The CCP founded the PRC after they drove the KMT (Kuomintang) out of mainland China. The ROC ruled Taiwan since 1945 and the CCP ruled mainland China since 1949.
However, lesser known to even the Chinese and Taiwanese people, the CCP and KMT are actually just different factions within the same party. The founder, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, needed money to buy weapons and build an army in the early years of the ROC to combat different warlords, so he went and got assistance from the Soviet and Communist International. The condition was that he had to accept members of the CCP into the KMT, which he did on the condition that they joined as individual members and not as part of the Communist Party. In reality, a communist faction formed within the KMT.
Throughout the 1920s all the way to the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, it was really just a power struggle within the KMT gone really bad. CKS and Mao are actually distant relatives.
Soong Mei-ling (CKS' second wife) has an older sister who married Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and she later on joined the CCP and was an influential figure within the CCP until her final days. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen even said himself that he believed communism is a form of economic ideology and not a political system (but I think even he didn't see how communism would later evolve), which was largely why he accepted members of the CCP into KMT in the first place.
Fast forward to the 2010s, there were three different main factions within the CCP: the Deng faction (commonly referred to as Taizidang or the prince faction, descendents of founding party members who believe they are entitled to all the benefits of CCP rule), the Jiang faction (Jiang Zemin's people) and the third faction who hate either faction. Xi's father was a victim of the early power struggle and Xi himself was bullied by the descendents of the early founding members during his childhood.
After Xi came to power, he realized that if he didn't want to end up with the same fate as Hu Jintao (who was commonly viewed as a puppet even within China), he had to consolidate power. He began a campaign on fighting corruption, but in reality it was just an excuse for him to round up political dissidents. Xi has survived numerous attempts on his life, and he has replaced many within the leadership ranks of the PLA, although just like in the US military, there are still different factions within the PLA.
Some people within the PLA want to cause trouble for Xi, and they know that by attacking Taiwan, it could result in Xi's fall.
Another little known fact - when Xi was based in Fujian decades ago, the current Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, was part of the cross-strait relations committee and had met Xi a few times. After Xi came to power, through unofficial communications channels (the PRC and ROC have unofficial communications channels even though officially they do not recognize one another as the legitimate ruler of the whole of China), Xi told Tsai that as long as he is in power, China will not attack Taiwan by force.
The China-Taiwan relationship is very complicated even for Chinese and Taiwanese people. Unless one knows the Chinese languages and understands the cultures and politics, it is very difficult to get an accurate read on the situation.
Very well said. I want to hear what your opinion is on Xi himself. My personal impression - drastically different from the prevailing one here, I know - is that he wants to be de facto emperor and all his actions have been striving toward this goal.
Much like Putin is Russia first and Trump is America first, Xi is China first (with a backup plan - Xi's daughter is a naturalized American citizen).
China first in the sense that it is the Chinese form of communism first, not the Chinese people; and that China has to dominate the Asian continent. In some ways he has to seek to be the Chinese ruler for life, because if he doesn't, he'll end up either in house arrest or dead after his time in power.
By the way, two decades ago there was a leaked Jesuits plan that the world be divided into 4 major powers: America, Russia, China and the last one I can't remember. Look how close we are to that reality.
The CCP founded the PRC after they drove the KMT (Kuomintang) out of mainland China. The ROC ruled Taiwan since 1945 and the CCP ruled mainland China since 1949.
However, lesser known to even the Chinese and Taiwanese people, the CCP and KMT are actually just different factions within the same party. The founder, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, needed money to buy weapons and build an army in the early years of the ROC to combat different warlords, so he went and got assistance from the Soviet and Communist International. The condition was that he had to accept members of the CCP into the KMT, which he did on the condition that they joined as individual members and not as part of the Communist Party. In reality, a communist faction formed within the KMT.
Throughout the 1920s all the way to the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, it was really just a power struggle within the KMT gone really bad. CKS and Mao are actually distant relatives.
Soong Mei-ling (CKS' second wife) has an older sister who married Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and she later on joined the CCP and was an influential figure within the CCP until her final days. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen even said himself that he believed communism is a form of economic ideology and not a political system (but I think even he didn't see how communism would later evolve), which was largely why he accepted members of the CCP into KMT in the first place.
Fast forward to the 2010s, there were three different main factions within the CCP: the Deng faction (commonly referred to as Taizidang or the prince faction, descendents of founding party members who believe they are entitled to all the benefits of CCP rule), the Jiang faction (Jiang Zemin's people) and the third faction who hate either faction. Xi's father was a victim of the early power struggle and Xi himself was bullied by the descendents of the early founding members during his childhood.
After Xi came to power, he realized that if he didn't want to end up with the same fate as Hu Jintao (who was commonly viewed as a puppet even within China), he had to consolidate power. He began a campaign on fighting corruption, but in reality it was just an excuse for him to round up political dissidents. Xi has survived numerous attempts on his life, and he has replaced many within the leadership ranks of the PLA, although just like in the US military, there are still different factions within the PLA.
Some people within the PLA want to cause trouble for Xi, and they know that by attacking Taiwan, it could result in Xi's fall.
Another little known fact - when Xi was based in Fujian decades ago, the current Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, was part of the cross-strait relations committee and had met Xi a few times. After Xi came to power, through unofficial communications channels (the PRC and ROC have unofficial communications channels even though officially they do not recognize one another as the legitimate ruler of the whole of China), Xi told Tsai that as long as he is in power, China will not attack Taiwan by force.
The China-Taiwan relationship is very complicated even for Chinese and Taiwanese people. Unless one knows the Chinese languages and understands the cultures and politics, it is very difficult to get an accurate read on the situation.
Very well said. I want to hear what your opinion is on Xi himself. My personal impression - drastically different from the prevailing one here, I know - is that he wants to be de facto emperor and all his actions have been striving toward this goal.
Much like Putin is Russia first and Trump is America first, Xi is China first (with a backup plan - Xi's daughter is a naturalized American citizen).
China first in the sense that it is the Chinese form of communism first, not the Chinese people; and that China has to dominate the Asian continent. In some ways he has to seek to be the Chinese ruler for life, because if he doesn't, he'll end up either in house arrest or dead after his time in power.
By the way, two decades ago there was a leaked Jesuits plan that the world be divided into 4 major powers: America, Russia, China and the last one I can't remember. Look how close we are to that reality.
Sometimes an upvote is not enough. Thank you for the high-effort post. Much appreciated, fren.