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This is the bit that I find most annoying: westerners insisting that the government and people of Taiwan want to be their own country separate from China.

Certainly the government doesn't, they still claim the entire territory the PRC controls and more.

The people generally consider themselves Chinese when asked and wishing for peaceful reunification, with a small (and possibly growing) minority disagreeing.

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It is false that people generally consider themselves Chinese. Nearly 77% of people in Taiwan identify exclusively as Taiwanese: https://www.tpof.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/20210830-英文版...

It is also false that they desire peaceful reunification. The same source shows only 11% want to become part of China.

So the insistence you refer to is consistent with the will of the people of Taiwan.

No one in the Taiwanese government talks about claims to mainland PRC territory. Denouncing these previously made claims it would be a de facto (maybe even de jure?) move to independence and result in who knows what.

Taiwan is defacto it's own country separate from China. My understanding is that the main reason Taiwan doesn't declare independence is fear that that will cause China to invade, the same reason the west humors them by pretending Taiwan is not a separate country.

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