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The Struggle for Taiwan

A History

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Brought to you by Penguin.

In the overwhelming chaos across Asia at the end of the Second World War, one relatively minor issue was the future of the Japanese colony of Taiwan, a large island some one hundred miles off the coast of Fujian. Handed to the Kuomintang-ruled Republic of China, in 1949 it suddenly became the focus of global attention as a random cross-section of defeated nationalists, including President Chiang Kai-shek, fled there from Mao's triumphant Communist forces.

The Struggle for Taiwan is a balanced and convincing account of the sequence of events that has left Taiwan for generations as a political anomaly, with issues around its status and future continuing to threaten war. With deepening democratization, Taiwan further goads Beijing, remaining functionally independent from China even as Xi Jinping clamours for unification.

This invaluable book allows listeners to understand the complex story of this unique place and its role in international relations. With its striking economic dynamism and commitment to democracy, can Taiwan continue - as Hong Kong once did - to thrive, or will China conquer it? And will the world be able to maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait or will it stumble into war?

©2024 Sulmaan Wasif Khan (P)2024 Penguin Audio
Asia China Political Science Politics & Government Southeast Asia War
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Perhaps this is my failure to understand the focus of the book, but this started well but I found it hard work beyond 1950s, I felt the content of every twist and turn to become increasingly more granular and hard to follow. I was hoping for more on the ‘silicon shield’, TSMC and why it’s important . I think the importance of hard power of Taiwan military was significantly lacking,

Not what I thought it would be

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