| Well from my visit to Taiwan and from Taiwanese friends, they seem to be divided. Some want China to be reunited (but only under the KMT government), others want Taiwan to be seperate. In fact a lot of Taiwanese are fanatically patriotic to China, but just not to the Chinese Communist Party.
The elections should have told you something. The pro-seperatist won by a narrow margin, and just like the Bush elections there was protests from the reunification supporters.
Frankly I don't like the Taiwan issue. Taiwan is a pain in the neck run by a bunch of guys still sore about losing the civil war. I really wouldn't care if they declared independence or became an Imperial state or something.
BUT from a strategic perspective, Taiwan poses a risk to national security. See those American bombers sitting on the island? They could bomb all of China's coastal cities in less than 2 days and wipe out 1 million civilians in less time than I could write this. Even Japan recognised Taiwan's strategic importance during World War 2.
In some ways Taiwan is like Cuba. They're annoying, nobody really should care, but they pose a danger by housing Soviet military bases. I recall the US nearly nuked Russia when Soviet troops offered to install missiles in Cuba.
And yes, there is propaganda in China. But then again, there is also propaganda in the US, so what's your point?
Ideological loyalty is the act of giving your soul to a vague concept, to be manipulated by people smarter than you. |