Taiwan, the Israel of the East: How China, Japan, the United States Influenced the Forming of a New Nation

Taiwan, the Israel of the East:
How China, Japan, the United States Influenced the Forming of a New Nation

On October 25, 1947, the United States government helped the Chinese Nationalist Party, Kuomingtang (KMT) President Chiang Kai-Shek, flee the overwhelming communist forces. President Chiang established the new democratic government known as the Republic of China on an island later to be known as Taiwan, previously a major trading center called the “the beautiful isle” or Formosa. Parallel to the formation of the Republic of China on Taiwan, Israel was being established from Palestine as a result of creating a nation for Jewish refugees and displaced people following the Holocaust during the Second World War. While there have been a lot known about the conflicts between the Palestinians and Israelites over land and discussions on the plights that the people faced, little is known about the natives of Taiwan who were forced to give up their land and under constant occupation from the Dutch to the Japanese to the Chinese.

This book will not only uncover the history of Taiwan and its ethnographic changes under the occupations of multiple foreign nations utilizing a variety of old books written by European explorers and missionaries who were stationed on Taiwan, both European and Asian, over the course of 300 years, as well as using declassified CIA documents to reveal the impact of the United States’ role, particularly the involvement of the CIA, in helping assist the Kuomintang (KMT) in establishing their new democratic government. During the multiple occupations, the native population faced catastrophic repercussions from these foreign nations. From Japanese to the KMT, the massacres of thousands of Taiwanese were recorded, but are not widely known or understood. The 2-28 incident by the KMT led to the death of tens of thousands of Taiwanese to the forced subjugation and exploitation by the Japanese which also led to the deaths of thousands of Taiwanese due to forced labor or other acts of slaughter towards them. This book will not only account for the transformation of Taiwan in the eyes of the colonizers but understand the detrimental impact that the reshaping caused.

The controversy of Taiwan follows its history into modern-day politics as well as its identity. Given the role of the United States in its founding years, it is unclear to many whether the nation of Taiwan was declared as an official nation or if it is a colony belonging to China or the United States. This book examines the role of Taiwan and its history and identity of its people.

What makes Taiwan the 'Israel of the East'?

To answer, we rewind a century.

Mao Zedong, a revolutionary, helps found of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Shanghai. The CCP collaborates with the Nationalist government (Kuomingtang or KMT), under the Republic of China (ROC), which had been created at the fall of the Qing dynasty a decade earlier.

Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the KMT army, turns on the CCP. He marches on Shanghai, massacring thousands of Communist sympathizers in what comes to be known as the White Terror.

Japan invades Manchuria. Both the CCP and the KMT are anti-imperialist and resist. The Communists retreat to the mountains while the KMT fights against the superior Japanese Army. During these years, Mao gains popularity among rural communities and China becomes more polarized.

Fast forward: After World War II

Due to the Allied victory, vanquished Japanese colonial territories (including Taiwan) are returned. CCP and KMT leadership attempt to discuss post-war China, but tension and mistrust leads to resumed Civil War. Meanwhile, the Cold War begins.

The U.S. is committed to containing communism. CIA reports detail dire consequences of a communist takeover in China, and the U.S. views Nationalist China as necessary for a buffer between the Soviet Union and the rest of Asia.

With support from the Soviets, the Communists begin a takeover of KMT territories. Nationalist China, under President Chiang Kai-shek, is rapidly weakening. It becomes clear that the Nationalists have no place among the ascending Communist government.

Since the previous year, the U.S. and Nationalists had been looking into possible settlement positions for Chiang & his supporters, whose outlook seems inauspicious. Thus, it is decided: if the Communists win, Chiang and his supporters will leave China to form their own opposing government.

The Communists take the Nationalist capital of Nanjing, marking the defeat of the KMT on the mainland. In Beijing, the People's Republic of China is established on October 1.

By the end of 1949, Chiang & 2 million Chinese evacuate to Taiwan. They form the Republic of China government in Taipei. However, they continue to claim sovereignty over mainland China while the victorious CCP argue that the ROC no longer exists, and that the PRC is the only real China.

The story of defeat or oppression in one's homeland, Western intervention, and subsequent forced exodus & relocation is a commonality between Israel and Taiwan. Founded within a year of each other, both states continue to be plagued by controversies surrounding sovereignty & territorial claims, Israel with Palestine and Taiwan with mainland China.

But also similar is that both of their histories before creation of new governments in 1948-1949 remain virtually forgotten in our textbooks.

Learn about the full history of Formosa dating back to dynastic China, through Japanese occupation, and after Nationalist arrival — all the way up to the Taiwanese national identity today.

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