January 22nd, 2026
I think I might have a scheme for coping with the inherant complexity of the conflict between the Imperial order and the Westphalian order. What if we add an omniscient advisor to answer all questions? I’ll call this advisor Mei Lin (a play on ‘Merlin’), a Chinese woman with infinite knowledge of Chinese history and culture, as well as much about geopolitics. She is an American citizen, being the daughter of two immigrants from China. She speaks excellent Chinese and was a protege of Henry Kissinger. She has met with many Chinese political and business leaders, and understands their thinking well. The player is never required to consult Mei Lin, but she holds the knowledge to understand the situation. She will present the expository information behind the game’s dynamics. Here’s a diagram showing how the user will interact with her:
Here is how I imagine her appearing:
Why is China so determined to gain control over Taiwan?
Mei Lin looks downward and takes a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. “China has been a land power for almost all of its history, but in 1662, the Ming Dynasty was overthrown, and the last general loyal to the Mings, by the name of Koxinga, fled to the island (then called Formosa) and set up his own kingdom. Twenty years later, the new Qing dynasty, after consolidating its control over the mainland, sent an invasion force to defeat Koxinga. Having done so, they decided to annex the entire island. It remained a Chinese possession until 1895, when the Japanese defeated China in a war and gained Formosa.”
“At the end of World War II, Taiwan was given back to China by the victorious allies. But China was in the middle of a civil war between Kuomintang and the Communists under Mao Tse-tung. In 1949, the Communists defeated the Kuomintang’s forces, which fled to Taiwan. The Communists had no navy, so could not invade Taiwan.”
“The Kuomintang established a military dictatorship in Taiwan and insisted that his government was the true representative of the Chinese people; he retained China’s seat in the United Nations. This was bitterly resented by the mainland Chinese, who felt that China was obviously the mainland with hundreds of millions of citizens, not some puny island off the coast.”
“In 1971 the United Nations recognized the reality of the situation and transferred China’s UN seat to the People’s Republic of China — the Communist state. The PRC now wishes to finish the job and take control of Taiwan. However, the people of Taiwan do not wish to be under the control of the mainland and refuse to agree to unification with China.”
“China has been building its military forces to take Taiwan by force. It is estimated that China will be able to successfully invade Taiwan before 2030.”