Taiwan was always an island, a remote island far off Chinese mainland. It has been a disputed region between China and Japan and once a Dutch Colony, like how Hong Kong was used by the British for trade as a port. As of today, it has a population of 23 million (about the population of New York) which is barely anything compared to China’s total population. This is why some may think that China is crazy to try and go to war over a small island with less than 2% of their population.
Taiwan and Hong Kong have both been protesting against the Chinese government, despite China having a better future in world dominance in sight. This is because of a lack of democracy in China and little freedom for its people. The problem that the Chinese Government faces, is that it cannot allow independence to any of the two because this could encourage the idea of freedom to all who want to leave China and become sovereign countries. Furthermore, Hong Kong and Taiwan are some of the richest areas in China and it would be a big hit to their economy if they would become independent countries.
Taiwan is trying to gather help from other countries like the U.S., to vote for them as a recognized independent country at the United Nations. They also want them to support them with weapons and a better military, in case of the possible event of a war in Taiwan. So far, only 17 countries have said that Taiwan is a country. This is partially due to countries not wanting to start a conflict with China. Other countries want to avoid seeming hypocritical. Spain for instance does not recognize Kosovo as a country, since Catalan was also trying to leave Spain. It may seem hypocritical to take a different point of view in this case.
Taiwan is improving it’s military arsenal, since China has a much stronger army and is waiting to see what is going on in Ukraine. If the war in Ukraine is unsuccessful for Putin it is unlikely China will attack Taiwan.
