I lived for five years teaching English in a wonderful culture of vibrant, hard-working, fun-loving people who have lived all their lives in the shadow of invasion from China. Ironically, I moved to the nation of Taiwan without actually knowing that the United States and nearly the entire world does not recognize Taiwan as a country. I learned acronyms like the "ROC" and "PRC" and phrases like "renegade province," and I came to understand the official title of the island as "The Republic of China on Taiwan."
Since 1949 when the Chinese Civil War ended with Chiang-Kai Shek fleeing the mainland for Taiwan and Mao Ze Dong establishing the communist government of the People's Republic of China, the beautiful island nation and thriving democratic republic of roughly 25 million people has existed in a state of detente. And when the United States formalized a relationship with Mainland China in 1979, the island nation became an "Invisible Nation," so to speak.
That phrase is the subject and title of a new documentary on Taiwan and its unique precarious political situation. And that release coincides with a new Netflix drama titled Zero Day Attack, which portrays a riveting story of the Taiwanese president faced with an imminent invasion. While neither of these films is currently showing in the United States, they will hopefully be available soon, for it is important for American audiences to understand this complicated issue and to learn more about the wonderful place I consider a second home.
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