The threat of blowing up TSMC if invaded helps with their sovereignty because it both avoids the Chinese attacking them and helps the Americans defend them.
Over the course of its history, the island of Taiwan has gone through multiple eras.
First it was an independent island with native peoples who had their own languages.
Then they were colonized by the Chinese and became part of China.
Then they were occupied by the Japanese.
Then the island became a safe haven for the losers of China’s civil war. Those losers are the foundation of Taiwan’s modern politics. Until about 30 years ago they claimed they were the actual rulers of China. Now they claim they’re a unique and independent nation.
Most importantly they were a military base of a foreign power (the United States) up until 1979. Now the US media is talking about supplying nuclear weapons to the Taiwanese separatist government. The USA is also engaging in trade war with China. The US and Saudi Arabia helped recruit, arm and train terrorists from China to fight in proxy wars in the Middle East. These terrorists have threatened to return to China to stage a revolt against the government.
It’s unsurprising that China wants Taiwan to become reunified with the mainland. Since day one they’ve been a security threat. Like Hong Kong, the only future for Taiwan is reunification. If the separatist government decides to reignite the civil war, there might not be an island of Taiwan in the future. They can lose gracefully or they can detonate the vest and destroy themselves and their relatives on the mainland. The people who lose will be the Chinese people and their trading partners around the world who benefit from their stability.
My main point is that none of this is happening in a vacuum. No matter how much we as foreigners are told that we’re ambassadors of freedom by propping up a lost cause government and helping to drive a wedge to split their country, all the rest of the world sees is how craven we are.
When the US had its civil war, the North and South reunified. This is how civil wars end. Taiwan is not exempt from the rules of history.
What the taiwanese want is sovereignty.
The threat of blowing up TSMC if invaded helps with their sovereignty because it both avoids the Chinese attacking them and helps the Americans defend them.
Over the course of its history, the island of Taiwan has gone through multiple eras.
First it was an independent island with native peoples who had their own languages.
Then they were colonized by the Chinese and became part of China.
Then they were occupied by the Japanese.
Then the island became a safe haven for the losers of China’s civil war. Those losers are the foundation of Taiwan’s modern politics. Until about 30 years ago they claimed they were the actual rulers of China. Now they claim they’re a unique and independent nation.
Most importantly they were a military base of a foreign power (the United States) up until 1979. Now the US media is talking about supplying nuclear weapons to the Taiwanese separatist government. The USA is also engaging in trade war with China. The US and Saudi Arabia helped recruit, arm and train terrorists from China to fight in proxy wars in the Middle East. These terrorists have threatened to return to China to stage a revolt against the government.
It’s unsurprising that China wants Taiwan to become reunified with the mainland. Since day one they’ve been a security threat. Like Hong Kong, the only future for Taiwan is reunification. If the separatist government decides to reignite the civil war, there might not be an island of Taiwan in the future. They can lose gracefully or they can detonate the vest and destroy themselves and their relatives on the mainland. The people who lose will be the Chinese people and their trading partners around the world who benefit from their stability.
My main point is that none of this is happening in a vacuum. No matter how much we as foreigners are told that we’re ambassadors of freedom by propping up a lost cause government and helping to drive a wedge to split their country, all the rest of the world sees is how craven we are.
When the US had its civil war, the North and South reunified. This is how civil wars end. Taiwan is not exempt from the rules of history.