tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35315805.post3922578800979770505..comments2024-01-12T18:27:33.795-05:00Comments on Exercise in Futility: There Can Be Only One?Tommykeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14751182125861177379noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35315805.post-5810513818143877382012-07-13T20:32:28.664-04:002012-07-13T20:32:28.664-04:00Mainland China (now more fascist than communist) i...Mainland China (now more fascist than communist) is a relic of the aggressive, territorial-expansionist nationalism that mostly went out of fashion after 1945. Not at all a comfortable thing to see in such a huge country.<br /><br />China's borders have shifted over the centuries (there are parts of Siberia to which it could make a more convincing historical claim than to Taiwan). The claim to Taiwan seems rooted in a shared language and culture, as your analogy with Germany and Austria implies, yet even that doesn't stand close examination. The so-called Chinese language is actually a group of eight closely-related languages. I have it on good authority (a native speaker) that the Taiwanese "dialect" which is the native language of 85% of Taiwanese is not mutually intelligible with the Mandarin which 60% of mainlanders, and the mainland-derived dominant class on Taiwan, speak. Culturally, Taiwan shows some influence from Japan, which ruled it for decades during the early 20th century (as China, within living memory at least, did not). China's claim to Taiwan is at least as flimsy as a German claim on the Netherlands would be.<br /><br />Of course, the fact that the Taiwanese don't <i>want</i> to be ruled by the Beijing regime should settle the matter. Since the regime doesn't accept this, Taiwan's position is somewhat similar to Israel's -- a small, rich, pluralist democracy threatened by a more backward but far larger society. Israel responded to this situation by developing a nuclear deterrent, and if China continues to grow more threatening, it wouldn't surprise me to see Taiwan follow the same path.Infidel753https://www.blogger.com/profile/10965786814334886696noreply@blogger.com