Chinese invasion of Taiwan senario

[pmulcahy11b]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Terrain

Dale Brown Novel

Someday I hope to stat that stuff out...

[Cdnwolf]

SkyMaster is another good one featuring the Chinese navy.

[Rapparee]

I'll admit this is a subject that I'm not overly familiar with, but I do have a couple of questions. I did live with a Taiwanese guy for a semester though (much hilarity found when I was told he did his service in the Coastguard and never learned how to swim:L).

Taiwan isn't recognized by the UN is it I know in Ireland they have a consulate but my housemate said it took him a lot of effort to get to live here for a year. Just from a quick hop on wiki and reading this thread though, the USA are firm supporters like they are with Japan, South Korea and other countries in that area

Secondly, isn't there a movement in Taiwan that wants to reconcile itself with China I know the native Formosans don't like the "refugees" (for want of a better word), the ones who came over in 1949. Would that factor in

[boogiedowndonovan]

I'll admit this is a subject that I'm not overly familiar with, but I do have a couple of questions. I did live with a Taiwanese guy for a semester though (much hilarity found when I was told he did his service in the Coastguard and never learned how to swim:L).

Taiwan isn't recognized by the UN is it I know in Ireland they have a consulate but my housemate said it took him a lot of effort to get to live here for a year. Just from a quick hop on wiki and reading this thread though, the USA are firm supporters like they are with Japan, South Korea and other countries in that area

Secondly, isn't there a movement in Taiwan that wants to reconcile itself with China I know the native Formosans don't like the "refugees" (for want of a better word), the ones who came over in 1949. Would that factor in

You bring up some good points that not many people seem to mention.

Not the Coast Guard bit, and I do have a funny story to tell as well about Taiwanese conscription. One of the first jobs I had was working for a Taiwanese company. Taiwan has universal conscription (ie the draft). Anyways, before working at this company, one of my coworkers was drafted into the Taiwanese army and posted to one of the outlying islands. Apparently the Taiwanese government would bring over hookers to keep the men happy. I'll just say that when it was my coworker's turn, the hooker he chose was so enthralled by his good looks and skills that she was reading the newspaper while he was doing the deed.

Going back to the more important points. Taiwan is not an official member of the UN. It has observer status. They had official membership until 1971 when the UN recognized the PRC as the legitimate government of China.

As far as a "movement", I would say that it is bigger than a movement for reconciliation. There are effectively two political groups in Taiwan, one group known as "Pan Green" wants Taiwan to become an independant. The other group, known and "Pan Blue" wants better ties and eventual reunification with the mainland. Each of these two groups is a coalition of like minded political parties, the unfying factor being pro-independance or pro-unification. Think of it as similar to the United States, two large political parties, Republican and Democratic, but each party has various wings and factions, libertarian, tea party, blue dog, "progressive", etc.

Now, the largest and most powerful faction of the "Pan-Green" group is the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). A DPP representative held the Presidency from 2000-2008 and held a majority in the Legislative Yuan (congress) in 2001. The largest and most powerful faction of "Pan-Blue" is the Kuomintang or Nationalist party (KMT). The KMT is the former government of China, our WWII ally and the loser of the Chinese Civil War. The KMT retreated to Taiwan after the Civil War and ruled it as a near dictatorship from 1949 until the mid 80's.

I wouldn't say that native Taiwanese hate Taiwanese who came over in 1949 and after, but there have been incidents that don't foster a love between the two. The KMT under Chiang Kai Shek was very authortarian and corrupt. There was also an incident in 1947 known as the 228 incident that occurred after WWII when the KMT established control over Taiwan (Taiwan was a Japanese colony from 1895 to 1945) 228 incident occurred when native Taiwanese rioted against the KMT, there were deaths and a decree of martial law that lasted until 1987. Most of the power and money remains in the hands of KMT supporters.

Except for the 2000-2008 period, the KMT has pretty much controlled the presidency and the Legislative Yuan, and their stated goal is the reconcilation with the mainland. The DPP President Chen Shui Ban made some noise about independence, but never did, who knows if the United States made some back channel moves to squash that talk.

For a long time, the KMT thought that they would triumphantly march back to Beijing and take back what they lost, but that has faded away as the older generals and businessmen pass on. The younger generation is much more realistic.

Incidentally, Taiwan just concluded their most recent election. Pan Green, running on a human rights, social entitlement, tax the rich and handouts to the poor platform had an early lead in the polls. But Pan Blue won both the Presidency (re-elected actually) and a majority in the Legislative Yuan.

Despite all the talk and threats, there have been gradual easing of trade barriers between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China. Cross strait trade has existed since the '80's. There are now direct flights, shipping and mail between the mainland and Taiwan. Ironically, it was the PRC that proposed direct links back in the '70's only to be shot down by the ROC.

Anyways, I could go on, but I don't want to bore everyone.

BTW, there is a small aborigine population on Taiwan. When you say native Formosan, thats what I originally thought. The vast majority of the population is ethnically Han Chinese.

Here's an interesting tid bit, Chiang Kai Shek's son served for a brief time in the WWII Whermacht.

[RN7]

I'll admit this is a subject that I'm not overly familiar with, but I do have a couple of questions. I did live with a Taiwanese guy for a semester though (much hilarity found when I was told he did his service in the Coastguard and never learned how to swim:L).

Taiwan isn't recognized by the UN is it I know in Ireland they have a consulate but my housemate said it took him a lot of effort to get to live here for a year. Just from a quick hop on wiki and reading this thread though, the USA are firm supporters like they are with Japan, South Korea and other countries in that area

Secondly, isn't there a movement in Taiwan that wants to reconcile itself with China I know the native Formosans don't like the "refugees" (for want of a better word), the ones who came over in 1949. Would that factor in

I live in Ireland myself and Taiwan does have an embassy at 8 Lower Hatch Street Dublin, just around the corner from Copper Face Jacks!

For Taiwans status with the UN see United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758

The Kuomintang would probably love to reconcile itself with China as the legitimate government according to themselves.