The conflict between China and Taiwan seems to be heading towards a dead end if Beijing persists in its interest in annexing de facto what it considers to be its “rebel island”. A definition that shows that the Asian giant does not intend to lose the opportunity to include the small island state 180 km east of its country to the political scheme, even if it is by force.
Although many Taiwanese insist that they want to remain independent, Beijing believes that both peoples belong to the same Chinese family and that Taiwan’s independence does not make any sense.
The dispute between China and Taiwan could turn into a tough showdown with serious international implications.
The US has maintained strong commercial and military ties with the island, which it considers a key ally in the region, in the context of a “strategic ambiguity.” This includes Washington’s commitment to help Taiwan, a democratically governed island of more than 23 million people, defend itself against a possible invasion by the Communists of China.
A story full of tensions
The current tensions are a stark reminder of the long decades of hostility between the governments in Beijing and Taipei, with both sides historically claiming to be the rightful rulers of all of China’s territories, including Taiwan.
Under the government of the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT) , led by Chiang Kai-shek, the ROC faced in the early 1930s and then during World War II the advances of the Empire of Japan, as well as also to the growing power of the Chinese communists led by Mao Zedong.
After the Japanese defeat in 1945, the ROC regained the island that China had lost in a previous war with Japan. The Kuomintang was defeated in 1949 in a bloody civil war on the continent by the army of the Communist Party. That same year Mao founded the People’s Republic of China, with its capital in Beijing .
Instead, Mao’s forces expanded their control into mainland China, and since then they regard Taiwan as a renegade province.
For its part , the government of the United States , an ally of the Kuomintang during World War II, did not initially recognize the legitimacy of the Communist government in mainland China. On the contrary, he continued to give his political support to Taiwan.
China has no intention of compromising
The president of China, Xi Jinping, does not seem that he intends to give in “whatever happens” as he has emphasized in a more than threatening tone, by assuring that achieving unification with Taiwan “must and will be achieved .”
Xi has claimed that the path to unification “would better serve the interests of the nation” through peaceful means, but has also warned “those who forget their heritage” that it will not end well.
The president has warned that the Taiwan issue “is a purely internal matter for China, which does not admit external interference.”
