Chris Horton's Ghost Nation: The Story of Taiwan and Its Struggle for Survival was a spontaneous recent get, and also published this year, so I figured I'd better read it quick before uh........ the situation changes.

I'm not very familiar with the issues surrounding Taiwan, though living somewhere that's been affected by China's recent oceanic expansionist policies, it's not difficult to pick up at least some of it casually. I have also been to China to attend international exhibitions multiple times, so I'm well-aware of the sensitivity of maps and flags which are always, ALWAYS pre-checked on everything you bring into the exhibition area (backgrounds, flyers, posters, etc.) and they WILL boot you out and/or destroy your materials if they find anything not fitting the accepted standard.

Anyway that, plus my previous reads about Mao, WWII Shanghai, and that book about the triangulation of Japan-Korea-China relations, means that I knew of the broader history of Japan's occupation and the ROC's fleeing to Taiwan when the CCP took power, but not much that's more modern than that. The book's a good read for learnings, through Taiwan's history through colonization and resistance to cultural oppression through the changing periods, with pain and trauma forming their modern self-confidence into one of the freest democracies in the world. I feel like I have a better grasp of some of the nuances of Taiwanese identity, too? Like, I knew about Taiwan's indigenous tribes, but not their roles in the evolution of the island through its modern societal development and with immigrants coming across the strait.

Horton, who has lived in Taiwan for a while, is I think very clear about the potential benefits but also the potential cost that would need to be paid for annexing Taiwan (islands are just harder to invade, etc.), plus the arguments being made for the supposed historical justification of it, which isn't really an argument because it's not about justifications, it's about location, economy and resources. Look at those resources! Fascinating stuff about Taiwan's massive semiconductor industry, as the greatest supplier in the world, and I wonder how that's been going with the AI boom as well.