Why are people so persistent that Taiwan isnt a country?

You’re just making a big deal about it…let them think w/e they want.

Taiwan is still claimed by China.

I feel that people should know that Taiwan should still have the right to have their own independence that everyone recognizes. Taiwanese have been supressed by China for the longest time, and it doesnt help a single bit when other countries dont help, or acknowledge their independence

Nobody ever asks, “isnt america part of england?” Same deal

They compete in athletic competitions as “Chinese Taipei.” Which would lead to confusion.

In addition, they are an independent country, but they’re not, but they are, but they’re really not. Its very confusing, but try here for some explanation. “Different interpretations” sums it up.

America isn’t internationally known as “British ______.” So… Not exactly the same deal.

The PRC doesn’t recognize their status as a country. People with strong ties to the PRC might deny Taiwan’s claim as a country. But the United States recognizes it, so that doesn’t make much sense why people in the United States would not consider it a country. Or maybe it’s because they simply they don’t know.

Also, in Taiwan, “Taiwan” is the name of the island and the Taiwanese people call the country “Zhonghua Minguo” which means “Republic of China”. The Taiwanese consider themselves the real “China” as opposed to the PRC.

It’s pretty frustrating when defining terms becomes a political act. The two governments have been, you know, not on the same page long enough that they should at least recognize a division of some kind.

But on a related note of inappropriate names and politics, my friend, in the presence of a New Zealander, once called New Zealand “Australia’s Canada”.

That night ended poorly.

@avvooooooo I dont know about that part…
@DominicX most Taiwanese do not consider themselves as part of China nor do they consider themselves PRC. Nor do we call Taiwan, ROC. we consider ourselves Taiwanese. My family, friends, friends of friends, relatives and myself consider ourselves Taiwanese, (if its not clear enough that I am from Taiwan). Every single person that I’ve met and known that originated from Taiwan have relatively the same viewpoint as myself. Anndd you proved my point exactly. where did you get the information of such idea that “Taiwanese” call themselves ROC?
@aphilotus that night probably was really bad..

Taiwan is China.
.

wtf… why @cyndihugs, why???? taiwan is not part of china. at all.

@smile1

Because that’s what they call themselves. The government of Taiwan calls the country “Zhonghua Minguo”. That’s the official name of the country. I’m not pulling this stuff out of my ass.

@smile1 a kid in my last year’s class was form Taiwan. He told me it was eastern China. It’s coming form a Taiwan guy.~
Taiwan is under the Republic of China.

@cyndihugs

Yes, it is, but the Republic of China has nothing to do with mainland China, which is also known as the People’s Republic of China. They are two different countries. That one word makes all the difference.

@DominicX it’s still Asia to me! :)
@smile1 stop trolling!
oh and let the taiwan people think they are chinese….FREEDOM of Expression/speech w/e!

I live in China and have talked to many mainland Chinese as well as many Taiwanese about this. It seems many Taiwanese themselves don’t really mind being considered a part of China, and many are sick of the entire western world constantly debating about their country and their affairs. Of course there are still some Taiwanese in favor of independence, just like their are still some southerners in the US in favor of independence or Quebec Canadians in favor of independence, but many Taiwansese just seem to be, well, over it. Have you ever talked to an actual Taiwanese still living in Taiwan? (the over-seas Taiwanese you meet are much more often of the pro-independence sort and in fact are often overseas for the express purpose of eliciting support for their beliefs) And you must also realize that the news you get from the western media is not unbiased and often has a clear slant in favor of Taiwan independence, when many average Taiwanese themselves are not so interested in it. Taiwan, like Tibet, seems to a band-wagon that for some reason many westerners are very eager to jump on without knowing the complete story, or without trying to get to know the real feelings of the people who actually live there everyday.

@smile1 You got into an argument recently over the status of Taiwan? Taiwan is a de facto country, but if you wanna be very strict about it, it’s technically not. It lost its UN seat to China in 1971 and now only maintains diplomatic relations with 23 countries (as of Jan 2008).

If the name of Taiwan is 中华民国 (Zhong Hua Min Guo), then it’s clear to see how they view themselves. Literally translated that just means the Land of the Chinese.

here’s how i tell the difference”

when i look at my tag and it says “made in china” or it says “made in taiwan”

obviously they are 2 different countries.

Practically speaking, Taiwan is it’s own functioning nation, with its own stamps and government.

Under some official channels (e.g. the UN, Olympics, etc); Taiwan is not recognized as a country in its own right; mainly because the PRC (mainland China) is too powerful and no one wants to step on her toes.

This wikipedia entry should fill you in on a lot of details:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_status_of_Taiwan

Over here in Asia (specifically, Hong Kong) in practical terms everyone accepts Taiwan as a country; however, in official terms mainland China still has the diplomatic muscle to refuse their status as a country.

@cyndihugs first of all, I AM 100% taiwanese
@tb1570 I have. I have relatives and very close friends over there that I talk to often. The current president is corrupt. He doesnt care an f’ing thing about taiwan. we are talking about the PEOPLE of taiwan. I dont care about the “Taiwanese government”. they (the taiwanese gov) dont care about the people of taiwan.
@Saturated_Brain true. taiwan is a de facto country, but the name has been created by the people in China, not from taiwanese.
@lifeflame That is because the PRC will not allow us to do what we need to be able to have a functioning country. Oh, and dont always trust wiki, its created by random people and moderated by other random people.

@smile1 so if it is so obviously debatable because of all the complications and nuances, why are you mad at someone (assumingly an american) for not knowing all the details? that seems unfair. why don’t you just explain [nicely] that it is a complicated political situation?

im not mad at the people for not knowing the details, Im jsut mad at the people that persist in that taiwan is not its own country when they know nothing about it. especially a lot of people that I know are chinese, that say that taiwan is part of china without any other thought to it. I mean, wouldnt you be mad if someone said that you werent from the country that you say you are from? isnt that pretty much the same?

coming from a chines perspective, of course they would say it is part of china. you are coming from a taiwanese perspective, so of course you would say it is not part of china.

I view Taiwan as Puerto Rico and China as the U.S.
Now I don’t even know what I’m saying.

@alive true point. then why would some people that mentioned above that the majority of people in Taiwan dont care?

@smile1 Because that’s their perception. Yours, because you do care, makes you want to believe that everyone thinks like you. Because of what you perceive to be true.