Xi Jinping and other Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders are ramping up rhetoric about the necessity of “unifying” China by bringing Taiwan under their control as a “sacrosanct mission of the entire Chinese people.”
A right to territory is generally based on historical precedent, cultural and ethnic affinity, political consensus or military conquest. China’s claims on Taiwan are unconvincing when measured according to the first three of these criteria.
First, let’s look back in history as far as possible. Mainland authorities have repeatedly claimed that “Taiwan has belonged to China since ancient times. In fact, Taiwan was first settled by Austronesian peoples 6,500 years ago.
