Re: Commercial photos show Chinese nuke buildup


pluto wrote:

snip

come, come, k somchai,
k stananger is seriously pulling your legs.
afaik china(cn) now is not interested in taking over any place other than
what cn has "taken"
yes, cn has "taken" back hk
cn intends to "take" taiwan(tw) as historically taiwan belongs to cn.
cn and tw are engaging in "diplomatic" arrangements to unify in spite of
usa intervention.
i doubt it would be a war between cn and tw in as long as tw accepts the
one country, two systems policy as accepted by hk.

rest snipped

Beloved Khun Pluto, the Taiwanese don't see it the way the Chinese see
it:

For Taiwanese, the most laughable and/or irritating statements are
those of foreigners that begin with the words, "Well, Taiwan has always
been . . ." One prime example is the current fabrication going around,
"Well, Taiwan has always been a part of China."

The Taiwanese have their own experience of what Taiwan has always been.

Taiwan was once a beautiful island. This was so, long before the
Portuguese named it Ihla Formosa. Numerous aboriginal tribes inhabited
the island; they enjoyed it as they competed for hunting grounds and
territory, even doing a little head hunting on the side. Entrepreneurs,
pirates, and traders, as well as farmers escaping poverty and taxes in
China lived on the western side.

Then the Dutch came and planted their flag near Tainan. Taiwan was not
really their first choice; they had tried to capture Macau from the
Portuguese; then they fought with the Ming forces over Penghu (the
Pescadores). Both sides compromised and the Dutch came to Taiwan in
1624. They built forts, they brought improvements, and they took
aboriginal "wives"; but helping the island was not their main concern.
What they really wanted was a base for their profitable trade with
China and Japan. To do that, they sought to control and exploit the
island.

The Spanish came shortly after the Dutch; they planted their flag and
settled in the north around Tamsui and Keelung. They brought their
missionaries, and made some improvements; but what they really wanted
was trade with China and Japan. To do that, they also had to control
and exploit the island. They were driven out by their competitors, the
Dutch.

The fleeing Ming loyalists came later led by Koxinga (Zheng
Cheng-gong). After a 9-month siege they forced the Dutch to leave and
they planted their flag in 1662. They did not come because they wanted
to; they were running from the Manchus who were taking over Ming China.
They needed a refuge from which they could hope to retake China. To do
that they needed to control and exploit the island. They only
controlled a small part.

The Manchu Qing navies under Shi Lang followed the Ming. In a short
time they took Penghu and forced the surrender of the Ming on Taiwan.
They did not really care for the island; they stayed because they did
not want any Ming supporters to return. To do that they needed to
control the island, so they planted their flag in 1683 and garrisoned
the western side, at times encouraging settlement and at other times
discouraging it. Again, these settlers, mostly male, intermarried with
aborigines.

While they were here, the French came and briefly planted their flag in
the north in 1885. They really did not care for the island, but they
were fighting with the Qing over Viet Nam and they hoped to punish the
Qing by punishing Taiwan. They had no time for improvements. They
gained some advantage, made a treaty with the Qing and left.

The Qing stayed for over 200 years; their loving care for the island is
seen in the fact that there were uprisings and rebellions every three
to five years. Qing improvements were always too little, too late.
Every time a new magistrate or governor promised to change things, he
soon found an excuse to leave. While the Qing controlled and exploited
the western half of the island, the aborigines held the central
mountains and the eastern half. Then one day, all of the people of
Taiwan found out from foreigners that they had been given to the
Japanese in the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895).

Thus the Japanese came. The Taiwanese people, Hakka, Hoklo and
aborigines, formed their own Republic of Taiwan. Their leaders quickly
fled to China but the abandoned people opposed the Japanese. The
Japanese armies were much too experienced and better equipped. Within
six months they planted their flag and ruled. However, unlike the
others, the Japanese had come to stay and they made lasting
improvements to prove it. Taiwan was to be their showcase colony to the
world. Yet with all their improvements, they too exploited the island.

In 1945, at the end of World War II, the Kuomintang (KMT) came. If
those in the past had exploited the island, the KMT did it tenfold.
Everything in Taiwan from iron to nuts and bolts to rice was taken to
serve the KMT war effort on the mainland; but by 1949, the KMT too were
running from the defeat. They could only stay and control the island
with martial law until 1987. Then finally after long struggle, effort,
and suffering the people achieved the right to directly and freely
elect their own president in 1996. For the first time, the people of
Taiwan and not outsiders could control their island. They could shape
their own destiny and even try to restore the beauty of the island.

It doesn't end there. Now another outsider, the People's Republic of
China (PRC), says it wants to come and control the island. Since the
quality of life in Taiwan is so much better than that of the mainland,
what exactly are they offering?

Conscious of their democracy the Taiwanese want to improve on that
democracy and their island. However you look at the Taiwan experience,
the last thing Taiwan needs is another rapacious outsider.

For more writings go to http://zen.sandiego.edu:8080/Jerome

Enjoy the reading elder Brother!

Chabby

.

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