From The Politic:
The Taiwan issue has remained the “core” interest of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) ever since its establishment in 1949. From Beijing’s perspective, Taiwan happened to be among the first pieces of territory China had to concede to “imperialist powers””in this case Japan”after the Opium War in 1840, and it remains the only one that still is separated from the motherland after China reclaimed its sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997 and Macau in 1999. Thus, the “Taiwan problem” involves not only China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also national pride and the accomplishment of the “the nation’s rejuvenation.” Moreover, although over 15 years have passed since the end of the Cold War in 1991, Beijing still sees Taiwan, with its substantial military capability, as a potential threat, given that both the Yangtze and Pearl River deltas, where nearly 50 percent of China’s economy and 40 percent of its population are located, are within the striking distance from Taiwan. [Full Text]
Jing Huang (黄靖) is a senior fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center of the Brookings Institution.
