Last week Jon Sullivan, the scholar of things Taiwan and China, apparently located the first use of "renegade province" to describe Taiwan in the English-language media. Is it this NYTimes piece from 1982? Can't find an earlier one about Taiwan...
Last Tuesday, Peking and Washington announced an uneasy and tenuous-sounding settlement of the dispute over arms to Taiwan, a renegade province in Chinese eyes.....but it isn't the earliest use of the term. Apparently it was well-established in Chinese to describe Vietnam...
"Tracing back to its history of tributary states, the Chinese colossus has fixed views about all states contiguous to its territory; in some Chinese dialects, Vietnam is still referred to as a “renegade province.”In those days you could write frankly about China's long-term expansionist desires...
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You do know what is the alternative to saying renegade province. Its a rebel government. Its a government of tiny 22 million people who claim to rule the whole of china.
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't sound so good now is it. It sounds delusional