| Old dilemma continues between China and Taiwan |
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| World Affairs Talk | |
| Thursday, 07 June 2007 | |
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The dispute is rooted in the 1949 Chinese revolution, when communists led by Chairman Mao claimed control of the mainland. Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek withdrew to Taiwan, with two million refugees, vowing the reclaim the mainland. During the 1960s some native Taiwanese, upset by the rule of the mainland minority, began to call for independence from China. It was during this time that the focus shifted from reclaiming the mainland to developing the island itself. At present, Taiwan is un-officially independent from China. China, currently ruled by the Communist Party see Taiwan as a "renegade province" belonging solely and inexorably to itself and believes, it will take control over the Island sooner or later. But, Taiwanese people enjoyed freedom for too long to be restricted as how Chinese people still are today. Taiwan has a claim to be independent and to be ruled by its own people. This claim is based on the ‘Self Determination’ accord, one of the major aftereffects of the First World War. The newly formed League of Nations after the World War decided that if a cultural group within a nation or empire wanted to govern itself, it should be allowed to, which became known as the principle of Self Determination. The than member nations Germany and Italy began to disregard this principle and resumed colonial ambitions; the weakened League in response decided upon a policy of appeasement rather than confronting the offenders in the interests of the victims. This stops any other country from supporting civil struggles for independence for a group after Self Determination. The world leaders differ on their stand over Taiwan issue. Taiwan is considered by some nations as an independent nation already, where as others uphold China's claim that it is a rogue province. Inside feeling is same as outside. Half of Taiwanese does not want to declare independency but the other half wants to be internationally accepted as an independent country. Never the less, all Taiwanese people think they are Chinese. In recent times, Taiwan has begun to take a different tack to its relations to China. The Nationalist Party which supports eventual reunification with China, no longer rules Taiwan. Under current leadership of the Democratic Progressive Party, calls for full independence have been growing from strength to strength. This provoked a strong response from China, with warnings that it would invade, should Taiwan go too far on the matter. Even the US, a good ally of Taiwanese government had to distance itself from it to discourage further provocations. There is no easy solution to this problem. If both countries on any given point of time are convinced to cooperate; the US and the UN may take a greater role in preparing an agreement acceptable to both the nations. Share & Bookmark             |
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