In 1912 the Republic of China was established in China to combat the oppressive monarch rule that had governed the nation for so long. Soon though it would face a formidable adversary. The communist movement fought back against democracy in the Chinese civil war from 1927 to 1949. They successfully beat the republic. They were forced to fall back to the small island of Taiwan and set up base there. In this case, the bad guys won and would go on to rule the region with an iron fist.
The People's Liberation Army (Chinese communist party) had conquered the mainland but did lose their coastal island and that was not something they could accept. 70 years later and China still doesn’t recognize Taiwan's sovereignty. Luckily there has been no attempt to take back what they feel is theirs, until now.
Starting in the 1980’s tensions started to improve. Despite Taiwan's refusal to reunify, they did start to relax on each other's trade and travel restrictions. Things seemed to be looking up. Sadly due to Taiwan's election of multiple presidents who supported official independence and their strengthening ties with the U.S. the peace between the two quickly stopped. This all may seem confusing, but all you need to know is this:
China simply sees Taiwan as a rebellious breakaway that they vow to take back by force if necessary.
To spite their enemy China has placed economic pressure on international businesses to refuse Taiwan's sovereignty. Their president, Xi Jinping, seems to have no fear or filter when it comes to directly addressing Taiwan, saying things like “a strong force to lead the country, and this strong force is the Chinese Communist Party” and “We do not promise to renounce the use of force and reserve the option to use all necessary measures”. Taiwan’s Foreign minister, Joseph Wu has combated this by saying "If China is going to launch a war against Taiwan we will fight to the end, and that is our commitment.”
China threatens this coastal island with more than just words though. They repeatedly send large numbers of Chinese jets into Taiwanese airspace as a show of strength. I’m not sure how this can be taken any other way except a pure sign of future aggression.
Even if you don’t believe China has plans of military action, there is still reason to believe an invasion is very possible. China is more powerful and more influential than it has ever been. They are willing to take any steps necessary to continue to increase that strength (Hong Kong). The only thing that usually stops them, the US, is currently being governed by an extremely weak administration. The likelihood of America stepping in is slim. It seems the time is perfect for China to take action.
The final question I would like to address is what is America’s role? I believe that our philosophy during the cold war should still remain now. Communism is bad and therefore it must be stopped and democracy is good so it should be protected. Taiwan is a moral ally. How would it look if we abandon yet another one of our friends? No one is going to ever side with us if we never offer support in return. It is in the interest of our own and that of morality to help Taiwan.
