I have always thought it unfair that China believed that Taiwan belonged to them. This video summed the situation quite well -
China: Taiwan belongs to China.
Taiwan: That was in the past! We are a sovereign nation now!
China: History is now.
Ryan captured China's mindset well - her leaders think in VERY long timelines. Do I agree with this? NO.
But it is important to know China's culture and history to understand this situation.
@liztai He represents "the Taiwanese" as pro-independence but in recent municipal elections, KMT & pro-status-quo politics gained renewed support, perhaps with an eye to Ukraine. Also, he should have mentioned that the US & UN also formally accept the one-China principle.
@michaelgraaf yea I think this video is just to explain the general idea around Taiwan and China. I believe due to the Ukraine war, Taiwanese now do not want another... Er, proxy war?
@noam it is just alien to most Westerners, but as a Chinese I get it even if I don't believe it.
History has a lot of weight to Chinese people. They don't let bygones be bygones. There's also the matter of "face", and since Taiwan is tied to the century of humiliation? Welp.
Frankly I just want everyone ti have amnesia at this point.
@noam To illustrate how far these grudges can go... a Chinese actor took a picture outside a controversial Japanese shrine. He was cancelled by the Chinese public. There's no "it's in the past" for the Chinese people in China. (The diaspora like me is a different story.) They don't forget :P And they also don't forget that Taiwan used to belong to them. SIGH.
@liztai Thanks, I can relate to the long view perspective. Jews remember things for a very long time too (Spain was 'cancelled' for 500 years after the inquisition, at least officially). And of course, there's the matter of the 'holy land' where Israelite / Jews had a kingdom 2000 years ago. So I think I get the Chinese perspective. But I don't agree with it.
@liztai AIUI KMT also took almost all of china's gold reserves (which would have been useful in the coming famines) which is probably also part of the calculus/animosity
(how relevant that is in 2023 isn't mine to weigh in on)
(oops, sorry! my phone had the local Timeline open and i thought it was main timeline)
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