China-Taiwan deepening crisis

Sanjeev Pandey

These days the tension between Taiwan and China is at its peak. Chinese President Xi Jinping has called the merger of Taiwan with China necessary. However, this time he has peacefully proposed a merger with Taiwan. The Taiwan President also responded to Jinping’s statement and clearly said that there is absolutely no possibility of Taiwan’s merger with China. Although the Taiwanese people are of Chinese origin, the Taiwanese people who believe in democratic values ​​are not ready to accept the Chinese Communist rule at any cost. But Xi Jinping’s army is continuously infiltrating the Taiwan border. The Chinese Air Force has infiltrated Taiwan’s airspace several times in the past few months. China’s attitude towards Taiwan is aggressive. Due to this, the threat of further escalation of tension in the Asian region is deepening.

about taiwan China Has been showing such an aggressive attitude for a long time. However, against China at this time under the leadership of America, the quadruple of Australia, Japan and India (quad) has been activated, it is being seen as a frontline for China. Sensing the danger of China’s aggressive policies, America made another move with the help of Australia and Britain. new military treaty akus Have done it too. But even after these two big steps, there is no reduction in China’s aggression, it is telling that China is working on Taiwan under a long strategy. That is why America is supporting Taiwan in every way.

Taiwan does not have a military force against China. So America is the only recourse to help him. Taiwan and the US came close during the Korean War in the 1950s. However, after improving relations with China in the 1980s, the US made partial changes in its Taiwan policy. But in the twenty-first century, relations between America and China soured again. That is why now America is again openly standing with Taiwan.

To understand the China-Taiwan dispute, it is necessary to look at history once. China has been claiming Taiwan on the basis of historical facts. China says that Taiwan has been part of China since 239 AD. The King of China sent an army to the territory of Taiwan in 239 AD. However, for some years Taiwan was also occupied by the Dutch and the Japanese. From 1624 AD to 1661 AD, this area was under the possession of the Dutch. After this the Chinese dynasty ruled here. During the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Japan annexed the region from China. But after the Second World War, Taiwan again became a part of China.

During this time civil war had started in China and the communist army of Mao Zedong waged war against Chiangkai Shek. Chiangkai Shek was defeated in front of Mao’s army and he went to Taiwan and formed his government.

Taiwanese citizens are actually of Chinese origin. But the majority of Taiwanese do not want to go under Chinese communist rule. Seeing the attitude of China in Hong Kong, now the Taiwanese people have also turned against China’s ‘one country two system’. However, the Taiwanese people belong to the Austronesian tribes who migrated from modern South China and settled in Taiwan. But the people here are now supportive of democracy and against Chinese hegemony. China wants to merge Taiwan only under the ‘one nation two system’. That’s what he did in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Under the agreement between Britain and China, Hong Kong got the right to rule according to its old system for fifty years. But China broke this promise. China has almost abolished the old system of governance of Hong Kong. There is no independent judiciary left and supporters of democracy are being punished. To abolish the right of expression, China implemented its own national security law. The fundamental rights of the people were taken away.

Taiwan may be a small country to say, but democracy has become very strong there. This has strengthened the anti-China mentality. The Taiwanese people know that once China takes over Taiwan, the party system of Taiwanese democracy will end, which the Taiwanese people have achieved after a long struggle. Due to this, China is upset and the use of force against Taiwan is seen as a last option for it.

However, it is also important to understand the contradictions within Taiwanese democracy. Parties operating in Taiwanese democracy are ideologically divided over relations with China. Although Taiwanese has a multi-party system, mainly two parties are influential in Taiwanese politics. There are ideological differences between the Democratic Progressive Party and the Kuomintang Chinese Nationalist Party on the issue of relations with China.

The Democratic Progressive Party is a strong supporter of multi-party democracy and is fighting to maintain an independent existence from China. While the Kuomintang Chinese Nationalist Party has been advocating for the sweetening of China-Taiwan relations. Power is currently in the hands of the Democratic Progressive Party. Tsai Ing Wen of this party is the President of Taiwan. She was re-elected President in 2020. She has been a vocal opponent of China’s expansionist policies. He organized a referendum on Taiwan’s merger with China in March this year, in which Taiwanese citizens voted in favor of independent Taiwan.

Despite the strained relations between China and Taiwan, there are some interesting statistics worth noting. Trade relations between Taiwan and China are good on the lines of growing trade relations between India and China. The border dispute between India and China has been there for decades, but trade between the two countries has not decreased, but has increased continuously. Chinese investment has come in India.

China has also kept the trade balance in its favor. It is a great success of Chinese diplomacy that even in the midst of tension, China does not spoil trade relations. Similarly, if we look at the trade relations between Taiwan and China, it is known that at this time Taiwan has invested a lot in China. About one million Taiwanese live in China. At present, Taiwanese investment in China has crossed 60 billion dollars.

The immediate tension between China and Taiwan is significant in the context of the geopolitics of South and Southeast Asia. Most of its neighboring countries are being affected by China’s aggressive policies. Infiltrating the maritime borders of other countries in the South China Sea. Incidents of continuous encroachment from Taiwan’s airspace to India’s border are creating tension. In such a situation, only time will tell how much other countries including America can rein in China’s expansionism steps with organizations and strategies like Quad and Akus.