By: Yuyu Fu
The general western view tends to see Taiwan as an independent nation and criticise China for its intervention and suppression against Taiwan. This article calls readers to not make an absolute judgement or stand on a single perspective. In this article, readers are offered a brief and relatively objective history of Taiwan, which can help them to understand arguments from different parties' perspectives.
Before the Japanese Rule
The first known settlers in Taiwan were tribal people from nowadays southern China. Roughly the Taiwan island's Chinese written historical records started in AD 239. For centuries, Chinese emperors had been sending expeditionary forces to Taiwan and from the 17th Century, significant numbers of migrants from China arrived in Taiwan, often fleeing turmoil or hardship. Most were Hoklo Chinese and Hakka Chinese, from Fujian and Guangdong. These two types of migrants are now by far the largest demographic group on the island. After being colonised by the Dutch for a short while (1624-1661), China's Qing dynasty had taken back its sovereignty over Taiwan from 1683 to 1895.
World War II: Under the Japanese Rule
The year 1895 is a turning point for Taiwan. Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War and the Qing government had to cede Taiwan to Japan as a price. The short-lived southern resistance movement was suppressed by Japanese troops and Japan inaugurated its five decades of rule over Taiwan.
The Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War broke out in 1927 but by 1937 KMT (Kuomintang) nationalists and communists decided to unite against the Japanese invaders. After Japan surrendered on 15 August 1949, the Communist Party established the new government of China on 1 October and named the country the People's Republic of China. In the same year 7 December, the leader of Kuomintang (KMT) Chiang Kai-shek and the remnants of his government fled to Taiwan. This group of about 1.5 million people dominated Taiwan's politics for many years - even though they only account for 14% of the population.
Fig: A map of China and Taiwan's territories (ABC News: GFX/Jarrod Fankhauser)
Cross-Strait Conflicts after WW2
When the Republic of China first moved to Taiwan, its rule was dictatorial and authoritarian. Facing resistance from local people and under pressure from growing movements that demanded democracy, Chiang Kai-shek's son, Chiang Ching-Kuo, began a process of democratic reforms in the 1980s. New political parties gradually emerged in Taiwan, such as the Democratic Progressive Party (founded in 1986) which eventually developed into one of the two dominant political parties in Taiwan today.
The relationship between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) was very tense in the 1950s due to the armed conflict over strategic islands in the Taiwan Strait. In the early 1950s, Kuomingtang's (KMT) forces launched small-scale attacks from Jinmen and Mazu against the coast of mainland China, which were two significant strategic islands in the Strait because of their geographic proximity to both China and Taiwan. As revenge, the PRC also bombed the two islands twice. Leadership on both sides of the strait viewed the islands as a potential launching pad for a ROC invasion to retake the Chinese mainland so both sides had a great interest in controlling the islands.
The relationship between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) was very tense in the 1950s due to the armed conflict over strategic islands in the Taiwan Strait. In the early 1950s, Kuomingtang's (KMT) forces launched small-scale attacks from Jinmen and Mazu against the coast of mainland China, which were two significant strategic islands in the Strait because of their geographic proximity to both China and Taiwan. As revenge, the PRC also bombed the two islands twice. Leadership on both sides of the strait viewed the islands as a potential launching pad for a ROC invasion to retake the Chinese mainland so both sides had a great interest in controlling the islands.
U.S. policy toward East Asia in the early Cold War was originally letting PRC forces cross the Strait and defeat Chiang, but after the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, the US turned back to ally with Taiwan, together fighting Communist China. It deployed a fleet in the Taiwan Strait to protect its ally from possible attack from the mainland and it wanted the ROC to maintain control of the islands. Furthermore, the US signed the Mutual Defense Treaty with the ROC which promised support if the ROC engaged in a broader conflict with the PRC.
In late 1987, for the first time after more than four decades, Taiwan residents were permitted to visit families in China mainland. At the same, trade between the two sides started to bloom. In 1991, Taiwan lifted the state of emergency and unilaterally ended the state of war with China. Two years later, the first direct conference between the two sides' political officials was held in Singapore.
On April 26, 2005, the President of the Republic of China Lien Chan traveled to mainland China to meet with the leaders of the CPC including the President of the People's Republic of China, Hu Jintao. This was the first meeting since 1949 of the leaders of the KMT and Communist Party of China. In 2008, Taiwan and China resumed high-level talks after the KMT’s Ma Ying-jeou is elected president on a Beijing-friendly platform.
Current Situation
The general western view is that Taiwan has been governed independently of China since 1949, but Beijing views the island as part of its territory. Beijing vowed to eventually “unify” Taiwan with the mainland, using force if necessary. Tensions are rising. In the 1980s, relations between China and Taiwan started to improve. China put forward the "one country, two systems" plan, promised Taiwan self-sovereignty if it accepted Chinese reunification.
The same system was established in Hong Kong and Macau, arguably to be used as a showcase to attract Taiwanese people back to the mainland. Taiwan rejected the offer, but it did relax rules on visits to China and business wand investment with China. In 1991, it unilaterally proclaimed the war with the People's Republic of China on the mainland to be over. One year after, two sides agreed on the unofficial 1992 Consensus, claiming that both sides belong to the same, the one china, and work together to seek national reunification. Afterward, the idea of "One China" became Kuomingtang's fundamental principle towards cross-strait relations. The Kuomingtang does not support Taiwan’s independence and consistently calls for closer ties with Beijing.
During the 2 terms of former President Ma Ying-jeou, the cross-strait relations have once developed to a state of unprecedented friendliness. However, since the election of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in 2016, cross-strait tensions have escalated massively. Different from her predecessor Ma from the Kuomingtang, Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party administration refused to accept the 1992 Consensus and the idea of "one China", instead, she aims for complete independence of Taiwan.
In a 2019 speech, the president of China, Xi Jinping, reiterated China’s long-standing proposal for Taiwan: “one country, two systems.” Yet, such a framework is very unpopular among the Taiwanese public. Pointing to Beijing’s repression of Hong Kong’s freedom protests, Tsai and even the KMT have rejected Xi's offer.
Work Cited
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Nationalist Party". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Oct. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nationalist-Party-Chinese-political-party. Accessed 24 February 2022.
"Timeline: 70 Years of Taiwan-China Relations." Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera, Aljazeera, 3 Jan. 2019, www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/1/3/timeline-taiwan-china-relations-since-1949. Accessed 24 Feb. 2022.
"What's Behind the China-Taiwan Divide?" BBC News, 26 May 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34729538. Accessed 24 Feb. 2022.
"China replaces Taiwan in the UNSC." Elect The Council, electthecouncil.org/timeline-post/china-replaces-taiwan-in-the-unsc/. Accessed 24 Feb. 2022.
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