William Lai: Democratic elections show Taiwan is ‘already independent’ from China
William Lai: Democratic elections show Taiwan is ‘already independent’ from China
‘My job is to protect Taiwan’s sovereignty, enhance democracy, peace and prosperity’
Taiwan is already independent and sovereign as it elects its own president, the self-governed island’s presidential frontrunner said.
Vice president William Lai, who is leading in opinion polls to be elected the next pesident in the January elections, had previously said he could keep the peace with China if elected.
Beijing considers Taiwan to be a part of China and has pressed on the island to reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary. Taiwan has been self-ruled since it split from the mainland in 1949 following a civil war and maintains official diplomatic relations with 13 small nations.
In an interview with Japanese media, Mr Lai said he does not seek to change the status quo or Taiwan's name, which is formally the Republic of China.
He said Taiwan regularly elects leaders at all levels of government from the grassroots to the president, which shows the island is "sovereign and independent".
The only way Taiwan is going to bend the knee to China is if the CCP adds a sleeper cell CCP agent who gets elected as president.
Luckily the citizens can see the current CCP plant in this race from a mile away but they will keep trying…and they will get harder to spot
The literal Manchurian candidate.
Leave Taiwan alone, ccp.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In an interview with Japanese media, Mr Lai said he does not seek to change the status quo or Taiwan's name, which is formally the Republic of China.
He said Taiwan regularly elects leaders at all levels of government from the grassroots to the president, which shows the island is "sovereign and independent".
In a commentary piece published in July, Mr Lai had vowed to "support the cross-strait status quo – which is in the best interests of both the Republic of China, as Taiwan is formally known, and the international community".
Meanwhile, a Taiwanese security official on Wednesday warned against China's potential "very diverse" ways of interfering in Taiwan elections.
China can use military pressure, economic coercion or fake news to create a false choice between "war or peace" in the election to frighten voters, National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen told lawmakers.
Prosecutors earlier this week indicted two leaders of the island’s tiny Taiwan People’s Communist Party on accusations they colluded with China in a bid to influence the upcoming elections.
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China can unite with Taiwan tomorrow if they want to peacefully.
It's been done before. Look how East and West Germany did it. Overnight.
All China has to do is be East Germany and let Taiwan be West Germany and it will be sorted. But obviously they don't want that because being one country isn't their main goal.
Could someone step in and explain why they insist on keeping their name “Republic of China”? I understand they fought and won a civil war for independence, but why keep the name of their previous oppressors? Would claiming the name Taiwan not bring more unity?
I don't think they won a civil war for independence. It was more a of a stalemate againest the mainland which was controlled by the communist. As an outsider it does make sense to just change their name. Maybe they hope some day to reunite with mainland if the politics change.
They lost a civil war. The Kuomintang (KMT), a right wing nationalist party basically made of regional warlords who rose from the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1912, former controllers of most of China, fled to Taiwan after losing to the Maoists because their blatant incompetence at economic management, widespread corruption, brutal oppression, and poor performance against the Japanese invasion pissed off their people enough to make them broadly embrace communist rhetoric.
The KMT had kept control of their small navy, however, so the CCP could not chase them to Taiwan, and as a member of the WW2 Allies and not technically fascists the other Allies were willing to stop the USSR from loaning the CCP an invasion fleet to finish the job.
This meant that as the former ruling party who weren't killed to the last man the Kuomintang could claim to be the legitimate "China" despite the popular contempt for their rule.
This is where it becomes a bunch of diplomatic double speak.
Both the CCP/PRC and KMT/ROC agree there is One China, they just don't agree about which China is legitimate.
However, one of them has control of well over a billion people and one of the largest countries on Earth, the other has an island with 20 million people.
On the other hand, the CCP was once in a very similar situation before the Japanese invaded and distracted the KMT from finishing their genocide, and history is funny, so anything can happen.
Changing the name officially would be a provocation to CCP China, perhaps enough to spur them into an invasion. The Taiwan government, for now, is content with the status quo, and tends to avoid any direct provocation. In the same way, Taiwan's allies, such as the USA, at least give lip service to China's "One China" policy even as they trade with and give support (including military equipment) to Taiwan.
Abandoning the claim officially would be seen as an official declaration of independence, and provoke immediate intervention from China