Taiwan Territorial Disputes

Taiwan has had numerous territorial disputes in the past and is yet to be
considered its own nation. It all began when the Taiwanese aborigines were
colonized by the Dutch in the 17th century. The Spanish attempted to colonize by
building a settlement but were driven out by the Dutch in 1642. The Dutch
controlled the island for about 40 years until loyalists of the Ming dynasty defeated
the Dutch in 1662. After ruling the island for just 20 years, the Mings were defeated
by the Qing dynasty and the controller of Taiwan changed once again. For the next
200 years, Taiwan would be slowly integrated into the Qing dynasty and would
eventually be ceded to the Empire of Japan in 1895. Taiwan provided Japan with
rice, sugar and a base for colonial expansion into Asia during World War II. Taiwan
was taught Japanese imperialism and many Taiwanese fought for Japan in the war.
After World War II, Taiwan was surrendered to the Republic of China. Mainland China
renamed itself the Peoples Republic of China but Taiwan remained the Republic of
China.
Taiwan regards itself as its own nation now with its own constitution and
president but the PROC still believes Taiwan (or the Republic of China) to be a part
of their state. Currently, Taiwan has some international support with its
independence claim. The United States has long been its ally and provides them
with aircraft and weapons and recognizes them as their own nation. However, the
PROC claims that Taiwans government is illegitimate and refuses to have any
relations with countries that identify Taiwan as a separate nation. Many nations
maintain unofficial relations with Taiwan but only 23 states have official diplomatic
relations due to the PROCs refusal of cooperation. Therefore, Taiwan is a partially
recognized state but with the outward opinion of the PROC that Taiwan is a territory
of China, Taiwan is yet to be officially named its own country.
In the future, it is evident Taiwan will eventually become its own independent
state. Many nations already regard Taiwan as a separate state from China but as
long as the PROC lays claim to Taiwan, they cannot be considered independent. In
time, the relationship between Taiwan and China will continue to improve until
China realizes and is prepared to release Taiwan from its grasp. At that point, the UN
will be able to officially declare Taiwan as its own country. Taiwan basically operates
on its own with its own economy and government so it is clear that they are a
capable nation. If things continue as they are, China will lose valuable relationships
with other international states as they refuse to work with any country that regards
Taiwan as its own state. It may take time, but I do think in the future, China and
Taiwan will come to an agreement and the two nations can legitimately be named
as two separate states.

Sources:
http://listverse.com/2011/09/02/top-10-controversial-territorial-disputes/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Taiwan
http://econintersect.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/China-Japanisland-dispute.png
http://go.hrw.com/atlas/span_map/taiwan.gif
http://micdschina.wikispaces.com/file/view/allie.gif/105749155/allie.gif