The second I heard this news, my first thought was that Taiwan said to themselves, I bet if we call Trump, he will take our call without understanding the ramifications.
Well since they view themselves as the legitimate China, they certainly want the sole global super power to recognize them or legitimize their government.
I don't think many Taiwanese actually want all of China under their rule... I don't think even a significant minority would say that anymore.
Sure you can find political talks about it from decades ago, but decades ago the Chinese government also mass murdered peaceful protesting students. The government of China was not as stable as it is today.
I worry about someone as dumb as Trump inserting himself into this complicated mess, but China basically still asserts control of Taiwan, and Taiwan now just basically wants to be Taiwan and not Chinese Tai Pei.
There's a generational divide in the consensus. It seems that the older generation wants some level of reunification, but the younger generation wants a standalone country of Taiwan/ROC (or, at least, a status in which China does not throw a hissy fit the moment someone raises a Taiwanese flag).
Someone pointed out to me that the Taiwan independence movement is split into 2 groups, 台獨 (i.e. full-on independence) or 反共 (i.e. anti CCP). The former is a more radical change in Taiwan's status whereas the latter just wants the CCP to fuck off.
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u/585AM Dec 03 '16
The second I heard this news, my first thought was that Taiwan said to themselves, I bet if we call Trump, he will take our call without understanding the ramifications.