Policy of deliberate ambiguity

Okay, this is the post about Taiwan.

And no, don't bother scrolling down because you won't find a pop-culture reference music video at the bottom.

Sorry, go watch the Bowie video from last week if you want.

Okay, so, it's 1949, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still glowing from radiation and (Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend was on the Billboard charts for 22 weeks.

If you're with the communists in China you've just finished unifying your country under communist rule after a civil war interrupted by Japanese invasion and World War II.

If you were on the other side of that conflict, you're a member of the Kuomintang and you've just fled to an island off China's coast called Taiwan.

In Taiwan the Kuomintang will form the seat of government for the Republic of China, which is distinct from, and in opposition to the PEOPLE'S Republic of China.

The newly formed United Nations will recognize the Republic of China as the legitimate seat of the Chinese government.

Well, they will up until mainland China starts looking like the better bet, then everyone, including the UN will start recognizing the People's Republic of China as the legitimate seat, and Taiwan will be dealt with in a deliberately ambiguous manner. (That's the title of this blog post. Nice tie-in, eh?)

"Deliberately ambiguous" means that Taiwan is still diplomatically recognized, sometimes as a country, sometimes not.

Usually not if it will piss of the People's Republic, because there's way too much money to be made.

On the other hand, Taiwan either manufactures or is the home country of the manufacturers of motherboards, chipsets, routers, LCD screens and other necessities of life.

Hey, you don't want to destroy a society over a diplomatic row. (If you didn't understand that last word, it's because you pronounced it wrong.)

China considers Taiwan a rebellious province.

Taiwan considers China a larger trading partner than the United States.

This year Taiwan and China restarted discussing reunification.

This ends the report I owed to Mrs. Kenny in grade four. Now, hopefully, the New Westminster School District will give me my high school diploma.

And, as I write this on Thursday night, I would like to congratulate Michael Phelps for winning a gold medal on Friday and probably setting a new record.

Related Links
Republic of China [Official site]
Taiwan [CIA World Fact Book]
Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council [Official site]
Taiwan Portal [Wikipedia]