By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: Why are Taiwanese people so calm and indifferent - almost apathetic?
I have a well-educated Taiwanese employee in her 30s (MBA grad) and she tells me that people in Taiwan are not really worried or concerned about any war because she says "China will never let anything bad happen to them". I found that statement to be so odd. I was expecting her to say "America will protect us." They are not worried about Japan because she says "America would stop Japan from fighting over tiny islands that nobody uses, and eventually some treaty will be worked out to share the off-shore oil & gas".
I always thought that Taiwan and Japan would be used as proxies if any conflict erupted, but now after talking with her for just one hour, I don't think there will ever be any conflict over the Diaoyu Islands at all, just a lot of lip service. China and America's economies depend on each other too much to risk losing all that money over dots on a map.
Why would a person who has grown up in a society that doesn't use fear as a tool have any fears of war. All the violent rhetoric is coming from inside China and is mainly targeted the people of China as a severely twisted form of soft power.
Cricket:
Very good point. Most of the fear mongering is coming from third party nations.
Honestly, I think your employee is right, she makes a lot of sense. A nice pace of change. I hear so much paranoia from USA and China, you guys need to chill-out a bit 
China, Japan, Russia and the US have had their experiences with the atrocities and calamities of war. I just don't see how they'd go to war ever again. There's simply too much too lose, whichever side wins. Taiwan IS Chinese. No matter how you cut it, they are still Chinese. It's just a matter of time when Taiwan becomes a province of China. China regards Taiwan as a rogue province and is at most a small thorn at the moment. With successive changes of presidents, Taiwan has become more conciliatory towards the idea of reunification. Taiwanese businesses flourish in China. You can see them in Zhuhai, Shenzhen and other parts of China. I foresee Taiwan's adoption of an arrangement vis-a-vis Hong Kong's in a not too distant future. At the moment, all sides will continue to rattle their sabers and that's all there is to it.
I'd feel relax too if I was Taiwanese. It's a crossroad everyone has ties to. China's best interest is to keep Taiwan as it is, the US best interest is to keep Taiwan as it is, Japan's best interest is to keep Taiwan as it is. All would likely destroy each other over Taiwan as a topic before anything actually happens on the island's soil. Everything's fine from the eye of the storm.
The cherry on top is that unlike Hong Kong, there's a nice patch of sea and no direct flight available to keep mainland zombies away.
The overall question is immaterial, no one expects Taiwan and Japan to go to war over islands, as said above the vast majority of the rhetoric is coming from the mainland and it is for a very specific purpose, distracting people from real issues such as why they can't get a job after 18+ years of school + the gaokao, why they can't afford even modest apartment or why is their city so polluted or why is society so unequal. Nothing more nothing less, it's a manufactured issue and I doubt the average Japanese cares even a whit about it.
Haha, You are lying, she said China would never let anything happen to Taiwan? That's like saying the cat would not let anything happen to the mouse. China is a bigger threat than anyone else in this region. Japan and Taiwan are peace loving nations. Neither country has done any saber rattling. Neither country has threatened the other.
You know the same phenomenon is happening in South Korea. They have a unpredictable lunatic leader next door but they have no fears of a war. What do they know that we don't?
DrMonkey:
Meh. The North have a big army... on the paper. In reality, it's mostly outdated equipment (as in, 40 years old outdated), and suffer from severe fuel shortage, which limits a lot training and deployment options. If we believe this http://www.nkeconwatch.com, DPRK army have to steal food to get properly nourished... DPRK's economy make it harmless, too busy trying to feed themselves. Since the 90's cut from subsidies from USSR, they are kept on leash with limited aids from China and South Korea, mostly.
Also, it's in the interest of Kim's family & friends to keep the country on the edge while never acting seriously, because it's how they keep their power. Since the 90's, this looks awfully like it (provocation, retraction, repeat and rinse). Since the 80's, the DPRK stopped actual actions (like the Blue House raid and digging tunnels under the DMZ).
Aaaannnnd, the final one : okay, DPRK for some reason, give up their shenanigans, power falls. Look at the cost of Germany reunification : it would be much more for Korea, due to the severe situation in DPRK. Not sure South Korea want to pay that bill, nore China want to be flooded with refugees. Me think, DPRK as it is now, it's convenient in some ways (if you put aside the terrible, inhumane suffering of its population).
Taiwanese have a good life with clean air and water and with ties to both America and China, aint't nothing bad coming their way. If I am not mistaken they earn three times as much money as mainland Chinese and dominate the laptop market.
