Friday, May 2, 2014

China and Taiwan

Since the rise of The new China, the possibility of tension between the China and Taiwan has been a constant presence.  In recent years the links between the two have brought the possibility of a reunion (China has never recognised the breakaway nation) between the two economic 'powerhouses.' No doubt these moves towards reconciliation will one day, in the not too distant future become a reality.
Unfortunately we have on the sidelines the presence of the USA, a 'super-power' that holds on to its desire to control events way beyond it's borders, using the pretext if 'freedom' for the people of Taiwan. Given the track record of the USA and its protection of freedom-loving people, in other countries and the inconsistency of such a stance, one would suspect that the real reason is to maintain USA's hegemony of as much of the world as it can maintain.
That position has been the realm of other nations in the past; take the British Empire during Victorian times or the empires of Russia, then the Soviet Union and now Russia again, so why would we treat the Chinese differently in our  understanding of regional politics and economic rivalry?
Perhaps the economic ties between Taiwan and China, along with the massively important links between the USA and  China will lead to a peaceful resolution of the former issue. No country would gain from a 'shooting war,' or for that matter an 'economic war. The events in Ukraine and the tension  between Russia and the EU will show us the futility of such dangerous pathways.
I do however feel a level of discomfort re the bullying tactics, of the larger superpowers and their allies as they try to forge a world that suits the needs of themselves or to be more accurate, the forces within those nations that have always existed---the industrial/financial and military complexes that transcend borders and nationhood.
Let peace break out and the smaller nations of the world have a bigger say.

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