China regards Taiwan as a renegade province and wants it back under their control! Taiwan governs itself as a democratic country and doesn't know what it wants! America who recognises Beijing as a country has agreed for many years to support Taiwan military-wise against a perceived threat from Mainland China - and who just sit on the fence making unfathomable rhetoric regarding the situation when prompted!

CHINA
In simple terms, China should back-off and let sleeping dogs lie! Beijing currently has enough on its plate with deepening social problems, industrialisation and overwhelming pollution - not to mention their illegal annexation of Tibet not so long ago! By simply saying to the world, "here Taiwan, no probs, we declare you an independent country", would do the trick! Trade would boom between the two nations, many relatives would be able to meet for the first time and China could turn it's attention to things that matter!

TAIWAN
Taiwan should sort out their home affairs first before making wild statements for independence; the bickering between the political parties DPP and KMT is childish to the extreme. Furthermore, half the population seemingly want to return to China for economic reasons, the other half discuss China like a terrible disease! Oh, and for the most part nobody really seems to know what they are talking about!

AMERICA
And America? Well, they are just the same the world over! It would be nice if they kept their nose out of other peoples business but .... now that's not going to happen is it? Supplying arms to Taiwan is certainly not the answer and I'm sure that if asked most Taiwanese would prefer to return to Mainland China than be in the center of a Third World War! And anyway, America lost in Vietnam, lost in Afghanistan and now in Iraq (not to mention a poor track record in Somalia and Haiti) so what makes the Taiwanese assume that they will do any better in this part of the world.

If a war occurred many Chinese, lots of Taiwanese and a couple of US Marines would become statistics! America would rapidly pull out under pressure from home (the average 'yank' does not know where or what Taiwan is and certainly does not care) and due to a lack of home support in Taiwan (the large percentage of the population who want to return to Mainland China for economic reasons) and after the military has been wiped off the face of the earth with thousands of casualties they will surrender to the pure might of the homeland!

China will simply win the war! They may suffer thousands of casualties but they have a massive army and an even bigger line-up of cannon fodder in the hinterland who nobody really knows or cares about!

What a stupid situation and none of three parties involved makes it any easier!

Ieuan Dolby is the Author and Webmaster of Seamania. As a Chief Engineer in the Merchant Navy he has sailed the world for fifteen years. Now living in Taiwan he writes about cultures across the globe and life as he sees it.