Thread by @finshots

The Indian government is considering formally entering into a trade deal with Taiwan. And China is agitated about this

To understand why this is a big deal, we need some background on the relationship between Taiwan and China. So sit tight, because things are about to get bloody

The story begins with The Republic of China. No, we are not talking about the country. But a government set up by Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang (KMT) party. Chiang's party had seized power across China. And during World War II, they served as an important American ally.

Then, in 1945, the allies had a victory over Japan, forcing the nation to surrender Taiwan - which Japan had colonized. And once they claimed victory, the US government offered the region to KMT's government. This proved most opportune for KMT.

4 years later, Mao Zedong's Communist party overthrew KMT, forcing them to leave for Taiwan. Once there, KMT imposed martial law and their Chinese identity on the Taiwanese people. KMT said that they represented Chinese people in Taiwan & on the mainland. Most world powers agreed

But in 1979, they reversed their stance. The US began treating the People's Republic of China(PRC), the new communist Govt ruling over mainland China, as the formal Govt and they severed their ties with the KMT. But the PRC made it clear that they wanted to unify the region.

Now, only 17 nations recognize Taiwan's democratic Govt and none recognize it as a country. Taiwan can only separate from China if they form diplomatic and trade relations with other nations. And that's where India comes in.

Taiwan has wanted to talk trade with India for years now, to decrease economic dependency on China. And an alliance makes sense for us too. Taiwan could help India in soliciting greater investments in technology and electronics while decreasing our reliance on Chinese imports

The thing is, the Indian Govt avoided trade talks with Taiwan earlier because they didn’t want to antagonize China. But ever since the deadly border clashes in May, relations between the two countries have been deteriorating anyway.

So, we may just take a chance on Taiwan now.