Why Taiwan is caught between China and the US - BBC World Service

This island is something

that China and the United States have basically agreed to disagree

about for decades. Most governments

don't recognise Taiwan as a country, but it has its own flag

and its own army, and its elected president says

it is a country. It has islands two kilometres

from China. But China says

all of Taiwan is a part of China. It hasn't ruled out

taking it by force. And if that happened,

Taiwan would look to its strongest partner,

the United States. But even though it sells weapons

to Taiwan, American policy is

to answer questions about whether

it would defend the island like this. I never comment on that.

I don't comment on any-because I don't want

to ever put myself in that position. Taiwan's situation is unique

and complicated. And to make any sense of it,

we need to start with a crash course

in the island's history. There's been many,

many phases over 300 years. It was under Dutch rule

for a few years in the 17th century. It was then part of what we call

the Qing Empire in China. And then it was part of the

Japanese Empire from 1895 to 1945. At the end of World War Two, Japan

was defeated and Taiwan was handed to Chiang Kai-shek, an American ally and

leader of the Chinese nationalists. But they were in the middle of

a civil war with the Chinese Communists, led by Mao Zedong.

In 1949, the communists won and founded the People's Republic

of China on the mainland. The nationalists fled to Taiwan,

along with more than a million refugees. But the war never officially ended. What we were left

with was effectively two Chinas. Both the governments in Beijing and in Taipei were claiming to be the

legitimate representative of China. The split that exists today between

Taiwan and China started here. And the United States got involved

because of what happened to another of its allies, South Korea. In 1950, North Korea, backed by China

and the Soviet Union, invaded the South. As South Korean forces moved up

to stem the invasion, the world saw the challenge.

Communism was on the march. The US had wanted to keep

out of any wars in Asia after fighting there

in World War Two. But it decided to send troops

to support South Korea. We are united

in detesting Communist slavery. We are determined to preserve

our freedom no matter what the cost. The United States regarded the spread

of communism as a huge threat. And because of that,

Taiwan as a non-Communist country became an important ally. Chiang Kai-shek ran Taiwan as a dictatorship which imprisoned

and executed its opponents. But because he shared

America's anti-communist stance, for 20 years the US

and Taiwan remained close. Thousands of American troops

were stationed on the island ready to defend it. But then China's relationship

with the Soviet Union, America's biggest rival,

began to break down. And the US saw an opportunity. Up until now, the US had refused

to recognise the legitimacy of the government in Beijing. But the two governments began

to be driven by a shared desire to counterbalance the Soviet Union. For President Nixon,

a sudden change in schedule. China was no longer an enemy. There can be no stable and enduring

peace without the participation of the People's Republic of China

and its 750 million people. Very quickly everything changed

for Taiwan. And not just because of the US. At the United Nations

an historic moment. The United Nations voted to change

who represented mainland China. Up until now it had been Taiwan. But they gave the seat to

the People's Republic of China. Now we are being deserted.

We are being forsaken. Then under new leaders,

the US and China got even closer. The US-China relationship

normalised in 1979. As a condition of normalisation, the US then dropped

its official relations with Taiwan. It was absolutely seen

as an abandonment of Taiwan. The US pulled its troops

off the island, but said it would keep

unofficial relations with Taiwan. Back in the US,

some politicians still saw the whole thing

as a betrayal of their ally. Congress passed a law which said

the government had to sell weapons to Taiwan so it could defend itself. But the US drew a line

on going any further. It never stated clearly

whether it would definitely come to Taiwan's assistance

if it was attacked. It maintained this thing called

strategic ambiguity, meaning that it was likely it would,

but not completely certain. Since 1979, this American ambiguity

hasn't changed. Even when Taiwan itself has. In the 1990s,

it became a democracy and stopped claiming

to represent the whole of China. But the Chinese position has always

been that Taiwan is a part of China. China says it wants

peaceful unification with Taiwan, but won't rule out the use of force. It runs frequent military exercises

in the seas around the island. US intelligence agencies say they

don't think an invasion is imminent, but that China is building up

the military capability it could use to seize Taiwan. China has really scaled up its military

exercises and threats vis a vis Taiwan. Chinese leaders also see

the ability to return Taiwan to China as a test of its ability to break

through Western containment. Taiwan sits at the centre of what's

known as the First Island Chain. It links together US military bases

in Japan and South Korea, and bases it has access to

in the Philippines. Since 2024, the US and its allies

have increased navy patrols here in the Taiwan Strait. A fifth of the world's sea trade

goes through here. The tiny chip which powers the device

you're using to watch this video was probably shipped

from Taiwan through the strait. Taiwan is one

of Asia's top economies. Most of the world's

most advanced microchips are made by

one Taiwanese company, TSMC. It's so important

that it's seen by many as a deterrent

against a Chinese invasion. Taiwan has this silicon shield

because if you attack Taiwan, you attack this company and everyone

kind of relies on this company now. The US is trying

to reduce this reliance by helping TSMC set up this factory

to make the same chips but in Arizona. China is also investing

in manufacturing, but the vast majority

of chips are still made in Taiwan. If that island were blockaded, that capacity were destroyed,

it would be an economic apocalypse. That scenario is played out

in a Taiwanese TV drama about a fictional Chinese invasion. It was partially funded by

Taiwan's government, which in the real world

has expanded defence drills to prepare civilians

for possible attacks. But polls show that

most people in Taiwan don't think China will invade any time soon. Most identify as Taiwanese,

not Chinese. And many in Taiwan think

that keeping things how they are is the best way to avoid war. The majority support the status quo,

which is not to have unification, but not to have independence either.

To live in this ambiguous area, but at least relatively secure

and stable. But maintaining the status quo

between Taiwan, China and the US is a delicate balance. Over the decades the three parties

have been able to preserve peace and stability

because of a willingness really to maintain ambiguities

around Taiwan's status. But this question has become

increasingly a point of contention between the US and China as competition

heats up between the two powers.