it takes a nation of billions. made in taiwan. made in china. always the butt end of jokes. never seen as a standard for quality. taiwan makes cheap useless trinkets and china makes even cheaper even more useless trinkets. well heck, at least we got "made in mexico" beat. the distinction between taiwan and china is sometimes overlooked by those not in the know. chinese is chinese right? asian is asian right? sex you long time right?



the relations between taiwan and china have always been chilly, especially after chiang kai-shek withdrew to taiwan after his defeat at the hands of the communists. since then, native taiwanese have greatly resented the chinese and pretty much hate everything about china and communism. they have a good point of course. run over by millions of refugees and perpetually crapped on by stronger nations, taiwan hasn't exactly had much alone time. and really, taiwan would have been an afterthought -- it is a tiny little island after all -- if not for the economic tiger that it became. praise "made in taiwan!" the united states used to staunchly support and defend taiwan but in the past decade or so, support has waned as china has emerged as a player on the world stage.



and now taiwan and china are staring at each other across the strait. china wants its little republic back, taiwan says "hells no." taiwan's president chen recently declared that he would hold a referendum about removing chinese missiles aimed at taiwan. this action is seen as the precursor to taiwan pushing for independence (or alternately, a desperate reelection manuever). china's prime minister wen jiabo visited president bush two days ago and the white house stepped out from behind its veil of ambiguity to directly warn taiwan to "back that independence truck up!" not their exact wording. while the united states has said that it will defend taiwan from a forceful takeover, it is also supportive of china's one china policy -- different than china's one child policy, don't get those two confused. one is about making more chinese citizens, one is about making less. so pretty much the US wants a peaceful assimilation of taiwan into china.



guess how happy the taiwanese are about all this? and with bush's recent comments, the taiwanese feel like bush is selling them out. perhaps a valid point.



for me, i have some basic knowledge of the history and events leading up to this situation but i can't pretend that i have an intelligent opinion about it all. i'm open to both sides, china and taiwan. i know some people are all life or death about taiwan versus china but you gotta separate the emotional ties from it all. i was born and raised in taiwan but i'm a foreigner, a descendent of one of the millions who fled with the nationalists. so in that respect i am not taiwanese. so maybe i don't understand things because my blood is different than yours (meaning "native" taiwanese) but really, we both have chinky eyes and no hops so keep it real.



i worry for taiwan, who seems like a small gnat next to the swoll land mass that is china. taiwan is drawing attention to itself in order to force the issue but as wise political leader jay-z said:

the takeover, the break's over nigga

god mc, me, jay-hova

hey lil' soldier you ain't ready for war

r.o.c. (china's) too strong for y'all

(taiwan's) like bringin a knife to a gunfight, pen to a test

your chest in the line of fire witcha thin-ass vest

-jay z, takeover-

i doubt jay z was referencing the republic of china but i think he makes a good point. taiwan, without outside support, is gonna get busted "in a gunfight." and we don't want that. i got family there. i got street markets with my future outfits there. don't do it man, save the fake brand names. mike, ducci, prama, adibas and kelvin clein needs to live! but at least no matter how this all shakes out, "r.o.c. we running this rap shit."



history of taiwan: 1, 2, 3. articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.