One China Policy?

crianp wrote: »

I have been arguing pro-taiwanese independance with some of my Chinese friends with no sucess. What are everyone's views on Kosovo, One China policy and independance?

Thats interesting, I've always wanted to ask Chinese people I've met in collage and stuff about Taiwan and Tibet and other things but I never got to know them well enough to risk going there if you get me.

I always presumed they'd say its their government and they personally don't care.

I'd really love to hear how they can justify taking over another country and other unsavoury deeds.

If the Taiwanese, Uighurs, Tibetans all want freedom from the quite frankly brutal and repressive Chinese government, well then more power to them. In there shoes, I sure as hell wouldn't want to live under the PRC.

Hmm - this is AH, don't think it is a great place to debate this issue...

If I were to give my opinion on this it would take a few hours to debate all the intricacies of international law, history and politics (as well as the philosophical questions that are to be raised). And I would prefer to do it face to face instead of under the anonymity of the internet where civility is often discarded in favour of responses that provoke reactions.

Some quick facts that Western people may not know about (remember I'm just giving the other side of the story) - there is a wealth of information to be found on the Taiwan/ROC issue on the internet.

First off - Taiwan and China are still technically involved in a civil war that hasn't ended since the Republic of China (Guo Ming Dang party) fled to the island of Taiwan after its defeat on mainland China. The Republic of China (Taiwan) had been asserting control over the whole of China for quite some time (recently they have dropped the claim), likewise the People's Republic of China (China as most people know it) also assert control over the whole of China (they most definitely have not dropped that claim). The UN recognised the PRC as the legitimate government of China and removed the ROC from its position in the UN many years ago. Indeed the native people who lived on the island of Taiwan considered themselves Chinese before the Guo Ming Dang fled there - nowadays there is still a large percentage of people who consider themselves Chinese.

In terms of history, after WWII Japan returned the island of "Formosa" to the "government of the Republic of China" (or words to that effect). China resumed the civil war it had been fighting and Mao's Communist forces beat back Jiang Jie Shi's Nationalist forces until it retreated to the island of Taiwan and set up a new government (Republic of China) there and repeated the claim that it was the legitimate party over all of China. As a semi-neutral party in this I cannot say whether life under the Nationalist party would have been any better than the Communist party (but that's irrelevant to whether Taiwan is part of China or not).

Speaking to the university students of China (I was there for one year to study law) I find that this is one issue that they are adamant on. A well-educated friend of mine stated that the Chinese government should not tolerate interference in its internal matters and that if it meant nuclear war then so be it. I believe the Taiwan issue not only encompasses sovereignty but also the humiliation that China has faced over the last hundred years at the hands of Western forces (Hong Kong was given away after the Chinese tried to stop the British from selling narcotics in China, the "Unfair Treaties" were signed with 5 Western powers after they destroyed the summer palace in Beijing etc.) Nationalism plays a part definitely but this nationalism doesn't just come from government propaganda (no-one reads the state newspaper in China!) but from what people have learnt in factual history.

So there you go, a "quick" overview of the situation (as it appears from the eyes of a Chinese person), you can judge for yourself.

crianp wrote: »

With the declaration of Kosovo as an independant state with the support of the USA and some of the EU. Do some of the people on boards see this as setting a precedent for the future. In particular I refer to the one China policy where states like Taiwan and Tibet have been seeking independance for years, I have been arguing pro-taiwanese independance with some of my Chinese friends with no sucess. What are everyone's views on Kosovo, One China policy and independance?

Pro Kosovo
Pro Taiwan
Pro Tibet

China is a huge bomb waiting to explode. 1.5 billion people will begin to learn about democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion etc, the more and more they get exposed to the free world. In 50 years time there won't be one PRC, there'll be fragments of it all over the place.

meditraitor wrote: »

Its a tricky one all right, and something that needs closer scuteny especially in the current world climate of mass immigration.

Un Resolution 1244 cleary states that Kosovo is a part of Serbia so this also muddys the water.

One thing it shows. The Kosovars never became the "new Serbs". Mind you mass murder by the Serbs doesn't help that case.

Do Sinn Fein and the likes support Kosovo independence considering their views of Northern Ireland?

Hypothetically if 100,000 people came to Ireland and made, say, Leitrim their home and their children wanted independence would it be granted? Would people be happy enough with that?

crianp wrote: »

I have been arguing pro-taiwanese independance with some of my Chinese friends with no sucess. What are everyone's views on Kosovo, One China policy and independance?

The Chinese education system, (history & geography) has been modified to teach the children that Tibet, etc are and always have been part of China, as submissive provences. Often, many of the documents that they use for their arguments have been misquoted, misinterperuted, etc to make 'facts' fit. Futhermore, many have had long standing trade alliances, others have had religious ties, (Tibet had a priest - patron relationship for centuries.)

Long story short, this information is distorted and the truth is not common knowledge. It's not the people's fault. It's their government.