Taiwan is a fascinating case of international law because even though it wants to be its own territory, China has greatly inhibited its rights from doing so. There are many reasons for this; however, the primary one is that China invaded Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War in 1949, (Why China and Taiwan Are Divided). The Nationalist government, which was defeated, fled to Taiwan as Communists. What has made China’s relationship fascinating is that they insist that Taiwan does not trade with other countries, (Why China and Taiwan Are Divided). Instead, China prefers that Taiwan has to rely on them for trade, (Why China and Taiwan Are Divided). In spite of this bullying behavior from China, Taiwan has actually become an enormous trader of computer technology, (Why China and Taiwan Are Divided). This is quite unprecedented given China’s mandate.
What is fascinating about Taiwan is that is still being considered as a separate entity in the international community regardless of China’s wishes. If one is to visit Taiwan, they will immediately sense the people’s desire for separation from China. This movement towards independence has come about as a result of people being disgusted with the violence that transpired from the Chinese government. Culturally, Taiwan is linked to China when it comes to language and major customers; however, Taiwan is growing its own voice and it will be quite interesting to see how the events unfold in future years given that Taiwan has its own currency, is developing its own trade, and essentially, wants to be independent, (Why China and Taiwan Are Divided).
Japan is quite an interesting player in the region in Asia. While Japan and Korea have terrible relations and a lot of racism, Japan’s conflict did not come about until later to China. During the proxy war over Korea there was a brutal event called the Rape of Nanking, (The Politics of History in China Japan Relations). Due to the nature of what the Japanese did during this event, the Chinese view the atrocities as unforgivable, (The Politics of History in China Japan Relations). This has caused a great deal of tension between the Chinese and Japanese. That being said, I believe that the Chinese and Japanese could possibly improve their relations when the generation that heard the stories from their parents dies out. As is true with many conflicts in history, once the personal account stories go, it is possible for a younger generation to think different. Even though Japan is a sensational country, their history in Asia has been quite gruesome to anyone’s cultural standards of acceptance. This is why it will take many years for their relations to improve with China.
If I were working in a company that was selling computer equipment, I would be quite careful with the relationship between Beijing and Taipei. The reason for this is that China does not want Taiwan to have its own trading relations, (Why China and Taiwan Are Divided). In spite of this, Taiwan has forged its own trade with Beijing is quite irritated at their actions. I would tell my boss that it would be best to not trade with Taiwan because if China decides to act on the trading deals that Taiwan has entered into without their consent, it is not certain that our company’s business interests would be protected. Even though the World Trade Organization has a process of appeals, I feel that this would be too risky and would recommend trading in Thailand, Vietnam or the Philippines, where the territory and trading divides are more securely established for international companies and investors.
References
Tao, X. (2015, August)). The Politics of History in China Japan Relations. The Diplomat. Retrieved from: http://thediplomat.com/2015/08/the-politics-of-history-in-china-japan-relations/
Why China and Taiwan Are Divided (2014, August). The Economist. Retrieved from: http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/08/economist-explains-16/
