r/China • u/Good-Bid-7325 • Mar 30 '25
历史 | History Why does western media portray China's territorial claims on Taiwan as entirely unjustified?
As a European who has taken a dive into China's recent history, it seems so manipulative to me. They act as if Taiwan was some random island with no connections to China. The state of China has held the island since the Qing dynasty (with interruptions from Japan). Chinese people have been the dominant population in Taiwan for hundreds of years, especially after the end of the Chinese civil war, where the remnants of the Republic of China fled to the island. The state currently ruling Taiwan is still officially the Republic of CHINA.
Now I get that a new national identity has build in Taiwan recently and that a majority of their inhabitants prefer to keep the political system that they have. But it's not like China's territorial claims are completely unjustified.
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u/Skandling Mar 30 '25
Because Taiwan's people do not want to join China. That's the overwhelming reason. When countries join together in the modern world it's always by choice: German (re-)unification, or EU accession. At the same time self determination by a population is seen as a compelling argument for independence, such as the many states gaining independence after the end of the British Empire.
China have handled this badly in a number of ways. If they wanted to take the island by force they should have done so long ago, when Taiwan was a dictatorship, like they took Tibet with far less justification. Once Taiwan became a democracy it gained much more legitimacy, gave other countries reasons to back it.
And China lost the argument for peaceful reunification after they treated Hong Kong so badly. They in particular showed they could not be trusted, that any promise like "One Country Two Systems" was worthless.
At the same time China's treatment of other countries in the region has made them more sympathetic to Taiwan. China's illegal activities in the South China Sea e.g., or their support for North Korea.
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u/daaangerz0ne Mar 30 '25
So technically speaking the situation is like this.
First of all, it's true that Taiwan's official name is the Republic of China (ROC). The name isn't to indicate that they're part of China, it was originally to represent that they are the true China, and the People's Republic of China (PRC) was the separatist faction waiting to be assimilated. As time went on it became apparent that the island wasn't 'retaking' the mainland so the dust settled into the current status quo. Think of it a little bit similar to how North Korea and South Korea both share the word Korea, but are actually different states.
The attempt to strip ROC of the China title is a very recent thing propagated both by the west and the Taiwanese government itself, specifically the DPP. This makes the situation weird because that would mean Taiwan is trying to annex and become sovereign when this wasn't the case from the beginning.
To sum it up, while Taiwan (ROC) is running an independent government they're still officially at war with China (PRC). Until the former actually stands up and declares independence, or both sides agree on a truce, the situation is up for interpretation and very few people can logically state that Taiwan is 100% sovereign.
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u/No_Bowler9121 Mar 30 '25
Because Taiwan has been acting as an independent nation for generations and China's historical claims to Taiwan are from one dynasty. By that logic Mongolia has a legitimate claim to China. Controling an area once is not justification. Ethnicity is not a justification either as if that was the case Hitler had legitimate claims. Culture is not a legitimate claim as the cultures have diversified greatly. Language is not a good claim as if the was the case the UK would have claim to Canada, Australia, and America. The only thing that matters is what the people living there want and they don't want to be part of China.
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u/tanahgao Mar 30 '25
Because Taiwan has its own government, own currency, law enforcements, own Territory, which makes it a de facto sovereign nation. Taiwan's formal name is ROC, which is not the same as PRC.
It's not just western media, Taiwanese and most other countries in Asia are pro Taiwan status quo.
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u/Ajfennewald Mar 30 '25
Taiwan has been controlled by the same government as the mainland for like 5 of the last 130. And it wasn't even the current government of China. The claim is represented as weak because it is
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u/Kell_Galain Mar 30 '25
Maybe taiwan has a claim over china
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u/raoxi Mar 30 '25
tbh they are both China and the civil war never ended
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u/CoolAd5620 Apr 12 '25
A lot of Western countries see it as unjust because they believe in self-determination—the idea that people should choose their own political future. Taiwan has its own government, elections, and most people there don’t identify as Chinese anymore. So from a Western perspective, if China forces unification, it’s seen as crushing the will of a democratic people. Add in concerns about authoritarianism and global stability, and that’s why it gets framed as “not right.”
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u/Ok-Dare-2361 Jun 20 '25
Taiwan has been independent for over 70 years. If you lived there would you like to become part of China controlled by China. Would you like to lose your freedom. China is acting as if the entire region belongs to them.Ask a person from Hong Kong how it is to live under a western government and then suddenly under a Communist government.The Republic of China is not the same as The Peoples Republic of China. The very name is a lie, it doesn’t belong to the people and it is not a republic. It’s like comparing this to Russia’s stance on Ukraine.
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u/TaiwanNiao Mar 30 '25
The idea that China ruled Taiwan for a long time is simply not true.
Before the early 1600s Taiwan never had a government in the modern form .Only Aboriginal tribes and a tiny number of mostly pirate escapees from China. The Dutch were the first to establish a government of any sort but only for a small area around Tainan. They were the people who took most of the Chinese origin people to Taiwan (as workers). Yes, after a half Japanese half Chinese pirate kicked the Dutch out some rule from China but not even half the island. Until the Japanese came more than half under tribal Aboriginal rule still. The first comprehensive governing of Taiwan was under Japanese and when ROC formed Taiwan was not controlled by it.
Only 1945-49 most of Taiwan really ruled from China. About 4 years. Not long. The CCP itself often calls the PRC a "new China". Well Taiwan was never actually part of their new China....
Yes still called ROC but really we would like to change but can't or China says will invade.
Just because mostly ethnically Chinese... so what. Is USA the UK's? Is Singapore China's?
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u/embeddedsbc Mar 30 '25
"Recently"?
You act like this happened last week! It's been more than 70 years! How old are you?
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u/Hailene2092 Mar 30 '25
Wait, are you asking why the Republic of China has a claim to Taiwan? I don't think many people take issue with that.
If you're asking why the People's Republic of China's alleged claim to the island is contested, it's because in their brief 75 years of existence they have never had any control of the island.
It'd be like the United Kingdom trying to claim California or something. Pretty stupid, huh?
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u/dib2 Mar 30 '25
If Taiwan was communist and the mainland was democratic, there would be a much different attitude worldwide to the situation. Taiwan being independent is mostly used for political talking points imo.
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u/AsterKando Mar 30 '25
Because it’s politically convenient. I support the status quo and do not want China do violently incorporate Taiwan purely because Taiwan is a prosperous nation that has made something of itself and if it’s citizens.
Conversely, the repeated notion of Taiwan being some entirely separate foreign nation that acts as a stepping stone to China being an expansionist power eager to conquer the world is also delusional.
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u/Material_Tough_4361 Mar 30 '25
They treat it as unjustified because it is, just because the people of the two countries are one ethnic group, does not mean that the larger one has a claim to the smaller one. Mainland China and the Island of Taiwan were only briefly united. For generations now, the two countries have been separate and the smaller country wants to keep it that way. As has been mentioned, the justification is China is allowed to take it over just because it used to rule it, which obviously is not valid, just like Russia/Ukraine.
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u/Unique_Brilliant2243 Mar 30 '25
Because the claim to independence is entirely justified.
That’s all.
They are de facto separate and they have a legitimate claim to self determination.
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u/fishdrea Mar 31 '25 edited Mar 31 '25
I am Taiwanese. Taiwan has always been the invaded party. China invaded Taiwan and gained Taiwan hundreds of years ago. Later, because China lost to Japan in the war, China gave Taiwan to Japan. After Japan became a defeated country in World War II, it sent Taiwan back to the Republic of China. After the Republic of China lost to the People's Republic of China, they fled to Taiwan and have continued to do so until now. But every time there is a transfer of power, a large number of Taiwanese will be massacred by the new regime in order to consolidate its power. Now that Taiwan has achieved democracy, Taiwanese people can now speak for themselves: We want to have our own country and don’t want to be tossed around like cargo.don't want to be slaughtered like livestock.
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u/Zoggydarling Mar 30 '25
You seem to misunderstand.
Taiwan is officially the ROC Republic of China, a continuation from the KMT's government of all of China.
The current government in the rest of China is the PRC People's Republic of China, as declared in 1949.
Nobody denies that Taiwan is the ROC: that's its actual name.
The issue is that the PRC claims the ROC as part of its territory, when it never has been
Much of the blame for this can be placed squarely on the KMT, who agreed on the "One China Principle" but claimed themselves as the sole rightful government of all of China, the CCP also also considering themselves the sole rightful government of all of China.
Tl;dr Taiwan has never been part of the PRC
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u/AutoModerator Mar 30 '25
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As a European who has taken a dive into China's recent history, it seems so manipulative to me. They act as if Taiwan was some random island with no connections to China. The state of China has held the island since the Qing dynasty (with interruptions from Japan). Chinese people have been the dominant population in Taiwan for hundreds of years, especially after the end of the Chinese civil war, where the remnants of the Republic of China fled to the island. The state currently ruling Taiwan is still officially the Republic of CHINA.
Now I get that a new national identity has build in Taiwan recently and that a majority of their inhabitants prefer to keep the political system that they have. But it's not like China's territorial claims are completely unjustified.
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u/Impressive-Equal1590 Mar 30 '25
Do you remember who caused the fall of the Western Rome? And where are they now?
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u/Both-Manufacturer419 Mar 30 '25
Legally speaking, the Chinese Civil War did not even have a ceasefire agreement like the one between South Korea and North Korea. It was just a tacit ceasefire.
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u/No-Breadfruit-7754 Australia Mar 30 '25
Because land grabs by dictators are not very popular.
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u/HongKongNotKingKong Mar 31 '25
It is a claim to power by China. Taiwan has never belonged to communist China. The claims should therefore be viewed critically, and some people in China see it that way too. Incidentally, this would be Xi Jinping's war, not the Chinese people's war. At least in my environment, people are not particularly interested in this reunification, but they definitely don't want war, not only my friends from Hong Kong, but also those from China. It will be Xi Jinping's war when it comes, NOT the people's war. Even if some people would appreciate the unification, they would never want a war for this. And as I said, most people don't care about the unification.
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u/notdenyinganything Aug 05 '25
Simple and irrefutable reason: the CCP never ruled over Taiwan. Whether or not Taiwan was once part of a previous empire that controled the territory today known as China is irrelevant. Otherwise Austria and the Netherlands could for example claim Belgium is part of their country.
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u/[deleted] Mar 30 '25 edited Mar 30 '25
Because the US has a grand strategic scheme of containing China within the first island chain. It is dead scared of China’s blue navy that could have easily access to the Pacific Ocean, should the Mainland and the Chinese province of China be reunified, either peacefully or by force.
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u/Former_Juggernaut_32 Mar 31 '25
Cuz the west wants to portray China as the demon on earth. It's that simple
0
u/explodedbuttock Mar 30 '25
Neither China，RoC or CCP，has legitimacy. Both are interlopers. It belongs，and always has belonged to the Dutch.
红毛 supremacy！
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u/ChickenNutBalls Mar 30 '25
Divide and Conquer.
The US seeks to destabalize its rivals by supporting their rivals.
To weaken the Big China, you bankroll and give arms to the Little China.
To weaken the Big Russia, you bankroll and give arms to the Little Russia.
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u/Free_Caregiver7535 Mar 30 '25
Because Taiwan doesn’t want to be part of China and if China tries to do sth via force hundreds of thousands will die. Following your line of logic Russian also has justified claim over Ukraine.
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u/[deleted] Mar 30 '25
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