China v. Taiwan

Well, this is a sticky issue, isn't it. First, let's look at the question of whether Taiwan is functionally an independent nation, shall we? Here are some reasons to take each position. First, the reasons to think Taiwan is an independent nation:

1. Taiwan has it's own government that does not recognize the authority of the Chinese government.
2. As a U.S. citizen, I need a visa to enter mainland China, but not Taiwan.
3. Taiwan has it's own top-level domain name. (.tw), Olympic team.
4. The U.S. and other nations have agreed to defend Taiwan if China were to make military threat toward Taiwan.

Some reasons to believe that Taiwan is not an independent nation:

1. Taiwan is not a member of the UN
2. Almost all nations officially do not recognize Taiwan as a nation.
3. The government of China claims sovereignty over the island of Taiwan.

If Taiwan is not an independent nation, then it might be a part of China, or logically it might be a land mass that isn't part of any nation, like Antarctica, though nobody seriously espouses this position.

The legal status of Taiwan is not agreed to by everybody. The pro-independence position cites the San Francisco Treaty as renouncing Japan's Sovereignty over Taiwan, but does not officially state which nation, if any, is sovereign over Taiwan. China did not sign the San Francisco Treaty.

Historically, China has exercised some degree of sovereignty over Taiwan at various times in history. See the pro-independence position and the pro-unification position on this issue.

So, why should anybody besides the Chinese and Taiwanese people themselves care about the issue? One possible reason is that there is a substantial gap in the status of human rights in the two countries. For a rough, but accurate comparison, worldaudit.org is a good place to start.