Plausibility Check: Chinese Ryukyu

Is it possible for the Ryukyu Islands to end up under the occupation of the Republic of China instead of the United States after World War II? Could this evolve into more-or-less permanent Chinese control, and if so, what would become of them after the People's Republic of China takes over the mainland?
 
Not very plausible. The ROC's manpower was already stretched to the limit after being handed Taiwan, as their grip on power in mainland China was tenuous at best. Adding the Ryukyu Islands to their list of territories to police would be too much of a burden to bear.
 
Not very plausible. The ROC's manpower was already stretched to the limit after being handed Taiwan, as their grip on power in mainland China was tenuous at best. Adding the Ryukyu Islands to their list of territories to police would be too much of a burden to bear.

They used to be a Chinese vassal, so I don't see why not.
Chiang wouldn't care if it was logistically difficult if he wanted it.
In 1945, no one thought Mao would win outside of China.
 
The Ryukyu's were an integral part of Japan, one which were more culturally Japanese than Chinese and one that no one disputed were legally part of China or otherwise claimed.

Taiwan, while treated in most ways equally was at the time not an integrated polity and the Chinese not only claimed it but still disputed, even if not all the time at the highest level, Japan's annexation of it.

So basically no, China frankly was lucky to get anything all things considered.
 
FDR flat out offered Chiang the Ryukyus but Chiang turned him down. He wasn't being charitable, rather he was courting Roosevelt for support for the coming civil war. In Chiang's mind accepting the Ryukyus would send the message that he was looking for territorial compensation rather than political commitment.

So yes, the ROC could in theory have accepted the Ryukyus, the inhabitants at the time had no love lost for Japan. However the ROC probably could not hold on to it when it lost the civil war. The US will certainly want to reassert control when Taiwan itself was at risk of falling. Ryukyu could ask the US to recognize its independence while hosting American forces. Another possibility is that the ROC only takes over the western islands, while Okinawa remains under American occupation. This could lead to those islands still being part of Taiwan today since nobody thought them important at the time.
 
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