Political, social, and economical issues between China and Taiwan.

Essay by dimple91College, UndergraduateA+, May 2003

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In 1997, China reacquired Hong Kong from the British and is set to take over the Portuguese-administered territory of Macau in 1999. Now China is eager to incorporate Taiwan as part of China. Taiwan has been separated from China since 1895, and the majority of the people who reside on Taiwan do not wish to reunite or be reunited unless it is on their terms with democratic China. The debate surrounding Taiwan's desire for independence can easily fit into the methods of fact and definition, cause, quality and value. Those methods help us understand the importance in the debating issue of Taiwan's independence.

A long history lies behind this issue show how China and Taiwan have been separated from each other. After China lost a humiliating war with Japan, the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed in 1895, which ended the first Sino-Japanese War. China was forced to cede the province of Taiwan to the Japanese.

It was not until 1945 when the Japanese were finally defeated, that they surrendered Taiwan. With the defeat of the Japanese, the Chinese quickly seized control of Taiwan, and set up their own government. Corrupt Chinese government authorities caused resentment among the people in Taiwan. In February of 1947, two years after China took over Taiwan, the people of Taiwan revolted against China. However the Chinese were able to quell the uprising in a matter of months and afterwards the Chinese declared Taiwan a province of China (Encarta 1998).

Following a tough war with Japan, China needed time to heal its wounds. However Chinese communists took advantage of China's condition and started a nationwide rebellion. The Nationalist Army, having just fought a grueling war with Japan, was very vulnerable at the time. The Communists, led by Mao Zedong, had little trouble overthrowing the Nationalists and...