AHC: Make Taiwan a US state by 1914
- Thread starter Tsao
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Well...if you really want my honest opinion: I'm afraid it just can't quite be done. A U.S. protectorate could be pretty plausible, though: perhaps the U.S. has a war with Japan or China over resources, or whatever, and the Taiwanese gov't asks for a long-term U.S. presence as a hopeful deterrent?
Perhaps the Boxer Rebellion as a POD? Where the Western powers are even more intent on protecting their missionaries and, when the Manchu emperor refuses various European demands to post soldiers throughout the country to defend the Christian westerners, the US and the other Western powers decide to use their own troops to do it themselves?
The Europeans are based out of their respective ports, but the US lacking (as far as I know) a port, takes Taipei, and ends up basically imposing itself on the whole island. When China falls to revolution (even earlier than OTL surely due to the emperor's kowtowing to Western demands), the Western powers incorporate their supply ports and the territory immediately around them as Overseas Territories.
I'm not sure when/if the United States would actually incorporate Taiwan as a state, but I do imagine that once the mainland falls apart, it'd fall under commonwealth status not unlike Puerto Rico. Thus, like Puerto Rico, cue a massive debate in the US pretty much identical to that island, however, add in even more resistance on account of the sheer distance, since there's no plans (either OTL, far as I know or TTL) to create a 'bridge' of sovereign territory across half the Pacific due to the unincorporated nature of most Pacific islands. That said, a POD like this could very well push for the incorporation of the Pacific island territories into recognized, incorporated, territories.
The Europeans are based out of their respective ports, but the US lacking (as far as I know) a port, takes Taipei, and ends up basically imposing itself on the whole island. When China falls to revolution (even earlier than OTL surely due to the emperor's kowtowing to Western demands), the Western powers incorporate their supply ports and the territory immediately around them as Overseas Territories.
I'm not sure when/if the United States would actually incorporate Taiwan as a state, but I do imagine that once the mainland falls apart, it'd fall under commonwealth status not unlike Puerto Rico. Thus, like Puerto Rico, cue a massive debate in the US pretty much identical to that island, however, add in even more resistance on account of the sheer distance, since there's no plans (either OTL, far as I know or TTL) to create a 'bridge' of sovereign territory across half the Pacific due to the unincorporated nature of most Pacific islands. That said, a POD like this could very well push for the incorporation of the Pacific island territories into recognized, incorporated, territories.
Imagine, a Chinese-speaking state in the United States... It would be like Puerto Rico, but with even more debate. And by 1914? Forget it. More likely by the 1980s.
If the US accepts North Borneo in 1865, then US foreign policy will inevitably be more involved with China. A sphere of influence/war may break out between the two, Tawain being a nice prize for a victorious US.
Soon, Mormons feeling rejected in the states by a different POD come trickling into the Taiwan Territory, seeing it as freedom and a chance for evangelizing. They have a strong westernizing effect on the locals and Within a generation of rigerous education there is a large minority of American Mormons who run the territory while a good portion of the local peoples have converted and speak a good deal of English.
Although statehood is not yet being considered by 1914, it is considered to be an intergral part of the Union.
Soon, Mormons feeling rejected in the states by a different POD come trickling into the Taiwan Territory, seeing it as freedom and a chance for evangelizing. They have a strong westernizing effect on the locals and Within a generation of rigerous education there is a large minority of American Mormons who run the territory while a good portion of the local peoples have converted and speak a good deal of English.
Although statehood is not yet being considered by 1914, it is considered to be an intergral part of the Union.
Though we could use Japan as a way to get Taiwan, maybe not as a state by 1912 but possibly on the way to becoming one. Since its occupation by japan and until at least 1910, Taiwan and its people viewed mostly negatively on the Japanese occupation.
I would imagine that, if America decided to get more involved, promising either independence or return to its pre-occupation status quo, America could instead annex the island after helping the natives fight off Japan. If I am not wrong America did something similar in the Philippines some years before, helping to fight off Spain promising independence but later on deciding to occupy them instead. Though, it would take decades, possibly sped up by the second world war if it still occurs in this situation, before Taiwan could be considered as a possible US State by the government and the people.
There have been a lot of Mormon missionaries that have tried to proselytize in Taiwan with little success, with the result that there are very few Mormon converts in Taiwan even after nearly a century of receiving missionaries.
If Taiwan is going to be Westernized by a religious group, it would probably be by Presbyterian missionaries. Presbyterianism is hardly new to Taiwan, having been introduced by the Dutch in the 17th century, and with their already being Presbyterian communities on the island, it would be less foreign and easier for the people to accept.
Hmm, a partial repeat of the French experience with Vietnam with regards to language policy, perhaps? Say have POJ continue to be used as the Taiwanese orthography (though with some minor changes*), but used by the US as a way to transition people to English.
*Some of the minor changes could be, for example, simplifying <ch> and <chh> to <c> and <ch>, respectively, as well as replacing <o͘> with the much more accessible Vietnamese <ơ> and switching the values around so that <ơ> represents /ɤ~o/ and <o> represents /ɔ/ (thereby matching Vietnamese). In addition, a minor tone spelling addition could be used for Tones 4 and 8 for the non-nasals, so that (like MLT) Tone 4 could be shown as <b/d/g/q> and Tone 8 as <p/t/k/h> (<d>, in addition, would be used for English loanwords with /d/).
Thereby we'd have a POJ alphabet, for both Literary and Colloquial Taiwanese as well as for Hakka, of:
A B C CH D E F G H I J K KH L M N NG O Ơ P PH Q R S T TH U W
a b c ch d e f g h i j k kh l m n ng o ơ p ph q r s t th u w
<W/w> here is used primarily in English loanwords, as well as natively in Hakka for the labiodental approximant /ʋ/.