The Battle for Taiwan

In this Conflicted Conversation, journalist Chris Horton talks about his new book Ghost Nation: The Story of Taiwan and Its Struggle for Survival.

Chris explains:

Why China wants Taiwan and why the island is vital to control of the western Pacific.

Taiwan’s strategic position in the First Island Chain between China, Japan and the Philippines.

How a Chinese invasion, blockade or maritime quarantine of Taiwan could unfold.

Why a war over Taiwan could devastate global trade and the world economy.

What Taiwan’s fall would mean for US power, Japan and the Philippines.

Why Taiwan is an independent democracy but still officially called the Republic of China.

Who the Taiwanese are: Indigenous peoples, Hoklo, Hakka and post-1949 mainlanders.

How martial law, dictatorship and democratisation created modern Taiwanese identity.

Why the Kuomintang, once Communist China’s enemy, is now Taiwan’s most Beijing-friendly major party.

Whether Taiwan could eventually choose closer integration with China through democracy rather than war.