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The Taiwan Story: How a Small Island Will Dictate the Global Future

By (author) Kerry Brown

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normal price: R 295.95

Price: R 265.95

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An urgent, indispensable guide to why Taiwan matters â€“ for China, the West and everyoneâ€™s future 'An erudite primer . . . Brown's mission to educate westerners about Taiwan and why it matters is a critical one, which makes this book well worth reading' SUNDAY TIMES â€¢ 'Anyone with a care to avoid a third world war â€“ between China and the US â€“ should read this book' JACK STRAW â€¢ â€˜An authoritative primer to all things Taiwanâ€™ BARBARA DEMICK When the bloody Chinese Civil War concluded in 1949, two Chinas were born. Maoâ€™s Communists won and took Chinaâ€™s mainland; Chiang Kai-shekâ€™s Nationalists fled to Taiwan island. Since then, China and Taiwan have drifted into being separate political and cultural entities. Taiwan is now a flourishing democracy and an economic success story: just one of its companies produces over 90 per cent of the semiconductors that power the worldâ€™s economy. It is a free and vibrant society. For the United States and the West, the island is a bastion of freedom against Chinaâ€™s assertive presence in the region. And yet China, increasingly bellicose under Xi Jinping, insists Taiwan is part of its territory and must be returned to it. Should China blockade the island and mount an invasion, it would set off a chain reaction that would pitch it against the US â€“ escalating a regional war into a global one. Taiwan is thus a geopolitical powder keg. The Taiwan Story helps us understand how and why weâ€™ve arrived at this dangerous moment in history. With unparalleled access to Taiwanâ€™s political leaders and a deep understanding of the islandâ€™s history and culture, Professor Kerry Brown provides a new reading of Taiwan, its twenty-three million people, and how they navigate being caught in this frightening geopolitical standoff. This is the essential book delving into Taiwanâ€™s unique story, buried beneath the headlines, told in an accessible, expert and urgent way. 'As Brown shows so compellingly, anyone who thinks the Taiwan problem can be easily solved probably hasn't thought about it for long enough' FINANCIAL TIMES â€˜Kerry Brown is one of our most perceptive and accurate foreign observers of Chinaâ€™ JOHN SIMPSON â€˜Written with great knowledge, passion and insightâ€™ MARTIN JACQUES