CHINA TAIWAN TUSSLE

• Taiwan, earlier known as Formosa, a tiny island off the east coast of China, is where Chinese republicans of the Kuomintang government retreated after the 1949 victory of the communists.
• It has since continued as the Republic of China (RoC).
• Although largely unrecognized by other countries as such, self-ruled Taiwan sees itself as no less than an independent nation.
• Its leaders, have vowed to defend its sovereignty against the Chinese goal of “reunification”.

3. China-Taiwan Tensions

• In 1954-55, and 1958, the PRC bombed the Jinmen, Mazu, and Dachen islands under Taiwan's control, drawing in the US.
• Congress passed the Formosa Resolution authorizing President Dwight D Eisenhower to defend Taiwanese (Republic of China- ROC) territory.
• In 1955, Premier Zhou En-lai declared at the Bandung Conference that he wanted negotiations with the US. But as civil war broke out in Lebanon in 1958, China resumed the bombing, provoking the US to supply Taiwanese outposts on the islands.
• The people's Republic of China (PRC) i.e. mainland China and ROC (Taiwan) then arrived at an arrangement to bomb each other's garrisons on alternate days-this continued until 1971.
• Taiwan became the non-communist frontier against China during the Cold war. It was described as an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" underscoring its strategic significance.
• It was only in 1971 that the US inaugurated ties with Mainland China through the secret diplomacy of Henry Kissinger, national security adviser to President Richard Nixon.
• In 1975, Chiang Kai-shek died, martial law was lifted, and Taiwan got its first democratic reforms.
• U.S. recognized the communist party that ruled People's Republic of China (PRC) as the legitimate government of China in 1979, ending its official relationship with Taiwan and abrogating its mutual defense treaty with the island.
• The US has a policy of strategic ambiguity towards Taiwan. This means that it maintains ties with Taipei, and sells weapons to it, but officially subscribes to the PRC's "One China Policy" in which Taiwan does not exist as a separate entity.
• Just 14 countries around the world recognize Taiwan. Most are very small, many are remote island nations. As the British prepared to exit Hong Kong in 1999, the "One China, Two Systems" solution was offered to Taiwan as well, but it was rejected by the Taiwanese.

4. The Current Tensions Between the Two Nations

• Lasy year, amid worsening the US-China relations over Covid and trade, the State Department sent its highest-ranking delegation yet to Taipei.
• During the visit, the Chinese conducted a military exercise in the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan from mainland China.
• In October 2020, President Xi Jinping asked the PLA to prepare for war, triggering an alarm in Taiwan, which read it as an open threat.
• Early in the Biden Administration, which declared "rock solid" commitment to Taiwan, Taipei raised an alert about an incursion by Chinese Warplanes.
• In April, Taiwan reported Chinese jets in its air defense Zone. In July, Xi warned that he would "smash" any Taiwanese move toward independence.
• At the beginning of this month, as the Chinese jets came back, Taiwanese Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-Cheng told Parliament that China already has the capacity to invade Taiwan, and would be able to "bring the cost and attrition to its lowest" by 2025.

5. US Ties with China

• Officially, the US has subscribed to PRC's "One China Policy" which means there is only one legitimate Chinese government.
• The most serious encounter was in 1995-96 when China began testing missiles in the seas around Taiwan, triggering the biggest US mobilization in the region since the Vietnam war.
• Now, the US backs Taiwan's independence, maintains ties with Taipei, and sells weapons to it.
• Taiwan is entirely dependent on the US for its defense against possible Chinese aggression.
• This is why every spike in military tensions between China and Taiwan injects more hostility into the already strained relationship between Washington and Beijing.

6. Challenges for the US

• As tensions rise, the world is watching the US, whose status as the world's pre-eminent power has been dented by the messy exit from Afghanistan.
• In East and Southeast Asia, several countries including Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines, which are sheltered under the protective umbrella of the US, are concerned about US security commitments in the Pacific region.
• President Joe Biden has been seen as walking a thin line between pledging support for Taiwan and keeping the lid on tensions with Beijing.
• After speaking with Xi in October 2021, Joe Biden said that they had agreed to abide by the "Taiwan Agreement", under which US support for the "One China Policy" is conditioned on China not invading Taiwan.
• The AUKUS pact among the US, UK, and Australia, under which Australia will be supplied with nuclear submarines, imparted a new dimension to the security dynamics of the Indo-Pacific. Taiwan welcomed the pact, while China denounced it as seriously undermining regional peace.

7. What are the implications for India

• With India facing its problems with China on the LAC, there have been suggestions that it should review its One China Policy- it has in any case long stopped reiterating this officially.
• Also, it is suggested that India use not just the Tibet Card, but also develop more robust relations with Taiwan to send a message to Beijing.
• India and Taiwan currently maintain "trade and cultural exchange" offices in each other's capitals.
• In May 2020, the swearing-in of Tsai was attended virtually by BJP MPs Meenakshi Lekhi (now MoS External Affairs) and Rahul Kaswan. In 2016, New Delhi had dropped plans to send two representatives for Tsai's first inaugural at the last minute.
• India has been reported to be in talks with Taipei to bring a $7.5 billion semiconductor chip manufacturing plant to India. Chips are used in a range of devices from computers to 5G smartphones, to electric cars and medical equipment. The deal was reported on the heels of last year's summit of the QUAD, which discussed the need to build a "safe supply chain for semiconductors".
• India also follows asymmetric Federalism where many states enjoy greater autonomy in their functioning as compared to other states (Article 371, Schedule V & VI).
• These special provisions are also intended to deal with issues to identity & Culture. India thus needs to handle these democratically to not see Taiwan/Hongkong types of protests happening in India.
• India can always use the leverage of Taiwan and Hong Kong whenever China meddles in India's internal issues like Kashmir/Naga unrest.

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