7/18/2024

Is Taiwan a part of China?

 

 The PRC has been living under the farcical notion of a one China Policy and all countries with diplomatic relations would regard Taiwan as a part of China. This is only true on paper, or at most a lip service. The Americans are still selling weapons to Taiwan 'to help them to defend against China'. What does this mean? The Taiwanese are not only having their own govt and legal system, police and armed forces, but also drew territorial boundaries on air and the sea to keep China out. And China recognises these territorial boundaries, de facto and de jure, and would keep its people, ships and aircraft out of these territorial boundaries.

So, is Taiwan a part of China, a piece of Chinese territory? Historical factors may have imposed this unique relationship between China and its territorial island, Taiwan. It is like having to leave with the Unequal Treaties of the 19th Century imposed on a weak and defeated China. Unequal Treaties were imposed on a defeated China by the foreign powers when China was weak. Now that China is strong and the foreign powers are weak, would China still want to abide by the Unequal Treaties? Would China want to maintain or live with the status quo of a renegade island, Taiwan and pretend that it is a part of China when Chinese people, ships and aircraft cannot have free access to Taiwan, because the renegade govt said so?

Should China officially announce that there is no more artificial boundaries, land, air or sea around Taiwan and all the islands, and the people, ships, aircraft from both sides of the Straits are free to move around as from one country under the jurisdiction of Chinese laws? The Taiwanese Coast Guard, Police, military etc etc can still maintain law and order to support the PLA and Chinese Coast Guards in the land, sea and air over and around Taiwan. Any Taiwanese Coast Guard, Police or military that dares to act otherwise against Chinese from the mainland would be breaking Chinese laws and would be arrested? For the time being, Taiwan can still have autonomy in handling its domestic affairs until the two sides agreed on the terms of unification of Taiwan with the Motherland. Chinese ships and aircraft, military or civilian, can fly or sail all over Taiwan freely as long as they did not pose any risk of safety or collision.

This could be the first step towards liberalisation and reunification of Taiwan peacefully.

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