INTRODUCTION: A PROJECT FOR NATION-BUILDING
What defines a nation? Is it historic possession, ethnic background, de facto might makes right or de jure agreements? What makes a nation and what confers national sovereignty? Do self determination, democracy and imagined community enter into this equation? That is the question.
Taiwan, a vibrant democracy, is the sixteenth largest economy of the world with its population exceeding that of 75 per cent of United Nations (UN) members. Though all countries trade with Taiwan, it has not been granted political recognition and diplomatic status. Taiwan is languishing in a muddy legal quagmire without historical precedent.
The flags of five different nations have flown over Taiwan in the past 400 years. The people on the island have adapted to every new regime. Taiwan is like a sweet potato – humble, nutritious and quietly growing under the sand – but determined to emerge and face its destiny.
Taiwan straddles the Tropic of Cancer and falls in the path of monsoon rains, storms, typhoons and earthquakes. Nature corresponds to the chaotic and dynamic history of Taiwan.
Taiwan is an offshore extension of China, the southernmost reach of the Japanese Chain and the northernmost stretch of South East Asia. Situated on the crossroads where the three powers meet, the people found themselves buffeted, torn and with little control.