Shadowing Practice: Can there ever really be “one China?” - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Take a look at Taiwan's passport covers through the years.
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Take a look at Taiwan's passport covers through the years.
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You'll notice that in the first few iterations,
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the word Taiwan never actually appears on the passport cover.
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In fact, the word Taiwan doesn't even appear until 2003.
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And that's because, well, Taiwan didn't always identify itself as Taiwan.
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It originally identified itself as China, the Republic of China.
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But this is also China,
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the People's Republic of China.
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So when did Taiwan emerge as an identity of its own on this passport?
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And if the People's Republic of China is insistent on the one-China principle,
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is it even possible for Taiwan to maintain its autonomy?
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The story of how two Chinas emerged started in 1927 with a bloody civil war between two political parties,
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the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party.
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This war lasted over two decades.
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By October 1949, the Chinese Communist Party claimed victory,
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and the Nationalists retreated to the island of Taiwan,
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which had previously been a Japanese colony,
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but was handed over to China when Japan surrendered at the end of World War II.
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Beginning in December 1949, on his island sanctuary,
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Zhang worked toward the day when China could be freed from the communist yoke.
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From 1949, 1950 onward, you have two separate jurisdictions.
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They both claim legitimacy, so they both claim that they are representative of China.
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On the mainland, the communists declared their country the People's Republic of China.
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On Taiwan, the nationalists kept the name, the Republic of China.
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There are multiple claims of what China is,
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what it ought to be,
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and it's confused by the fact that they used the same term.
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And you can see that reflected in the design of the first passport from Taiwan in 1949.
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The cover only says, passport of the Republic of China,
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with no mention of Taiwan.
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To add some more complexity to the question of who is the real China,
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the ROC, not the PRC,
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got a seat as the founding member of the United Nations in 1945,
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before the Chinese Civil War had even ended.
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This seat went to Chiang Kai-shek,
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the then leader of the ROC,
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because he was the one who brought his army onto the side of the Allies against Japan during World War II.
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Because the ROC was one of the allies,
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it had an important role in establishing the United Nations,
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the basic institutions and the UN Charter.
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From 1945 to 1971, the United Nations recognized the Republic of China on Taiwan as the real China.
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But come the Cold War,
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the concept of China shifts.
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Essentially, the Soviets and the PRC have a falling out.
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The U.S is looking for an opportunity to put the Soviets in a tougher position.
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So one of the things that they decide to do is to move closer to the PRC.
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And how the U.S triangulated itself between the PRC and the ROC became more and more significant.
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Henry Kissinger, then the U.S.
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National Security Adviser, secretly visited China in 1971.
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Following his trip, President Nixon became the first U.S president to publicly visit Communist China after two decades of diplomatic isolation.
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During this time, the UN passed Resolution 2758,
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where it recognized the PRC is the only legitimate representative of China.
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And with that, the ROC lost its seat at the UN.
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Beijing and Washington, they get closer because they both see a common enemy in the Soviet Union.
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The decision to move closer to the US remained actually quite contested within the PRC.
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The US was seen as the leader of this imperialist capitalist world.
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So it takes Mao dying in 1976,
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and also Deng Xiaoping coming to power
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and being able to sideline his rivals for the U.S and the PRC to move closer together.
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A new beginning in U.S.-China relations.
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Three years after Mao's death, the U.S formalized its own recognition of Beijing as the sole government in China.
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This birthed America's version of the One China policy.
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The government of the United States of America acknowledges the Chinese position
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that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China.
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And now, let's get back to the video.
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Come the 80s and 90s,
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the concept of China evolved again as a new Taiwanese identity began to emerge,
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especially as their government started to democratize.
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Taiwan was under martial law for 38 years.
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And so by the early 1990s,
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Taiwan had moved from what was effectively a police state to a full-fledged democracy.
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A pivotal moment took place in 1995.
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The president of Taiwan, Li Tenghui,
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who had been appointed by his predecessor,
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so not yet democratically elected,
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spoke at his alma mater, Cornell University.
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His visit to the United States is the first by a
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Taiwan leader since the United States severed diplomatic relations with that country in 1979.
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The administration of then-US President Bill Clinton initially blocked Lee's visa.
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At that point in time,
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the US was trying to still improve its ties with the PRC.
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It was very wary of a potential upsetting of the relationship.
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But the Republican-led Senate pushed for his visit to be approved.
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They went around President Clinton,
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who was in office at that time,
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and approved an unofficial visit by Li Denghui to Cornell University.
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Today, the institutions of democracy are in place in the Department of China.
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Human rights are respected and protected to a very high degree.
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Democracy is thriving in my country.
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And that visit was seen as important because it raised the visibility of the ROC as Taiwan.
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So people in Taiwan saw that they had a degree of international recognition
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that Li Donghui was well received in the United States.
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It also marked a shift in the way the leaders of Taiwan viewed their claim on China,
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as one China, but open to multiple interpretations. and with careful planning.
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Essentially, the Taiwan side, even though they kept the ROC name,
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accepted that their jurisdiction is limited to Taiwan Island,
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Penghu, Matu, Jingmen and other outlying islands.
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They essentially accept the PRC as being the government on the mainland.
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But Beijing saw Li's visit as a violation of their One China Principle,
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the one in which reunification was the goal,
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and Taiwan was part of the People's Republic of China.
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The PRC became very uncomfortable with Li Denghui's increasingly pro-Taiwan independence rhetoric.
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He followed Taiwan public opinion,
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which generally was not supportive of eventual unification with the PRC.
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The PRC clearly didn't like that very much,
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and so what they decided to do was to launch a series of missile exercises in 95 and 96.
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Now, some of that was to show opposition,
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but a lot of it was also to scare Taiwanese voters from supporting Li Denghui.
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But the missile exercises had the opposite effect.
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The specter of China launching missiles near Taiwan's major ports led to a sort of rally around the flag effect,
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where Li Denghui became more popular than he was before.
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And in 1996, of course,
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there was the first direct presidential election.
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Li Denghui ran in and won that election.
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From there, Taiwan's position veered further from the one China that the PRC envisioned.
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By 2000, the people of Taiwan elected Chen Shui-bian,
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their first president from the Democratic Progressive Party,
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a new party whose charter included aspirations for independence.
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It's not necessarily a declaration of independence,
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but it was there because of the sort of coalition that they had to build.
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This marked a significant change since Lee's Cornell speech that still identified his country as the Republic of China on Taiwan.
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We've now got a Taiwan today where the large majority of people in Taiwan identify as just Taiwanese.
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And so that then shifts the incentives of politicians running for elected office.
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In 2002, President Chen pushed forward legislation to add the English word Taiwan to their passport.
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By 2003, the first passports with Taiwan on the cover were issued.
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Since then, the word Taiwan has remained on the Republic of China passport.
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And the text itself has gotten larger,
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a reflection of how design mirrors identity.
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And there's a pragmatic reason for this as well.
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It clarified that this was not the People's Republic of China.
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And as a practical matter,
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the Taiwan ROC passport today is actually relatively powerful.
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But as the word Taiwan became more prominent alongside Taiwanese high density,
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so has Beijing's calls for nationalism and its One China reunification goals.
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What happens is the PRC becomes the world's second largest economy.
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It has a lot more capabilities that it can bring to bear.
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So it really wants to further isolate Taiwan and bring it under its fold if possible.
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And so it starts trying to be more insistent on its One China principle.
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So many other countries which could safely ignore Chinese objections 25 or 30 years ago
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are now in a much more vulnerable position.
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The PRC has much more leverage economically over a lot of countries.
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As recently as May 2026,
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China removed tariffs on all African nations except for one,
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Eswatini, a country that still has diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
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As for the U.S., one of the largest trading partners of the PRC.
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President Xi stressed to President Trump that the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S relations.
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Talk to me about that moment when that was discussed.
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Well, they certainly feel that way and they always raise that issue.
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And we understand they raise that issue.
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From our perspective, any forced change in the status quo and the situation that's there now would be bad for both countries.
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They do see value in the continued self-governance of Taiwan,
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although they are reluctant to do anything about Taiwan independence because they know that that's provocative.
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Though Taiwan does have its own economic bargaining chip.
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It's home to the company TSMC,
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which manufactured over 90% of the world's semiconductor chips in 2024.
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So Taiwan, in other words,
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is economically just as important to the United States as the economic relationship with the PRC.
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Despite the U.S.'s reluctance to recognize Taiwan as its own country,
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it still hedges defensively against Beijing in the Asia-Pacific region region and the U.S remains Taiwan's biggest weapons dealer,
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supplying more than 70 percent of its conventional arms imports.
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But the people caught in the middle of this geopolitical crossfire are the residents of Taiwan itself,
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especially those who were born and raised there and have no connection to the revolutionary past of the Chinese Civil War.
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They felt that their futures were just given away without their consent.
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The PRC is not a democracy.
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There's no signs that it's going to become a democracy anytime soon.
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The idea of an independent Taiwan is still anathema to the CCP in Beijing and is probably a cause for war.
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The majority of people in Taiwan just want the status quo.
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They are willing to live with this sort of very vague international status that they have because they essentially don't want war,
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even though they also don't want PRC or CCP control over them.
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This gets us back to the question of what is China?
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Should it be some political entity or can it be something that's more vague?
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Today, as these claims about unity and control become more important,
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that vagueness becomes more challenging.
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So as the People's Republic of China becomes more powerful,
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how it enforces its version of the one-China principle
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and where the U.S chooses to stand will have major impacts on global alliances, especially for Taiwan.
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Thank you.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will immerse yourself in a fascinating discussion about the complex historical context surrounding Taiwan and mainland China. By examining the video titled "Can there ever really be 'one China?'", you will practice listening comprehensively and gain insights into the nuances of identity and politics in this region. This lesson will enhance your English speaking skills, particularly as you learn to articulate your thoughts about political topics, historical events, and cultural identity.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Republic of China (ROC) - The government that retreated to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War, which claims to represent all of China.
- People's Republic of China (PRC) - The government on the mainland that currently governs China, established after the fall of the Nationalists in 1949.
- Civil War - A conflict between opposing groups within the same country; in this case, between the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party.
- United Nations - An intergovernmental organization founded in 1945 that aims to maintain international peace and cooperation. The ROC was a founding member.
- Legitimacy - The acceptance of an authority, often used to discuss who has the rightful claim to govern.
- Diplomatic Relations - The interactions between countries, often involving negotiation and establishing agreements.
- Triangulated Diplomacy - A foreign policy strategy that involves engaging multiple nations to navigate complex political relationships.
Practice Tips
To enhance your English speaking skills using the shadowing technique, follow these tailored tips while watching the video:
- Start Slow: Begin by playing the video at a slower speed. This will help you catch every detail and understand the nuances of the topic better.
- Repeat Immediately: Use the shadowspeak method by repeating phrases immediately after the speaker. This reinforces pronunciation and intonation.
- Focus on Tone: Pay attention to the tonal shifts in the speaker’s voice during emotional points. Emulate this in your shadow speech for a more engaging practice.
- Record Yourself: After practicing shadowing, record yourself reading excerpts or summarizing key points. Compare your pronunciation and intonation with the original.
- Engage with the Content: Discuss the video’s themes with a partner or in a study group to practice speaking fluently and confidently about complex topics.
- Utilize a Shadowing Site: Find resources online that support shadowing exercises, allowing you to practice in a structured manner while focusing on political discussions.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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