Most Americans do not live in fear of ever being invaded by a foreign country, something that is felt in other parts of the world.
For residents of Taiwan, the looming invasion of China on their homeland hangs over them as the communist country refuses to acknowledge their independence and believes it belongs to them, according to a news release provided by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“When it comes to the military threat from China, the majority of Taiwanese people perceive that China will attack once Taiwan declares independence,” said Austin Horng-En Wang in the release, a UNLV political science professor and worldwide authority in Taiwanese politics.
The reality of the matter is that the two entities are engaged in a delicate balancing act to not provoke the other after an unfinished civil war.
According to Wang: “During the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Qing set up an office in Taiwan to prevent rebellion and collect taxes but could not fully extend its administrative power to the whole island. After the first Sino-Japanese War, Japan defeated the Qing Dynasty and the Japanese effectively controlled Taiwan.”
Wang added that because of the ineffectiveness of the Republic of China government, many believed that communism was the way forward and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was established in hopes of taking over control.
“With Japan’s surrender to the U.S. at the end of WWII in 1945, the Chinese Civil War began, and the communist party won control of the mainland. The U.S.-backed ROC government retreated to Taiwan in 1949 and announced martial law. Meanwhile, the communists established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the mainland,” said Wang.
