplomatic relations with it, while the majority of the United Nations State Members including powerful countries like the U.S settle for informal relations with Taiwan.
In this article, we will be discussing the evolution of the Taiwanese case by answering the following questions: What is the story behind Taiwan? Why is it controversial for the Chinese, and what is the ‘ One China ‘ principle? And finally, how important is Taiwan for China?
Origins Of Taiwan Issue
After the end Second World War, and Japan’s surrender. China jumped into a civil war, it was the Chinese Nationalists ‘Kuomintang’ (KMT) the then governing political party against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The latter came out victorious while the first retreated to the current Island of Taiwan, which resulted in limiting its jurisdiction to Taiwan and the surrounding smaller Islands. Claims over whom represents China were announced by both governments.
On one hand, the KMT called for a ‘Republic of China ‘ and its right to control all mainland of China and not only Taiwan, on the other hand, the CCP also called for a ‘ People’s Republic Of China ‘ and claims control over all the Chinese territories including Taiwan as well as to be representing China in the United Nations(U.N). Both sides kept progressing as separate States, 1971 the CCP’s People’s Republic Of China was recognized by the UN as the sole representative of China in The U.N General Assembly and Security Council.
Today, even though considered one of the largest economies, Taiwan is still regarded by China as part of its territory, even though it has independently managed to ensure its own development. Taiwan is also not able to take part in any international organization or events unless it is done on a non-state basis under different names like ‘Chinese Taipei’.
Source: Wikipedia
Relations Between China And Taiwan
Although there was never been an agreement between the two, China and Taiwan are separated by a ‘ Median Line ’ that was established during the cold war when tensions were rising between the Soviet Union and The United States. China now continues to violate the mentioned line as its relationship with Taiwan gets more complicated due to the constant American interference.
In general, relations between Taiwan and China are managed through The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on the Taiwanese side and by the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) on the Chinese side. Two other organizations were founded in 1991 to conduct exchanges between the two sides which are, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) of Taiwan and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) of the people’s Republic of China.
The existing relations don’t eliminate the use of force by the Chinese side, as it is continuously harassing Taiwanese ‘Air space’, conducting military drills with live ammunition around Taiwan to cause a state of instability on the Island. All these strategic moves, are to consolidate The One-China principle, which prevents any formal existence or recognition of Taiwan by the international community and thus keeps mainland China and Taiwan both part of China, and the current Chinese Communist Party the only legitimate government of China.
Taiwan’s Importance to China
In the second half of the 20th century, Taiwan alongside Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea became known as one of the four tigers of Asia as a result of the significant economic and industrial growth it has seen. Taiwan became a major exporter of electronics, metal products, plastics and rubber, chemicals, and machinery. But in the semiconductor industry, the Taiwanese company ‘Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is a pioneer on the international level.
Due to the importance of the semiconductor sector, the U.S and China are racing to implant TSMC’s complex factories and acquire the know-how of the latest semiconductor technologies TSMC has. The U.S relies on TSMC chips in different fields, from the components of apple products to the F-35 fighter jets. A crucial role that Taiwan plays, and that tells how big the impact would be if the annexation of Taiwan by China happens. Gaining access to this technology is appealing to China, especially after the Taiwanese Tech Giant announced the new 3 nanometers chips.
Huge gains are a few miles away from the Chinese coasts but the People’s Republic still has to be approaching it carefully and not fall into the trap of a long war that would drain the Chinese economy and stop its rise causing a loss of momentum that took years to gain.
Written By: Abderrahmane Loudiyi
Edited By: Nidhi Jha
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