Why China’s “Taiwan Reunification” Shibboleth Is a Hoax

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1. In a column reprinted by the Hudson Institute, Visiting Fellow [Miles Maochun Yu](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/miles-maochun-yu) argues that China’s slogan about “reunification” with Taiwan is “a hoax sustained by fear, ideology, and deception.” Yu outlines ten reasons why “Taiwan is not a rebellious province but a living refutation of communist determinism, a society that chose freedom over fear.” First, and critically, Yu notes that no part of “Taiwan’s territory has ever been governed by the Chinese Communist Party” (or CCP) since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949—so the CCP “cannot ‘reunify’ with what was never unified.” Yu sees fear of the Chinese people as Beijing’s real motive to absorb democratic Taiwan. As he writes, “A prosperous, democratic Taiwan proves that the Chinese people are fully capable of self-government.” Yu concludes that with all the falsehoods, propaganda, and subterfuge behind China’s Taiwan policies, “‘Reunification’ is thus not a national project but a totalitarian one.”

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3. What kind of nonsense is this

   >”Yu notes that no part of “Taiwan’s territory has ever been governed by the Chinese Communist Party” (or CCP) since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949—so the CCP “cannot ‘reunify’ with what was never unified.””

   CCP is not a country, but a regime, if we recognize CCP as the legitimate government of China and Taiwan was part of China prior to CCP coming to power, then Taiwan is still part of China unless it declares independence, but it hasn’t.

   Not only that, Taiwan is ruled by Kuomintang, the government in-exile from Beijing that retreated all the way to the island during the civil war against communist forces. So then Taiwan (Republic of China) is either a legitimate government under siege (which it was until we switched recognition to PRC in the UN) or a separatist entity.

   Alternatively we can say that the civil war resulted in the formation of two states, kind of like North and South Korea, but in that case we should recognize both, but we don’t.

4. I want to say that the United States, Europe, and even Japan and Korea may oppose China for various reasons—be it geopolitics, trade, finance, technology, or even nationalism. After all, this world is filled with both confrontation and cooperation. However, relying on fools like Yu Maochun will only diminish their own competitiveness. If you want to defeat your enemy, observe them, study them, and visit the country to see it with your own eyes. Understand their weaknesses, rather than employing idiots who simply tell you what you want to hear.

5. Taiwan has its own elections, controls its own airspace and taxes. It is independent. The question is if China will ever try engulfing the island within the next decade. If they completely encircle it, I struggle to see how Taiwan could resist. There is not a Ho-Chi Minh trail or nearby countries for them to out burst China through insurgencies.

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