China should accept Taiwans sovereignty as a separate Chinese country, and stop being such a little bitch. The end.

Someone who threatens war to acquire land is not the good guy. Fuck them.

Yes I realize this also references you know who as well.

Taiwan need to stop claiming they are the legitimate government of China.

China need to recognise that Taiwan isn't part of China anymore.

Neither will happen.

A peaceful and realistic solution? Taiwan develops a strategic nuclear deterrent. They're already a near-nuclear country and an industrial and technological powerhouse. A nuclear bomb is fully within their capability, and they already have abundant supplies of all the precursor materials in their possession. The most realistic solution to the Taiwan crisis is that Taiwan obtains nuclear weapons, and China is never able to threaten them with invasion again.

China simply waits and maintains its current policy until pro-unification sentiment in Taiwan grows large enough. The balance of power in the Pacific is shifting away from the US and before this century is out they will no longer be able to offer security guarantees.

反攻大陆 (Counterattack the mainland) 😏

/just kidding

I think the only peaceful unification would be if CCP falls and mainland China becomes an actual democracy with free and fair elections, then mainland, HK, Taiwan can form a union, where Taiwan and HK remains autonomous regions for domestic politics (and this automony would be backed by a constitution) and have a common front for defence.

I mean another option would be complete sovereignty but a European Union type of thing where they do cooperate and sort of is like a country, but maintain the option to leave.

But regardless, I think it all comes down to what HKers and Taiwanese want, you need a referrendum for these types of things. I'd say to have legitimacy: Two consecutive referrendums in two separate regularly scheduled election with majority approval before any plan is enacted, to attempt to prevent a Brexit shenanigan.

I'm Chinese American so while I do support democracy, I am kinda leaning towards reunification assuming that there is actually democracy, but again it all comes down to what the people think, the will of the people is more important than my opinions.

Freedom for Taiwan and Hong Kong.

While I don't claim to be an expert on the subject, the only peaceful outcome I can see is actually just a continuation of the status quo, where mainland China uses "reunification" messaging as little more than a show of strength and patriotic political rhetoric, and where the Western world continues to treat Taiwan's independence with "strategic ambiguity" while hinting to China that any attempt to take Taiwan will be met with a large scale Western response from the US and allies.

I do think that the West wants Russia's attempted invasion of Ukraine to be a sign of what China should expect if they were to attempt to annex Taiwan. It won't be easy, it'll throw trade and supply chains into absolute chaos, and it'll be met with harsh economic sanctions and large weapons deals at the very least. The West wants China to feel that there is very little upside to attacking Taiwan, and that it's much more reasonable to maintain the status quo (though arguably, tariffs and trade wars needlessly remove some of the US's economic leverage over China).

Rhetoric aside, how much chaos and bloodshed is China really willing to tolerate just for the pyrric victory of finishing what Mao started almost a century ago?

I think the main hope for peace is that Xi and the ruling members of the CCP feel that it's in their personal best interest to talk a big game while doing the bare minimum to disrupt the systems that they currently benefit from.

Realistic? The current status quo of everyone pretending Taiwan isn't a country and China not invading.

China isn't going to accept an independent Taiwan for a variety of reasons. That likely won't change unless there is a war.

Let’s cut the bullshit: a lot of what’s being said here is just garden-variety racism dressed up as “concern for democracy.” The way some of you talk about mainland Chinese people(like we’re brainwashed bugs, NPCs, or extensions of the state) is dehumanizing. Full stop. You don’t speak this way about Americans living under mass surveillance, police violence, and corporate rule. You don’t speak this way about Europeans crushed by austerity. Somehow it’s only Chinese people who get stripped of agency.

IWe’re not a hive mind. We argue, complain, adapt, survive, organize families, build lives, same as anyone else. Reducing 1.4 billion people to propaganda victims just so you can feel morally superior is chauvinism. You can criticize the Chinese government without pretending the population is subhuman or that fuck x is legitimate criticism.

And this Hong Kong nostalgia is especially grotesque. You’re romanticizing a British colony run explicitly for banks and property tycoons. No elections for governors. Workers packed into coffin apartments. People waiting decades for public housing. Extreme inequality baked into law. But because it flew a Union Jack and spoke English, suddenly it becomes a paradise of “freedom”? That tells me everything about whose suffering you care about.

You also keep pretending Taiwan exists in some magical vacuum. It doesn’t. It’s the unresolved end of a civil war, frozen in place by US military power, and now functions as an unsinkable aircraft carrier pointed at the Chinese coast. Any major power on Earth would see that as an existential threat. The US would lose its mind if China parked missiles off California. But when China objects, suddenly it’s “authoritarian aggression.” (who remembers the Cuban missile crisis)

If you actually care about peace, stop parroting racist bullshit narratives. Stop flattening Chinese people into stereotypes. Stop acting like Western militarization of East Asia is neutral or benevolent. You don’t have to like the CPC. But if your worldview starts from “Chinese people are brainwashed and inferior,” even if you phrase it with better pr you're a racist.

I'm garbage in history.

Can't we just treat it as relationships. I mean the reunification should only be done if both sides mutually agree. Forcing by any means is not good

I mean wasn't it largely peaceful in the past? From China's perspective they only need to act if Taiwan or other countries make public statements challenging their legal claim to the island, it is better for China to wait as the power dynamics are shifting in their favor. It is only the west that wants to force this issue to come to head now, while they still have a comparative advantage - but even now if China wants Taiwan there is little we can do keep that from happening (though the humanitarian cost would be staggering and likely hurt their standing internationally).

Edit: I also don't see why mainland would suddenly pivot on the issue, there's seems very little reason to expect them to change course.

Just maintain the status quo indefinitely. That's what most people in Taiwan want, and the status quo has maintained peace for what, 70 years? It could last another 70 years if we let it.

China’s stance on the issue is that Taiwan should be reunified with the mainland at all costs

Is it? China has maintained it's formal claim of Taiwan for decades but hasn't actually moved on it, even when it's foreign policy was much more extreme and interventionist. I don't see a reason to think they intend to deviate from this policy.

Sure, they do saber-rattling. But this is generally in response to the US increasingly deviating from the policy of strategic ambiguity in recent years (which the news doesn't generally report on as such). China right now is "winning the peace," they are growing in power every year (economically, diplomatically, etc) while the US burns itself out getting involved in every military conflict it can find. They have no reason to jeopardize that by forcing the issue, though how they would respond to deviations from the status quo (like formal recognition) is hard to predict. Trying to call bluffs is often how wars happen.

Is there a reason why Taiwan needs formal recognition? Is there suddenly something wrong with the compromise that has kept the peace for so long? They are functionally independent already. It seems like it's just a matter of pride, just words on a page. Materially, it would make no difference in their lives. Is that worth potentially starting WWIII over?

What I find terrifying is that most USians don't seem to know or care about strategic ambiguity. They are so easily worked up into a war frenzy, and keep trying to act like some kind of superhero who never has to make compromises or accept imperfect solutions, who instantly understands any situation at first glance. Continuing to apply this mentality as the US declines is going to lead to more and more conflicts with reality, and I'm frankly terrified at what my countrymen might decide to do when faced with the collapse of their superhero fantasies.

A third option (?) would be a pseudo-unification, where Taiwan remains as a separate country, but there can be free movement of people between the mainland and Taiwan, free trade, that sort of stuff (sort of like the EU? Maybe?). Not sure if the PRC would accept that.

Theres already free movement from Taiwan to Mainland China IIRC.

The PRC's current take is "Taiwan is an autonomous part of China", the only sticking issue would probably be Taiwan having its own foreign policy as they aren't going to accept having a US military base right off their coast.

Genuinely the best "solution" is reunification at an indeterminate point in the future (maybe next century, maybe the one after that, etc), avoiding anything that could disrupt the status quo.

Any reasoning based on historic belonging is entirely arbitrary. Ignoring an entire people's factual autonomy and right to self-determination, safety, and security is nothing short of oppressive, toxic, and inhumane. Flaunting and threatening power, entitlement, military, and invasion is horrendous and violates international law, advocating for a violent, corrupt world instead of a cooperative multi-national rule of law and stability.

I watched a documentary recently about the history of China, the two opposing factions. It provided some interesting additional context and things I didn't know about previously. I'll refrain from mentioning specifics to keep this comment more focused and concise.

China hides its own atrocieties and history. Both parties were horrendous and sacrificed and murdered their own people. Neither is "the good guy".

The solution is simple: Accept the status quo. That history played out as it did. China MUST accept Taiwan's sovereignty.

Not accepting the status quo has a lot of negative consequences. The solution would be simple. Respect and cooperation instead of oppression, instability, uncertainty, and suffering.

Is that realistic? Doesn't look like it. Possibly with a leadership change. Xi Jinping seemingly already lost some power, and his more aggressive politics have been weakened. Which should not make us think there's no thread anymore.

I don't think it matters what I think. Like everyone else chiming in on this thread, I have zero expertise on the subject - so whatever I say is just my personal preferred outcome, not a realistic one.

Sadly the current status quo is the best solution.

Give the Taiwanese people Alabama and move them there. Then give China an empty island

They do like in that Starfleet Academy episode where they fake a war to satisfy everyone's honor and just pretend everything is OK

Peaceful or fair?

For peaceful, I think that China needs to make it so the world doesn't depend on them for high end chip manufacturer, so the USA stops caring about them because they're not a critical strategic national interest.
Then they just invade.

The world isn't doing shit about Gaza, the world is barely doing anything about Ukraine. I think the world sits by and watches it happen, if they're not a critical strategic interest.

Modern day winning the peace is a matter of reaching some mutal benificial agreement between the hegonoimic classes in a society.

The best case imho for them would be PRC democratises to the point the average person in the countries political rights are respected and Taiwan socializes enough that corperate interests dont run to hard counter to the unified states interests.

Equally possibly though is they continue to corparatizing (though trends seemed buck of that) to the point where corperate interest agree and are unimpeded enough to merge regulations of the two countries.

mostly a distraction from internal problems, realistic they will never capture taiwan intact, if they want those chip factories, plus its not like hong kong where the govt is chosen by CHINA.

I think it would be a lot easier for China to cooperate peacefully with countries it perceives within its sphere of influence if there wasn't a hostile global military hegemon maintaining a bunch of military bases and naval fleets within striking distance.

Forty-Six

When the Tao is present in the universe, The horses haul manure.
When the Tao is absent from the universe,
War horses are bred outside the city.

There is no greater sin than desire,
No greater curse than discontent,
No greater misfortune than wanting something for oneself.
Therefore he who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.

Sixty-One
[...]
Therefore if a great country gives way to a smaller country,
It will conquer the smaller country.
And if a small country submits to a great country,
It can conquer the great country.
Therefore those who would conquer must yield,
And those who conquer do so because they yield.

A great nation needs more people,
A small country needs to serve.
Each gets what it wants.
It is fitting for a great nation to yield.

Thirty
[...]
Force is followed by loss of strength.
This is not the way of Tao.
That which goes against the Tao comes to an early end.

from the Tao The Ching (by Lao Tsu), as translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English

Book 14 #3

The Master said: 'When the way prevails in the state, be enterprising in speech and enterprising in action; but when the Way does not prevail in the state, be enterprising in action but prudent in speech.'

from The Analects (of Confucius), as translated by Raymond Dawson

Or there is the “send a bunch of PRC soldiers to the ROC and let’s see what will happen”

They won’t run out of people for the meat grinder, that’s fò xiù as would sunglasses-man say

From Australia's POV: China blockades Taiwan (or economically chokes them a different way) and Taiwan gives in. We don't step in coz we want lithium from our China daddy so we can build our own AI data centres.

Social media complains about it until either something distracts us or it lasts over a month and everyone gets over it.

Very simple really…

China hasn’t finished their revolution yet. That’s their internal business and absolutely none of mine.

It will end up resolving and I’m pretty sure which side will end up winning but ya never know.

Not sure why anyone thinks they get to have an opinion.

China should be balkanised and people given freedom to live independently without fear of imperialist invasion.

Not too serious a suggestion, but if migration worked once to escape the PRC why not do it again. Move all your industries offshore to an enclave or possibly several in friendly neighboring countries and then your population. I mean the population isnt so large that it's not technically impossible to relocate. it's not much more than some of the largest world cities. Then when invaded withdraw entirely. Anyone happy to live under Chinese rule can stay. Given climate change humanity is probably going to have to get used to massive migrations anyway. Horrible as that could be culturally being a semi independent part of another democracy would fix their declining population, plus being a massive economic stimulus all round. I suspect something like this may be happening informally anyway. Their main strength is economic and organizational so why not build on that.

The peaceful solution is the decline of the West. Politics is rational. The CPC has no need to invade provided that foreign militaries do not build up threats on the province. As the West declines, trade with them becomes less attractive to Taiwan and trade with the mainland becomes more attractive. As the mainland develops, Taiwan will have the same calculus to do as Europe is doing now - align with the US or align with China.

It's really just a matter of time before Taiwan fully embraces 1 country 2 systems. Materially, the only component they don't currently embrace is the national defense component. They don't purport to be a country independent of China, and the legal reality is that they are literally part of China. So they essentially are 1 country 2 systems with th exception of national defense being provided for by the US instead the CPC.

Peaceful reunification will happen when the US withdraws. Violence will happen if the US escalates. That's the entirety of the spread of possibilities. The choice of peace lies entirely in the hands of the US.

There is more functional democracy in China with its one-party socialist state than there is in the US's two-party capitalist democracy.

The idea that the number of parties impacts the people's will and ability to enact change is complete fantasy celebrated by those who mindlessly fetishize democracy.

Reunify all the islands leading up to Taiwan back with mainland China like they did with Hong Kong, and eventually Taiwan itself. Problem solved.

The current governing party of Taiwan is for peaceful reintegration with mainland China. I think that’s the best path forward as well.

Taiwan's economy is like 98% reliant on China. China could drain Taiwan dry without ever setting foot on that island. Taiwan will negotiate a deal with Xi. They may like it or not.