Essay:Taiwan is Chinese (PRC)

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by Robinn
Published: 2023-09-17 (last update: 2024-10-04)
5-15 minutes

The government of Taiwan, entranced in some rapacious delusion of money, of capitalist grandeur, further distances itself from the masses who, now in the highest percentage yet, oppose independence.

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Contribution to Lain (%17)'s (disc: 17ain | tiktok: woozytime) Taiwan is Chinese [PRC] with the addition of sources, corrections, and further notes.

The government of Taiwan, entranced in some rapacious delusion of money, of capitalist grandeur, further distances itself from the masses who, now in the highest percentage yet, oppose independence. Some foreign individuals (even those supposed leftists) under a bourgeois illusion, pompously declare such things as Taiwanese “independence”, Taiwanese “freedom”, even Taiwanese “democracy”, throwing around confidently this bourgeois argot which contradicts the masses of Taiwan—as typical of these turgid know-it-all foreigners—, but has been flung to ad nauseam on so many occasions previous to tear apart socialism; one can only presume these individuals in the same mindset would have declared the “independence” and “freedom” of some Eastern European nations from the USSR—the “release from the Soviet yolk” to quote Parenti in Blackshirts and Reds. However, when these foreign fantasies shift from such to reality, when Taiwan does declare this “independence”, this “emancipation from its captor”, and inevitably faces the fate of Estonia’s post-socialist transformation for example, a nightmarish proletarian plight in contradiction of the masses’ want for what they had, these same foreigners who once hastily lifted fists for this “independence” now slam them down viciously with the most scathing criticism of their society.

The Taiwanese government, now directly funded tens of millions for military armament by the U.S. (mirroring the divide-and-conquer strategy through the strengthening of reactionary military sects for control as used by the U.S. in Brazil and Indonesia during the Cold War to topple popular movements), being recognized as a “non-NATO major ally”, can only be considered a pawn of the West, a donkey led by a green rectangular carrot. The mainland has leaped into near complete modern domestic semiconductor manufacturing capability with estimated full capability by 2025 (high tier 12 nm chips), this self-reliance allowing them to cut all chip purchases from the U.S., resulting in 60% of all global chip companies’ inability to export. The U.S., now, is attempting to import domestic semiconductor manufacturing, which companies targeted to collaborate such as Samsung have refused due to the majority of their profit being made in the PRC, and thus irreparable profit loss; capitalist powerhouse import reliance inescapably loses to socialist domestic self-sufficiency. Taiwan, lost in dollar salivation, is being played by the U.S. in the semiconductor game, with the U.S. exceedingly wanting more semiconductor manufacturing and exportation, U.S. and European bourgeoisie needing security of their semiconductor investments, and Taiwan slips into a Western/U.S. puppet; Taiwan doesn’t just lose its control, but it loses its semiconductor industry, as its superiority dies, and mainland dominance supersedes; without its semiconductor industry, Taiwan plummets into negative growth (like pre-2010).

Taiwan is an inseparable part of China; a part of China it is, this Taiwanese “independence” is merely a Western construct, a product of Western media and its bourgeois propaganda/ideals plaguing many uneducated masses—while at the same time these powers are duplicitously forced to officially accept Taiwan as a part of the PRC (~99.5% of the world population lives in countries that recognize Taiwan as part of China, adhering to the One China Policy)—, more susceptible due to Taiwan’s 20th century historical and, in turn, political situation. Western leftists act as if what independence movement there is exists as the fruit of determination, but ignore that this phenomena of Western/capitalist propaganda and media has resulted in this outcome repeatedly historically (particularly with regard to socialism); it is the entire point of it, but they cannot comprehend in the first place that not all independence is inherently progressive (nor all movement against independence inherently colonialist).

This Taiwanese “independence” bid is the present and most successful variation of Tibetan independence, both pushed by the West primarily, both linked back to and taught by the U.S. and its arms, and both supported by a minority of the country. Taiwan is not inseparable only because of its infiltration; Taiwan is historically a part of China, willingly so (something the Western bourgeoisie and even in suit the Western leftists will restlessly repudiate). State of Wu documents from 230 BC show friendly relations between China and Taiwan; the Han Dynasty, ~170 years later, traded with Taiwan extensively (Taiwan by 400 BC had begun its metal age) and played a large role in its development. The Song and Yuan dynasties beginning in ~960 set up administrative bodies to gain authority within Taiwan, at which point it was jointly governed. In 1624, Dutch colonists began a ruthless incursion within Taiwan seizing major control up until 1664 (by which point Taiwan was making up 26% of the Dutch East India Company’s profits), where Chinese General Zheng Chenggong was the primary force of the purging out of these colonists (although they existed in some form until 1668), and was regarded as a “national hero.” Following this, more Chinese Taiwanese administrators were set up; in 1684, Taiwan became entirely administered by Fujan’s provincial governance, and in 1885, Taiwan was recognized as the 20th province of China. Colonialist Japan started war with China’s Qing Dynasty in 1894, and in 1895 the Qing Dynasty lost, with Taiwan becoming a colony of Japan.

Mao Zedong declared in 1937 that China’s goal was “a final victory in the war”, this victory desired to “secure the liberation of Taiwan”; China declared war on Japan in 1941. In 1943, China put forward the Cairo Declaration, in which the U.S. and U.K. (and the Soviet Union) recognized that Japan had “stolen Taiwan”, and agreed to ensure that it was liberated and returned to its former status. Japan surrendered in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the invasion by the Soviet Union, and agreed to the Potsdam Proclamation, in which the Cairo Declaration conditions were reaffirmed; Taiwan was legally documented as part of China. The PRC replaced the KMT (U.S.-backed reactionaries which killed over one million people during the “White Terror”, starting with a massacre in Shanghai) in 1949, with civil war leading up to this, causing a political rift between mainland China and Taiwan, but they never became separated.

In 1971, the United Nations (General Assembly Resolution 2758) revoked recognition of Chiang Kai-shek’s ROC due to the KMT not being in governance (decreeing to “expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy”) and recognized Taiwan as Chinese (not “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan” to quote the session). The United Nations officially states that they “[consider] ‘Taiwan’ as a province of China with no separate status”, that “authorities in ‘Taipei’ are not considered to... enjoy any form of government status”, and that they “[consider] ‘Taiwan’ for all purposes to be an integral part of the People’s Republic of China.” In 1972, the U.S. officially stated, “The United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States Government does not challenge that position. It reaffirms its interest in a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question by the Chinese themselves. With this prospect in mind, it affirms the ultimate objective of the withdrawal of all U.S. forces and military installations from Taiwan.” In recent times, the U.S. has insistently tried to illegally invalidate the UN agreement and take back their words; today they and the general Western world attempt to erase this history.

Taiwan is still an inseparable part of China, agreed upon in the majority by the people of Taiwan and agreed upon in the National People’s Congress by Taiwan’s government in 1987 and 2005; Taiwan’s airline is China Airlines, Taiwan’s banking is China Trust, Taiwan’s oil is China Petroleum, Taiwan’s communications are China Telecom; Taiwan speaks Chinese and has the same dialect as across the strait, Taiwan’s streets are named after mainland cities (unlike Hong Kong), the “local cuisine” is Chinese cuisine, and Taiwan competes in the Olympics as “Chinese Taipei." “But what about the indigenous Taiwanese (not to be confused with native Taiwanese)?”, shouts the foreigner hubristically; we must riposte, “What of them?” The indigenous Taiwanese, a mistreated ~2.4% of the population, succumbed to the corruption-ripe politics of Taiwan following its colonization and subsequent KMT-occupied civil war. On one hand the Japanese committed a slew of indigenous Taiwanese massacres, while on the other the KMT set up some social services for the indigenous Taiwanese during the civil war (although they still faced maltreatment); who do they choose? Of course, they choose the KMT, but regardless, both choices declare separation. Beliefs of reunification have risen among indigenous Taiwanese in recent years, but woe, it’s minimal, as the Taiwanese government only grows with disdain for this belief, the politics of Taiwan become further rigged towards the right side of the atlas. Communist parties are targeted by police, the government illegally dismissed the Communist Party of Taiwan in the 2020 elections due to some false allegations of incorrect paperwork, and Taiwanese parties speak of “fellow democracies” like Japan and the U.S.; Taiwan is certainly a democracy like them: of the few rather than the many.

Ultimately, the Taiwanese government leads Taiwan into collapse (still holding onto notions of controlling Outer Mongolia/mainland China), and when the people emerge from the rubble, it will not be their hands covered in dust. Western media/propaganda flows uninterrupted like a freshwater spring, but unlike freshwater it poisons the drinker, first targeting the mind and then their actions; there is a reason why the “Great Firewall” exists, why Deng Xiaoping stressed the necessity of a “net” to prevent “flies from getting in.” As Taiwan further distances itself from security, panting as its “owner” dangles the blood-drenched paper bill in its face, it remains oblivious to the needle in the other hand that will put it down as soon as it is no longer useful. By 2049/2050, the PRC will have achieved a moderately prosperous developed socialist system; Taiwan will no longer be an “autonomous region” under capitalism (as is the same for others), and bourgeois hands will no longer pickpocket them. The question is not only what Taiwan will look like tomorrow or next year, but what Taiwan will look like in 2049/2050.