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Chinese – Taiwan Conflicts

China has continued its military exercises in six regions surrounding Taiwan for a third day in a row, with the Chinese military saying it was testing its land strike and sea assault capabilities.
This has triggered the Taiwanese authorities which has deployed its warships and aircrafts across the Taiwan Strait.

The reason behind this escalation is mainly attributed to the visit to the island by the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be under Beijing’s control again.
However, the self-ruled island sees itself as distinct from the mainland, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders.

This island nation which is roughly 100 miles from the coast of south east China is located in a strategic location.
It is located in the so-called “first island chain”, which includes a list of US-friendly territories that are crucial to US foreign policy.

It is known that the island first came under full Chinese control in the 17th Century when the Qing dynasty began administering it.
Then, in 1895, they gave up the island to Japan after losing the first Sino Japanese war.
China took the island again in 1945 after Japan lost World War Two.
But a civil war erupted in mainland China between nationalist government forces led by Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong’s Communist Party.
The communists won in 1949 and took control in Beijing.
Chiang Kai-shek and what was left of the nationalist party – known as the Kuomintang – fled to Taiwan, where they ruled for the next several decades.
China points to this history to say that Taiwan was originally a Chinese province. But the Taiwanese point to the same history to argue that they were never part of the modern Chinese state that was first formed after the revolution in 1911 – or the People’s Republic of China that was established under Mao in 1949.

Source The Hindu

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