A few years ago, I remember reading in a book I had to cite from that before China ceded Taiwan to Japan, the British were interested in adding Taiwan to their empire. I looked up the claim myself, but couldn't find any documents supporting it. So what if the British went for Taiwan, either taking it by force during the Opium Wars or tacking it onto an unequal treaty with China? How would a British Taiwan be different today and culturally? What would this mean for Japan (I think an Anglo-Japanese Alliance is still plausible what with Russia, but fighting Germany in World War I leaves me unsure)? Would the Guomindang still retreat to Taiwan even if it meant the British were still around? Is a "Commonwealth of Formosa" possible or would Taiwan do as other realms had?
British Taiwan/Formosa
- Thread starter Montgomerie Ward
- Start date
British Formosa means more people speak English, like in OTL, except better. Culturally, there would be more Western influences than Japanese influences (How British tea with milk and HK-style milk tea affects bubble tea is intriguing for me). The AJA still happens, but without Taiwan, Japan would have to remain focused on China and Korea, and their southward expansion into the Philippines, DEI, and French Indochina probably doesnt happen. Assuming the Japanese still take the Mariana, Caroline, and Marshall Islands, Pearl Harbor or war against any Western power would be suicide due to low global projection in the Pacific.So with this considered, the Japanese probably just fight a war against China, with the US, UK, France, and USSR on China's side to defend their own interests and Germany and Italy on Japan's side to oppose the US, UK, France, and USSR. Whether or not the British are still in Formosa during the Chinese Civil War is moot. Chiang Kai-Shek could negotiate something with Churchill and FDR for the UK to return Taiwan to China and retreat there as OTL. If the British want to keep Formosa because of how conveniently close to HK, the GMD could still retreat to Taiwan and create a Formosan Parliament with Chiang as PM and Elizabeth II as the figurehead or retreat somewhere else. An interesting change would be the exchange of culture between HK and ATL's British Formosa.
Britain could have demanded Formosa instead of Hong Kong after the First Opium War. China really wasn't in a position to object....
Perhaps they would take both anyway in order to have Hong Kong as a foothold in Mainland China. Perhaps Britain's response to the Boxer Rebellion would be even swifter with forces in both Formosa and Hong Kong.
I forgot to mention that British Formosa or Independent Taiwan would probably have stronger ties to AU and NZ due to all three being under the crown at some point, but the latter two would recognize the PRC once recognition of the PRC became mainstream.