TAIWAN has elected a new leader — the very candidate that the mainland hoped would not win. This is self-determination on the part of the people of Taiwan, and in international law, this is not empty conceit. It is juridically significant, especially with the PROC (People's Republic of China) eager for the opportunity to traverse the Taiwan Strait and reclaim what it stubbornly insists is its breakaway province.
Taiwan calls itself "The Republic of China." It has a government that exercises effective control over the island territory that it occupies and a self-sustaining population. The People's Republic of China does not recognize it as a state and has consistently characterized it as a "breakaway" province that it is determined to wrest back within its control, even by force, if necessary. What is interesting is despite the fact that the PROC characterizes Taiwan as a breakaway province, it has thus far, refrained from occupying it by force. In recent years, its moves have become more aggressive, and the Taiwan Strait, which used to be a clear boundary between the PROC and Taiwan, has become more permeable with the incursion of missile launches from the mainland.
Continue reading with one of these options:
Ad-free access
P 80 per month
(billed annually at P 960)
- Unlimited ad-free access to website articles
- Limited offer: Subscribe today and get digital edition access for free (accessible with up to 3 devices)