This is a free preview of the episode "China Pt. 9: Taiwan w/ Charles Xu and Feiyang Sun." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast

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In this episode we're joined by Charles Xu and Feiyang Sun for a conversation on Taiwan. Charles Xu is a member of Qiao Collective and Sovereign Media. Feiyang Sun is a member of Qiao Collective.

Our conversation begins with an introduction to Taiwan geographically and historically prior to the modern period and into the early modern period, including the colonization by Japan in the early 20th century—disputing certain Taiwan separatist arguments along the way. We then revisit the Chinese Civil War, discussing the Communist Party of China (CPC) and The Kuomintang (KMT) as opposing forces and situating Taiwan within this history up to the revolution in 1949, including the KMT's retreat to Taiwan and the terror campaign that ensued on the island.

We discuss the role that the United States played in this history leading up to the revolution, and then the emergence of Taiwan as a counterrevolutionary force for US imperialism during the Cold War and into the present. We explore what KMT rule in Taiwan looked like until the transition out of martial law in the 1980s and the contending class conflicts and political landscape of Taiwan into contemporary times. We then discuss the "One China" policy, the tensions between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) in Taipei both domestically and internationally, and introduce the Taiwanese independence movement.

We then discuss the military exercises in the South China Sea, United States arms sales to Taiwan, and other current events before concluding on why the question of Taiwan is a crucial one for the Western, anti-imperialist left.

Further resources:

Qiao Collective
Sovereign Media
Taiwan—An Anti-Imperialist Resource by Qiao Collective
The two main demographic groups on Taiwan that Charles mentions are the běnshěngrén (本省人) and the wàishěngrén (外省人). More on Taiwan's demographics here
On AIPAC ties with Taiwan separatists (Qiao Collective)
Thread addressing misconceptions about Taiwan (Qiao Collective)

Related episodes:

Listen to our ongoing series on China

Thank you to Qiao Collective for the cover art.

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