this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2022
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Taiwan has shied away from that because China has explicitly said they will invade if there is any official declaration of independence. Even declaring a referendum could spark a war. That has led to a split in public opinion within Taiwan over declaring independence (with potential consequences) that does not reflect their actual desire to be independent (without a bully threatening them). When you actually start looking at their national identity in surveys, you find a large majority identify as Taiwanese only, with most of the rest having a dual identity and a small number identifying as Chinese only.
China would invade if there was an official declaration of independence, since that is easily seen as the Taiwanese elite acting in their best interests. If there was a vote organized with China's participation however, surely they would respect the outcome?
The CCP doesn't give a rip about public opinion. Exhibit A: Turning Hong Kong into a police state in response to street protests. China knows the poll numbers full well in Taiwan. And the elite have for a long time mainly been maintaining the fiction that the Taiwanese government still has a legitimate claim over China.
If you cant see that HK riots were instigated by CIA then you are truly blind.
You're treating the people of Hong Kong like they have no ability to think for themselves.
Most people want to have a peaceful live, not violent riots in the street every day.
Nevertheless, the majority of Taiwans population supports unity with PRC. Thats why its the official government policy since decades. Identity is a completely different question. I mean have you ever heard of regional or local identity?
The official government policy is that China and Taiwan are one country that the Taiwanese government wants to rule over. They have been threatened with invasion if they change that. That's why the identity question is a good proxy for what the Taiwanese people really want absent China's threats. It asks if people identify as Chinese only, Chinese and Taiwanese, or Taiwanese only. Currently it's at about 2/3 identifying as Taiwanese only, 1/3 as hybrid, and low single digits as Chinese only. This is a significant shift from when the survey started, when a hybrid identity was the most common and Chinese only was still significant.