Comments by "Alan Friesen" (@alanfriesen9837) on "Why has the relationship between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan taken a turn for the worse?" video.

@Jumptohistory Not in the great game.
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@tetashome Taiwan has been part of China since the 17th century.
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They made an economic choice that they were better off trading with Mainland China than they were trading with Taiwan. One of the disadvantages of being small and weak is that you have to ride the waves instead of plowing through them.
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@zilun Chinese history doesn't begin with the establishment of the People's Republic.
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@zilun It was multiple dynasties. In some cases it was occupying dynasties. But it was always China. In the eyes of the Chinese people your definition of a country doesn't matter. In the eyes of the Chinese people Taiwan is part of China. That's not going to change. And in the end, the will of the Chinese people as exercised by the government of the People's Republic will bring Taiwan under state control, through military means if necessary. That will be the case regardless of what I want, what you want, or even what the inhabitants of Taiwan want. And the rest of the world will wring their hands and pontificate in righteous chastisement as they watch the inevitable play itself out.
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@zilun China has had cycles of order and chaos throughout its history. While the extant of China has changed over time, almost always expanding, the frequency of consolidation was not rare. And even when China was broken up amongst different warlords, the expectation that the country was to be reunited by the strongest one was universal among the Chinese.
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@zilun You will lose.
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@zilun Taiwan didn't see the combat on the island itself, but when your country's at war, you're involved.
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That's only half the story. Americans are brainwashed in the cult of liberal democracy. Anger with the PRC for not collapsing and being successful is palpable.
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@ayi3455 I don't know if regaining outer Mongolia is on the ultimate to-do list or not. It's certainly not something China wants to bring up right now. China's got too many other territorial issues and until those are resolved they will almost certainly not pick a fight with Russia. I would not be surprised either way in the end though.
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@ayi3455 I understand the ambiguity of it all. The nation-state is a nineteenth century Western concept that never really applied well to China anyway. The world would be better off if it were scrapped altogether; it's cost millions their lives over the last two-hundred years and it has really brought out the worst in all of us. I don't have too much of a problem with your defining today's China with the Han. It makes a lot more sense than 1949. I certainly would define it earlier but your definition is not without merit.
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I disagree. Consensus is not required, though it would be nice and result in far less death and misery.
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@Harthorn The government of the PRC is as normal as any other government being that there is no absolute standard of normalcy. In the absence of a global government with the power and authority to force compliance of states, playground rules apply. You get what you have the strength to take and are willing to accept the consequences for. That goes for all governments including mine (USA).
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@Jumptohistory "Well, if China is going to subjugate the Taiwanese by force then everyone will know what kind of country it is." Exactly. A powerful and confident country with ambitions to control its territory and unite its people.
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@franciscomartins2656 There is no "this China". There is only China.
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@mo337 "U.S. needs to get on that Taiwan side " Why? So that there can be a flashpoint for total war between superpowers in the Western Pacific forever? The sooner China is peacefully reunified, the safer the world will be. We should be encouraging Taiwan to negotiate reunification with the rest of the country.
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@kaybee65 "Mongolia is not part of PRC claim…" yet.
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@ayi3455 While Imperial China began with the Xihuangdi and the Qin unification, China itself goes back much further, at the very least to the Spring and Autumn period which was the age of philosophy in China. Likewise the Roman state predated the empire by a couple centuries, but this is all nit-picking. It's obvious you know your history and I can admire that.
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@ayi3455 The kingdoms of the Spring and Autumn Period were considerably larger (area-wise) than modern provinces, as were most of the kingdoms in the Warring States Period. The territory of the Western Zhou was also larger than modern provinces and at that time the dynasty had considerable control over its territory.
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@mingkao1 ROC and PRC are different governments for the same country. Neither are nations. The Chinese Civil War never officially ended, it just became impractical to prosecute for either side.
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Apples and oranges my friend.
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@Harthorn You grossly overestimate the power of Democrats. As soon as we acquire the numbers to actually accomplish something we immediately splinter off into factions and fight over whether or not our proposals are pure enough or practical. If authoritarianism ever becomes a thing in the United States, it's not going to come from the Democrats, at least not initially.
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Taiwan is more like a body part.
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@Jumptohistory "But I don't think your argument is going to stop the world from sympathizing the Taiwanese." The "world", or at least the more meddlesome parts of it, will sympathize with Taiwan the same way they sympathize with Tibet and Xinjiang, with essentially the same results. China will be annoyed but not the least bit deterred.
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ilgamesh One billion Chinese see it as a civil war. To them this is unfinished business, and a scar on their soul. That's not going to change until Taiwan is back under the control of the central government.
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@yoshi7390 China was much weaker (and Britain much stronger) when that agreement was made. Perhaps China should honor the 50-year commitment, but they no longer have to.
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@Harthorn Not uncommon in history.
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@ayi3455 My interpretation of China's island building campaign is that they want to have reach deep into the South China Sea to control the trade routes and to be able to guarantee safe passage through the Straits of Malacca. I think they are trying to be cagey about their purposes, but I think resource acquisition is secondary.
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@ayi3455 Ulan Bator is the capital city of Mongolia. Mongolia is a recognized sovereign state. On this I think we can agree. In the end it's probably not going to matter though. China will do what it feels is in their best interest weighing their political, economic and military strengths and weaknesses accordingly.
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@ayi3455 I'm afraid I don't understand. What's the Quad team?
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@kaybee65 Thanks for the info. I don't see Biden breaking that up. Neither party in the U.S. is comfortable with Chinese power, in no small part to Chinese actions and assertions mentioned earlier in the thread.
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@kaybee65 Yeah, I think you're right.
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Vladimir Putin Only if they lose… maybe. That's why Taiwan hasn't been reincorporated yet, because victory is not yet certain.
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@Harthorn I disagree with your assessment of our future. This last election has given me a great deal of relief in this respect.
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@Jumptohistory That will be the end result.
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@ittastelikekool-aid7483 Do you have any proof for that assertion?
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@03mai67 The vast majority of states recognize the ROK; very few recognize the ROC.
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@tianko5609 Whether you need it or not you will get outsider opinion and it will be backed up with overwhelming force.
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tea drinker China is not known to be committing genocide. It is aggressively suppressing separatism and some of the practices are questionable from a humanitarian standpoint. Questionable practices are also exercised by the United States and Russia, as well as many other UN members outside of the permanent five.
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Advantage PRC.
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