Taiwan

On Friday, I was with Collin (my Chinese friend) and Laura (another Chinese friend). We were just chit-chatting, working on Collin and Laura’s English and my Chinese.

Out of the blue, Collin asked me if I thought Taiwan was a country on its own or part of China.

I said that Taiwan was a country.



Apparently that was the wrong response.

Apparently this is a hot button topic here in China. It’s a lot like the Revolutionary War in America—how the southern states seceded from the rest. Taiwan sort of seceded from China and considers themselves a legitimate country, but China still considers Taiwan a part of China.

China is completely capable of invading and taking Taiwan back, but I guess the US has an agreement with Taiwan that if China does invade, then the US will provide Taiwan with weapons and stuff but not troops. But given China’s development and the size of their armed forces, the US wants to stay on China’s good side too.

Anyways, there's an interesting political tidbit. :)