Why Does China Want Taiwan?
China is a massive powerhouse and has a grand economy. Why would China want to invade the very small island of Taiwan? It turns out that China has a very long history with Taiwan. China first officially owned the island in the 17th century under the Qing dynasty. But China had relations with Taiwan well before that time. In fact, China has been interacting with Taiwan since 230 AD.
In 1624, the Dutch established a colony in Taiwan. The Dutch East India Company had established one of its most productive colonies in Taiwan. They would see the rise of the Qing Dynasty and the downfall of the Ming Dynasty. The Dutch would eventually form ties with the Qing, but in 1662, the Dutch East India Company was forced out of Taiwan.
In 1895, Taiwan was invaded by the Japanese. China could not stop the Japanese at the time because Japan was very powerful. The Japanese even showed the world that they could beat the Russians in a naval war. China had asked England to annex the island of Taiwan hoping that England would give it back, but England absolutely refused. Even with a very strong army and economy, the English would refuse to take the island. England had not wanted to put itself at odds with the Japanese.
Eventually, when Japan lost the Second World War, Taiwan would come back to China. In 1945, the US, UK, and ROC gave Taiwan back to the people of China. In 1949, the ROC and the Communist Party of China started to fight over China. Eventually, the ROC is pushed out of China and moved to Taiwan. ROC stands for Republic of China and is used to refer to Taiwan.
In the 1960s, Taiwan experienced an economic boom and found itself in a wealthy state. Eventually, in 1987, the ROC stopped fighting other political parties and moved into democracy. They would move into a one-party system and have elected presidents since 1996. The current president of Taiwan is Tsai Ing-wen.
China published a white paper that detailed its reasons for wanting Taiwan back. The reason why history in Taiwan is so important is because the paper mentioned China’s historical influence on Taiwan. So China thinks that it deserves Taiwan because of its history.
The main reason why Taiwan does not want to join up with China is because China is under a regime. As aforementioned, Taiwan has been a democracy since around 1996 and intends to keep it that way. Less than 2 percent of Taiwanese citizens think that China and Taiwan should reunify. According to ABC News,
“Only 1.6 percent of Taiwanese people said they supported unification with China.”
China does not want Taiwan only because of the land and wealth it will produce. China wants Taiwan because it manufactures high-tech microchips. Taiwan manufactures 65 percent of all computer chips. Taiwan also owns a major manufacturer of microchips named TSMC, which is worth around $100. If China had control of Taiwan, then it would make better military technology. This would allow it to compete with the US.
The US is backing Taiwan in a war against China, and Australia might chip in also. The US has sold weapons to Taiwan and has supported it. Taiwan is still a small country, but it is unlikely to get invaded.
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