Hi everyone. I’m a Taiwanese American who’s been trying to seriously understand cross-strait politics, history, and why people come to such different conclusions about China, Taiwan, the KMT, and the DPP. I want to be upfront that I’m not well-informed, and I’m posting here in good faith because I genuinely want perspectives I don’t usually hear.
Growing up, my family (especially my mom) has been very distrustful of both China and the KMT. She strongly emphasizes KMT atrocities in Taiwan (228, White Terror, martial law) and believes that those crimes permanently disqualify the KMT from being trusted with power. From her perspective, supporting the KMT feels like ignoring real historical trauma.
At the same time, I’m seeing more people — including Taiwanese and Taiwanese Americans — argue that supporting the KMT today is a pragmatic choice, mainly because of fear of war. The argument I hear is basically:
Even if the KMT committed crimes in the past, the immediate threat of conflict with China matters more, and accommodation reduces the risk of catastrophe (even nuclear escalation).
I honestly don’t know how to weigh these things. If the worst-case scenario is massive civilian death, it feels rational to prioritize avoiding war — but I also understand why people say that appeasement can make things worse in the long run.
Another topic that’s come up is history and propaganda. My mom believes events like the Nanjing Massacre are heavily politicized by the CCP and sometimes goes as far as questioning why Japan has not “fully admitted” to it in the same way Germany did with WWII crimes. I know this is extremely sensitive, and I’m not trying to deny history — I’m trying to understand why different societies remember and frame history so differently, and how that affects trust today.
More broadly, I struggle with political cynicism:
– the idea that all countries spy on their citizens
– that foreign money influences governments everywhere
– that corruption is inevitable
– that ordinary people have very limited power
Sometimes it feels like everyone is partially right and partially wrong, and that most people are just trying to protect their families and live decent lives under imperfect systems.
So my questions (asked sincerely):
• Why do you think supporting the KMT or closer ties with China is reasonable (or not)?
• How should historical crimes factor into present-day political choices?
• How do people in China or pro-China communities view the risk of war versus resistance?
• How should Taiwan navigate survival without becoming a pawn of any major power?
I’m not here to argue or “win.” I’m trying to learn how people who disagree with me reason about these issues. I appreciate thoughtful, respectful responses.
Thank you for reading.
The original was posted on /r/Taiwanese by /u/This-Education4450 at 2025-12-29 07:18:46+00:00.
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Generally, revolution and regime changes have a long history of not really serving the best interest of the people. The outcome is often as bad or worse than the status quo. Taiwan is one of those sagas, but it eventually democratized.
The idealistiic visionary - Sun Yat Sen in this case - was eventually sidelined and ambitious men on both sides took over as autocratic leaders. So China got Mao and Taiwan eventually got Chiang Kai Chek. To both, ideology was a useful tool to hold on to power.
Over its years in China, the KMT had many internal power stuggles and failed to consolidate control of China under constitutional multiple party rule. Everything was a battle between factions. WW2 suddenly ended with the A-bomb. Mao revived his Civil War against the KMT. The KMT fled because they had no choice.
The Taiwanese were abandoned by Japan. and taken over under KMT martial law.
Taiwan’s democracy really did not arrive until Lee Dung Hwei was elected president.
So the KMT has had many years where it presented an ideal democratic image as its goal that it did not live up to. Some wasn’t its fault, but much was. Wealth, power, and privledge can easily blind many people when survival offers few or no choices.
So here we are today.
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Regarding Nanjing, and Japan’s whole empire building expansion - an odd event occurred in 1885 due to Japan’s Menji Restoration and learning about chemistry from Germany.
From Ephedera (a traditonal Chinese medical herb), a Japanese chemist isolated ephedrine which evolved chemically in commercial amphetamines as cold medication.
So by the run up to WW2, both Germany and Japan were awash with politics driven by amphetamine addiction. And that is likely why Japan’s cruelty in Nanjing was so extreme.
These days, Japan has zero tolerence of amphetamine use. And I suppose their shame deepen into silence as they realized what their discovery had created and done to everyone.
Similarly Germany comitted extreme atrocities and much silence about their own shame.
Opium wasn’t the only drug shaping geopolitics. The 20th century was very much about politics and war combined with drugs.