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Is Taiwan A Country or Part of China? - YouTube
Channel: WonderWhy
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this is the island of Taiwan is
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political situation is a bit complicated
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a slightly oversimplified way of looking
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at it would be that Taiwan is either its
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own independent country or part of China
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but the reason that's oversimplified is
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because Taiwan isn't a separatist
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movement Taiwan doesn't want to secede
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from China because from Taiwan's
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perspective the are China well at least
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constitutionally anyway Taiwan's
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official name as the Republic of China
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whereas the country that generally
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referred to as China as the People's
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Republic of China to fully understand
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the situation we need to go back to the
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end of the 19th century in the last
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imperial dynasty govern China the Qing
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Dynasty the Qing Dynasty encompassed all
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of what is modern day China Taiwan and
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Mongolia as well as parts of several
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other bordering nations in 1894 began
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the first sino-japanese war between the
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Qing Dynasty in the Japanese Empire
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which primarily took place in Korea and
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Taiwan at the time Korea was governed by
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the Joseon dynasty which was a clients
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day of the Qing Dynasty the war ended
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just one year later with a decisive
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Japanese victory which resulted in the
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island of Taiwan being annexed to the
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Japanese Empire the war also brought aim
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to the Joseon dynasty in Korea and
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guaranteed the complete independence
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from China Japan officially annexed the
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Korean Peninsula in 1910 in 1912 after
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millennia of imperial rule in China the
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monarchy was overthrown and the first
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Chinese Republic was established the
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Republic of China Sun yat-sen was made
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provisional president and Nanjing but
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you I'm shocked I had already assumed
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power in Beijing because he was in
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command of the be yang army the largest
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military and nation so to avoid conflict
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son agreed to accept yuan as president
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as president however he abused his power
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which led to a failed revolution in
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which son fled to Japan as president you
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won dissolved the Chinese Nationalist
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Party and in 1915 declared himself as
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emperor of China as he attempted to
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restore the monarchy his death one year
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later began what became known as the
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warlord era and Chinese history as the
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country became fragmented ended
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different factions in 1917 Sun yat-sen
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generally considered the founder of the
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Tripoli
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cheyna returned from exile to
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re-establish the republic he revived his
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nationalist party under the name of
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Kuomintang the government was
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established in the south of the country
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as the north was dominated by warlords
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and the Imperial be yang Army sanyasin
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wanted to unite the country under one
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government however he lacked the
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military power to take on the Warlord's
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after help from the West was refused
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assistance came from the Soviet Union in
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exchange for their military assistance
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they asked at the Kuomintang cooperate
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and allied with a much smaller Chinese
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Communist Party the warlord era came to
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an end the 2-year military campaign
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called the northern expedition however
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before the smells of the campaign was
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complete the alliance between Nationals
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and the Communists began to fall apart
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after the death of Sun yat-sen in 1925
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the Kuomintang Party split into two
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separate ray and left-leaning factions
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the left-leaning faction moves its
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capital to Wuhan the original rate
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leaning corn tank party no led by Chiang
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kai-shek to control of Nanjing and
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declared it their capital the China
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National ins
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sought to purge the Communists among
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their ranks and in April of 1927 and
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what became known as the Shanghai
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Massacre thousands of communists were
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executed by nationalist forces the
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left-leaning Kuomintang faction which
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broke away also began executing
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communists and the party ultimately
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collapsed leaving the original party as
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the sole gentleman government of China
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the execution of communists ended their
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alliance with the Soviet Union and later
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the star of the chinese civil war
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between the Nationalists and the
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Communists the war began in August of
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1927 with the nan Chang uprising and the
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founding of the Red Army the army of the
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Communist Party with Mao tse-tung's
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commander-in-chief
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four years later in 1931 with a civil
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war still ongoing the Empire of Japan
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sought to use the war as an opportunity
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to expand their sphere of influence by
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invading China the japanese imperial
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army invaded the east coast of china and
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occupied Manchuria as well as other
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nearby lands japan installed their own
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puppet government and faith in continued
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although it didn't escalate until all at
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war between the two nations until 1937
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when it dead now since the initial
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invasion
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back in 1931 the civil war in China had
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continued many nationalists had called
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for a temporary truce with the
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Communists to defend China against the
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Japanese
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her--her Chiang kai-shek the Kuomintang
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leader refused and he wanted to continue
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the war against the communists let's
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changed in 1936 when he was kidnapped by
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one of his own commanders who forced him
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to agree to a military alliance with the
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Communists as before Japan their common
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enemy the second sino-japanese war
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escalated as Japan pushed enter the
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Chinese capital of Nanjing and massacred
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tens of thousands of civilians and
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soldiers in 1941 with World War two
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ongoing Japan carried out a surprise
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attack on Pearl Harbor at this point the
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United States were not at war with
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anyone but the Japanese launched the
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strike to try and prevent the u.s. from
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interfering with their Wars and the
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Pacific the attack cause immediate
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declaration of war by the natives dazed
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American involvement in the war with
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ultimately lead to war ended World War
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two and the Pacific Theater in July of
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1945 in the Potsdam Declaration the
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Allied forces called for Japan's
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unconditional surrender in August of
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1945 the United States dropped two
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atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of
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Hiroshima and Nagasaki just days later
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the Japanese accepted the terms of the
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surrender part of the surrender even
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included the Japan returned sovereignty
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of all lands that they had gained
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through warfare however this didn't just
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include territory they had gained during
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World War two has also included their
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annexation czar Korea and Taiwan several
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decades earlier so the island of Taiwan
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taken from the Qing Dynasty by Japan in
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1895 was to be returned to China after
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the war with Japan was over the chaney
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Civil War started up again in 1946 the
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Nationalists and the Communists only
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ever had a very loose alliance against
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the Japanese and the fading never
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completely stalled the Soviet Union by
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the communists while the United States
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backed the Nationalists and what were
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the early years of the Cold War despite
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having a superior number of soldiers and
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equipment the Chinese Civil War was
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decisively won by the Communists as they
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captured more and more land
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pushing the Nationalists further and
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further back until 1949 when the
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Kuomintang government retreated to the
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island of Taiwan this effectively ended
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the civil
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although no official peace treaty was
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ever signed later that year the
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Communist Party proclaimed the People's
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Republic of China meanwhile the
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Kuomintang government the Republic of
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China and thus no internationally
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recognized government of China was
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exiled to the island of Taiwan over the
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course of the next few decades
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international recognition began to shift
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from the Republic of China to the
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People's Republic of China and in 1971
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with UN General Assembly resolution 2758
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the People's Republic of China were
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recognized as the legitimate government
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of China although the United States had
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voted against the resolution the u.s.
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broke off diplomatic ties with the ROC
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in 1979 the same year the PRC attempted
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to open up communication with the ROC
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with a proposal known as the three links
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this however was completely rejected by
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the ROC who responded by adopting the
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three noes policy no contact no
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compromise no negotiation
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this policy however had to be revised in
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1986 when a China Airlines 747 aircraft
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was hijacked by an ROC pilot when he
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changed its course to Guangdong and
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defected to the PRC
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this forced the ROC and the PRC to
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communicate with each other in 1982 the
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two governments met coming to an
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agreement which was known as the 1992
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consensus the consensus being that both
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sides adhere to the one chain of policy
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the one China policy is the belief that
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there is only one China and that Taiwan
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is part of China however both sides see
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themselves as the legitimate government
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of China both sides of the Taiwan Strait
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agreed that Chinese unification was the
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eventual goal and that the current
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situation was only temporary before the
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1990s Taiwan had been a one-party state
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with the Kuomintang party as the
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government and 1986 Taiwan had is first
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presidential election although the
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Kuomintang stayed in power however in
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the year 2000 the Democratic Progressive
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Party were elated into government and
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today are the more dominant party having
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won 2016 election the DPP do not agree
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with the one chain of policy and reject
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the 1992 consensus they also do not
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support Chinese unification and strong
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support the idea of a Taiwanese identity
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the DPP believe that Taiwan already has
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its own independent country the Republic
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of China has a very ambiguous political
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status it's not a member of the United
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Nations and very few countries
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especially recognize them as a country
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that being said many countries do have
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unofficial de facto embassies in Taipei
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and vice versa so officially at least
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Taiwan is nor country but every
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practical sense of the word it has they
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have their own government with their own
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president which has jurisdiction over
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the whole Eggland's of Taiwan they have
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their own military issue their own
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passport and the even take part in
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sporting events such as the Olympics and
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the FIFA World Cup however they
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participate under the deliberately
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ambiguous pseudonym of Chinese Taipei
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now you may be thinking well Taiwan
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quite clearly as a country so why not
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just make official why not just declare
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independence and change the name to the
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Republic of Taiwan or something like
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that well the rest support for Taiwanese
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independence but it's not something that
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has a huge amount of support and this is
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because of China well many people may
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support the idea in principle and
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practice is something that can be quite
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dangerous because China is hostile
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towards the idea of Taiwan becoming an
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independent nation because according to
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the PRC Taiwan is an inseparable part of
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Chinese territory since antiquity and
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have threatened to unify China and
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Taiwan by force if necessary
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should Taiwan try to pursue independence
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so unfortunately resolving Taiwan's
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political status as something that could
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be incredibly difficult or even
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impossible for the foreseeable future
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the two ways to resolve the dispute both
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seem incredibly unlikely to happen any
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tension the first unification Taiwan
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unifies with China this is unlikely
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because neither side would be willing to
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give up their claim as the legitimate
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government of China and after being
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separated over several decades
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their populations are very different
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people the second and the payments
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that's missing like the most practical
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approach to solve the dispute
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both China being hostile to Taiwanese
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and the painters as just too dangerous
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is something that could be realized that
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we can set it at the moment
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so the third and most likely scenario
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the staff is cool
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and today's geopolitical climate that
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seems like the only realistic option so
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hopefully now it's clear why I said at
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the start of the video that seeing
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Taiwan is either its own independent
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country or a part of China is
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oversimplified it's a much more
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complicated ester than that so obviously
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there's no yes or no answer to the
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question as Taiwan a country because it
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depends on who you ask
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and have you define a country etc etc
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Taiwan has a long and complicated
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history that is brought about this
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ambiguous political status that it has
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today a political status that challenges
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the very meaning of the word country
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however everyday life in Taiwan is
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generally unaffected and it operates
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like any other country in the world the
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people of Taiwan lived their lives like
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any other people the majority of whom
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can sever themselves Taiwanese and the
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big US political status has very little
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impact on their day-to-day lives
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nevertheless as unfortunately almost
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every other country in the world must
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play along this facade that Taiwan
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doesn't exist and that the issue is
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generally swept under the rug
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rather than being discussed or debated
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simply because it's a controversial
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topic and can be uncomfortable to talk
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about thanks for watching
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