tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post3440079960301003127..comments2023-10-22T18:25:39.688+08:00Comments on The View from Taiwan: Five Things That Never Happened: TaiwanMichael Turtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-43182053468614414112008-03-18T16:58:00.000+08:002008-03-18T16:58:00.000+08:00Oh, so a bit of alternate history. How about this ...Oh, so a bit of alternate history. How about this one, eh?<BR/><BR/>In 1987 there is no defection by the director of INER about Taiwan's furtive nuclear program. Instead research proceeds and during the 1996 Strait Crisis Taiwan responds to China's missiles by testing a nuclear weapon off an uninhabited South Pacific Island.<BR/><BR/>The PRC is put on high military alert, while the world admonishes Taiwan. The US strongly rebukes Taiwan, but responds to China's military build up by sending two carrier groups into the Taiwan Strait.<BR/><BR/>This averts war, but the Taiwan Strait is even on a higher tension. China places a complete embargo on Taiwan and forces Hong Kong to capitulate to this embargo in 1997. It also begins equipping the ~800 missiles in the Nanjing Military Zone with nuclear warheads.<BR/>Chen is elected in 2000 and swears that the weapons will only be used defensively.<BR/><BR/>Taiwan suffers in even greater isolation as a rogue nuclear state until 2006.<BR/><BR/>The US, under President Bush, begins to make signals about bringing India into the NPT. China is against this, as both India is a regional rival and the Democratic Congress wants to bring Taiwan under a similar deal, with an eventual disarmament agreement. Taiwan's argument of the unfairness of being treated similarly as North Korea or Iran while being a democracy is starting to erode American sentiment for China's position.<BR/><BR/>And...I don't know how to end this. But at least I created a situation that's worse than it is now!Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05500133683222755268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-84335509585728524252008-03-13T22:22:00.000+08:002008-03-13T22:22:00.000+08:00Japan is allowed to keep Taiwan at the end of WWII...Japan is allowed to keep Taiwan at the end of WWII. The island eventually becomes a self-governing commonwealth, with Japan responsible for foreign affairs and defense. Under the cover of the US-Japan Mutual Security Treaty, American forces hold periodic military exercises on Taiwan in conjunction with Japan's Self-Defense Forces, to counter any threat from the KMT dictatorship governing China.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-88904337568740901342008-03-13T22:06:00.000+08:002008-03-13T22:06:00.000+08:00The Dutch and Spanish never come to Taiwan in the ...The Dutch and Spanish never come to Taiwan in the 17th Century. A few Chinese migrate and set up small settlements along the coast farming, trading and intermarrying with the aborigines. In the late 19th century the Japanese, British and French start to battle for control of the island. Japan wins. 20th century history remains unchanged.<BR/><BR/>James Soong becomes President in 2000... Lien Chan becomes President in 2004... I sure am glad neither of these things happened.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13061413827755873948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-84709703442058761632008-03-13T21:53:00.000+08:002008-03-13T21:53:00.000+08:00If the Clinton Administration stood by Lee during ...If the Clinton Administration stood by Lee during his visit to Cornell, then there just COULD have been enough leverage against China to call off its policy of aggression.B.BarNavihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07860632239759681393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-91637048714227725762008-03-13T20:32:00.000+08:002008-03-13T20:32:00.000+08:00The ROC accepts Italy's suggestion of resolving th...The ROC accepts Italy's suggestion of resolving the China problem in the UN during the early 60s, later accepting a two-China model. The ROC is a fully recognised state by today.Tommyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13552370490869601403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-57780046281614303422008-03-13T16:55:00.000+08:002008-03-13T16:55:00.000+08:00Regarding the US purchase in the 1860s, there's al...Regarding the US purchase in the 1860s, there's also the quirky legal matter of US ownership/protectionate of Taiwan after 1945, as a former Japanese colony. That formal status was never properly revoked: Imagine Taiwan as Okinawa....Ahistoricalityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04004964192885891003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-71357193400509438572008-03-13T12:11:00.000+08:002008-03-13T12:11:00.000+08:00Sorry, no time to answer this question.As Clinton ...Sorry, no time to answer this question.<BR/><BR/>As Clinton proposed --- It is "Election", stupid! XDAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-72862415808805699162008-03-13T11:54:00.000+08:002008-03-13T11:54:00.000+08:00Chiang Kai-shek convinces the Americans to support...Chiang Kai-shek convinces the Americans to support his invasion of China in the late 1960s. The ROC army marches into China at the height of the Cultural Revolution and is joined by Republican loyalists to overthrow the People's Republic. Chiang Ching-kuo takes over from his father a few years later and the Deng reform era begins 20 years earlier. Taiwan is a forgotten backwater in a new authoritarian, nationalist superpower.Michael Faheyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11057491107522344042noreply@blogger.com