Message from gchou

John:

I want to point out that the recovery of Taiwan is important to China for several reasons:

1) Unfettered access to the Pacific. If you look at a map of East Asia you will realize that Japan, along with her islands, Taiwan, and Philippines can form an effective blockade of Chinese access to the Pacific. During the Cold War, this blockade by US military was real.

2) An independent Taiwan may be allied with US or Japan. Today Mongolia tilts to Russia, while South Korea has US military stationed there. Does China want to see an independent Taiwan being possibly allied with US or Japan, and have their military stationed in Taiwan?

3) Reparation for a half century of Japanese aggression. The damage done by Japan to China was tremendous. Unlike the US, China was too weak to exact blood revenge against Japan. Today, many Japanese openly deny their historical crimes, while being protected by a powerful US military. Many Chinese feel a deep sense of injustice. Therefore, the return of Taiwan to China will not be given up.

If the unification of Taiwan with China means Da Zhongguo, then that's what the Chinese want. It may appear to be another single-centered polity tradition, but the reasons I listed above should be considered.

[Edit by="gchou on Apr 28, 7:27:49 PM"][/Edit]