So is Taiwan a country or what?
Those that adamantly claim Taiwan either is or is not a country fail to recognize that “country” is not an objective, scientific term.
Energy = mass times the speed of light squared. This is a scientific fact that can be demonstrably proven. Opinion is not a factor.
In contrast, whether or not so-and-so is a country cannot be objectively proven.
Both Taiwanese and Mainlanders are gonna hate me for saying this, but here goes:
Whether or not Taiwan is a country depends on your opinion, not fact.
If you define “country” as a place that meets the following criteria:
- Having its own administration and cabinet,
- Having its own currency,
- Having its own passport,
- Having its own military,
- Having its own borders,
- Having its own commerce and trade,
- Having its own flag, and
- Having its own diplomatic relations with other countries,
Then, yes, Taiwan is a country.
However, if you define “country” as a place that meets the following criteria:
- Having an official member status at the UN,
- Having national representation at the Olympics, and
- Having official member status at a handful of international organizations (such as the WHO)¹
Then no, Taiwan is not a country.
So, as much as arguers on either side like to punctuate their statements with “FACT.” the truth is, Taiwan’s national status is subjective and not based on scientifically calculative terms or universally-agreed upon metrics.
It’s opinion, not fact.
Wikipedia officially names Taiwan as a country so I’m personally gonna go with that.
Besides, I’ve always felt the simplest policy is to call people what they want to be called. It’s not my place to decide other people’s national status for them. And every Taiwanese I’ve met identify as “Taiwanese” and not “Chinese.”
So what does China say?
A few things, actually. Some arguments have a little weight. Others not so much.
“One, Taiwan is not a country because it does not have official member status at the UN.”
Try looking up “country” in the dictionary and see if it involves the United Nations.
Is this where we’re at? Unironically looking up definitions in the dictionary? Let’s be real here.
We had countries before we had the UN. Therefore, the essence of a country does not depend on its relationship with the UN.
“Two, there is no country called ‘Taiwan’ on this Earth.”
If you want to get technical, sure. There is technically no country by the name of “Taiwan.”
When someone says “Taiwan,” they are referring to the ROC by its colloquial name. This name also encompasses the other surrounding islands, like Kinmen, Matsu, etc.
But yes, technically the country’s name is “Republic of China.” Let’s not split hairs here.
“Three, even the ROC’s own constitution admits that Taiwan is a part of China.”
Indeed, the ROC’s constitution does state this. However, it must be understood that Province of China ≠ Province of the PRC. The Taiwanese that make this claim are referring to the Republic of China, not the People’s Republic of China when they claim “Taiwan is a province of China.”
The implied claim is “Taiwan is a province of [The Republic of] China.” Similarly, “Taiwan belongs to [The Republic of] China.”
NOT “Taiwan belongs to [The People’s Republic of] China.”
I feel some Mainlanders deliberately try to misconstrue these perspectives to try and legitimize their claims of ownership over Taiwan, which is pretty annoying.
“Four, the Republic of China period only lasted from 1911–1950. The Republic of China was succeeded by the PRC after the Kuomintang’s defeat in the Chinese Civil War”
The Republic of China is ongoing. Therefore, it cannot be “succeeded.”
True, the Republic of China may have lost 99.7% of its territory (the mainland, Hainan, and a few islands) in the war. (And yes, it really is 99.7. I did I did the math)
But 99.7% ≠ 100%.
The Communists attempted to finish the job during the First and Second Taiwan Straits Crises. However, they failed both times (mostly due to US interference). To this day, the PRC has been unable to usurp the entirety of the ROC’s territory.
Nevertheless, the Communists went home and claimed victory anyway, even though everyone could plainly see that they had failed. They have spent the following seventy years plugging their ears and repeating the same story of “victory” over and over again, despite the fact that not a single inch of Taiwan, ever, has been under PRC control for even one second.
Therefore the ROC remains independent. Its reign is from 1911-present. And while its territory may have shrunk dramatically in size, it has not been absorbed entirely into the PRC.
“Five, both the ROC and PRC agree there is only One China.”
Yeah, no, There’s clearly two.
There are two Congos (Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo). There are two Koreas (ROK and DPRK). There were two Germanys for a time.
China is not special, exceptional, or unique. There can be two Chinas just like there can be two (or more, potentially) of any other country, depending on the surrounding circumstances.
“Six, in 1970 the UN formally switched recognition of ‘China‘ from the ROC to the PRC, and almost no country in the world officially recognizes the ROC.”
Again with the UN stuff?
We had the definition for “country” before we had the UN, so the former physically cannot be dependent upon the latter.
Several countries enjoy diplomatic relations with the ROC, whether formal or informal.
So you can’t really say “no country recognizes the ROC.”
“Seven, reunification with the motherland is deeply instilled in the hearts and minds of the 1.4 billion Chinese people. We will never allow foreign barbarians to separate Chinese territory ever again, no matter how hard they try.”
Get over it.
Is China the only country that’s ever been invaded? Take a number.
By the way, China spent the majority of its history playing the part of the invader, conqueror, and colonizer. So forgive me if I don’t feel particularly sympathetic when some ultra-nationalists have the shamelessness to try to play the victim card.
In any case, “historical trauma” gives zero justification for foreign invasion attempts over other countries today. Zero.
“Eight, China has been an inseparable, unified empire for 5000 years. The division of our sovereign territory is a very sensitive issue for us Chinese.”
Anyone who knows anything about Chinese history can tell you that the area of present-day China spent the vast majority of its history fragmented into independent kingdoms. Unifying into one massive conglomerate of provinces almost never happened in all of Chinese history.
If you want to talk about historical trends, then it is more likely that China will fracture and divide up more rather than come together.
By such reasoning, an independent Tibet, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia are far more likely to occur in the near future than a PRC-administered Taiwan.
So yeah. Arguing via “historical trends” isn’t such a smart idea after all, eh?
“Nine, this is between China and the renegade province of Taiwan. This is no place for foreigners to interfere.”
“Not your business” is a particularly stupid thing to say when addressing geopolitical affairs. The entire world is interconnected. Everything is everyone’s business.
If these ultra-nationalists are so sure that what they’re doing is justified, why are they so eager to get everyone to shut up about it? Sounds like insecurity to me…
Furthermore, there is zero reasonable justification for calling Taiwan a “renegade” province. Perhaps “remnant,” but not “renegade.” It was the PRC that declared its independence from the ROC first. The ROC has been independent since before the PRC even existed.
To sum up,
If you believe that Taiwan is not a country, that’s fine. Everyone deserves the right to disagree.
Hell, even if you think Taiwan should one day be reabsorbed into the mainland, you still reserve the right to disagree.
What is unacceptable is the idea that the PRC has any right to invade and occupy Taiwan by force. Not now, not ever.
