History repeats itself

The history of Taiwan resembles that of the United States of America. Although Christopher Columbus was the first white man to discover the New World, he was not to stay. The settlers of America were the English, but the Native Americans were the inhabitants since time immemorial. The English settlers later declared themselves an independent state, and thus the United States of America was created.

When the first settlers from mainland China arrived in Taiwan, the Takasa Minzoku in Japanese or Kaosan chu in Chinese (high mountain people) were already there. These people resembled Pacific Islanders, such as from Micronesia and Melanesia.

When the islanders landed in Taiwan is unknown. Most probably they were a seafaring nation and to escape the South China Sea's notorious typhoons they drifted to Taiwan and moved into the Alisan mountain. The rest of the historical resemblance between Taiwan and the U.S. has yet to come.

I believe that Taiwan is already an independent country. It has had its own government since it was freed from the shackles of Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II in 1945.

A. DJUANA

Jakarta