In this chapter, we turn to the two other territories who's populations also maintained a type of Chinese citizenship. Taiwan and Hong Kong, both islands of the coast of Southeast China, experience different historical trajectories from Mainland China. Because of their geographic location each offers distinctive strategic advantages for the United States. And as a result harbor different opinions of the US. Taiwan became officially a Chinese province in a Ching Dynasty, but was seeded to Japan when China lost the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895. It was returned to China after Japan's defeat in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945. An easy way to understand the Taiwanese view of America is to look at three seminal moments in the Taiwan-US relations since 1949. The first moment occurred when Chang Kai Shek established the Republic of China on Taiwan in 1949. It was clear that the nationalists could not defend the island against the Chinese Communists without American support which was not forthcoming. However, the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 made the island a strategic post in the American effort to contain communism in the Pacific region. As a result, congress approved a bill providing $300 million dollars of aid to Taiwan and sent a ranking general to lead the military assistance group on the island. In the following decade Chiang Kai Shek imposed martial law but also carried out a successful land reform program and achieved a period of great economic growth for Taiwan. For this historical reason, the Chinese in Taiwan regard America as their friend and welcome American culture in all of its myriad complexity. American movies, music, fashion, food, cars are extremely popular. And the aspiration of most young Chinese in Taiwan is to travel and study in America. In the second seminal moment in 1971, Taiwan lost its seat in the security counsel of the United Nations to mainland China. And lost formal diplomatic relations with the United States in 1979. Most other nations in the world followed suit. In this break up, the 1955 Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty that protected Taiwan from mainland Chinese invasion, was abolished. But in it's place, the U.S. established the Taiwan Relations Act. This less comprehensive agreement, nevertheless, allowed the continued sale of arms to Taiwan and called for a peaceful means of determining Taiwan's future. The act is also a contentious point in the ongoing relations between the US and the mainland. Feeling abandoned and beleaguered, the nationalist party began reform measures to include more native Taiwanese in it's membership and to reexamine it's relationship to the mainland. It also developed informal methods in foreign relations, and sent it's diplomats to set up the unofficial Taiwan economic and cultural representative offices around the world. The third seminal moment was the lifting of the marshal law in Taiwan and the legal formation of an opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party, Ming Ching Tao, in 1986. With a multi party system in place and a peaceful means of transitioning power, Taiwan became an exemplary model democracy for China. Today, the United States manages a delicate balance in across-strait relations. While recognizing that there is only one China, the US is ambivalent about forceful unification of Taiwan with the mainland. Taiwan continues to look upon the United States as its knight in shining armor, even as its largest export market is on mainland China today. Hong Kong was a sparsely populated island until the British landed in 1841. In the next year, the Qing ceded the island to Britain following its loss in the Opium War. In the beginning, it served as a gateway for importing opium into China, and for exporting Chinese labor to the United States and to Australia during the gold rush years on both continents. Along with the trading came the accompanying businesses and shipping, banking, as well as a host of related professional services. The overseas Chinese remitted their savings home via the Hong Kong banks, and a network of financial services was developed from the Americas to Southeast Asia with Hong Kong as the hub. The first seminal moment in the relations between Hong Kong and the United States, would be the trade embargo that was imposed by Washington in 1950 on China, Korea, and North Vietnam under the Trading With The Enemy Act. Hong Kong's economy nearly collapsed. However, Hong Kong's geographic location made it a receptacle for entrepreneurs and their capital fleeing the mainland. And together with the pre-1949 development of the banking and other professional sectors, the island was able to establish a viable textile industry in the late 1950s. By the 1960's Hong Kong developed profitable clothing, electronics, plastics and other labor intensive export industries. The Untied States ultimately became one of the largest importers of Hong Kong garments. The US also saw Hong Kong as a base for espionage against China and for military support during both the Korean and the Vietnam Wars. However, in terms of cultural orientation, the American influence was eclipsed by the British colonial system where Hong Kong citizens aspire to education in the British commonwealth, and to receive British honorific recognition such as a knighthood. In the second movement, before Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, Congress passed a US-Hong Kong policy act of 1992, which called for the US government to monitor Hong Kong's future, especially in the area of political rights. America has a huge economic stake in Hong Kong, Hong Kong serves as the gateway to China, once again. Where hundreds of American multinational companies base their regional headquarters. And for Hong Kong, close relations with the US offer multiple advantages. The US is the largest external market outside of China. It is an international ally in multilateral forums. And serves as a moral deterrent for China should the latter attempt to remove the autonomy of the Hong Kong legislature. In the third movement the Occupy Central or Umbrella Movement in 2014 was a demonstration organized by university professors and students in Hong Kong. From September to December, they protested Beijing's plan to offer only a few selected candidates for election to the legislative council, reneging on an earlier promise of a more democratic process. While the United States did not have a direct role in the movement, it is perhaps not a coincidence that the name of the movement bore similarity to the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York. There were at times close to 100,000 demonstrators per day and the police used tear gas and arrested many students. In the end the Chinese government did not relent on its policy, and the students mostly returned to school. World opinion, except for Russia, supported the demonstrators although the business sector in Hong Kong deplored the loss of trade for the 70 days. We see in this chapter, two views of America. The people in Taiwan are grateful for America's steadfast support and the Hong Kong residents increasingly regard America as not only an economic partner, but also one in its quest for human rights. In our next and last chapter, we will hear directly from the people on the mainland and Taiwan.
