Leftimies
Dwelling in the Principle
Lately, I've been extremely irritated by the view put forth by China that Taiwan is merely a 'province of China' and not an independent country. It has no basis in the reality, yet more and more people can been seen online advocating this view. Forget about the Palestinian recognition, that's well on its way; I suggest that the biggest statehood question that needs to be internationally tackled is that of the Taiwanese.
Some things to consider:
(1) Taiwan/R.O.C. is a fully sovereign state, which means that it runs its on administrative system of
municipalities, counties, etc., its own police organization, it runs its own armed forces (very powerful military, if I may add) and has its own political system. Most importantly, they actively deny that they fall under Beijing's rule. Worth noting is also the fact that while China is authoritarian, Taiwanese democracy is functioning and alive (though it was not so in past).
(2) China exercises zero control in the Taiwanese territory. The Chinese police, military, code of law or citizenship are all powerless in Taiwan. For example, the two states maintain separate passports, and one cannot move freely between the two, but rather, have to go through the standard border formalities.
(3) Most Taiwanese identify as Taiwanese, not Chinese. Furthermore, they wish to be recognized as independent nation by the global community.
China actively threatens other countries if they signal they'd like to recognize Taiwan / R.O.C. as a country.
However, for all intents and purposes, Taiwan is an independent state regardless. Its not part of China in any shape or form, and Beijing exercises about same level of influence over Taiwan as it does over United States (perhaps even more over the U.S., considering that they own so much of the American debt?). Why then, do the majority of world's countries continue whoring to the Chinese money and refuse to recognize Taiwan as an independent country?
Give me your thoughts.
Some things to consider:
(1) Taiwan/R.O.C. is a fully sovereign state, which means that it runs its on administrative system of
municipalities, counties, etc., its own police organization, it runs its own armed forces (very powerful military, if I may add) and has its own political system. Most importantly, they actively deny that they fall under Beijing's rule. Worth noting is also the fact that while China is authoritarian, Taiwanese democracy is functioning and alive (though it was not so in past).
(2) China exercises zero control in the Taiwanese territory. The Chinese police, military, code of law or citizenship are all powerless in Taiwan. For example, the two states maintain separate passports, and one cannot move freely between the two, but rather, have to go through the standard border formalities.
(3) Most Taiwanese identify as Taiwanese, not Chinese. Furthermore, they wish to be recognized as independent nation by the global community.
China actively threatens other countries if they signal they'd like to recognize Taiwan / R.O.C. as a country.
However, for all intents and purposes, Taiwan is an independent state regardless. Its not part of China in any shape or form, and Beijing exercises about same level of influence over Taiwan as it does over United States (perhaps even more over the U.S., considering that they own so much of the American debt?). Why then, do the majority of world's countries continue whoring to the Chinese money and refuse to recognize Taiwan as an independent country?
Give me your thoughts.