The Taiwan-China Conflict

One of the biggest conflicts between the US and China is the issue of Taiwan. Though the US officially recognizes the "One China Policy," it also has promised Taiwan protection in the event of a military attack by China. Between 1998 and 2005, the US sold Taiwan over $10 billion in weapons. However, the US does not in any way recognize Taiwan as a country. During Hillary Clinton's Asia tour, she completely ignored Taiwan.

History

The Taiwan Strait conflict truly began in 1949. The Communists, led by Mao Zedong, had just won the civil war against the Nationalists (Kuomintang, or KMT) under Chiang Kai-shek. Over 2 million members of the KMT fled to Taiwan, and declared the island the Republic of China. Taiwan had been a Japanese colony since 1895, when China seceded it after it lost the First Sino-Japanese War. Japan formally relinquished its claim to the island in 1952. Rather than form a new nation, Chiang claimed that Taipei was in fact the capital of all of China (and Mongolia). The US, UN, and most other countries agreed, recognizing Taipei rather than Beijing. It was not until 1971 that the UN recognized Beijing. The US switched recognition in 1979 under Nixon.

In the mean time, Taiwan was ruled under brutal martial law (though nowhere as brutal as Communist China). Press was censored and political dissidents thrown in jail. Discriminatory laws favored mainland Chinese over the native Taiwanese, Hakka, and aboriginal populations. Mandarin was made the official language and children were not allowed to speak Taiwanese and other dialects in schools. Martial law was finally lifted in 1987, and opposition parties began to form. Most important of these parties is the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), whose main platform is Taiwanese independence. The party's main support base is native Taiwanese voters. Taiwan held its first direct presidential election in 1996- and China fired missiles over the Strait in an attempt to coerce Taiwanese voters to vote for the pro-unification candidates. In 2000, DPP candidate Chen Shui-bian won the presidential election, ending decades of KMT rule.

Today

Chen was reelected in 2004, after he was "shot" the day before elections (most believe that he staged this for more votes). Chen was radically pro-independence, and often angered the PRC (as well as the US). Chen and his family also faced many corruption charges throughout his presidency, and he was sent to jail.

In 2008, Taipei Mayor and Chair of the KMT Ma Ying-jeou beat DPP chair Frank Hsieh in a landslide election. The DPP did not stand a chance because of the corruption charges against Chen and many other officials. Of course, Ma's good looks and charm didn't hurt him either.

Thousands of missiles are deployed on both sides of the Strait, and military spending continues to rise. However, cross-Strait relations have in fact thawed since Ma's win. In late 2008, direct flights between mainland China and Taiwan began. In May, the KMT party leader met with Hu Jintao in Beijing, and a high-level DPP official visited the mainland as well. China also reached out-- it allowed Taiwan to participate as an observer at the WHO during the swine flu outbrake. This was huge for Taiwan, which in 2003 suffered from a major SARS outbreak and recieved no help from the WHO.

It is absolutely within Taiwan's interest to keep the status quo with China. Taiwan become a part of China-- it is a strong democratic nation, with universal suffrage, an independent judiciary, and a strong economy (with its own currency). Under China, it would likely lose much of the democratic progress it has made (like Hong Kong). However, if the conflict heats up, Taiwan has no way of truly standing up for itself. Only 23 countries have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and most of them tiny island nations.