![]() The unilateral rejection of obligations with regard to Hong Kong brought little in the way of meaningful foreign consequences. In recent times, tensions in the region have been rising, and the risks of an invasion of Taiwan continue to grow with Beijing’s military power. This may be a big part of why the United States continues to support Taiwan despite the end of the Cold War. In the 1980s and 1990s, democratic reforms were instituted. ![]() In the interest of truth and fairness, it’s worth noting that the nationalist government in Taiwan was basically a military dictatorship, and continued to rule Taiwan harshly ( including civilian massacres) until after the death of Chiang Kai-Shek. maintains a policy of “ strategic ambiguity” with regards to Taiwan, and supports a “One China, Two Systems” policy, which opposes both the mainland taking control of Taiwan by force and any official declaration of Taiwanese independence. stopped openly recognizing Taiwan’s government as the legitimate government of China. This obligation partially survives in an ambiguous form as part of the Taiwan Relations Act, which governs U.S.–Taiwan relations after the U.S. In 1955, a formal treaty obligated the United States to come to the aid of Taiwan’s government in the event of invasion. While the United States didn’t initially continue to back the nationalist leaders, the Korean War led to Taiwan becoming a front in the wider Cold War, and U.S. When communist forces (backed by the Soviet Union) won the civil war in 1949, nationalist leaders (backed by the United States), military forces, and loyal civilians fled to Taiwan, which is just off the coast of the mainland. Taiwan does all of this because the whole island (along with smaller islands) is disputed. History shows us that these minimally trained civilian-soldiers would serve better in a disruptive and irregular bushwhacker role (the oft-misquoted “rifle behind every blade of grass” concept), but Taiwan wants to maintain the illusion (read: delusion) that they will have millions of real, professional soldiers in the event of a conflict. Today, the mandatory military service is a lot shorter, and there are real questions about whether some frontline military units are prepared in any way for a military conflict, but millions of barely-trained people would quickly get a rifle in their hands in the event of war. There are armories and supply depots everywhere, and most men had performed mandatory military service of two years at that time, with periodic refresher training. They even regularly hold exercises where planes take off from and land on freeways. I frequently saw military bases with tanks, helicopters, and warplanes in every city. Imagine if a whole country doomsday prepped, and you’d have a pretty good idea of what it was like. The Dark Cloud That Hangs Over EverythingĪside from the rampant pollution in 2004, there was a dark cloud that hung over everything in Taiwan. ![]() Not only is China a big and expanding market, but general industry trends pull everyone in the industry in that direction. Given all of this, it was largely inevitable that a company like Tesla would expand there. I didn’t know at the time just how involved American automakers were in Asian markets, and in the following years I watched an increasing number of manufacturing operations shift to Asian countries, especially Mainland China. I saw Fords, GMs, lots of Dodge Neons, and even one Pontiac Fiero (a car I’m a big fan of). In the country, I was surprised at how many American vehicles I saw on the streets. My native friends said I didn’t want to know what exactly the man said. They usually wouldn’t mind when I took out my phone and snapped a photo, but one test driver shouted a bunch of obscenities in a mix of Mandarin and Taiwanese. I’d regularly see upcoming vehicles that weren’t out yet testing their mettle against Taiwan’s sometimes rough and crowded roads. It was a neat experience to get to know a culture very different from the American and Mexican cultures I grew up with, but car enthusiast me noticed a lot of familiar things.įor one, there was a Ford testing facility of some kind right around the corner from my apartment. When I was in college, I spent some time in Taiwan doing volunteer work.
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