My wife, being the daughter of a former Kuomintang (KMT) soldier, believes in the idea of a Greater China, and that Taiwan is a natural part of that. Thus she looks forward to the day when Taiwan can be reunited with her "homeland". My sympathies, on the other hand, lie with those who wish Taiwan could become an independent country, without all the "Republic of China" baggage that keeps it isolated on the world stage. My support, I have to admit, takes on more of a geopolitical tint than a "right to self-determination" hue. If China were able to gain full control over the Taiwan Straits, Beijing would be able to project its power far out into the Pacific, and thus be able to threaten the security of other states in the region, especially Japan. However, my wife (as is the case with many Taiwanese both "blue" and "green") hasn't learned that it's OK for people to have different opinions on political issues, and so, in the interests of domestic peace and harmony, I keep my thoughts to myself. Especially the one where I think Taiwan would've been better off remaining a Japanese colony after World War II, and therefore would've been able to benefit from the developments of both Japan's economy and polity ;)
From time to time, Pamela will suggest I look for teaching jobs in Shanghai so we could move to the mainland. I've never visited China (Hong Kong doesn't count), but I imagine it has all the problems that Taiwan has, only on a much, much bigger scale. And if I need any other reasons for not wanting to work there, this article in Wednesday's Taipei Times might do the trick.
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