Hainan stays with the Republic of China

Faeelin

Banned
As much as I like the idea of the nationalists holding part or all of China, given their colossal incompetence it seems, alas, unlikely.

But what about holding Hainan? It's an island that's well offshore of China, and it was one of the last areas of China to be held by the nationalists.
 

DuQuense

IIRC The island of Hainan was taken by the reds, by having their men SWIM across the Strait, and surprise the nationalist defenders. Unlike Tiawan, it is close enuff that such as this was posibble.
 

jolo

If the attack and other efforts had been repelled somehow, that would just mean some more land and population for the Republic. Maybe a little bit less ethnic tension in Taiwan.

I don't see much of an influence on the development of either China.
 

MerryPrankster

Hainan is closer to the mainland, and it is thus much easier to cross over in the face of armed opposition than with Taiwan (hence the swimming story).

If the ROC was able to hold Taiwan AND Hainan, they'd probably have to spend more on defense and there'd be more "incidents" (the Taiwanese and Chinese shelled each other across the Strait several times in the early 1950s, for example).
 

Scarecrow

MerryPrankster said:
Hainan is closer to the mainland, and it is thus much easier to cross over in the face of armed opposition than with Taiwan (hence the swimming story).

If the ROC was able to hold Taiwan AND Hainan, they'd probably have to spend more on defense and there'd be more "incidents" (the Taiwanese and Chinese shelled each other across the Strait several times in the early 1950s, for example).
Click to expand...
could Taiwan hold onto Hainan though? could they seperate into two states?

what about if the Americans used Hainan to stage bombing runs, landings in north Vietnam,etc in the Vietnam War?
 

Wendell

Faeelin said:
It's not that close to China, guys; it's about 20 miles off the coast.
Click to expand...
It's closer to mainland China than to Taiwan.

I'm wondering if the Nationalists could have held the Island had they had American personnel assisting them.
 

Admiral Matt

Well it would make the situation much more tense, I'd say. Holding more than a single island makes their claim to "be" China much more legitimate. By the same token, though, *Taiwan doesn't have as distinct an identity in this TL, which means a powerful China has a better claim to it.

I think there are some real effects from this one.
 

1978

You know, IOTL Taiwan actually holds a tiny island on the communist side of the Straights called Quemoy. If you grow up in Taiwan you get sent there during compulsory military service to sit in a bunker for a few months and look really tough.

It strikes me that they hold this island not through pure strenth, but through a general agreement at this point for the communists not to attack it.

The same could certainly happen with a ROC Hainan, if it could survive the initial consolidation of the Republic. I wonder what the effects would be on Vietnam?


.... But I KNOW that the cuisine would be FANTASTIC!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top