麻豆社

China鈥檚 President Xi Jinping says that Taiwan鈥榮 reunification with the mainland 鈥渕ust and will be fulfilled.鈥� The view from democratic Taiwan is somewhat different.

It鈥檚 a threat the islanders have been hearing ever since the 1949 Chinese Civil War, when the Government of the Republic of China was forced to relocate to Taiwan allowing the Chinese Communist Party to establish a new Chinese state: the People鈥檚 Republic of China.

But some sense that the increased rhetoric from China in recent months poses a real and present danger. Taiwanese billionaire Robert Tsao has pledged millions of pounds to train three million 鈥榗ivilian warriors鈥� in three years to defend the island should it be required. But will it come to that?

John Murphy is in Taiwan to talk to people there about what they think about the threat from China and whether they鈥檇 be prepared to fight to protect what they have.

Presenter: John Murphy
Producer: Ben Carter
Local producer and translator: Joanne Kuo
Production Coordinator: Iona Hammond
Sound Engineer: James Beard
Series Editor: Penny Murphy