FormerSrirachaAddict t1_iu6166v wrote on October 28, 2022 at 8:31 PM

Reply to comment by GameHunter1095 in Taiwan urges China to stop sabre-rattling and start talking by lustfulcuties

If they don't want to be with you, they don't want to be with you. No matter the amount of history and years you had together before.

Countries need to stop being possessive ex-significant others. Trying to force them to be with you will just push them away further, and generally into the arms of another country, as they need to protect themselves.

GameHunter1095 t1_iu64f2h wrote on October 28, 2022 at 8:54 PM

Our analogies are quite similar. I basically compared a possessive relationship between Taiwan and China too. Giving the same circumstances, relationships with one party feeling dominated seemingly always end up failing.

FormerSrirachaAddict t1_iu653xq wrote on October 28, 2022 at 8:59 PM

Yep, I had the feeling with your use of "time to move on". I just wanted to add onto that.

I do get that beyond this analogy, there could be the concern of the US using Taiwan to stage attacks onto mainland China, in the CPC's collective mind. However, I don't think Taiwan would have remained as pro-US in the long run if mainland China wasn't constantly talking about taking it back, having enshrined that goal into their constitution. If they could let it go, both states would gain from it, as you also alluded to. It's a huge country of over 1 billion people, with an economy shooting up to the sky, and modernizing extremely quickly nationwide. Taiwan is not worth the sanctions and worsened relationship with Western countries, the way I see it.

darmabum t1_iu77uo2 wrote on October 29, 2022 at 2:05 AM

This is not a former relationship issue. During the Qing dynasty China didn’t really care about rugged distant Formosa, and initial modern development happened under the Japanese. So the historical claim is hollow. What is important is that Taiwan is in the center of the first island chain running from Japan to the Philippines, and blocking China's unrestricted access to the Pacific. They need that geopolitical location to expand their new empirical influence, the culture and history angle is just PR window-dressing.