What follows is not the charting of events we should expect now China has fixed its “invasion sights” on the island of Taiwan. Instead, it is a reflection on occupations that have already occurred, overlooked by those who predict a looming invasion.

The First Sino-Japanese war of 1894-95 resulted in humiliating defeat for China. As with almost all such brutal conflicts, land proved the Spoil of War. In this case, China was forced to hand Korea and Taiwan over to Japan, beginning for both fifty-years of occupation. These of course ended with Japan’s defeat in 1945.

Whereas Korea would find itself consumed by conflict and division to this day, Taiwan was returned to China “in the whole.” It was reunited, however, markedly different from when last as one with the mainland. By 1945, Japanese was spoken within Taiwan as much as, if not more than, mandarin. When troops from the Chinese mainland arrived in very late 1945, they were greeted warmly by the Taiwanese; a welcome which would, however, prove short-lived.