One Party, Two Systems
一国两制 Yi Guo Liang Zhi

Taiwan wasn't always a renegade province. The once insignificant fishing
island first had the 光荣 guangrong (honor) of becoming part of the Chinese
Empire in 1206 when Genghis Khan founded the 元朝 Yuan dynasty (1206-1368).

In 1684, the island was made a prefecture of coastal mainland 福建 Fujian
province. In 1885, during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Taiwan was officially proclaimed a province of China. It wasn't until 1949 that the island province went AWOL. 

In 1945, after China single-handedly vanquished the Japanese and won World
War II, it took back Taiwan from the 倭寇 wokou (midget bandits) who had been squatters there since 1895. With the 小日本人 xiao Riben ren ("little Japanese") blown clear off the map, China caught a break from being raped and pillaged and could finally get back to its civil war undisturbed.

In 1948 蒋介石 Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek) and his 国民党 Guomindang
(KMT; Nationalist) lackeys lost the war and fled like sissies to Taiwan. There they suppressed tens of thousands of rebellious 本地人 bendiren (natives) and established the so-called 中华民国 Zhonghua Minguo (ROC-Republic of Taiwan), pledging to someday "retake the mainland."

Meanwhile, 毛主席 Mao Zhuxi (Chairman Mao), the rightful ruler of the
Chinese people by mandate of heaven, declared that the People's Republic of
China would not rest until both the mainland and Taiwan were reunited. 幸亏
Xingkui (Luckily) both sides agreed on the "one China" policy-that China and Taiwan are both part of the same country and should be reunified. This mutual understanding has for the most part kept the peace in the region up to the present day.

By the late 1970s most of the important countries in the world had already shifted recognition from Taiwan to the PRC, including the United States. And, despite the ongoing sale of 军事武器 junshi wuqi (military weapons) to Taiwan by Washington, both China-US and China-Taiwan relations and exchanges have improved in leaps and bounds over the last three decades.

But when 李登辉 Li Denghui (Lee Teng-hui)-a native Taiwanese and holder of
a doctorate degree from New York's Cornell University-became the President
of Taiwan in 1989, China was not happy. Lee, a big-mouthed smart aleck, was
suspected of being a 狼 lang (wolf) in 羊 yang (sheep's) clothing and a closet independence supporter. These suspicions were confirmed when Lee began practicing his "pragmatic diplomacy," which included trying to increase diplomatic recognition for Taiwan through "financial incentives" to other countries. Lee even tried to buy his way into the United Nations for a US$1 billion 贿赂 huilu (bribe)!

Beijing's leadership once again ground their teeth when Lee visited the United States in 1995 and delivered a speech at Cornell University in which he said "communism is dead" and many other things which, when taken out of context, sound much worse than they were intended.

The last straw was when Taiwan held its first direct presidential elections in 1996 after Lee's US visit. Just to remind the 走狗 zougou (running dogs) who's boss, China test fired a few 火箭 huojian (missiles) across the Taiwan Straits and conducted some military exercises-including deploying 150,000 troops to a coastal area near Taiwan. Of course the United States, always eager to 干涉 ganshe (meddle) in the affairs of other countries, sent two aircraft carrier groups into the Taiwan Straits. The American Imperialists later thought twice and backed off, allowing the crisis to cool.

More recently, Lee had the gumption to declare that relations between China
and Taiwan should be on "a special state-to-state basis." After a comment
like that, who could argue that China isn't justified to blow something up?!

Lee continues to 狗仗人势 gouzhang renshi (bark bravely with powerful backing), making crass remarks while hiding behind the military and economic might of Taiwan's 老大哥 laodage (big brother) in Washington. But why should the United States, the economic superpower, make so much fuss about an island with a land mass of only 14,000 square miles and a population of 21 million with scant natural resources? Perhaps Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves of more than US$100 billion, and the island's production of the vast majority of the world's computer microprocessors has something to do with it.

How ironic that America criticizes other countries about 人权 renquan (human rights) issues, and is big brother to Taiwan, where human rights violations are as common as lecherous businessmen. It just goes to show that a country's human rights violations can be overlooked if that country has enough money to keep buying expensive high-tech weapons.

With China and Taiwan at each other's throats again, 老百姓 laobaixing are playing politician and speculating as to whether China will go to war with Taiwan. The Chinese government has said that China will never give up efforts to bring back Taiwan and will not 排除动武的可能性 paichu dongwu de kenengxing (rule out the use of force) if Taiwan 宣布独立 xuanbu duli (declares independence).

Of course China would rather see Taiwan united with 祖国 zuguo (the motherland) through peaceful talks at the 谈判桌 tanpanzhuo (negotiation table) than through use of violent force. After all, Taiwanese are 华人huaren (Chinese) too. And like their 大陆 dalu (mainland) counterparts, they have no interest in suffering the 经济损失 jingji sunshi (economic losses) that would undoubtedly result from a war across the Straits.

In the purely hypothetical event that China did go to war with Taiwan, who would win? China's military forces far outnumber Taiwan's, but Taiwan boasts modern weapons of war made in the USA, while most of China's are obsolete. Then there's the possibility of Uncle Sam sticking his 高鼻子 gaobizi (big nose) into China and Taiwan's sibling rivalry and further tipping the scales.

China could probably ensure victory over Taiwan by destroying the Taiwanese
airforce on the ground using conventional ballistic missiles (or, better still, nuclear missiles). That would be like 一举两得 yijuliangde (killing two birds with one stone) because it would cripple the Taiwanese air force and deter American intervention at the same time. Or, China could 利用 liyong (take advantage of) its huge naval forces and overwhelm the Taiwanese navy and attain and maintain a blockade of Taiwan. And, by placing a bunch of submarines in the Taiwanese Straits and East China Sea, China could make the US think twice before interfering.

But as long as both sides agree on the principal of 一国两制 yiguo liangzhi, short for 一个国家两种制度 yige guojia liangzhong zhidu (One China, Two Systems), there will always be hope for peaceful settlement to the 回归 huigui (reunification) issue.