[nullc]

> What on earth is this supposed to mean?

The Republic of China was the government of China from 1912 until 1949 when it was overthrown by the CCP and retreated to Taiwan. Until at least 1971 the UN recognized it as the legitimate government of all of China.

The poster's comment is outdated, but that's the historical background -- and why it's less crazy than you might have assumed without knowing the history.

[seanmcdirmid]

There is more relevant history: when the ROC retreated to Taiwan, they killed a lot of the upper crust of the Taiwanese already on the island. Truth is, while Japan treated Korea fairly bad, they treated Taiwan as an almost province, so that fostered a lot of distrust between the KMT and the Taiwanese on the island before they arrived, leading to atrocities. The pre-1949 Taiwanese distrust the mainlanders a lot (represented by both the ROC and PRC).

Most Taiwanese would rather refer to throw off the legacy of the ROC completely, but doing so would be considered an act of war by the PRC.

[ethbr0]

I remember my mind being blown when I read about internal Taiwanese politics and learned that both parties are more or less anti-independence.

The liberals / doves think it would provoke China, and be too high a price to pay for something that's already de facto truth.

But the conservatives / hawks argue against it because they deny the legitimacy of the PRC, so why would Taiwan need to declare it's independence from rebels in its own country?

[account42]

> The liberals / doves think it would provoke China, and be too high a price to pay for something that's already de facto truth.

This does not make them anti-independence, just not suicidal.