Taiwan Beats Recession At Cost of Independence

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From its inception Taiwan has been besieged by Beijing and with the aid of US military and political support has held out for 65 years, but its days are numbered. Taiwan was the "Real China," while Uncle Mao was turning the "New China" into a physical, cultural and spiritual wasteland for 50 years.

The past 15 years have seen tremendous changes on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Both sides becoming more focused on money above all else. Beijing adopted "communism with Chinese characteristics" and Taiwan focused on building a strong economy based on exports, especially semiconductors.

For 65 years China had used a stick (military threat) to prevent Taiwan from formally declaring its independence from China, but now they have gotten wiser and have a nice juicy carrot (a huge export market) that they are dangling in front of Taiwan. Taiwan's economy has been on the ropes for nearly ten years and that carrot looks pretty darned good right now, but Beijing still has the stick (the worlds fastest growing military) in its back pocket.

Beijing is patient, they have been at it for 65 years, what is a few more years. The price of taking Taiwan militarily is too high, but the world has changed and if they play their cards right they can actually make money in the process of acquiring Taiwan. With the US firmly in Beijing's back pocket, now it is time to add Taiwan with the promise of a huge export base for their economy. As the economic ties between Taiwan and China get loosened and more abundant Taiwan will gradually lose their desire for independence and eventually the day will come when Beijing has more control over the political leadership of the island than do its citizens. Then Taiwan will become a "Special Administrative Region" of China, joining Hong Kong and Macau.