Taiwan-China Conflict || Impact on India || Analysis

 China-Taiwan conflict

Conflicts between various countries in various regions are not new to us. One such major conflict is the China - Taiwan issue. This conflict was again brought to limelight when Chinese aircrafts entered the Taiwanese Airspace for two consecutive days as stated by the Authorities of Taiwan. According to Taiwan, six J-10 fighters, four J-16s, two SU-30s, a Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft, and two Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft entered the airspace. After that, various controversial statements were given by the Chinese Government. This drew the attention of various countries which further heated the matter. Today, we will understand the whole scenario and the reason for this conflict from its history. 

A Brief Look into Taiwan

Taiwan officially named as Republic Of China (ROC) is a small country in East Asia with a land area of 35,808 km2. It shares borders with the People's Republic of China (PRC), Philippines and Japan. With a GDP of $1.276 trillion, it stands 21st in the tally and a per capita of $54,019 which is 15th largest in the world. It also has a very high Human Development Index of 0.916. In the early 1960s, Taiwan experienced rapid industrialization and economic growth also known as the 'Taiwan Miracle' which helped it to become a developed country. 

From tHe Qing Dynasty

In the 17th century to 19th century China was ruled by the Qing Dynasty. This Qing Dynasty was the fourth largest Dynasty in terms of area and administered present China, Korea and Taiwan. At that time, Japan was a major force in East Asia and wanted to expand its supremacy. In 1894, Japanese forces attacked the Qing Dynasty and defeated them. As a result, Japanese forces occupied present-day Korea, some parts of Manchuria and Taiwan. With this defeat, there was a drastic downfall in the prestige of the Qing Dynasty. It broke into various small clans. Various small clans occupied various parts of China and it was eventually shattered.

Unification of China

When India was divided into various princely states and provinces. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel united the whole of India. Just like that, in China, Sun Yat-Sen lead the unification of China. He founded the Kuomintang Party which played a significant role in the unification of China. And Sun Yat-Sen was successful in this Unification process. But after the Death of Sun Yat-Sen in 1925, there developed cracks between the party. There arose two sections- the nationalists and the communist party. These two parties fought among themselves. This rivalry started the infamous Chinese Civil War of 1927.

Chinese-Civil War

Chinese Civil War was fought from 1927 to 1949. The fight was between the Kuomintang Party or the Nationalist Party and Communist Party of China. The Kuomintang Party or the Nationalist Party was led by Chiang Kai Shek and the Communist party was led by Mao Zedong. On 12th April 1927, the infamous Shanghai Massacre took place. It was a violent suppression of the Communist party by the Kuomintang Party. Approximately 5000 communist members were killed. Humanity was destroyed by the Kuomintang party. 

Japanese Invasion

Japan again took advantage of the rivalry between the Kuomintang party and the communist party. On 1931, Japan again invaded Manchuria, a province of China. And this time too, Japan defeated China and captured the area of Manchuria. They also established Manchukuo. It was a puppet state owned by Japan. But this was not the end. In 1937, Japan again waged the Second Sino Japanese War. For all the course of the war, Japan was ahead and it seemed impossible for China to win. However, it was unfortunate for Japan that the USA dropped the bombs of the genocide over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This resulted in the defeat of Japan. And all the territories of Manchuria, Taiwan, Korea were returned to China. It was crystal clear that the Civil war proved to be very expensive and the utmost thing is that it had not ended till then. Various reports suggested if the nuclear weapons would have not been used against Japan, then it would have invaded the whole China taking the advantage of the Civil War. 

Help from USSR

After the defeat of Japan, within four years the civil war ended. The ideology of the Chinese Communist Party and USSR was quite similar as both believed in Communism. With the help of USSR, Communist party led a huge massacre of the Kuomintang Party. Within three years, the Communist Party made its hold of over 95% of China and Kuomintang was crushed. They were forced to exile from the Chinese mainland. In 1949, they declared that China will be a communist country with power in the hands of the Communist Party of China. After 1949, Kuomintang party members and their followers have fled from China. They took their cattle, household articles, etc with them. They fled to the island of Formosa which is known today as Taiwan. By 1950, the name of Kuomintang party had been completely diminished. Taiwan and China became two countries with the same origin but two different governments and ideologies.

Role of the United Nations

It is a surprising fact that the People's Republic of China which we commonly know as China was not recognised by the United Nations as a sovereign state till 1971. The Republic Of China i.e Taiwan was recognised as a proper state in 1971. The United States and other European countries helped Taiwan to secure the right of a sovereign state. But on 25th October 1971, the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 was enacted. This resolution recognised the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations and removed all the representation of Taiwan in the United Nations. This meant the immediate expulsion of the representatives of the Chiang Kai-shek regime from the seat which was held in the United Nations. The resolution was brought by 17 countries team led by Albania. In the view of these countries, the people of the Republic of China were unlawful authorities installed on the island of Taiwan which claimed to represent China. Furthermore, it also stated by the People's Republic of China that Taiwan is a part of its own territory and it will not recognise Taiwan as the second China. However, Taiwan deserve to be granted its own recognition of a sovereign state. For example in India, at the time of independence, the Muslim League demanded a separate country Pakistan and they also got one. Pakistan was also recognised as a separate country by all the members of the United Nations. Just like that, if the members of the Kuomintang party formed a separate country with a nationalist ideology in Taiwan (besides they were exiled from the mainland), they should get a right of a sovereign state.

The Current Scenario

Right from September 2020, Chinese aircrafts entered the airspace of Taiwan numerous times. China also increased its military activities near Taiwan. The matter even heated when in January, Chinese aircrafts entered Taiwanese Airspace for two consecutive days. On the first day, eight Chinese bomber planes and four fighter jets flew into Taiwan's defence zone between mainland Taiwan and the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea. Again on the second day, six J-10 fighters, four J-16s, two SU-30s, a Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft and two Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft were seen. Days after, Taiwan claimed that various spy planes also entered Taiwan's Air defence identification zone. Days after, China warned Taiwan that any attempt of independence means war. This statement attracted all the eyes of international communities and became controversial.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen is believed to be quite aggressive in this conflict. She stated that Taiwan will not back down when receiving pressure and will not rashly advance when it receives support. Further, she also raised the Hong Kong issue with China. She advised the people of Hong Kong to keep faith in democracy. On the other hand, the United States of America is firmly in support of Taiwan. While the Chinese aircrafts buzzed over Taiwan, USA sent its aircraft group led by the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. Furthermore, on his first call of the newly elected US president Joe Biden with the Chinese President Xi Jinping, expressed his concerns with Taiwan. 

Importance of Taiwan for India

It is a well-known fact that the conflict between India and China has been for ages. In the year 2020, this conflict arose in the Galwan which is not completely over yet. After the Galwan Valley standoff, the boycott of Chinese products was at its height. But it is also true that the complete boycott of Chinese products will not be possible in the absence of Taiwan. How? Taiwan is an ideal substitute for China. We all know that India is highly dependent on China in electronics, toys and other articles. It is worth mentioning that Taiwan supplies all these products at the same cost at which China does. In fact, the quality of the products is much better in Taiwan. Moreover, Taiwan is the third most developed state in the south china sea after Japan and South Korea. If Taiwan is captured by China than it will also be great psychological pressure on the other conflicted countries with China.

Lack of Aggression From India 

Throughout all this and that, somewhere India is lacking aggression. We all know that by aggression India can only bitter the relationship. But we also know that if India sits quiet, again the same case of 1962 will be repeated. And if the relationship between both the countries worsen to a limit, then we should also understand that China will bear a much greater loss than India in today's circumstances. Situations which were in 1962 have changed drastically as in 2021. It should be brought to light that China is in backfoot geographically and strategically. This was completely explained in a previous post of mine about the India China conflict. There I made an analysis considering all the facts and explained how the current situations are and how will the same one-sided war will not happen as it happened in 1962. If you haven't read that post then don't worry. You can revisit the post by clicking the link given. (To read the post Click Here)

India lacked aggression when China passed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor through Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. India lacked aggression during the Sikkim conflict. India lacked aggression against the One China Policy. India is now also lacking aggression in the Taiwan issue.  Moreover, if China occupies Taiwan it will be a physiological blow to other countries including India. If the occupation of Taiwan will be successful then it will not be hard for China to resolve other conflicts like Senkaku Islands in Japan, Vietnamese conflict, Philippines conflict, Mongolian conflict, Bhutan-China conflict, South-China Sea conflict, Arunachal-Pradesh conflict, Aksai Chin conflict in its favour. 

Moreover, in the business sector, we lacked aggression, as I said earlier that the complete boycott of Chinese products is not possible with the absence of Taiwan. Taiwan provides the products with the same price at which China did. But still, we were not able to do trade with Taiwan because we signed the One China Policy. But in recent times, India has shown a little aggression in the business sector. Earlier we didn't trade with Taiwan due to the One China Policy. But after the trend of 'Boycott China', India has started trading with Taiwan sidelining the One China Policy. In 2019, India - Taiwan trade volume was US$7 billion. On this, China also warned India for trading with Taiwan despite One China Policy. But India sidelined it and still welcome further investment from Taiwan which will also be capable enough to boycott Chinese products. Currently, more than 80 Taiwanese companies have a presence in India, and this came in a very short time. To its addition, Taiwan has also agreed to make the investment in Puducherry and also will make more large investment in India post-pandemic. It is no less than a piece of good news for India. 

Conclusion

As you all saw from the above post that the base of all this conflict is the Chinese Civil War. The conflict between the Kuomintang Party and the Chinese Communist Party resulted in a serious issue. It shows that the Civil Wars are much capable to shake all the scenarios of the world. Indeed I think that civil wars are more dangerous than wars between different countries. 

But seeing today's scenarios, the conflict between China and Taiwan is shaping into a serious and important issue, especially for India. I personally feel that India should openly and strongly stand in support of Taiwan. Taiwan is very crucial for India's economy keeping in mind the boycott of Chinese products and also is important militarily. Taiwan must gain recognition of a separate sovereign state like China.

I hope you have liked the post. You can express your views and opinions in the comments section below. In the end, I would just like to say, ' ENJOY READING '.

Research source:

• BBC
• Aljazeera
• Wion
• The Guardian
• Reuters

-Dibyaansh Pradhan