I have to say, Taiwan is a relative blindspot for me. Don't really know much about its history and the present day foreign policy implications. All I know is that I see plenty of people, both liberals and conservatives, lamenting over what China might or might not do.
Can someone please provide a brief rundown of what's happening? What's the relevant history? What's going on in the present? What exactly is their relationship with China?
It's more complicated than that. There's a section of the population that still views themselves as native Taiwanese, and the mainlanders as an invasive force, and there's also a section that sees themselves as descended from China culturally, but as a separate nationality.
It's my understanding that "we're chinese, full stop" parties are KMT affiliated, generally represent the right-wing and the rich who want to continue investing in china (much like the west), whereas the DPP affiliated parties generally represent the left and the urban and rural poor, who are more likely to be closer to the native islanders and more skeptical of China. Though I'm sure that's an over simplification.
unfortunately, the native Taiwanese people are very very much a tiny minority compared to the Chinese. they were thoroughly genocided over several centuries. the population of Taiwan is 23 million, the native population is 500,000