The Asian dragon has been threatening during the course of the last few years. To invade Taiwan and to subject it to the corrupt, despotic, totalitarian, communist regime of mainland China. What legal claims however does China have to the Island of Taiwan? The appearance of a culture on the Island, based on agricultural pursuits, around 3000 BCE seem to be the ancestors of the modern Taiwanese people. The Island was controlled by the Dutch during the 17th Century. This was followed by an influx of Hoklo and Hakka immigrants. From the Fujian and Guangdong areas of mainland China. The Spaniards built a settlement in the north and were driven out by the Dutch in 1642. A loyalist of The Ming Dynasty, Koxinga, defeated the Dutch and established a base on the Island of Taiwan in 1662. His forces were defeated by The Qing Dynasty in 1683, and parts of Taiwan was integrated into the Qing Empire. The Island was ceded by Qing to The Empire of Japan following the first Sino Japanese war in 1895.
Rice and sugar were produced in Taiwan and exported to The Japanese Empire. The Island also served as a base from which Japanese forces invaded South East Asia and the Pacific during World War 2. Japan’s educational system was implemented in Taiwan and many Taiwanese fought alongside Japanese soldiers during World War 2. After the end of World War 2, in 1945, the nationalist government of The Republic of China (ROC), led by Kuomingtang (KMT) took control of Taiwan. After losing control of mainland China, during the Chinese civil war, the ROC Government under the KMT retreated to Tiawan and Chiang Kai-Shek declared martial law. The KMT ruled Taiwan (along with the Islands of Kinmen Wuqiu and Matsu (on the opposite side of the Taiwan Strait) as a single party state for forty years. Until democratic reforms in the 1980’s. Which led to the first direct presidential election in 1996. During the post war period Taiwan experienced rapid industrialization and economic growth known as The Taiwan Miracle, and became known as one of the four Asian Tigers. (History of Taiwan, paraphrased from Wikipedia).
A careful examination of these historical details don’t seem to corroborate China’s claim of pre eminent domain or sovereignty over Taiwan. If such an argument were to be countenanced. Then Spain, Japan, and Portugal could also make such claims. Since the British were previously China’s colonial masters they could also advance claims to sovereignty over The People’s Republic of China. As a matter of fact China’s claims to Taiwan are similar to all the other grandiose and frivolous claims. That China has made to The South China Sea, The East China Sea, to India’s Ladakh Region, and to the territorial waters of all of its neighbors. In fact the PRC seem to be just what its neighbors fear. A twenty first century land grabbing monster.
“There are some places in the world that are of such extraordinary military and economic importance that a change in their status might signal the end of an era, or the beginning of a new global order. For this generation, Taiwan is such a place. Taiwan is the largest land mass between Japan and the Philippines, and thus anchors a chain of islands that U.S. strategists have identified as crucial to containing the rising military power of China. Beijing, whose Navy now is bigger than that of the United States, has signaled that it does not intend to be contained and will one day be the dominant Pacific power. Washington has made the prevention of this outcome the overriding objective in its national defense strategy, and each U.S. military service is planning to use the first island chain as a place of leverage for countering China’s expansionist plans.” ( Why Taiwan Has Become The ‘Geographical Pivot of History’ In The Pacific Age, By Loren Thompson, Forbes. September 29, 2020.)
So there you have it. The Communists in China have no love for the people of Taiwan. The frequent pronouncements about ‘reunification’ with the mainland are not rooted in feelings of altruism towards the Taiwanese. The Government of China is motivated by their desire for power and world dominion. If China is able to take possession of the Island of Taiwan then China will have a gateway for its navy to get into the Pacific Ocean. Furthermore, with such a commanding tactical position and a large enough navy. The Chinese would be able to convert the South China Sea into a Panama or Suez Canal enterprise. So that all the countries of the world that use that waterway would be compelled to pay duty to The CCP. Such a new geopolitical arrangement presents an extremely serious threat not only to the Western European powers but also to North America. Since the total value of the annual trade passing through The South China Sea is currently estimated to be approximately US$5.3 trillion.
Is it any surprise therefore, that the naval forces of NATO are gathering in The South China Sea. The most powerful Western European powers (France, Germany, U.K., and Holland) are sending warships into those waters. Not only to enforce the prevailing rules based order. But also to signal to China that any attempts to take Taiwan by military force will be firmly resisted. The threatening verbiage and maneuverings of China have not only been noticed in the halls of Europe’s power brokers. They are viewed with great apprehension by Japan, India, Australia, The Phillipines, South Korea, Vietnam, and Indonesia. For those and many other reasons the Indian, Australian, Japanese and U.S. navies (QUAD) now conduct regular war games in The South China Sea. Any attempted invasion of Taiwan by China’s PLA would be tantamount to the same grievous geopolitical mistake. Made by Saddam Hussein when his forces invaded Kuwait on 2 August 1990. After Iraq’s dictator took control of Kuwait’s oil fields. He positioned his army to do the very same to the oil fields of Saudi Arabia.
This was a development that the industrialized nations of the West just wouldn’t tolerate. They had no intention of allowing the ruthless, amoral, Saddam Hussein. To control two of their major sources of energy. The rest is history.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
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