Taiwan is an island 100 miles off the coast of Southeast China. The island first came under Chinese control in the 17th century during the Qing Dynasty. After losing the war with Japan in 1895, the island was handed over to China. After World War II, Taiwan was again occupied by China.
Taiwan is a very sensitive issue for China. The evidence of how sensitive it is can be found in an incident in India on February 29. The fact is that an Indian channel aired an interview with a Taiwanese minister. And that made China very angry. The interview was immediately contradicted by a statement from the local Chinese Embassy.
The name of the minister giving interviews to the Indian media is Joseph U. He is the Foreign Minister of Taiwan. China lashed out at Indian channels for airing his interview. A statement from the Chinese Embassy in Delhi officially opposed the interview. The Chinese side also alleged that the aired interview was supporting Taiwan’s independence and serving "false information". The Chinese embassy also claimed that Joseph used the Indian channel as a propaganda platform for Taiwan independence.
Taiwan responded to China's statement almost immediately. In response to the Chinese statement from the capital Taipei, India and Taiwan are independent democracies. So they have the right to publish any interview.
Significantly, India follows the 'One China Policy' and India has no official diplomatic ties with Taipei.
In a statement issued by the Chinese Embassy in India, it is said, "On February 29, an interview with the Taiwanese minister was published on an Indian TV channel. This gave him the opportunity to promote Taiwan's independence and spread false information. It violates the 'One China Policy'. It's completely unintended.''
Even after the visit of top US administration figure Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan last year, China expressed a tough stance. Chinese President Xi Jinping even called for the use of harsh force. However, US President Joe Biden did not back down either. He clarified that if Taiwan is attacked, the United States will stand by.
Amidst these disputes, the 'one China policy' and the sensitive issue of Taiwan have come to the fore again. According to China's 'One China Policy', there is only one 'China' in the world. Taiwan is part of China. The 'People's Republic of China' is the only legitimate government of China.
Interestingly, India has not yet officially opposed this policy. But India also has relations with Taiwan. Again, the United States does not support Beijing's position in accordance with US policy. In fact, Washington also maintains an informal relationship with Taiwan. In addition, the US continues to sell arms to the island of Taiwan so that Taiwan can defend itself. Therefore, the United States has placed itself in the most important position for Taiwan's security. Because of this, Americans have tension with China on the Taiwan issue.
Significant information is that no country has recognized Taiwan as an independent country, not even the United Nations. China becomes permanent member of Security Council, gets veto power. Taiwan could not become a member of the United Nations due to China's opposition though they advanced in international recognition until 1971. Although successful in combating the global Corona pandemic, Taiwan could not be an observer in the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization. However, due to the role of the United States, the G-7 economic alliance favored Taiwan in this regard.
In 1979, the US established diplomatic relations with Mao's successors and withdrew support for the Kuomintang. Taiwan became alone in the international arena. Currently, only 14 countries, including the Vatican, recognized Taiwan as sovereign. Although the United States has followed the 'One China' policy since 1979, it has also advanced relations with Taiwan. Taiwan is one of the biggest markets for their defense equipment and weapons. This was not taken lightly by Beijing.
According to the Taiwan Act of former US President Ronald Reagan, the US considers Taiwan to be part of China. At the same time arms sales, cultural and commercial contacts are also going on. The US is running on 'strategic ambiguity' around Taiwan.
US sold 18 billion worth of arms to Taiwan under Donald Trump. US Embassy in Taiwan cost 250 million. The United States has never been so close to Taiwan since 1979. Biden is keen to deepen that relationship.
It also goes through common nomenclature to participate in events and institutions such as the Olympic Games and the World Trade Organization. But despite all the odds, Taiwan has not lost everything. It maintains its economic and cultural ties with neighboring countries, and hopes to maintain long-term ties with the United States in particular.
In 1979, the United States made a clear commitment to relations with China. The joint statement on the establishment of this diplomatic relations was as follows:
"The United States recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China. In this context, the people of the United States will maintain informal relations with the people of Taiwan in cultural, commercial and other areas."
According to the "One China Policy", there is only one China in the world, Taiwan is an integral part of Chinese territory, and the People's Republic of China governs all of China.
The only legal government representing this is China's positional diplomatic recognition, whereby other countries will accept that there is only one Chinese government in China. China insists that Taiwan is an integral part of China, which will one day be reunited.
To know the background of this policy, it is necessary to look at the history of the period of 1949 Chinese Civil War. The Kuomintang was defeated in this civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (People's Republic of China - PRC) and the Nationalist Party Kuomintang (Republic of China - ROC) and fled to the island of Taiwan. The victorious Communists began ruling mainland China as the 'People's Republic of China' and established their system of government there. Although the Kuomintang claims itself as the 'People's Republic of China', the Communists are ruling as representatives of all of China.
This principle was expressly recognized by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, 181 countries have established diplomatic relations with China based on the 'One China Policy'. The 'One China Policy' has served as the universal consensus of the international community and a fundamental ideal of international relations.
Many countries, including the United States, initially recognized Taiwan because they could not accept China's communist government. But diplomatic relations began to change starting in the 1970s, when China and the United States felt the need to develop their mutual relationship. As a result, the rest of the world, including the United States, established diplomatic relations with Beijing and loosened their ties with Taipei. However, many countries still maintain informal relations with Taiwan, including trade and culture.
Beijing wants to subjugate Taiwan at any cost to implement the 'One China' policy. This conflict, however, is not new. China considers Taiwan to be part of them. However, Taiwan believes in its independence. They have their own constitution. They don't want to be part of China. They want to protect their sovereignty. At least 61% of Taiwanese citizens feel comfortable identifying themselves as 'Taiwanese'. 3 percent people consider themselves 'Chinese'. In 1994 this rate was around 26 percent. In addition, 33 percent of residents there consider themselves both Chinese and Taiwanese. China has no objection to Taiwan's autonomy and provincial government. But, the central control wants in their own hands.
As a pressure tactic, China has conducted several missile tests off the coast of Taiwan since August last year and conducted military exercises. 91 military aircraft flew over Taiwan during the exercise.
Currently, China is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of military power. Taiwan is far behind China in terms of military power. However, in preparation for protecting sovereignty, they are increasing spending on defense. Taiwan spent a record 19 billion dollars in this sector this year though the cost of China is 12 times higher.
China has adopted many other strategies to keep Taiwan under pressure. China has been accused of hacking the data of 10 government agencies in Taiwan in 2020 and at least 600 email accounts between 2018 and 2020. China has even banned tourism in Taiwan. The number of tourists there has decreased by almost half. Due to the pressure of China, many countries are not able to make trade agreements with Taiwan. They do not have trade relations with many developed countries except Singapore and New Zealand.
Another area of China's major interest in the Taiwan issue is semiconductors or 'chips'. Computers, mobiles, vehicles - this chip is not used anywhere. As of 2022, about 60% of the world's chips are made in Taiwan alone. So if China can take over it, they can monopolize its business
But Taiwan also has its own plans. They want to be known not by the identity of China, but by their own identity in the world of semiconductor business. It also played a role in the US wanting to stand by Taiwan, a major chip supplier to Apple and other US companies. In addition, the United States wants to build the chip market in its own country with the help of Taiwan. In fact, Taiwan is not only a sensitive issue for China, but also a very important character in regional politics and global economy.
[Dr. Mahfuz Parvez, Professor, Department of Political Science, Chattogram University; Associate Editor, Barta24.com; Executive Director, Chattogram Center for Regional Studies, Bangladesh (CCRSBD).]