Question.1278 - In this week's discussion, I would like you to discuss the key topics that were covered in the readings, lectures and videos: 1. What demographic challenges are evident in different countries in this region? Are these challenges the result of the normal demographic transition or are there other causes? 2. Hong Kong and Taiwan hold special status within China. Discuss their relationship with the government in Beijing. 3. The South China Sea is an important waterway for global trade. What are the backgrounds to some of the tensions that seem to be increasing in that part of the world? What is the interest of the U.S. in the South China Sea?
Answer Below:
In accordance with the weekly reading and the information from the council on foreign relations, both Hong Kong and Taiwan tend to be positioned under Special Administration Regions within the bounds of China. Particularly, Taiwan is also referred to as the Republic of China (ROC), claimed to be governed independently from mainland China since the late 1940s, but on the contrary, China claims to unify it with the mainland, with the notion that comes from a 1992 consensus between the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang (Maizland, 2024). Taiwan currently possesses a democratically elected government but has not been recognized globally due to pressure from China; Taiwan is not a part of the United Nations.? While considering Hong Kong which received its sovereignty transferred to China around the late 1990s from the United Kingdom, with principle of one country but two systems, although this provided autonomy over legal and socioeconomic matter with its own constitution, the control over foreign affairs including military authority is held by Beijing.? In a recent speech by Xi, he proposed that Taiwan will be unified under the same "one country, two systems" principle while providing authority over certain political and economic, which is being opposed by Taiwan's ruling party referring to the recent downturn experienced by Hong Kong's freedom (Maizland, 2024). China tends to add indirect pressure by imposing national security laws in Hong Kong and puppetizing the freedom promised, as seen through the recent pro-democratic protests. In similar trends, Taiwan's democratic political structure is seen as a threat by China as it is ready to deploy military aid to engage Taiwan with unification interventions; on the contrary, Taiwan tends to strengthen its international political alliances with nations like the United States through military ties.? I believe China wants both Hong Kong and Taiwan because of their strategic geographic location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, which has positioned them as strong financial centers (China wants this location to expand its military power - which is why they are proposing one country and two systems to get a hold over foreign and military affairs) and as semiconductors in industrial sectors, although there is regional instability both regions have a balanced power structure allied with Asian countries.? References Maizland, L. (2024b, February 8).?Why China-Taiwan relations are so tense. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/china-taiwan-relations-tension-us-policy-biden
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