As a Taiwanese, I can testify that the LWT team did an extremely thorough research on the topic, and I feel really seen by the episode. They really nailed it. Thank you for including a segment about what Taiwanese want for ourselves, because NO ONE ever asks that - not even those right-wing nut jobs who proclaim to support Taiwan. Everyone just wants us to be a poker chip in a geopolitical game, so it really has to be said that we're real human beings with agency.
I frankly think it was about the worst, least "thorough" research on the Taiwan conflict I ever saw or read. The people living in Taiwan officially call their country "Republic of China". OFFICIALLY, that Republic of China governs not only the island of Taiwan, but all of China. OFFICIALLY China and Taiwan are both agreeing on Taiwan being one country - what they disagree about is who should rule that China. It's batshit crazy. When you publicly say "Taiwan is a country", you are saying "I agree with the ROC's claim that they should govern all of China". Which, again, is batshit crazy. The conflict in the UN back in the day was not about Taiwan and China. It was about who should sit in the UN as representative of ALL Chinese people. They went with the PRC because the PCR represents 1.5 billion of the inhabitants of that country, while the ROC only represents 23 million. No country OFFICIALLY wants Taiwan to be independent from China. Yes, there is a part of the Taiwanese population who have some common sense and want to abolish their claim on the China mainland. But they only won a major election in 2016. And they didn't run on a platform of "Taiwan independence". That woman in the interview, Tsai Ing-wen? She is the leader of that party. The moment Taiwan publicly declares they are not China, but rather an independent nation, and don't claim to be the rightful government of China anymore? That's when China is forced to treat them as separatists. Do you know what the federal US government is legally obligated to do when a US state declares independence? Military intervention. Nobody wants that. Yes, from an outside perspective, please, please let Taiwan be its own country, if they want that. Whatever. But China is not ALWAYS that big crazy supervillain that is so convenient to hate. Up until 2016, the most powerful political party in Taiwan was arguably still the KMT. The very same party that, waaaaay back then, fled to Taiwan, occupied the island, forced its inhabitants under their rule, and killed hundreds of thousands of people just for having a different political opinion. Google "Martial law in Taiwan" or "White Terror" if you are interested.
@@Grinstopher are you seriously educating Taiwanese on our own country and history?? Listen when we tell you that the video is accurate, you are wrong, and sit back down.
@Grinstopher yes suppressed and killed tens of thousands of people under his rule, as opposed to the rainbows and lollipops that Mao was offering up in the mainland at the same time. Arguably the greatest mass murder in human history, almost exclusively exterminated, starved and suppressed his own people for a flawed ideology, but yes PRC is far greater than ROC. Get a grip.
Aussie here who lived on mainland China for 10 years, and did some temporary work visiting Taiwan for a few weeks at a time 3 times during my decade in China. Unbelievable country (see what I did there), friendly people, beautiful scenery and food enough to leave you in a food coma after 2 weeks! My heart is with them right now during this crisis (though shared with Hong Kong during theirs as well). Wishing them luck as they make decisions about their future!
As a Taiwanese living in the US for 20+ years, I'd like to testify that, as usual, John Oliver has delivered another great episode of the correct information and precise analyses of the situation. LWT research team really knows what they are doing.
As a Taiwanese-American this is pretty accurate. It gets pretty surreal at times that just declaring that I am Taiwanese is an inherently political statement. I'm very grateful that LWT did an episode on this because it's important for more people to know about this issue and now I can send people this video when they ask me to explain "why I don't just call myself Chinese."
@@SerenityM54L2SAM5L5N1 Because few countries acknowledge Taiwan as a country one can hold citizenship in. Taiwanese isn't exactly an ethnicity, either. Most people in Taiwan are ethnically of Han Chinese descent. So saying "I'm Taiwanese" is claiming a country and culture that many don't view as real and valid.
@@SerenityM54L2SAM5L5N1 because sometimes just calling yourself Taiwanese can get you in trouble even violent attacks,it’s a real issue for international students as well.
As an American living in Taiwan I’ve got to say John and the writers pretty much nailed it with this one while keeping it humorous. Nobody particularly likes the current situation, but life goes on as normal. I feel far safer here than I ever did living back home in the US- friendly people, culinary heaven, and cheap and convenient social services like heath care are just a few of the many things that make this place the best I’ve ever lived.
Yeah! Although I do remember some of Mr. Oliver's crass satires, I truly am grateful his willingness to introduce Taiwan's current social-political dilemmas. Having CCP members threaten nuclear war toward Taiwan (ROC) several times a year surely is not a mindset most Americans comprehend.
As a Taiwanese American who has been living in Taiwan for 28 years, I loved this episode and am proud to say I was one of those who signed the petition asking that John Oliver discuss Taiwan on his program.
China is running low on useful threats. Japan australia Uk and soon India have had enough. China have no friends left in Asia, well ofc N korea 😏 it's time for the world to shut the CCP down.
I would love to ask you something about Taiwan. Is it easier to practice whatever religion you choose in Taiwan than the rest of China? I have Chinese American friends from Hong Kong who say that the government discourages religion - especially Christianity. Is that true? And is it better in Taiwan? I love Chinese and Taiwanese dramas so I’m interested to know more about the country in general. Thanks.
@@Godhelpus62 yes, there’s complete freedom of religion in Taiwan, since 1996 it has been a full democracy with full social freedoms. Most Taiwanese don’t consider Taiwan to be part of China these days, it’s functionally and culturally separate, but with shared cultural heritage.
@lati long well, we obviously differ in opinion on this point. There is a distinct cultural identity, and a shared cultural heritage. These do not conflict. Taiwan has a distinct identity based on decades of separation from China, more than a century if you count Japanese colonial period. That’s more than enough time for the culture to become distinct. Taiwanese might speak the same dialect as people from Fujian but few people would say modern Hoklo Taiwanese are that similar to modern Fujianese people. Isolation will do that, and it is not a fake distinction. But at the same time we clearly share our cultural roots with the rest of the Sinosphere. Also, no one pretended that Han Taiwanese were aborigines. I don’t know where you got that. What did happen is that aboriginal peoples started to be included into the definition of Taiwanese, which was not generally the case pre-democratization.
Taiwan also shares a very similar history to South Korea: Japanese occupation, communist brother, former right wing dictatorships that ended in 1987, both are little tigers powerhouse economies.
Nazi = National Socialism basically resembles to Soviet and Cuba and the left in US today. Right wings are not dictators, they ended slavery in US remember that. Whatever we're seeing today with censorships and freezing accounts they come from leftists.
@@jamesfranko1568 ⋯dude, right wing and left wing’s definition change from country to country, because the definition of conservatism changes from country to country. As a Taiwanese, I can assure you it was a right wing dictatorship. Right wing does not always equal Republican.
@@floralee1645 Nobody said right wing is Republican but right wing is conservative that doesn't change anywhere and there are far more left wing dictators.
I’m Taiwanese, I couldn’t stop laughing throughout the video, and was actually in tears when he said TAIWAN deserves the right to decide about our own future. That’s just so true but I felt not many recognized ! Really enjoyed this 22 min of show, thank you for the hard work!
I agree with you but it sounds as though the citizens haven't yet made up their mind and that will hurt them later because Xi will not suddenly decide he's lost interest. We see what's happening now in Hong Kong, slowly but surely their influence there grows and eventually the will of the people will not matter.
I’m Taiwanese, Taiwan is difference form China. Taiwan is a democratic country, but China isn’t. Wish China stop invasion and stop fucking up the world.
I come from one of the countries that recognize Taiwan: Guatemala 😊 The Taiwanese government is always helping my country and has many scholarship programs for us Guatemalans!
As a Honduran, one of the few countries that has forgone relations with mainland China to retain them with Taiwan, I have to say that the Taiwanese have been the closest thing to an actual friend that a country can have. They have been there in times of need and have never conditioned their help or support to their own petty interests. Nor have they tried to dictate our internal politics. For a small country like Honduras which has always been used as a poker chip by great powers that is unusual and refreshing. Mad respect for them, and sincere hopes that their experiment can go on for as long as they want.
As a visitor who visited Taiwan 9 times, i can say Taiwan is the most welcoming country and i miss it very much. I hope to visit Taiwan immediately once Covid is over.
I went to university in Taipei for 2 years - coming from Germany. Never have I felt more welcome in another country. The people, the culture, the food, the beautiful islands… you’ll always have a special place in my heart!
I worked in Taiwan briefly a few years back, and I have to say that it’s one of the greatest places I’ve ever been to. I’ve never felt so welcome and at peace anywhere else I’ve visited. Everyone I met was open and friendly, the food was phenomenal, and the natural beauty of the place is simply unparalleled. In my opinion, these people and their way of life should be supported and protected by everyone, and we should stop making John Cena apologize for calling it what it is: a country.
Same here. I lived there for 2 years studying mandarin and it's the most welcoming place in have lived in despite visible differences with the host community. Was sad to leave. Miss the night markets and the mom and pop small eateries all over the country. I never cooked a meal . The food reminded me of home as they grow every fruit or root you find in the tropics of Africa. The MRT is clean and easy to figure out. I could go on.... love Taiwan. Been back on holiday once and cant wait for post covid travel normality to return.
@@miracle1221kimo Maybe not China because that's a lot of people I wouldn't want to see suffer but I would *LOVE* to make Xi Jing Ping *EXCEEDINGLY* unhappy for the rest of his miserable life.
@@idigamstudios7463 I lived in Taiwan for nearly 3 years. Everything you said is right. Beautiful country, beautiful people, the nicest place on earth. If China every trys anything the rest of the world better step up. Although it starts with us, avoid made in china products as much as possible. The only reason they are such a "threat" and have so many people in their grasps is because we rely on them or too much of our production. some times its impossible, but most of the time you can find alternatives. TAIWAN #1!
As a Taiwanese, I am very interested in adding Chinese (traditional) captions for this video, in want to share the amusing and informative efforts of yours to my fellows. Looking forward to your consent, and thank you, for presenting my beautiful country to the viewers worldwide.
Girl! Can't believe I find you in this random comment section! And thank you for bringing me the tea from Taiwan =) Hope you're well, we need to grab dinner again soon.
As a Canadian who's been living here in Taiwan for 15 years, I hope Taiwan doesn't fade quickly from the public eye, and I encourage everyone who can to visit this beautiful, vibrant, wonderful island when they can. I've fallen completely in love with this place, and it deserves to be protected from outside aggression, just as all people do, everywhere.
If Taiwan province wants to be an independent country recognized by the UN, US and most countries, it should declare independence and win the ongoing civil war with the mainland. I guess both John and you guys pretend to be not knowing America Civil War?
I lived there for 2 years studying mandarin and it's the most welcoming place in have lived in despite visible differences with the host community. Was sad to leave. Miss the night markets and the mom and pop small eateries all over the country. I never cooked a meal . The food reminded me of home as they grow every fruit or root you find in the tropics of Africa. The MRT is clean and easy to figure out. I could go on.... love Taiwan. Been back on holiday once and cant wait for post covid travel normality to return.
thank you, from a taiwanese girl, i appreciate every person who stands with us or supports us. because it’s really difficult being taiwanese, always dealing with such a threat.
As an American who has been living in Taiwan for 30 years so far, I think John's assessment of the situation is spot-on. People here just want to make the best of their situation and maintain the status quo. It's not anybody's first choice, but it's one we can all live with.
The sad truth is that the Taiwanese cannot decide about their own future. If they don't have strong military allies who threaten to defend Taiwan with force, then China has already sealed their fate. They must become a part of China.
Yeah it's easy to talk a big game about standing up for a cause you believe in, but frankly, in a shooting war (or even an economic war or cyber war), it's hard to dispute that Taiwan is toast. It's better, and more sensible, to do what's required to stay alive.
@@badgerlife9541 but you should also know this powerful military alliance Taiwan seeks also doesn’t gives a flying shit about Taiwan or the well being of Taiwan. All they want is to use Taiwan as a tool to contain China. So if a war benefit this military alliance, it will surely provoke a war between China and Taiwan. You can see this clearly from US. Unfortunately I don’t see any way out for Taiwan, unless maybe Alien invasion or some crazy bit shit stuff similar to that happened.
@@badgerlife9541 TSMC alone could bring the global economy to a halt. And the country is known for high end manufacturing. The global economy is deeply dependent on Taiwan and that is why so many countries take the stand of ambiguity instead of hanging them out to dry like Tibet or the Philippines and other countries within the nine dash line. And three days ago the US pledged military support in defending Taiwan from invasion.
I've been living in Taiwan for a couple years now and I'm Honduran (one of the few countries that still do have political relationships with Taiwan) and I have so much respect for John Oliver for covering them in a video like this! Now if someone asks me "so what's the deal with Taiwan and China anyway", I'll just refer them to this!
My kid and I recently moved back to the US after living 11 years in Taiwan. We are so grateful to our friends from this beautiful country for everything they have done, so their safety and democracy are extremely important to us. Not wanting to start WW3 or a new Cold War, but a global response allowing Taiwan's participation in global organizations, (and not catering to Beijing) is what's been needed for years. Much appreciation to John Oliver for this excellent show/episode.
Unfortunately, China will be starting WW3 very soon, its why they are trying to reconnect to Taiwan now. Its a strategic move to build bases there with anti missles regiments. They just flew a missles around the world without telling anyone to test, and have been building man made bases off their coasts for years now. They are the economic powerhouse of the world. Americans cant even stop fighting over vaccines...they are very smart for shutting themselves off from the world and living in a bubble. Perfect way for their citizens to not worry about people like celebreities out of control or crazy nonsense like anti vax...Chinese military will be walking our streets within a decade. Also doesnt help that white americans and republicans have been so hateful and violent to others for literally decades...Bad PR for an entire nation
@@anthonyzullo Yes because our Democrat leaders have been angels that have only done great things for us. If only the "anti-vaxxers" and Republicans would disappear, the United States would be a beacon of greatness :|
@@vrASMR180 every politician in America sucks. Xi Jinping would b hailed as the greatest american in US history but unfortunately he's chinese so US politicians and media drum up nonsense about him
John and “Last Week Tonight,” you do an exceptional job of educating and informing your audience, and in a way that is funny, pointed, and direct. Your combination of humor, storytelling, and education, is masterful. Keep it up! You’re simply amazing.
I've lived in Taiwan for a few years now, and I can hand on heart say this is excellent. Like a TED talk, but much funnier. Any university course about Taiwan and its history should start with this video.
I tried taking a Coursera history course on Chinese history and the Chinese students make it absolutely impossible. They didn't have the slightest interest in Chinese history! All they cared about was ensuring what was presented conformed to what their government approved. How the F does their own government figure out what history to approve anyways if they can't even study it? And it was "Ancient Chinese History" lol.
I had a friend in college that was from Taiwan. Often, people would call him Chinese, in jest or by mistake. He absolutely hated that. he was pretty chill, completely zen about anything else, but *that* always got him upset. After mentioning it once, I already started respecting his wishes, but only years later I fully understood. This kind of coverage is really important, on the micro and macro sides.
I just wouldn't guess an Asian person's ethnicity openly(Or anyone's, lesson learned the dumb way). It's not my business unless they tell me, for one. For another, there's multiple histories of invasions/war crimes among many Asian peoples... so if I get it wrong, I can REALLY tick someone off.😬 "Those people ki lled my great grandparents, you idiot!" Yeah...🤦 Not going to be doing that. Nope.
@@grmpEqweer but don’t the Taiwanese people speak Chinese language? I understand how Westerners have the confusion. But I also support Taiwan all the way❗️
He's ethnically Chinese, but doesn't have PRC citizenship. I think Taiwanese the ethnicity should be only for those with indigenous background, but he is by citizenship also Chinese just ROC Chinese... sigh it's complicated XD There are so many Overseas Chinese outside of Mainland China, Macao, HK and Taiwan, and they are also Chinese (ethnically) despite not having citizenship to those 4 countries.
@@fern7306 I think the main line of concern Taiwanese people have is that the word China/Chinese has become universally synonymous with the PRC government. Most Taiwanese people with the exception of the indigenous would acknowledge their Chinese ethnicity and cultural background, but wouldn’t identify themselves as Chinese so as to deny connection to the Communist government in China, and instead call themselves Taiwanese to maintain their connection to their local democratic government housed by “The Republic of China”. But since barely anyone, including themselves, recognizes them as the true China anymore, Taiwan it is.
Just in case yo wanna see another quite big Social media guy refer to Taiwan as a country: ua-cam.com/video/Fsfbx-9xdNI/v-deo.html (Davie504, italian bass-player living in Taiwan)
Coming here after the Ukraine invasion by Russia, this definitely hits differently. As a HKer who grieves for my birthplace, I hope that Taiwan will stay safe from China and that Taiwan will get their freedom from constant threat of invasion from China over their sovereignty. Never let bullies win. And acknowledge the great work Taiwan has put in to progress from their past regarding Chiang and other countries that have colonised the country.
My friend -- I'm a granddaughter of the Chinese diaspora who went to Taiwan. I'd love to remind you that the only colonialists are the West and China has acted with nothing than the utmost restraint. It's the wealthy who were kicked out of China who committed the atrocities in Taiwan, friend. Don't be confused. We are family having a dispute. Do not invite Westerners to take advantage of disunity.
@@FayeKu so 國姓爺 wasn't a colonialist? Taiwan was only fully part of China as an occupied territory after WWII from 1945 to 1949. Your family came here and are welcome. But we aren't Chinese because we have never been Chinese, we have only been occupied and colonized by the Chinese. Have some humanity, let go of your ethno-nationalism, and fully support those of us who live in Taiwan to decide our own fate.
@@PhonyMcC I would fully support you IF you actually could be independent. But your real geopolitical choices are, be part of China or be USA's little brother, the first one to get destroyed in any conflict between the two big guys. Be smart, and realize your anger is understandable against those who have already overrun the island, but you share one fate now. Don't be Ukraine, tricked into an unwinnable war.
I've been to Taiwan many times and absolutely love its culture, people, and attitude. This breakdown captures that in such a wonderful way. If we had half the resolve as these people, we would be far better for it. Much respect and love to them.
It would be hilarious if it weren't so terrifying. The fear in that man's eyes and the lengths that he goes in order to avoid the question show just how far China's stranglehold on opposing viewpoints goes
It is indeed very horrible. Taiwan wasn't recognized by the who when the pandemic began and thus didn't get any of the necessary information needed to prepare itself. And just a few months ago China stopped them from buying vaccines from Germany by arguing a state owned company had the rights to sell the vaccine all over China. In the end a private company in Taiwan had to buy the vaccines from the state owned company in China. That of course cost lot of time and money.
I can't believe John Oliver finally addressed it more than a year after it happened, when Taiwan has been facing immense pressure from communist China this entire time. Establishment hypocrisy at its finest.
People love shitting on who for this one but the biggest country that recognizes Taiwan is Guatemala out of a list of ~15. Complain to your own government.
I appreciate John ending the segment by basically saying "Taiwan isn't our country, let's let the people who actually live there and would be most affected make the decisions concerning it."
Uhu, and they've made that decision. The decision they've made is that Taiwan is a part of China. The end. You people act as if that was in question when it's not. When you say "let Taiwan make up its mind" you're implying that the people of Taiwan didn't already do exactly that, which is false.
And the people have decided. Nobody in Taiwan wants to be ruled by the CCP. 99% of Taiwanese want to be fully recognized like every other UN nation. We just don’t want to have to risk a Chinese invasion to do it, that’s not too much to ask.
@@nzrock1 This video right here, bud. By John's own statement, 95% of the Taiwanese people consider Taiwan to be a part of China and don't want independence.
@@Arrakiz666 You're misrepresenting it. Using the same information you could also say that 98.5% don't want Unification. The important part is that 87% don't want to rush into things because the current situation kind of works for them, and that situation is decidedly not unification
Blows my mind about Chthonic, remember listening to them in high school and not understanding why their albums were in so many different languages. Makes more sense now but I *never* saw that coming
To Mr. Oliver, It’s highly appreciated to share the show for Taiwan. and really touching for Taiwan people. Taiwan is not alone from now on, and become one of globe family.
You must be really frustrated. But the truth is if you cannot make it happen on your own, then nobody is going to give it to you. Begging the attention of the international community is not gonna work, otherwise they would have recognize you as a country already They have half century to do that but we only see the number of countries recognize Taiwan diplomatically dwindle over the time. I would say take your chance, go ahead and declare your independence as a country. Who knows, maybe it will work.
I'm a Canadian living in Taiwan.. people think Canadians are nice but we look like assholes when compared to Taiwanese. They are the most friendly, welcoming, and warm people I've ever met. Such a beautiful, safe, and peaceful country. Love you Taiwan!
The most perplexing thing is that Taiwan wants to keep this status quo going. But hey, if that is their wish, I guess let it be. I just hope Taiwan lets others know they actually want to keep things ambiguous in a more clear way, weirdly enough ^^
@@elektrotehnik94 It's perplexing until you see their alternatives. Going for annexation could cause a civil war and lose much of the democratic liberties try enjoy, while going for a formal declaration of independence would cause at least an invasion, if not a conflict with the intervention of the US. Neither option is desirable for the Taiwanese people
Breaking news: US sends warplanes into California. Will US be at war with California by the end of 2021? If WW3 breaks out, it will be on US soil this time. This is how absurd the US position is doesn't practise the freedom, democracy and free trade it preaches.
It’s actually very difficult a lot of times for a Taiwanese to explain this bizarre situation we have been dealing for decades. But seeing John and his teams produced this well-explained, logical, yet hilarious video, I was amazed. We really need more supports from the world t0 solve this unsolvable dilemma.
how is this well-explained? The people living in Taiwan officially call their country "Republic of China". OFFICIALLY, that Republic of China governs not only the island of Taiwan, but all of China. OFFICIALLY China and Taiwan are both agreeing on Taiwan being one country - what they disagree about is who should rule that China. It's batshit crazy. When you publicly say "Taiwan is a country", you are saying "I agree with the ROC's claim that they should govern all of China". Which, again, is batshit crazy. The conflict in the UN back in the day was not about Taiwan and China. It was about who should sit in the UN as representative of ALL Chinese people. They went with the PRC because the PCR represents 1.5 billion of the inhabitants of that country, while the ROC only represents 23 million. No country OFFICIALLY wants Taiwan to be independent from China. Yes, there is a part of the Taiwanese population who have some common sense and want to abolish their claim on the China mainland. But they only won a major election in 2016. And they didn't run on a platform of "Taiwan independence". That woman in the interview, Tsai Ing-wen? She is the leader of that party. The moment Taiwan publicly declares they are not China, but rather an independent nation, and don't claim to be the rightful government of China anymore? That's when China is forced to treat them as separatists. Do you know what the federal US government is legally obligated to do when a US state declares independence? Military intervention. Nobody wants that. Yes, from an outside perspective, please, please let Taiwan be its own country, if they want that. Whatever. But China is not ALWAYS that big crazy supervillain that is so convenient to hate. Up until 2016, the most powerful political party in Taiwan was arguably still the KMT. The very same party that, waaaaay back then, fled to Taiwan, occupied the island, forced its inhabitants under their rule, and killed hundreds of thousands of people just for having a different political opinion. Google "Martial law in Taiwan" or "White Terror" if you are interested.
I'm praying the beautiful Taiwanese People be respected and get the results THEY want and when THEY want it. The rest of us just need to support them and not make their situation worse with our usual Western idiocy. 💯
@@Grinstopher The notion of Taiwan ever ruling mainland China is as fictitious as the non-recognition of what effectively is already a separate country.
As an American who’s been living in Taiwan for over 12 years, I have to say that finally having Last Week Tonight talk about the climate here truly is reaffirming. Thank you so much.
Lived in Taiwan for 3 years. It's a nice enough place, but it's going nowhere fast and has the most gerontocratic government I've ever seen, coupled with an insular population and a frozen economy. There's a reason Taiwanese youth call the place "鬼岛" and are leaving Taiwan in droves. Don't believe the overly-rosey picture that a small number of white foreigners (who are treated with far more reverence as "international guests" than non-white foreigners) try to paint.
@@henriashurst-pitkanen8735 China will have the same problems soon. As the population ages out, the workforce must be replaced with immigrants, but in general Han Chinese culture is too xenophobic for that. So Taiwan has stagnated recently, Japan has too for over 20 years, and China will suffer the most. At least Japan and Taiwan were fully developed before the demographic crunch.
It truly means a lot when Taiwan can be seen by the world. Really appreciate John Oliver and his team's effort to make this episode talking about my country. Love it!
I live there. I have worked in 30 or more countries around the world. Taiwanese people are the friendliest, warmest, most generous and lovely people ever. It also has preserved some of the richest culture from human history from destruction. Amazing, magical place.
I am from South Korea, and this video reminded of an incident that happened in early 2016. There is a Taiwanese singer based in South Korea and her name is Tzuyu. In a Korean TV program in November 2015, each singer held her national flag -- the Japanese singer holding a Japanese flag, a Korean a Korean flag, etc. Tzuyu held a Taiwanese flag, and was later accused of being a Taiwanese independence activist by Taiwanese-born, China-based singer Huang An. Consequently, Tzuyu later filmed an apology video. There was much controversy about the whole issue at the time. The Center for Multicultural Korea (CMCK) criticized Tzuyu's agency for forcing the young girl to issue an apology against her beliefs to assuage the Chinese public, and asked the National Human Rights Commission of Korea to investigate whether the apology was forced or not. I remember the whole thing was a huge mess, just over a Taiwanese girl waving a Taiwanese flag on a TV show.
Yes it was a huge news story in Taiwan at that time and many were raging. It is worth noting though that the apology likely came from her because she’ll be making a lot of money from China - it was an act not dissimilar to John Cena’s sniveling apology and basically boils down to money: she could’ve taken a stand but, as most pop stars in//from Taiwan make their money in China, they choose to apologies to preserve their image and money making capabilities.
"I miss the days when learning about the world was as easy as listening to a British man on amphetamines telling us who was good and who was bad" says British man on amphetamines teaching everyone who is good and who is bad. 😂
Taiwanese people are the best. I almost got stranded after leaving my bag (with my passport, money, cards and even a train station locker key where all my belongings were)....While I was searching for my bag, I had many people help me and when I made my way to where I had left my bag, it was untouched! I know thieves exist everywhere, but I truly believe the Taiwanese are a special class of people. Your country is beautiful and may God take care of you and keep you safe. Thank you for helping to take care of ME when I needed it most.
I'm living in Taiwan, and yes! In the past few years, I've had a few scares, thinking that I had lost my laptop or passport, and sure enough, it wasn't stolen.
Here in Paraguay, we've had 64 years of diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and while economic incentives to side with China have been big, we stand strong with our Taiwanese friends! In the country where World Friendship Day was born, the friendship and allyship between our countries continues.
It's such an irony that almost every Taiwanese in the commet section is saying thank you to John Oliver, but no one really understands the message he tried to convey to the Taiwanese people. He is telling the Taiwanese people to CHOOSE A SIDE. It's either independence or unification. No other people can help us make the decision. Not only that, every ballot that the Taiwanese people cast during elections is making a statement to the world.
@@JerryTsaiTCL I disagree. I think it’s just information to let ppl know the situation. It would be very ignorant for a non-Taiwanese person to tell them to “chose a side”. It’s more complicated than that as John explained.
@@JerryTsaiTCL fellow Taiwanese here. The status quo IS a side. But if China decides it doesn’t want the status quo anymore, that would be the quickest way to convince Taiwanese to vote for an independence referendum.
John Oliver don’t talk sh*t or f*ck around with the regular BS most companies (must) do! He’s uniquely positioned to be the only accurate news source explaining their tenuous situation. Mainstream media sure as hell will never talk about it; they just worry about ratings and NEVER offending their corporate overlords that depend on Chinese manufacturing and goods, so they’ll never criticize China in the least bit and won’t allow any western politicians to do so either! They can’t even stand up for Americans getting screwed by 2 single democrats with republicans agendas, or even describe actual *policies* in the $3.5T reconciliation bill that would be lost if Manchin and Sinema have their way, because they’re massive corporations that don’t want ANY taxes as well (MASSIVE CONFLICT OF INTEREST dimming the bill)
@@davidgreen3719 Funny how you say that when what he's doing is bending the knee to the official position of the US. "Not taking shit from anyone" does not only refer to China and the rest of the sane world, you know.
@@eugenedebbs2189 Counter Argument: No, they're not one country. The ethnic makeup of their citizenry doesn't make them one country, nor does the UN's cowardice and inability to tell the Communist Regime of China to fuck off. Taiwanese people DON'T want to be Chinese, so they aren't. They have their own functioning government, and make their own laws. China can pretend all it wants that it still holds power in Taiwan, and they can force the rest of the UN to play along all they want, but the Taiwanese people have the right to their own self-determination.
As an Indian living in Japan, I had the chance to vacation twice in taiwan. The people were so amazing, friendly and welcoming. Random elderly uncles in the park would say "thank you for coming to our country." I wish Taiwan the best for its future and I hope one day the world will recognize it as an independent nation. I want to return and visit again!
@@kah4611 nope if anything there's to see that is how illegally PoK and LoC is operating and if you have anything to counter I dont care because these two nations have illegally occupied the land given to India
I wish Taiwan would be the legitimate government of China so obviously the Chinese population wouldn't be so negatively view by the world. It's all about a functioning society that actually educates their masses.
@@aishwariyasweety2433 ruling far right party encouraging renewable energy 🙄 dont be engulfed by western ideologies which has zero applicability in Indian politics. And our current government is better than the 60 year rule of INC when Nehru didn't even want to have an army but I wish the current government did more for Kashmir
I gota understand that the Americans or all other western countries would not care at all even they have known the problems. and,,,, they had known it before you were born...
@@SIULAP lol who do you thing funds the CCP & the concentration camps?? USA…. the CCP said they’d take out the USA even before nixon came to power… it’s the corporations in the western world… not capitalism but the corporatocracy we live in
@@LouisTsuiful Taiwan knows and agrees. But you see, Guomindang says they are the real China. Pretty sure Chiang Kai Sheik would agree that Taiwan is part of Mainland, but only when real China can return to the mainland can they be reunified :D
As a Taiwanese Im so glad John brought this topic to light, in his way. It brings attention to the issue to a whole new audience. Cant wait to see Taiwanese athletes march under their flag in the Olympics someday
couple questions, is taiwan dependant on china economically or industrially even tourism? you know what one-china policy is. independance is a nice word but is it real? to bite the hands that feed you. What do you think will happen if these western ideologies make for taiwan to be actually dependant on own economy and government? is this what you want? do you think america will help taiwan?
Most American Southerners during the American Civil War considered themselves independent. That didn't stop Lincoln from sending in the Union Army to crush the Confederates and bring them back to the Union to stop the Confederate seccession. Taiwan and China are ONE country. Taiwan is not an independent country.
More Americans and non-Taiwanese people need to watch this. This video is seriously the best way to explain this situation and avoids typical hysterics.
@@quinnnosbod3673 Taiwan is NOT part of china. It's sad that you arrogantly think you own them. They are not your slaves. Imagine if someone was trying to falsely claim China, bet you wouldn't be too happy.
To be honest, As a Chinese person living *outside* of china, this is hard to watch knowing my fucking home country is basically a dictatorship, but still, it is nice to know about what's happening to Taiwan and the rest of the world. Thanks HBO.
@Bushy As someone with Chinese family members, this is false. Some Chinese people represent literally the worst of the stereotypes. Especially true for Chinese people from certain provinces.
Lithuania have diplomatic relations with Taiwan and we’re supporting them towards their independence and acknowledging them as a country as Iceland did for us ❤️
top gun maverick decided to keep the taiwan's flag in the jacket and gave up china's box office to avoid the censorship, and the worldwide box office still hit 1.35 billion, showing that a masterpiece doesnt need to bend over for china
As a Taiwanese, I must admit how much fun I had watching John's brilliant depiction of our complex situation both foreign and domestic. But I agree with John on his final remark, TAIWAN deserves the right to make our own decisions for the future. Thank you John and the team of LAST WEEK TONIGHT.
As an adult, you should also realize that Taiwan is merely a small chess piece on the international game table. The only thing you might be able to decide is which sucker can f**k you up for 4 years. Other than that, you can decide nothing, the only real deal on this table are PRC and USA.
As Taiwanese who is currently residing in Taiwan and watch this show regularly via UA-cam, this is awesome to see they actually made a topic on Taiwan. Thank you so much!
As an American I love BOTH Taiwan and the Philippines .. It's unfortunate that America pulled our Military out of the Philippines and allowed Communist Beijing to gain control over the Spratlys and Paracels and South China Sea and now Philippine's Power Grid - we should have kept our Naval and Air Forces on station in the Philippines in the 1990s instead of leaving .. and it's a shame that we allowed the Communists to steal control over mainland China after WW2 .. Nixon should have never recognized the Communist Party as the "government of China" - we made a huge mistake in 1945 .. we made a huge mistake in 1971 .. and we made a huge mistake in 1992 ..
China will only get respect only when china will be librated from this idiotic jinping and its one dictator party.. Thats why these party members dont roam outsude china. They know they will be slapped in ass.
You really did a good job talking about the issue”Taiwan”, your show is even better than most news document which about Taiwan issue. Very much thank you for showing our difficult situation to your audience.Love from Taiwan ❤️
@@coudgeb I totally understand what you said cause our biggest Opposition party also puts money over Taiwan’s national interest. Very much thank you for your support. The USA is a powerful ally to Taiwan.
Probably not in the near future. China now has seen the consequence of starting a war, and considering starting a war would have a much bigger impact on world's economy, I highly doubt they will.
If the republicans win big in the next couple elections, it will go very badly for Taiwan I expect, China is merely looking for a US that will lead the way in turning the other cheek when someone else is punched, a very noble act obviously, and a profitable one for those leading the turning. Note how eager the republicans are to be milquetoast about fighting russia, if not actively supporting it, it's super weird to see Americans actively supporting russia invading an Eastern European pseudo ally of the US. The trump admin made clear that the republicans did not consider Ukraine a 'worthy' country, and were eager to throw them under the russian bus, which again feels deeply weird when you remember that most of these republicans also publicly hate communism/the soviet union, yet love putin, who longs to restore the ussr. This is what happens when you let fascists take control of a political party!
The sad truth is that the Taiwanese cannot decide about their own future. If they don't have strong military allies who threaten to defend Taiwan with force, then China has already sealed their fate. They must become a part of China.
All the people in Taiwan , their ancestral Homeland is mainland , that is a big deal , you don't disrespect your ancestors for money or voting , two things few people's ancestors had
It's amazing that you can consolidate Taiwan history and the status quo in twenty minutes. The show is not only quite amusing. I can't stop laughing. But it's also very informative. As a Taiwanese, I am very grateful that people of the world can get to know Taiwan through this program. I believe all the Taiwanese would appreciate what you have done.
Very surprising that Oliver is pro-Taiwan when most of the time he shills for Beijing created propaganda designed to undermine the West, i.e. woke crap. Shows how confused and/or dumb he really is.
If Taiwan province wants to be an independent country recognized by the UN, US and most countries, it should declare independence and win the ongoing civil war with the mainland. I guess both John and you guys pretend to be not knowing America Civil War?
@@pw8332 You're joking right? You do know that the American civil war was fought before our government had an insanely large military and modern weapons? And the South still lost and a huge number of people died. All out war definitely wouldn't be an option in this circumstance. Those are real human beings with families and friends who die in wars, not just statistics.
The north (Yankees) successfully prevented the south (of US) from seceding by the bloodshed of the civil war. Also I am pretty sure a very good portion of Scotland and Irish population want to secede from the UK. LWT arguing Taiwan province should gain its independence is like someone in the glass house throwing stones. I would say if Taiwan province wants its independence, go ahead declare that and see what happens. This would be a “Make my day” moment for me.
A footnote: the reporter cornering the WHO official, Yvonne Tong, had resigned from her former employer, RTHK, back in April this year. Whether that is because of pressure from someone I’ll leave it for you to decide.
Let us all listen: to the people in power, every value, every principle has a price & people in power have no mercy towards people that disagree with the price they put on a given value. I see now why people in power keep this system of ambiguity towards Taiwan & maybe it is for the greater good for it to remain so, I'm not talking about that. I'm doing my best to just explain the reality of the world as it is now, I believe in you all to make you own mind up & think about what to do with this going forward.
She was unprofessional at best... WHO guy is NOT the person who should decide or give his opinion about this subject. US president has no balls to recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, why should some official risk his job to do so?? She was persistently cornering guy to say something that would most definitely harm his career just for her to have cool news, now he was fighting it back like a 5 years old, but still she was unprofessional.
@@armija The WHO official could have simply said he can't discuss it because of "political sensitivity" rather than that horrible excuse of pretending to lose connection.
@@armija sure, the reporter asking the question is unprofessional. not the guy claiming he didn't hear the question and fake disconnected. makes sense.If you get 50 Cent for that nonsense... XD
The translator of the Popeye comic, Bo Yang, was an accomplished writer in his own right. His collection of short stories "A Farewell" is a really good introduction to Taiwanese society during martial law.
If you ask me the Popeye comics was just an excuse. Most autocratic governments don’t like brilliant minds and constantly look for an excuse to stifle them.
As a Taiwanese and a person who grew up in China. John Oliver and his team has provided a pretty accurate picture of whats happening. Usually America and European media has a high level of bias and are inaccurate in a lot of accounts. This is not the case, surprisingly. Props
I’d actually love if German politicians would have a brawl here and there. That would give them an incentive to finally get younger people into the Bundestag
As an American living in Taiwan for over 20 years, thank you for explaining our situation in a unique way. To be honest, we hear the China warnings all the time. For us, it is normal and we do continue to live our lives. Under the UN definition of a nation, Taiwan is one.
The passport question is an interesting facet I hadn't considered. So Taiwanese passports are considered legitimate even though the country itself is not by many governments?
One thing that John should've explained more is that the main reason people wanted the status quo is because here we don't want an actual war to break out.
This is why I love John Oliver and his crew. Always shining a light a topics people don't know about or may not want to think about.. Next question please 😉
@@arthurzhao8476 you should try hating the government and ruling class of the country you live in instead of licking boots all day. We Americans live for that shit.
@@elise3455 Yup, the standard tactic of fascists on the internet. Just throw it out, no matter how silly it sounds, as long as you can sow the seed of doubt.
The must-see for today...John Oliver does Taiwan! “people who aren’t Taiwanese making decisions for Taiwan is a bit fucking played out, historically.” 💯💯💯 Taiwan is a democratic society deserving the right to decide its own future. Glad to hear that :)
The north (Yankees) successfully prevented the south (of US) from seceding by the bloodshed of the civil war. Also I am pretty sure a very good portion of Scotland and Irish population want to secede from the UK. LWT arguing Taiwan province should gain its independence are like someone in the glass house throwing stones.
Tucker Carlson, as well as others on Fox, have been discussing this for years... Even Trump talked about it. But if you've got TDS, or maybe think that all Republicans are white supremacists, I can see why you might have missed this.
I was certain that Freddy Lim will be mentioned at some point. A death metal singer being a chair of a political party and having his former model wife be his bassist and an employee is too interesting of a fact for this show to miss. John, you truly have the best researchers in the world. Fantastic job!
@@andrestoro6126 Which just means the US doesn’t officially recognize Taiwan as an independent state, as was mentioned, right? It doesn’t mean the US accepts Taiwan belongs to China, at least that’s my impression.
Obviously the vid failed to mention how Freddy fucking Lim avoided military duties at every turn. What most people are missing is that talking tough on China can get you a successful career in Taiwanese politics but none of those buffoons who talk the talk are willing to walk the walk after they’ve gain the power to do so. They are just phony politicians enriching themselves by taking advantage of the whole China-Taiwan situation.
@@cokechang China has always respected people who walk the talk. Fought, but respected. Looks like nobody has the desire to fight with the dragon in the room. Neither the Eagle, nor the Bear.
As a Taiwanese, I would like to say thank you for covering the story about Taiwan. For facing the possible war ahead. It is just like earthquakes in Taiwan. If it’s a small earthquake,you don’t need to run. If it’s a big earthquake over 8.0, you cannot out ran it. We could only always be ready and prepare for it’s happening.
What a great attitude. More people aware of the Taiwan situation and support your country, less chance China will invade. We all need to do our part. Was planning to visit Taiwan 5 years ago, but had family emergency. Hope the Pandemic pass soon, so I can visit your beautiful country.
So thankful to John Oliver for spreading light on this! As a Taiwanese American, one small but important note: a majority of the 80% that want to maintain status quo only do so out of fear of harm to their livelihoods and safety. In actuality most of these 80% would be independent of the repercussions could be managed.
I don't think that holds water, it's their own government they fear in their own country, it's their countrymen who have been slaughtering millions of people who want to unify with the mainland for decades. Their fear is clearly talking about reunification for fear that their government will kill them like they have done so many times in the past
@UCk4l6RzfWJf8zpT-tvB9AtA Funny because we still have our own elected government, military, and a passport that can travel visa free to more countries than the Chinese one. It's true that most countries aren't allowed to officially admit our status because of China but that doesn't change the fact that the Chinese government has no control over Taiwanese citizens. Maybe actually watch the video before writing something so ignorant.
@@dannyfergusson3243 The deaths you talk of happened a long time ago. I have lived in Taiwan for almost 14 years now. Married to a Taiwanese woman, have had a kid, bought a house, etc. No one that I have ever talked to is afraid of being targeted and killed by the Taiwanese government here for expressing their opinion. They do, however, fear the Chinese government, namely, if a person said something, then China retook Taiwan, they know it would play out similarly to Hong Kong.
I really appreciate the focus on what the Taiwanese people want. That's so often utterly absent from these conversations and that's just as baffling as the ambiguity, isn't it?
well, in the end, this is about money and control. It's nice to show, but it's mostly about what China wants, culturally, historically. Imagine the democrats and republicans going to war. Democrats nearly win, but then, after some gddamn miracle, republicans win and democrat leadership flees to hawaii - where they create a succesful economy and do stuff to thwart the ones that pushed them away - in public. People tend to be very nostalgic... And brutal. I'm Dutch, we still look back - with modest pride - on New York being new Amsterdam (a lot of us... definitely not all). On being successfull pirates who (like the British) had a technological advantage for a while. English people have a similar warped view on history. To us it's a history about wealth, for other nations it was a tad different... Similar to China and Taiwan now. The point is that the people always suffer, that's not baffling, but it is just sad. What they want literally isn't important in these conflicts - the only thing relevant is whether they are willing to die for it - just to make the toll of control be as high as possible... Same goes for Tibet. You will have to suffer, like Vietnam, Ukraine, etc. had to suffer. Because one man wants power and to make history. History tends to be about what they want and mostly, do.Everything is is sort of trivial - nice to know, but of little impact on the problem in question. It's also good to create (to an extent selective) empathy with other people... I suppose that worked well, just remember there are a lot more conflicts and dubious leadership (also coming from the US). I just hope Taiwan has enough mines and anti air defense... I suppose the only defense is to make like a hedgehog... And still, when the nextdoor neighbor becomes very hungry, he will act a bit more irrational and just mess up his face with them spikes. He'll survive... Albeit a bit uglier.
@@corbeau-_- The point isn't that what they want automatically impacts what happens, it's that the only way for them to defend themselves politically or practically should China come a'knocking more insistently and aggressively is through support from other countries globally, and in order to know whether it is worth the potential strife that could cause, we need to know if they'd even want us to. And if they do, to what extent? I very much doubt they want to be in Ukraine's shoes right now, but I don't know, I'm not Taiwanese, and that's the point. The same goes for the Chinese government and people needing to know; are they likely to completely change their minds because Taiwan says so? No. Obviously not. Are they less likely to stir up a war over it if Taiwan's stance is public known and supported? Quite possibly. Maybe not a whole lot less likely, but every little helps in a precarious situation like that.
What Taiwanese most want is peace. The rest is the USA trying to make war by trying to change public opinion and make people believe that China and Taiwan aren't family.
Taiwan was the first place I went internationally and I have very fond memories of the people and culture there. (I was a visiting musician in 1990.) Thank you for discussing this, John.
As a Taiwanese American, thank you for your research into this complex subject and presented it clearly and humorously in the true LWT fashion 😃 Totally respect your team for bravely cover Taiwan that many businesses and politicians cowardly avoided/ignored!
My 1st grade teacher in Puerto Rico taught us about Taiwan by saying: "Island that is close to China". And that's what we needed to put into the exam. Glad to have learned a bit more about it.
Puerto Rico is an island that is close to the US. The people lives there are not really americans but they lives on american territory. See the problem here?
Thank you for bringing up this topic. We have been ignored, or maybe separated for ages. I laughed hard at the WHO part but at the same time just felt very sad.
Thank you so much for talking about this huge issue that the world has been avoiding for the past couple decades!
And thank you for calling out John Cena. I worried you wouldn't since you've worked with him on the show before.
This is incredible!
教徒一進來就看到趕快先來簽到
Have you been living under a rock? “The world has been avoiding for the last couple of decades” lmao
Free Palestine. Free Taiwan. Free Hong Kong.
Taiwan!!!! Thanks for covering this!
"But the key question is, clearly, what does it want for itself?"
I don't thinking getting "help" from the Americans helps your cause.
Taiwan needs to get rid of the American military bases.
@@homeroaugustofierroruvalca1846 統派假帳號滾
@@homeroaugustofierroruvalca1846 There aren't any US military bases in Taiwan.
You're a CIA bot.
As a Taiwanese, I can testify that the LWT team did an extremely thorough research on the topic, and I feel really seen by the episode. They really nailed it. Thank you for including a segment about what Taiwanese want for ourselves, because NO ONE ever asks that - not even those right-wing nut jobs who proclaim to support Taiwan. Everyone just wants us to be a poker chip in a geopolitical game, so it really has to be said that we're real human beings with agency.
I frankly think it was about the worst, least "thorough" research on the Taiwan conflict I ever saw or read. The people living in Taiwan officially call their country "Republic of China". OFFICIALLY, that Republic of China governs not only the island of Taiwan, but all of China. OFFICIALLY China and Taiwan are both agreeing on Taiwan being one country - what they disagree about is who should rule that China. It's batshit crazy. When you publicly say "Taiwan is a country", you are saying "I agree with the ROC's claim that they should govern all of China". Which, again, is batshit crazy. The conflict in the UN back in the day was not about Taiwan and China. It was about who should sit in the UN as representative of ALL Chinese people. They went with the PRC because the PCR represents 1.5 billion of the inhabitants of that country, while the ROC only represents 23 million.
No country OFFICIALLY wants Taiwan to be independent from China. Yes, there is a part of the Taiwanese population who have some common sense and want to abolish their claim on the China mainland. But they only won a major election in 2016. And they didn't run on a platform of "Taiwan independence". That woman in the interview, Tsai Ing-wen? She is the leader of that party.
The moment Taiwan publicly declares they are not China, but rather an independent nation, and don't claim to be the rightful government of China anymore? That's when China is forced to treat them as separatists. Do you know what the federal US government is legally obligated to do when a US state declares independence? Military intervention. Nobody wants that.
Yes, from an outside perspective, please, please let Taiwan be its own country, if they want that. Whatever. But China is not ALWAYS that big crazy supervillain that is so convenient to hate. Up until 2016, the most powerful political party in Taiwan was arguably still the KMT. The very same party that, waaaaay back then, fled to Taiwan, occupied the island, forced its inhabitants under their rule, and killed hundreds of thousands of people just for having a different political opinion. Google "Martial law in Taiwan" or "White Terror" if you are interested.
@@Grinstopher are you seriously educating Taiwanese on our own country and history?? Listen when we tell you that the video is accurate, you are wrong, and sit back down.
@@Grinstopher the mansplaining from what isprobably a non taiwanese to a real taiwanese, this is pure cringe
@@jennywlove where do you live?
@Grinstopher yes suppressed and killed tens of thousands of people under his rule, as opposed to the rainbows and lollipops that Mao was offering up in the mainland at the same time. Arguably the greatest mass murder in human history, almost exclusively exterminated, starved and suppressed his own people for a flawed ideology, but yes PRC is far greater than ROC. Get a grip.
Aussie here who lived on mainland China for 10 years, and did some temporary work visiting Taiwan for a few weeks at a time 3 times during my decade in China. Unbelievable country (see what I did there), friendly people, beautiful scenery and food enough to leave you in a food coma after 2 weeks! My heart is with them right now during this crisis (though shared with Hong Kong during theirs as well). Wishing them luck as they make decisions about their future!
As an Aussie also I wish the world would leave the pacific island nation’s alone.. Hawaii also wants to leave the states and I’m just as much for it
@@shxtgigs4662no. No it doesnt. Nice try xi.
@@shxtgigs4662wrong lol
Than you for loving Taiwan❤
I'm Taiwanese and a HUGE fan of John since The Daily Show. So happy to see this show finally talking about Taiwan.
I wanna know more about the mascots lol
I hope you don't mean John Cena 😂
Same, I'm a Taiwanese American and this was a lovely surprise
I find it reprehensible and pathetic that so many countries and people- even actors!- are bowing to China on this issue. It's all for money. >=/
@@andred3299 In what way?
As a Taiwanese living in the US for 20+ years, I'd like to testify that, as usual, John Oliver has delivered another great episode of the correct information and precise analyses of the situation. LWT research team really knows what they are doing.
@@arthurzhao8476 Just wondering: you're from China, correct?
@@arthurzhao8476 proof?
@@arthurzhao8476 You think John Oliver works with the CIA? 😅😅😅😅 Sounds like you don't like the way the truth doesn't align with your brainwashing.
@@chumark54 he’s a Chinese nationalist enjoying western freedoms while championing a totalitarian regime run by a despot. Peak clown.
So you are Taiwanese or an American?
As a Taiwanese-American this is pretty accurate. It gets pretty surreal at times that just declaring that I am Taiwanese is an inherently political statement. I'm very grateful that LWT did an episode on this because it's important for more people to know about this issue and now I can send people this video when they ask me to explain "why I don't just call myself Chinese."
Who would interpret your Taiwanese heritage as a political statement? Never heard about that.
@@SerenityM54L2SAM5L5N1 Because few countries acknowledge Taiwan as a country one can hold citizenship in. Taiwanese isn't exactly an ethnicity, either. Most people in Taiwan are ethnically of Han Chinese descent. So saying "I'm Taiwanese" is claiming a country and culture that many don't view as real and valid.
When people ask me why I dont call myself Chinese, I ask them why they do not call Chinese people Taiwanese. The logic is the same.
I learned one thing for sure from this sketch. Women from Taiwan are frigging gorgeous.
@@SerenityM54L2SAM5L5N1 because sometimes just calling yourself Taiwanese can get you in trouble even violent attacks,it’s a real issue for international students as well.
I’m glad John addressed Taiwan’s mascot problem, this a very important issue that needs more attention
As an American living in Taiwan I’ve got to say John and the writers pretty much nailed it with this one while keeping it humorous. Nobody particularly likes the current situation, but life goes on as normal. I feel far safer here than I ever did living back home in the US- friendly people, culinary heaven, and cheap and convenient social services like heath care are just a few of the many things that make this place the best I’ve ever lived.
Well, soon that will all change and it seems like you're not ready ;)
Man you’re making me want to move to Taiwan
@@Steve-cx3gy What a terrible thing to say to someone. You sound bitter and sad
@@Steve-cx3gy TAIWAN NUMBA ONE MUDDA PHUCCA
@Steve can i have some copium ? im all out .. :/
Thanks John for covering this story around Taiwan and keeping it humorous as always :)
Wild DoDo!!
期待DoDo man也跨出舒適圈做一集深入又幽默生動的脫口秀或能讓台灣不再「被模糊」的任何形式節目。
Yeah! Although I do remember some of Mr. Oliver's crass satires, I truly am grateful his willingness to introduce Taiwan's current social-political dilemmas.
Having CCP members threaten nuclear war toward Taiwan (ROC) several times a year surely is not a mindset most Americans comprehend.
這個月有看Eric與Ian去校園們和LasVegas玩。
Social credit crisis here 🚨🚨🚨
As a Taiwanese American who has been living in Taiwan for 28 years, I loved this episode and am proud to say I was one of those who signed the petition asking that John Oliver discuss Taiwan on his program.
China is running low on useful threats. Japan australia Uk and soon India have had enough. China have no friends left in Asia, well ofc N korea 😏 it's time for the world to shut the CCP down.
I would love to ask you something about Taiwan. Is it easier to practice whatever religion you choose in Taiwan than the rest of China? I have Chinese American friends from Hong Kong who say that the government discourages religion - especially Christianity. Is that true? And is it better in Taiwan? I love Chinese and Taiwanese dramas so I’m interested to know more about the country in general. Thanks.
@@Godhelpus62 yes, there’s complete freedom of religion in Taiwan, since 1996 it has been a full democracy with full social freedoms.
Most Taiwanese don’t consider Taiwan to be part of China these days, it’s functionally and culturally separate, but with shared cultural heritage.
@@TrickOrRetreat Q2QqqqWqqqq
@lati long well, we obviously differ in opinion on this point. There is a distinct cultural identity, and a shared cultural heritage. These do not conflict. Taiwan has a distinct identity based on decades of separation from China, more than a century if you count Japanese colonial period. That’s more than enough time for the culture to become distinct. Taiwanese might speak the same dialect as people from Fujian but few people would say modern Hoklo Taiwanese are that similar to modern Fujianese people. Isolation will do that, and it is not a fake distinction. But at the same time we clearly share our cultural roots with the rest of the Sinosphere.
Also, no one pretended that Han Taiwanese were aborigines. I don’t know where you got that. What did happen is that aboriginal peoples started to be included into the definition of Taiwanese, which was not generally the case pre-democratization.
Taiwan also shares a very similar history to South Korea: Japanese occupation, communist brother, former right wing dictatorships that ended in 1987, both are little tigers powerhouse economies.
Nazi = National Socialism basically resembles to Soviet and Cuba and the left in US today. Right wings are not dictators, they ended slavery in US remember that. Whatever we're seeing today with censorships and freezing accounts they come from leftists.
@@jamesfranko1568 ⋯dude, right wing and left wing’s definition change from country to country, because the definition of conservatism changes from country to country. As a Taiwanese, I can assure you it was a right wing dictatorship. Right wing does not always equal Republican.
@@floralee1645 Nobody said right wing is Republican but right wing is conservative that doesn't change anywhere and there are far more left wing dictators.
[Citation Needed]
@@floralee1645 I’m a Taiwanese/Chinese American I don’t get how the CCP and DDP are both left wing and hate each other.
I’m Taiwanese, I couldn’t stop laughing throughout the video, and was actually in tears when he said TAIWAN deserves the right to decide about our own future. That’s just so true but I felt not many recognized ! Really enjoyed this 22 min of show, thank you for the hard work!
I agree with you but it sounds as though the citizens haven't yet made up their mind and that will hurt them later because Xi will not suddenly decide he's lost interest. We see what's happening now in Hong Kong, slowly but surely their influence there grows and eventually the will of the people will not matter.
Taiwan already integrating with China. Wish US would just gtfo and stop fuking up the world
@@mat_j Thankfully the things that you want don't really make that much of a difference, do they?
@@mat_j You're selling yourself short with that comment. Should be worth at least ¥1 rather than the standard 五毛!
I’m Taiwanese, Taiwan is difference form China.
Taiwan is a democratic country, but China isn’t.
Wish China stop invasion and stop fucking up the world.
I come from one of the countries that recognize Taiwan: Guatemala 😊 The Taiwanese government is always helping my country and has many scholarship programs for us Guatemalans!
I like that!
Thank you ❣️❣️❣️❣️。
God bless you
Countries recognizing Taiwan in place of China are truly unsung heroes of the world
As a Taiwanese it’s so nice to know that people recognize our effort on diplomacy despite the hard situation... Thank you!
As a Honduran, one of the few countries that has forgone relations with mainland China to retain them with Taiwan, I have to say that the Taiwanese have been the closest thing to an actual friend that a country can have. They have been there in times of need and have never conditioned their help or support to their own petty interests. Nor have they tried to dictate our internal politics. For a small country like Honduras which has always been used as a poker chip by great powers that is unusual and refreshing. Mad respect for them, and sincere hopes that their experiment can go on for as long as they want.
Thanks. That actually means a lot.
🇭🇳🤝🇹🇼
"As a Honduran, one of the few countries that has forgone relations with mainland China to retain them with *America"
There, I fixed it for you
Thank you so much for sharing!!
@@mikaelgaiason688 do you think the rest of the world doesn't have relations with China to maintain relations with the US? You're dense
As a visitor who visited Taiwan 9 times, i can say Taiwan is the most welcoming country and i miss it very much. I hope to visit Taiwan immediately once Covid is over.
taiwan is part of China
@Mike Dalby I hope someone steals all your eggs
Have you ever visited the mainland？
@@limrichard6919 will it make you feel better if the answer is yes?
@Mike Dalby Republic of China.
I went to university in Taipei for 2 years - coming from Germany. Never have I felt more welcome in another country. The people, the culture, the food, the beautiful islands… you’ll always have a special place in my heart!
Deshalb mü´ssen wir in den Krieg gegen China ziehen und diese Faschisten stürzen.
@@Shadowwalker1717 Um. Blödsinn.
If you were to visit/live in any city in East Asia, you'll be treated with the same level of welcome, I'm sure.
You said the word country…watch out.
Du meinst "aus dem Auenland", nicht "from Germany".
I worked in Taiwan briefly a few years back, and I have to say that it’s one of the greatest places I’ve ever been to. I’ve never felt so welcome and at peace anywhere else I’ve visited. Everyone I met was open and friendly, the food was phenomenal, and the natural beauty of the place is simply unparalleled. In my opinion, these people and their way of life should be supported and protected by everyone, and we should stop making John Cena apologize for calling it what it is: a country.
Thanks for loving Taiwan!!! Hope the world will love Taiwan and care about Taiwan. China is so huge that no countries want to make them unhappy.
I spent a month working there a couple of years ago. +1 to all your points. The islands' beauty is utterly ridiculous.
Same here. I lived there for 2 years studying mandarin and it's the most welcoming place in have lived in despite visible differences with the host community. Was sad to leave. Miss the night markets and the mom and pop small eateries all over the country. I never cooked a meal . The food reminded me of home as they grow every fruit or root you find in the tropics of Africa. The MRT is clean and easy to figure out. I could go on.... love Taiwan. Been back on holiday once and cant wait for post covid travel normality to return.
@@miracle1221kimo Maybe not China because that's a lot of people I wouldn't want to see suffer but I would *LOVE* to make Xi Jing Ping *EXCEEDINGLY* unhappy for the rest of his miserable life.
@@idigamstudios7463 I lived in Taiwan for nearly 3 years. Everything you said is right. Beautiful country, beautiful people, the nicest place on earth. If China every trys anything the rest of the world better step up.
Although it starts with us, avoid made in china products as much as possible. The only reason they are such a "threat" and have so many people in their grasps is because we rely on them or too much of our production. some times its impossible, but most of the time you can find alternatives.
TAIWAN #1!
As a Taiwanese, I am very interested in adding Chinese (traditional) captions for this video, in want to share the amusing and informative efforts of yours to my fellows. Looking forward to your consent, and thank you, for presenting my beautiful country to the viewers worldwide.
I hope you hear back soon!!
i hope oliver's team reaches out. you may also want to message them on twitter, via email, etc.
Yeah!
下次開始玩算力比阿波羅登月高10萬倍的肛塞情趣玩具，一定要說聲“謝謝台灣！” Does that make any sense after translation?
I was kind of shocked to see that they didn't have traditional Chinese captions. I hope it works out.
I'm originally from Portland, Oregon, but I've been living in Taiwan since mid-January 1979. It's a very good place.
@@SL16867 it's in southern Canada
@@SL16867Portland is a city in the state of Oregon, which is one of the 50 states of the USA.
you are about to be Chinese seems like
I visited Taiwan once and I wish I could live there. The people are truly incredible.
Girl! Can't believe I find you in this random comment section! And thank you for bringing me the tea from Taiwan =) Hope you're well, we need to grab dinner again soon.
Thank you. Hope you’ll be able to visit Taiwan soon🥰
@@googleuser6275 Chinese ppl are nice except lil’ pinks
me too...
and I have to add, Taiwan is nowhere closed to China
💛💛💛Thanks for ur compliment from 🇹🇼
As a Canadian who's been living here in Taiwan for 15 years, I hope Taiwan doesn't fade quickly from the public eye, and I encourage everyone who can to visit this beautiful, vibrant, wonderful island when they can. I've fallen completely in love with this place, and it deserves to be protected from outside aggression, just as all people do, everywhere.
If Taiwan province wants to be an independent country recognized by the UN, US and most countries, it should declare independence and win the ongoing civil war with the mainland. I guess both John and you guys pretend to be not knowing America Civil War?
You know the US won’t defend Taiwan province when PLA start the unification war, right?
During that 15 years, do you know the name of my country is Republic of China.
Taiwan is the name of the main island.
@@pw8332 Wow you WuMao sure got in here quick
@@pw8332 your mom is a province of China
I lived there for 2 years studying mandarin and it's the most welcoming place in have lived in despite visible differences with the host community. Was sad to leave. Miss the night markets and the mom and pop small eateries all over the country. I never cooked a meal . The food reminded me of home as they grow every fruit or root you find in the tropics of Africa. The MRT is clean and easy to figure out. I could go on.... love Taiwan. Been back on holiday once and cant wait for post covid travel normality to return.
Welcome back in anytime (as long as the pandemic ends )😌 As a Taiwanese I LOVE our night markets too
That sounds amazing. It must be nice.
Yo please go on and tell more!
My heart goes out to the Taiwanese people.
Thank you.
thank you, from a taiwanese girl, i appreciate every person who stands with us or supports us. because it’s really difficult being taiwanese, always dealing with such a threat.
@@keeptaiwanfree taiwan is not country
and the warloards of America?
As an American who has been living in Taiwan for 30 years so far, I think John's assessment of the situation is spot-on. People here just want to make the best of their situation and maintain the status quo. It's not anybody's first choice, but it's one we can all live with.
The sad truth is that the Taiwanese cannot decide about their own future. If they don't have strong military allies who threaten to defend Taiwan with force, then China has already sealed their fate. They must become a part of China.
Yeah it's easy to talk a big game about standing up for a cause you believe in, but frankly, in a shooting war (or even an economic war or cyber war), it's hard to dispute that Taiwan is toast. It's better, and more sensible, to do what's required to stay alive.
@@badgerlife9541 but you should also know this powerful military alliance Taiwan seeks also doesn’t gives a flying shit about Taiwan or the well being of Taiwan.
All they want is to use Taiwan as a tool to contain China. So if a war benefit this military alliance, it will surely provoke a war between China and Taiwan. You can see this clearly from US.
Unfortunately I don’t see any way out for Taiwan, unless maybe Alien invasion or some crazy bit shit stuff similar to that happened.
@@badgerlife9541 TSMC alone could bring the global economy to a halt. And the country is known for high end manufacturing. The global economy is deeply dependent on Taiwan and that is why so many countries take the stand of ambiguity instead of hanging them out to dry like Tibet or the Philippines and other countries within the nine dash line.
And three days ago the US pledged military support in defending Taiwan from invasion.
With that kind of mentality, you all will become part of China soon. ;)
I've been living in Taiwan for a couple years now and I'm Honduran (one of the few countries that still do have political relationships with Taiwan) and I have so much respect for John Oliver for covering them in a video like this! Now if someone asks me "so what's the deal with Taiwan and China anyway", I'll just refer them to this!
My kid and I recently moved back to the US after living 11 years in Taiwan. We are so grateful to our friends from this beautiful country for everything they have done, so their safety and democracy are extremely important to us. Not wanting to start WW3 or a new Cold War, but a global response allowing Taiwan's participation in global organizations, (and not catering to Beijing) is what's been needed for years. Much appreciation to John Oliver for this excellent show/episode.
Unfortunately, China will be starting WW3 very soon, its why they are trying to reconnect to Taiwan now. Its a strategic move to build bases there with anti missles regiments. They just flew a missles around the world without telling anyone to test, and have been building man made bases off their coasts for years now. They are the economic powerhouse of the world. Americans cant even stop fighting over vaccines...they are very smart for shutting themselves off from the world and living in a bubble. Perfect way for their citizens to not worry about people like celebreities out of control or crazy nonsense like anti vax...Chinese military will be walking our streets within a decade. Also doesnt help that white americans and republicans have been so hateful and violent to others for literally decades...Bad PR for an entire nation
@@anthonyzullo Yes because our Democrat leaders have been angels that have only done great things for us. If only the "anti-vaxxers" and Republicans would disappear, the United States would be a beacon of greatness :|
@@anthonyzullo i for one will welcome our Chinese liberators
@@vrASMR180 every politician in America sucks. Xi Jinping would b hailed as the greatest american in US history but unfortunately he's chinese so US politicians and media drum up nonsense about him
Wow, I am so happy you enjoyed your 11years of residence in Taiwan.
Thank you for caring and paying attention not my country 💖
John and “Last Week Tonight,” you do an exceptional job of educating and informing your audience, and in a way that is funny, pointed, and direct. Your combination of humor, storytelling, and education, is masterful. Keep it up! You’re simply amazing.
Agreed
I've lived in Taiwan for a few years now, and I can hand on heart say this is excellent. Like a TED talk, but much funnier. Any university course about Taiwan and its history should start with this video.
Not accurate,
I tried taking a Coursera history course on Chinese history and the Chinese students make it absolutely impossible. They didn't have the slightest interest in Chinese history! All they cared about was ensuring what was presented conformed to what their government approved. How the F does their own government figure out what history to approve anyways if they can't even study it? And it was "Ancient Chinese History" lol.
I had a friend in college that was from Taiwan. Often, people would call him Chinese, in jest or by mistake. He absolutely hated that. he was pretty chill, completely zen about anything else, but *that* always got him upset.
After mentioning it once, I already started respecting his wishes, but only years later I fully understood. This kind of coverage is really important, on the micro and macro sides.
I just wouldn't guess an Asian person's ethnicity openly(Or anyone's, lesson learned the dumb way). It's not my business unless they tell me, for one. For another, there's multiple histories of invasions/war crimes among many Asian peoples... so if I get it wrong, I can REALLY tick someone off.😬
"Those people ki lled my great grandparents, you idiot!" Yeah...🤦 Not going to be doing that. Nope.
Beta Male
@@grmpEqweer but don’t the Taiwanese people speak Chinese language? I understand how Westerners have the confusion. But I also support Taiwan all the way❗️
He's ethnically Chinese, but doesn't have PRC citizenship. I think Taiwanese the ethnicity should be only for those with indigenous background, but he is by citizenship also Chinese just ROC Chinese... sigh it's complicated XD
There are so many Overseas Chinese outside of Mainland China, Macao, HK and Taiwan, and they are also Chinese (ethnically) despite not having citizenship to those 4 countries.
@@fern7306 I think the main line of concern Taiwanese people have is that the word China/Chinese has become universally synonymous with the PRC government. Most Taiwanese people with the exception of the indigenous would acknowledge their Chinese ethnicity and cultural background, but wouldn’t identify themselves as Chinese so as to deny connection to the Communist government in China, and instead call themselves Taiwanese to maintain their connection to their local democratic government housed by “The Republic of China”. But since barely anyone, including themselves, recognizes them as the true China anymore, Taiwan it is.
Respect to you and your team bravely raise the hand up at social media talking about this, proud to be a Taiwaness and love this small island!
Just in case yo wanna see another quite big Social media guy refer to Taiwan as a country:
ua-cam.com/video/Fsfbx-9xdNI/v-deo.html (Davie504, italian bass-player living in Taiwan)
Coming here after the Ukraine invasion by Russia, this definitely hits differently. As a HKer who grieves for my birthplace, I hope that Taiwan will stay safe from China and that Taiwan will get their freedom from constant threat of invasion from China over their sovereignty. Never let bullies win. And acknowledge the great work Taiwan has put in to progress from their past regarding Chiang and other countries that have colonised the country.
My friend -- I'm a granddaughter of the Chinese diaspora who went to Taiwan. I'd love to remind you that the only colonialists are the West and China has acted with nothing than the utmost restraint. It's the wealthy who were kicked out of China who committed the atrocities in Taiwan, friend. Don't be confused. We are family having a dispute. Do not invite Westerners to take advantage of disunity.
@@FayeKu so 國姓爺 wasn't a colonialist? Taiwan was only fully part of China as an occupied territory after WWII from 1945 to 1949. Your family came here and are welcome. But we aren't Chinese because we have never been Chinese, we have only been occupied and colonized by the Chinese. Have some humanity, let go of your ethno-nationalism, and fully support those of us who live in Taiwan to decide our own fate.
@@PhonyMcC I would fully support you IF you actually could be independent. But your real geopolitical choices are, be part of China or be USA's little brother, the first one to get destroyed in any conflict between the two big guys. Be smart, and realize your anger is understandable against those who have already overrun the island, but you share one fate now. Don't be Ukraine, tricked into an unwinnable war.
Hong Kong belongs to China. It was only ever stolen by force and contrivance. The same is true with Taiwan.
@@FayeKu "join us or die" - that is what you said, hoping people wouldn't notice because you phrased it so nicely....
I've been to Taiwan many times and absolutely love its culture, people, and attitude. This breakdown captures that in such a wonderful way. If we had half the resolve as these people, we would be far better for it. Much respect and love to them.
That WHO footage was absolutely hilarious. Can't believe that's real life.
It would be hilarious if it weren't so terrifying. The fear in that man's eyes and the lengths that he goes in order to avoid the question show just how far China's stranglehold on opposing viewpoints goes
@@jeremywhittier5356 Very true. Sad situation.
It is indeed very horrible. Taiwan wasn't recognized by the who when the pandemic began and thus didn't get any of the necessary information needed to prepare itself. And just a few months ago China stopped them from buying vaccines from Germany by arguing a state owned company had the rights to sell the vaccine all over China. In the end a private company in Taiwan had to buy the vaccines from the state owned company in China. That of course cost lot of time and money.
I can't believe John Oliver finally addressed it more than a year after it happened, when Taiwan has been facing immense pressure from communist China this entire time. Establishment hypocrisy at its finest.
People love shitting on who for this one but the biggest country that recognizes Taiwan is Guatemala out of a list of ~15. Complain to your own government.
I appreciate John ending the segment by basically saying "Taiwan isn't our country, let's let the people who actually live there and would be most affected make the decisions concerning it."
Uhu, and they've made that decision. The decision they've made is that Taiwan is a part of China. The end. You people act as if that was in question when it's not. When you say "let Taiwan make up its mind" you're implying that the people of Taiwan didn't already do exactly that, which is false.
And the people have decided. Nobody in Taiwan wants to be ruled by the CCP. 99% of Taiwanese want to be fully recognized like every other UN nation. We just don’t want to have to risk a Chinese invasion to do it, that’s not too much to ask.
@@Arrakiz666 Cite your sources, don't just make up obvious false claims.
@@nzrock1 This video right here, bud. By John's own statement, 95% of the Taiwanese people consider Taiwan to be a part of China and don't want independence.
@@Arrakiz666 You're misrepresenting it. Using the same information you could also say that 98.5% don't want Unification. The important part is that 87% don't want to rush into things because the current situation kind of works for them, and that situation is decidedly not unification
Blows my mind about Chthonic, remember listening to them in high school and not understanding why their albums were in so many different languages. Makes more sense now but I *never* saw that coming
To Mr. Oliver, It’s highly appreciated to share the show for Taiwan. and really touching for Taiwan people. Taiwan is not alone from now on, and become one of globe family.
You must be really frustrated.
But the truth is if you cannot make it happen on your own, then nobody is going to give it to you. Begging the attention of the international community is not gonna work, otherwise they would have recognize you as a country already
They have half century to do that but we only see the number of countries recognize Taiwan diplomatically dwindle over the time.
I would say take your chance, go ahead and declare your independence as a country. Who knows, maybe it will work.
I'm a Canadian living in Taiwan.. people think Canadians are nice but we look like assholes when compared to Taiwanese. They are the most friendly, welcoming, and warm people I've ever met. Such a beautiful, safe, and peaceful country. Love you Taiwan!
I’m an American who has never been to Taiwan and I totally agree.
thank you🇹🇼
Come to China mainland and take a look, my friend.
@@garychang3010 yeah, and get executed for “smuggling”lol
That is only our masks. We treat each other like shit and put on a mask especially to foreigners. Unless you are a customer and we need your money.
As a Taiwanese, I laughed throughout the whole show. Great job, John!
Well.. I hope you will able to enjoy youtube in the future (you know..)
I really do, no joke
Out of sheer personal curiosity, how's China behaving with Taiwan given the recent earthquake that happened there?
The most perplexing thing is that Taiwan wants to keep this status quo going.
But hey, if that is their wish, I guess let it be.
I just hope Taiwan lets others know they actually want to keep things ambiguous in a more clear way, weirdly enough ^^
@@elektrotehnik94 It's perplexing until you see their alternatives. Going for annexation could cause a civil war and lose much of the democratic liberties try enjoy, while going for a formal declaration of independence would cause at least an invasion, if not a conflict with the intervention of the US. Neither option is desirable for the Taiwanese people
@@tommasocimmino3195 Intervention of the US is never going to happen.
I've lived here in Taiwan for more than 10 years now and I am relieved to see that John FINALLY did an episode about it and NAILED it :D
I know, right? I've been waiting so long for this to happen haha
Breaking news: US sends warplanes into California.
Will US be at war with California by the end of 2021?
If WW3 breaks out, it will be on US soil this time.
This is how absurd the US position is
doesn't practise the freedom, democracy and free trade it preaches.
TAIWAN NUMBA ONE PHUCBOI
its the greatest place really
@@LesliePeter …? Wat?
It’s actually very difficult a lot of times for a Taiwanese to explain this bizarre situation we have been dealing for decades. But seeing John and his teams produced this well-explained, logical, yet hilarious video, I was amazed. We really need more supports from the world t0 solve this unsolvable dilemma.
how is this well-explained? The people living in Taiwan officially call their country "Republic of China". OFFICIALLY, that Republic of China governs not only the island of Taiwan, but all of China. OFFICIALLY China and Taiwan are both agreeing on Taiwan being one country - what they disagree about is who should rule that China. It's batshit crazy. When you publicly say "Taiwan is a country", you are saying "I agree with the ROC's claim that they should govern all of China". Which, again, is batshit crazy. The conflict in the UN back in the day was not about Taiwan and China. It was about who should sit in the UN as representative of ALL Chinese people. They went with the PRC because the PCR represents 1.5 billion of the inhabitants of that country, while the ROC only represents 23 million.
No country OFFICIALLY wants Taiwan to be independent from China. Yes, there is a part of the Taiwanese population who have some common sense and want to abolish their claim on the China mainland. But they only won a major election in 2016. And they didn't run on a platform of "Taiwan independence". That woman in the interview, Tsai Ing-wen? She is the leader of that party.
The moment Taiwan publicly declares they are not China, but rather an independent nation, and don't claim to be the rightful government of China anymore? That's when China is forced to treat them as separatists. Do you know what the federal US government is legally obligated to do when a US state declares independence? Military intervention. Nobody wants that.
Yes, from an outside perspective, please, please let Taiwan be its own country, if they want that. Whatever. But China is not ALWAYS that big crazy supervillain that is so convenient to hate. Up until 2016, the most powerful political party in Taiwan was arguably still the KMT. The very same party that, waaaaay back then, fled to Taiwan, occupied the island, forced its inhabitants under their rule, and killed hundreds of thousands of people just for having a different political opinion. Google "Martial law in Taiwan" or "White Terror" if you are interested.
I'm praying the beautiful Taiwanese People be respected and get the results THEY want and when THEY want it. The rest of us just need to support them and not make their situation worse with our usual Western idiocy. 💯
I mean, it's not. "US is warmongering in China" is a single sentence and explains everything.
I think the people everywhere support taiwan, it's only our governments who don't because of political and economic deals with PRC.
@@Grinstopher The notion of Taiwan ever ruling mainland China is as fictitious as the non-recognition of what effectively is already a separate country.
As an American who’s been living in Taiwan for over 12 years, I have to say that finally having Last Week Tonight talk about the climate here truly is reaffirming. Thank you so much.
How is it?
Lived in Taiwan for 3 years. It's a nice enough place, but it's going nowhere fast and has the most gerontocratic government I've ever seen, coupled with an insular population and a frozen economy. There's a reason Taiwanese youth call the place "鬼岛" and are leaving Taiwan in droves. Don't believe the overly-rosey picture that a small number of white foreigners (who are treated with far more reverence as "international guests" than non-white foreigners) try to paint.
@@henriashurst-pitkanen8735 thumbs
I live in China, can you get me a job in Taiwan please? 😅
@@henriashurst-pitkanen8735 China will have the same problems soon. As the population ages out, the workforce must be replaced with immigrants, but in general Han Chinese culture is too xenophobic for that. So Taiwan has stagnated recently, Japan has too for over 20 years, and China will suffer the most. At least Japan and Taiwan were fully developed before the demographic crunch.
HBO and John Oliver thank you ❤
It truly means a lot when Taiwan can be seen by the world. Really appreciate John Oliver and his team's effort to make this episode talking about my country. Love it!
like Cena, most of this is about money. Thank God HBO doesn't give a crap...
@@corbeau-_-
Honestly I really dislike HBO, but they've stood by John thru so much I consider buying a subscription to support them.
I live there. I have worked in 30 or more countries around the world. Taiwanese people are the friendliest, warmest, most generous and lovely people ever. It also has preserved some of the richest culture from human history from destruction. Amazing, magical place.
Thank you.
thanks
It’s nice to have you here.
Thank you.
I am from South Korea, and this video reminded of an incident that happened in early 2016. There is a Taiwanese singer based in South Korea and her name is Tzuyu. In a Korean TV program in November 2015, each singer held her national flag -- the Japanese singer holding a Japanese flag, a Korean a Korean flag, etc. Tzuyu held a Taiwanese flag, and was later accused of being a Taiwanese independence activist by Taiwanese-born, China-based singer Huang An. Consequently, Tzuyu later filmed an apology video. There was much controversy about the whole issue at the time. The Center for Multicultural Korea (CMCK) criticized Tzuyu's agency for forcing the young girl to issue an apology against her beliefs to assuage the Chinese public, and asked the National Human Rights Commission of Korea to investigate whether the apology was forced or not. I remember the whole thing was a huge mess, just over a Taiwanese girl waving a Taiwanese flag on a TV show.
I remember that. I love TWICE!
Yes it was a huge news story in Taiwan at that time and many were raging. It is worth noting though that the apology likely came from her because she’ll be making a lot of money from China - it was an act not dissimilar to John Cena’s sniveling apology and basically boils down to money: she could’ve taken a stand but, as most pop stars in//from Taiwan make their money in China, they choose to apologies to preserve their image and money making capabilities.
感謝韓國的朋友，
以前的國民黨，只要有人親近共產黨，
就會用盡一切的來懲罰你，
現在的國民黨，只要有人拒絕共產黨，
就會聯合共產黨來懲罰你，
成語「指鹿為馬」，不可思議的情節，
現在一直發生在台灣，
台灣現在很多演藝人員、政治人物，
被中國用金錢收買，
可惜沒有像韓國人民堅定國家的決心。
@@hoodwiser7652 BING CHILLING
That is just insane.
"I miss the days when learning about the world was as easy as listening to a British man on amphetamines telling us who was good and who was bad" says British man on amphetamines teaching everyone who is good and who is bad. 😂
Haha ikr?
That’s the joke…
Way to explain the joke while missing it.
And it turns out everybody and everything is mostly bad :P
@@Lambda_Ovine Uhhh lmao maybe you are. I didn't do shit
Taiwanese people are the best. I almost got stranded after leaving my bag (with my passport, money, cards and even a train station locker key where all my belongings were)....While I was searching for my bag, I had many people help me and when I made my way to where I had left my bag, it was untouched! I know thieves exist everywhere, but I truly believe the Taiwanese are a special class of people. Your country is beautiful and may God take care of you and keep you safe. Thank you for helping to take care of ME when I needed it most.
As a Taiwanese American, I greatly appreciate your comments!
I'm living in Taiwan, and yes! In the past few years, I've had a few scares, thinking that I had lost my laptop or passport, and sure enough, it wasn't stolen.
Democrats are desperate yo! They are losing to china in term of GDP, population etc... LMAO 😂😂
Taiwanese people are the best. My wife is Taiwanese
I'm a Taiwanese.I lost my phone,purse,umbrella.....lots of things,and everything is returned finally 🤣 so lucky 😆
Here in Paraguay, we've had 64 years of diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and while economic incentives to side with China have been big, we stand strong with our Taiwanese friends! In the country where World Friendship Day was born, the friendship and allyship between our countries continues.
Thank you Paraguay for standing with us! It means a lot!
Thank you you’re the truly friend
Paraguay no existe
@@GetYaMindCorrect no arruines el momento hombre
Thank you!
This episode demonstrates the current situation of Taiwan quite well. Thank you for making this to help more people know about Taiwan.
It's such an irony that almost every Taiwanese in the commet section is saying thank you to John Oliver, but no one really understands the message he tried to convey to the Taiwanese people.
He is telling the Taiwanese people to CHOOSE A SIDE. It's either independence or unification. No other people can help us make the decision. Not only that, every ballot that the Taiwanese people cast during elections is making a statement to the world.
@@JerryTsaiTCL I disagree. I think it’s just information to let ppl know the situation. It would be very ignorant for a non-Taiwanese person to tell them to “chose a side”. It’s more complicated than that as John explained.
@@JerryTsaiTCL fellow Taiwanese here. The status quo IS a side. But if China decides it doesn’t want the status quo anymore, that would be the quickest way to convince Taiwanese to vote for an independence referendum.
Really respect you covering this topic.
I’m glad John said the words “Taiwan established as a highly developed and wealthy COUNTRY”
John Oliver don’t talk sh*t or f*ck around with the regular BS most companies (must) do! He’s uniquely positioned to be the only accurate news source explaining their tenuous situation. Mainstream media sure as hell will never talk about it; they just worry about ratings and NEVER offending their corporate overlords that depend on Chinese manufacturing and goods, so they’ll never criticize China in the least bit and won’t allow any western politicians to do so either! They can’t even stand up for Americans getting screwed by 2 single democrats with republicans agendas, or even describe actual *policies* in the $3.5T reconciliation bill that would be lost if Manchin and Sinema have their way, because they’re massive corporations that don’t want ANY taxes as well (MASSIVE CONFLICT OF INTEREST dimming the bill)
@@davidgreen3719 Preach it!!!! You are 100% right.
@@eugenedebbs2189 no thanks commie
@@davidgreen3719 Funny how you say that when what he's doing is bending the knee to the official position of the US. "Not taking shit from anyone" does not only refer to China and the rest of the sane world, you know.
@@eugenedebbs2189 Counter Argument: No, they're not one country. The ethnic makeup of their citizenry doesn't make them one country, nor does the UN's cowardice and inability to tell the Communist Regime of China to fuck off. Taiwanese people DON'T want to be Chinese, so they aren't. They have their own functioning government, and make their own laws. China can pretend all it wants that it still holds power in Taiwan, and they can force the rest of the UN to play along all they want, but the Taiwanese people have the right to their own self-determination.
As an Indian living in Japan, I had the chance to vacation twice in taiwan. The people were so amazing, friendly and welcoming. Random elderly uncles in the park would say "thank you for coming to our country." I wish Taiwan the best for its future and I hope one day the world will recognize it as an independent nation. I want to return and visit again!
How about seeing Kashmir Issue in the same lime light as Taiwan?
@@kah4611 nope if anything there's to see that is how illegally PoK and LoC is operating and if you have anything to counter I dont care because these two nations have illegally occupied the land given to India
I wish Taiwan would be the legitimate government of China so obviously the Chinese population wouldn't be so negatively view by the world. It's all about a functioning society that actually educates their masses.
@@aishwariyasweety2433 ruling far right party encouraging renewable energy 🙄 dont be engulfed by western ideologies which has zero applicability in Indian politics. And our current government is better than the 60 year rule of INC when Nehru didn't even want to have an army but I wish the current government did more for Kashmir
@@aishwariyasweety2433 jokes on you 🤡🤡
Crickey, if I didn't know the interview with the WHO representative was real, I'd assume with 100% confidence it was from a comedy sketch.
Yup, that was embarrassing.
go check out china uncensored they did this like the day it broke haha
I gota understand that the Americans or all other western countries would not care at all even they have known the problems. and,,,, they had known it before you were born...
@@SIULAP lol who do you thing funds the CCP & the concentration camps?? USA…. the CCP said they’d take out the USA even before nixon came to power… it’s the corporations in the western world… not capitalism but the corporatocracy we live in
ua-cam.com/video/0wKWurFPGqk/v-deo.html Here’s the video
I think I’ll come and watch this video whenever I miss Taiwan. Really appreciate the good work done on making this video!
Thank you for bringing up Taiwan to your audience’s attention in such a humorous & decent way! Really appreciate it!
@@LouisTsuiful Taiwan knows and agrees. But you see, Guomindang says they are the real China. Pretty sure Chiang Kai Sheik would agree that Taiwan is part of Mainland, but only when real China can return to the mainland can they be reunified :D
What more could be more ironic we Taiwan people call ourselves 'Republic of China' and yet deny our China identity? Fuxking lmao.
@@xander2890 found the 50 cent party drone.
@@xander2890 yeah so South Korea is also part of North Korea and vice versa bc their names both contain the word ‘Korea’. You’re a god of logic!!!
@@GravytyMusic Exactly. The comment section here is going to be absolutely full of them.
As a Taiwanese Im so glad John brought this topic to light, in his way. It brings attention to the issue to a whole new audience. Cant wait to see Taiwanese athletes march under their flag in the Olympics someday
U missed the point of the whole video maintaining ambiguity is in the best interest of all parties
couple questions, is taiwan dependant on china economically or industrially even tourism?
you know what one-china policy is. independance is a nice word but is it real? to bite the hands that feed you.
What do you think will happen if these western ideologies make for taiwan to be actually dependant on own economy and government? is this what you want? do you think america will help taiwan?
Most American Southerners during the American Civil War considered themselves independent. That didn't stop Lincoln from sending in the Union Army to crush the Confederates and bring them back to the Union to stop the Confederate seccession. Taiwan and China are ONE country. Taiwan is not an independent country.
Well, which flag? The one with Taiwan on it from DPP, or the RoC flag with KMT’s Party symbol on it.
看到一堆"As a Taiwanese"當開頭的自慰留言，配上後面一堆破英文有夠尷尬，老外看到一定笑死
More Americans and non-Taiwanese people need to watch this. This video is seriously the best way to explain this situation and avoids typical hysterics.
Taiwan is a part of china
I'm Taiwanese and I'm honestly tired of the incessant pandering to the US and general white worshipping of our country
There is no hysterics. Taiwan #1 China #7
@@quinnnosbod3673 Taiwan is NOT part of china. It's sad that you arrogantly think you own them. They are not your slaves. Imagine if someone was trying to falsely claim China, bet you wouldn't be too happy.
@@quinnnosbod3673 STOP the false claim. You need to learn how to be open minded and see the propaganda from China.
To be honest, As a Chinese person living *outside* of china, this is hard to watch knowing my fucking home country is basically a dictatorship, but still, it is nice to know about what's happening to Taiwan and the rest of the world. Thanks HBO.
It's not your whole country. It's just the CCP. We know chinese are good, hard working people.
That’s got to be heartbreaking. It’s your home, and the Chinese people and their neighbors deserve better than violent dictators in charge.
Blame always goes to the top first. so the singular person should not be held responsible for their government's actions.
@Bushy As someone with Chinese family members, this is false. Some Chinese people represent literally the worst of the stereotypes. Especially true for Chinese people from certain provinces.
There can't be a USA or China if we are to become a space faring species.
Really love John
how he spreaed and explained “strategy ambiguity ” background so well !!
As a Taiwanese I KNOW our congress fighting is going to be a joke. Not disappointed.
Tbf the US used to have congressmen fight back in the 1800s
In 1856 a pro-Slavery Senator nearly beat to death an Abolitionist Senator with a cane
@@MajorMlgNoob there weren't all out brawls like in taiwan tho
@@jsonr Oh yes, we had shootouts in Sacramento. The local papers used to report politics as Bill passed - 2 dead, ten injured. :)
@@jsonr Okay, and.
I think the US needs to bring back the fighting.
Lithuania have diplomatic relations with Taiwan and we’re supporting them towards their independence and acknowledging them as a country as Iceland did for us ❤️
Thanks
Thank you so much. We Taiwan really are grateful for your support and want to build stronger connection with Lithuania.❤
謝謝！
Lithuania should fight their wars then
Thank you so much for your supporting. In the wold, I appreciated.
top gun maverick decided to keep the taiwan's flag in the jacket and gave up china's box office to avoid the censorship, and the worldwide box office still hit 1.35 billion, showing that a masterpiece doesnt need to bend over for china
... "to keep * Taiwan's flag" or "to keep the Taiwan* flag" ... and TGM was a super-boring movie with a lame story.
As a Taiwanese, I must admit how much fun I had watching John's brilliant depiction of our complex situation both foreign and domestic. But I agree with John on his final remark, TAIWAN deserves the right to make our own decisions for the future. Thank you John and the team of LAST WEEK TONIGHT.
As long as the United States stands free, so will Taiwan. We got your back.
台湾人有权，其他中国人也有权。
Most of my family is taiwanese and im American. I fully support u!!! The PRC should leave us alone and let the taiwanese people choose!
The decision isn’t Taiwan’s to make. It never was.
As an adult, you should also realize that Taiwan is merely a small chess piece on the international game table. The only thing you might be able to decide is which sucker can f**k you up for 4 years. Other than that, you can decide nothing, the only real deal on this table are PRC and USA.
As Taiwanese who is currently residing in Taiwan and watch this show regularly via UA-cam, this is awesome to see they actually made a topic on Taiwan. Thank you so much!
I'm curious, does Taiwan have the great chinese firewall? Or do you have free internet?
看到一堆"As a Taiwanese"當開頭的自慰留言，配上後面一堆破英文有夠尷尬，老外看到一定笑死
@@NippleBack 你想太多了
@@NippleBack 對不起傷害了你
傷了你的感情
我聽見有個聲音
是玻璃心碎一地
對不起是我太任性
講真話總讓人傷心
或許不該太直白 超直白
I’m So Sorry
又讓你森七七
@@BartvG88 We have free internet.
Yay! I am so glad he talked about this country. I immigrated from America to Taiwan 5 years ago and I’m going to get permanent residency soon. 🇹🇼
Welcome! Hope you have a great time!
英文不太好，但希望你在台灣的日子都平安健康且開心如意。
Sooooo good!
welcome
恭喜
Considering how little international support Taiwan gets, I'm worried that permanent residency may not last as long as you hoped.
Thanks so much for HBO talks about Taiwan
As a Filipino, I love Taiwan and everything that this episode stands for 🤍
We Taiwanese love Filipino too !! Filipino are our brother and sisters !!
Taiwan would be the first domino to fall. If the world allows that, Phillipines, South Korea, Japan, Australia etc would all be next
@@mjkittredge - you sound like what the u.s said about vietnam back in the days.
I work here in Taiwan now as an English teacher and the Filipinos are my favorite people on the island. :-)
As an American I love BOTH Taiwan and the Philippines .. It's unfortunate that America pulled our Military out of the Philippines and allowed Communist Beijing to gain control over the Spratlys and Paracels and South China Sea and now Philippine's Power Grid - we should have kept our Naval and Air Forces on station in the Philippines in the 1990s instead of leaving .. and it's a shame that we allowed the Communists to steal control over mainland China after WW2 .. Nixon should have never recognized the Communist Party as the "government of China" - we made a huge mistake in 1945 .. we made a huge mistake in 1971 .. and we made a huge mistake in 1992 ..
If you see politicians throwing things at each other that’s true democracy…😅. Thank you John for the Taiwan coverage.
喝咖啡了😂
John Oliver認為Freddy選上立委是台灣人想要追求獨立遠離中國的意向表態, 但現在卻有一群KMT為首的統派想要罷免掉Freddy. 包含John Oliver在內的外國人會怎麼想? 台灣人是不是不想要遠離中國啊?
That's how India became world's largest democracy 😆
China will only get respect only when china will be librated from this idiotic jinping and its one dictator party..
Thats why these party members dont roam outsude china. They know they will be slapped in ass.
@@JerryTsaiTCL 罷免掉林昶佐真的是他個人的問題更多，抗中不是免死金牌，要先把自己份內的工作去做好，再加上人民對政府執政的憤怒會需要找某些人出氣，此時罷免就是一個出氣口
You really did a good job talking about the issue”Taiwan”, your show is even better than most news document which about Taiwan issue. Very much thank
you for showing our difficult situation to your audience.Love from Taiwan ❤️
Much Love from Romania!
Lots of love & much respect from the USA.
Not all of us put money over people like our government does.
@@afti03 Thank you for your support! We share the same value.
@@coudgeb I totally understand what you said cause our biggest Opposition party also puts money over Taiwan’s national interest. Very much thank you for your support. The USA is a powerful ally to Taiwan.
With Russia acting towards Ukraine, now I’m worried it will embolden China to do the same thing to Taiwan
Yup.
Probably not in the near future. China now has seen the consequence of starting a war, and considering starting a war would have a much bigger impact on world's economy, I highly doubt they will.
2027
If the republicans win big in the next couple elections, it will go very badly for Taiwan I expect, China is merely looking for a US that will lead the way in turning the other cheek when someone else is punched, a very noble act obviously, and a profitable one for those leading the turning. Note how eager the republicans are to be milquetoast about fighting russia, if not actively supporting it, it's super weird to see Americans actively supporting russia invading an Eastern European pseudo ally of the US. The trump admin made clear that the republicans did not consider Ukraine a 'worthy' country, and were eager to throw them under the russian bus, which again feels deeply weird when you remember that most of these republicans also publicly hate communism/the soviet union, yet love putin, who longs to restore the ussr. This is what happens when you let fascists take control of a political party!
Definitely, and we will all become just like Bucha if we don't push for more protectionism against China.
I've been living in Taiwan for nearly 10 years now and I'm happy to see John bringing the country into the spotlight a but more.
Much appreciated!
台湾不是国家。
@@黄沙百战穿金甲 台灣是比中國好一千倍的國家
@@txr8565
好不好不由你来判定。
第二台湾中华民国宪法规定台湾是中国一部分。
第三，中国的内部事物跟你没关系。
Stay safe ;-;
@@黄沙百战穿金甲
1.中華民國憲法沒規定台灣是中國的一部分
2.台灣事務與中國人無關
Appreciate them talking about this. Let the people of that country decide for themselves who and what they want to be!!! 🇹🇼🇹🇼
🎯👍
The sad truth is that the Taiwanese cannot decide about their own future. If they don't have strong military allies who threaten to defend Taiwan with force, then China has already sealed their fate. They must become a part of China.
All the people in Taiwan , their ancestral Homeland is mainland , that is a big deal , you don't disrespect your ancestors for money or voting , two things few people's ancestors had
@@badgerlife9541 CHINA NUMBA 19
TAIWAN NUMBA ONE MUDDA PHUCBOI
@@knyghtryder3599 CHINA NUMBA 19
TAIWAN NUMBA ONE MUDDA PHUCBOI
SEEDIQ NUMBA SUPA ONE
It's amazing that you can consolidate Taiwan history and the status quo in twenty minutes. The show is not only quite amusing. I can't stop laughing. But it's also very informative.
As a Taiwanese, I am very grateful that people of the world can get to know Taiwan through this program. I believe all the Taiwanese would appreciate what you have done.
Very surprising that Oliver is pro-Taiwan when most of the time he shills for Beijing created propaganda designed to undermine the West, i.e. woke crap. Shows how confused and/or dumb he really is.
thank you so much for talking about Taiwan!🇹🇼
This is why I love HBO. They just have the balls to air this. Also I love succession.
HBO?
I thought this was UA-cam
@@ALCRAN2010 Last week Tonight is an HBO production. It's even shown in the end credits.
As a Chinese, it's really rare to find such good coverage of the issue. Huge props to LWT team for doing this!
If Taiwan province wants to be an independent country recognized by the UN, US and most countries, it should declare independence and win the ongoing civil war with the mainland. I guess both John and you guys pretend to be not knowing America Civil War?
Listen to the line about announcing to a partners parents that you're fucking their offspring. It's the perfect example
@@pw8332 You're joking right? You do know that the American civil war was fought before our government had an insanely large military and modern weapons? And the South still lost and a huge number of people died. All out war definitely wouldn't be an option in this circumstance. Those are real human beings with families and friends who die in wars, not just statistics.
The north (Yankees) successfully prevented the south (of US) from seceding by the bloodshed of the civil war. Also I am pretty sure a very good portion of Scotland and Irish population want to secede from the UK. LWT arguing Taiwan province should gain its independence is like someone in the glass house throwing stones.
I would say if Taiwan province wants its independence, go ahead declare that and see what happens. This would be a “Make my day” moment for me.
@@pw8332
It wouldn't be a civil war if the US is dedicated to help.
A footnote: the reporter cornering the WHO official, Yvonne Tong, had resigned from her former employer, RTHK, back in April this year. Whether that is because of pressure from someone I’ll leave it for you to decide.
It's a Hong Kong network, sadly no surprise there.
Let us all listen: to the people in power, every value, every principle has a price & people in power have no mercy towards people that disagree with the price they put on a given value. I see now why people in power keep this system of ambiguity towards Taiwan & maybe it is for the greater good for it to remain so, I'm not talking about that.
I'm doing my best to just explain the reality of the world as it is now, I believe in you all to make you own mind up & think about what to do with this going forward.
She was unprofessional at best... WHO guy is NOT the person who should decide or give his opinion about this subject. US president has no balls to recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, why should some official risk his job to do so?? She was persistently cornering guy to say something that would most definitely harm his career just for her to have cool news, now he was fighting it back like a 5 years old, but still she was unprofessional.
@@armija The WHO official could have simply said he can't discuss it because of "political sensitivity" rather than that horrible excuse of pretending to lose connection.
@@armija sure, the reporter asking the question is unprofessional. not the guy claiming he didn't hear the question and fake disconnected. makes sense.If you get 50 Cent for that nonsense... XD
Thank you for showing the courage that so many leaders could never have.
The translator of the Popeye comic, Bo Yang, was an accomplished writer in his own right. His collection of short stories "A Farewell" is a really good introduction to Taiwanese society during martial law.
If you ask me the Popeye comics was just an excuse. Most autocratic governments don’t like brilliant minds and constantly look for an excuse to stifle them.
Agreed.
Also, It'S sPeLlEd MaRtIaL.
@@DS-tv2fi whoops, fixed.
@@jagvillani338 No big deal. I mainly just threw that in for the lolz anyway.
Wow, did he make a pretty fun semi simplified Mandarin translation of Popeye comics by Bob Sagendorf?
John: Time to air a new episode!
HBO's legal team bolting upright out of a restless sleep: Why do I hear boss music?
Nope, HBO is not shown in China. If it was, John or HBO would fold like paper.
My bet is they have more attention from Scientology for that 15 second bash on them.
@@TheExi123 Exactly. They 100% have a file on Oliver and this is gonna cause some angry eye-narrowing
@jabroni destroyer they did make GoT though.
@jabroni destroyer You forgot CW and Their SJW teen drama. They're not that good.
As a Taiwanese and a person who grew up in China. John Oliver and his team has provided a pretty accurate picture of whats happening. Usually America and European media has a high level of bias and are inaccurate in a lot of accounts. This is not the case, surprisingly. Props
I’d actually love if German politicians would have a brawl here and there. That would give them an incentive to finally get younger people into the Bundestag
😂😂😂😂😂😂
As an American living in Taiwan for over 20 years, thank you for explaining our situation in a unique way. To be honest, we hear the China warnings all the time. For us, it is normal and we do continue to live our lives. Under the UN definition of a nation, Taiwan is one.
You can always flee back to America though
Taiwan love you back~~ ❤️❤️❤️
@@seanmatthewking That may be true but I have a wife, kids, and friends here. This is home for me.
Holy shit he actually did an episode on TW. I just got my Taiwan passport as an American born TW. I hope I have many, many more years to use it.
Congrats man!
The passport question is an interesting facet I hadn't considered. So Taiwanese passports are considered legitimate even though the country itself is not by many governments?
@@fanbuoy9234 yes, you can travel anywhere with a taiwanese passport except to china
One thing that John should've explained more is that the main reason people wanted the status quo is because here we don't want an actual war to break out.
@@fanbuoy9234 I think Hong Kong passports are a thing too, similar situation.
This is why I love John Oliver and his crew. Always shining a light a topics people don't know about or may not want to think about..
Next question please 😉
This isn't "shining the light", this is Cold War-style propaganda from the US State Department and the CIA to vilify China.
@@arthurzhao8476 Really? Seriously? Could you point to the parts of the piece that "vilified" China?
@@danielbaig6094 He's just copy-pasting this throughout the comment section with no supporting evidence.
@@arthurzhao8476 you should try hating the government and ruling class of the country you live in instead of licking boots all day. We Americans live for that shit.
@@elise3455 Yup, the standard tactic of fascists on the internet. Just throw it out, no matter how silly it sounds, as long as you can sow the seed of doubt.
Yes, freedom and independence! Respect Taiwan
The must-see for today...John Oliver does Taiwan!
“people who aren’t Taiwanese making decisions for Taiwan is a bit fucking played out, historically.” 💯💯💯
Taiwan is a democratic society deserving the right to decide its own future. Glad to hear that :)
Long time no see, Oliver~~
Hi
The north (Yankees) successfully prevented the south (of US) from seceding by the bloodshed of the civil war. Also I am pretty sure a very good portion of Scotland and Irish population want to secede from the UK. LWT arguing Taiwan province should gain its independence are like someone in the glass house throwing stones.
finally, someone talking about taiwan in depth in the mainstream media!
Right?
Don't let John Cena near this he'll ruin it.
Tucker Carlson, as well as others on Fox, have been discussing this for years... Even Trump talked about it. But if you've got TDS, or maybe think that all Republicans are white supremacists, I can see why you might have missed this.
@@cypheir They never actually talked about the issues once. Just threw them out offhandedly as talking points for propaganda pieces.
@@cypheir ah yes sabre rattling against China
Very productive lol
I was certain that Freddy Lim will be mentioned at some point. A death metal singer being a chair of a political party and having his former model wife be his bassist and an employee is too interesting of a fact for this show to miss.
John, you truly have the best researchers in the world.
Fantastic job!
Damn that's interesting. Also please tell me more about his political career if you can.
Interesting indeed, although the research team ignored/forgot to mention USA-Chinas backbone One China Policy
@@andrestoro6126 Which just means the US doesn’t officially recognize Taiwan as an independent state, as was mentioned, right? It doesn’t mean the US accepts Taiwan belongs to China, at least that’s my impression.
Obviously the vid failed to mention how Freddy fucking Lim avoided military duties at every turn. What most people are missing is that talking tough on China can get you a successful career in Taiwanese politics but none of those buffoons who talk the talk are willing to walk the walk after they’ve gain the power to do so. They are just phony politicians enriching themselves by taking advantage of the whole China-Taiwan situation.
@@cokechang China has always respected people who walk the talk. Fought, but respected. Looks like nobody has the desire to fight with the dragon in the room. Neither the Eagle, nor the Bear.
Glad to see I'm not the only one re-watching this in preparation of what's coming.
As a Taiwanese, I would like to say thank you for covering the story about Taiwan.
For facing the possible war ahead.
It is just like earthquakes in Taiwan.
If it’s a small earthquake,you don’t need to run. If it’s a big earthquake over 8.0, you cannot out ran it. We could only always be ready and prepare for it’s happening.
What a great attitude. More people aware of the Taiwan situation and support your country, less chance China will invade. We all need to do our part. Was planning to visit Taiwan 5 years ago, but had family emergency. Hope the Pandemic pass soon, so I can visit your beautiful country.
@@freedomlife3623 Thanks and welcome to visit Taiwan.
🇹🇼🇺🇸🇹🇼🇺🇸🇹🇼🇺🇸
🇹🇼🇹🇼🇹🇼🇹🇼
As a Californian, we do the same, although over 6.00 is worrisome.
So thankful to John Oliver for spreading light on this! As a Taiwanese American, one small but important note: a majority of the 80% that want to maintain status quo only do so out of fear of harm to their livelihoods and safety. In actuality most of these 80% would be independent of the repercussions could be managed.
I don't think that holds water, it's their own government they fear in their own country, it's their countrymen who have been slaughtering millions of people who want to unify with the mainland for decades.
Their fear is clearly talking about reunification for fear that their government will kill them like they have done so many times in the past
@@dannyfergusson3243 The Chinese bots are out in full force today it seems.
@UCk4l6RzfWJf8zpT-tvB9AtA Funny because we still have our own elected government, military, and a passport that can travel visa free to more countries than the Chinese one. It's true that most countries aren't allowed to officially admit our status because of China but that doesn't change the fact that the Chinese government has no control over Taiwanese citizens. Maybe actually watch the video before writing something so ignorant.
@@dannyfergusson3243 The deaths you talk of happened a long time ago. I have lived in Taiwan for almost 14 years now. Married to a Taiwanese woman, have had a kid, bought a house, etc. No one that I have ever talked to is afraid of being targeted and killed by the Taiwanese government here for expressing their opinion. They do, however, fear the Chinese government, namely, if a person said something, then China retook Taiwan, they know it would play out similarly to Hong Kong.
@@dannyfergusson3243 Yeah, I'm sure the industrialized country with the tallest building in the world is just rife with political violence.
I really appreciate the focus on what the Taiwanese people want. That's so often utterly absent from these conversations and that's just as baffling as the ambiguity, isn't it?
well, in the end, this is about money and control. It's nice to show, but it's mostly about what China wants, culturally, historically.
Imagine the democrats and republicans going to war. Democrats nearly win, but then, after some gddamn miracle, republicans win and democrat leadership flees to hawaii - where they create a succesful economy and do stuff to thwart the ones that pushed them away - in public.
People tend to be very nostalgic... And brutal. I'm Dutch, we still look back - with modest pride - on New York being new Amsterdam (a lot of us... definitely not all). On being successfull pirates who (like the British) had a technological advantage for a while. English people have a similar warped view on history. To us it's a history about wealth, for other nations it was a tad different... Similar to China and Taiwan now. The point is that the people always suffer, that's not baffling, but it is just sad. What they want literally isn't important in these conflicts - the only thing relevant is whether they are willing to die for it - just to make the toll of control be as high as possible... Same goes for Tibet.
You will have to suffer, like Vietnam, Ukraine, etc. had to suffer. Because one man wants power and to make history. History tends to be about what they want and mostly, do.Everything is is sort of trivial - nice to know, but of little impact on the problem in question.
It's also good to create (to an extent selective) empathy with other people... I suppose that worked well, just remember there are a lot more conflicts and dubious leadership (also coming from the US).
I just hope Taiwan has enough mines and anti air defense... I suppose the only defense is to make like a hedgehog... And still, when the nextdoor neighbor becomes very hungry, he will act a bit more irrational and just mess up his face with them spikes. He'll survive... Albeit a bit uglier.
@@corbeau-_- The point isn't that what they want automatically impacts what happens, it's that the only way for them to defend themselves politically or practically should China come a'knocking more insistently and aggressively is through support from other countries globally, and in order to know whether it is worth the potential strife that could cause, we need to know if they'd even want us to. And if they do, to what extent? I very much doubt they want to be in Ukraine's shoes right now, but I don't know, I'm not Taiwanese, and that's the point.
The same goes for the Chinese government and people needing to know; are they likely to completely change their minds because Taiwan says so? No. Obviously not. Are they less likely to stir up a war over it if Taiwan's stance is public known and supported? Quite possibly. Maybe not a whole lot less likely, but every little helps in a precarious situation like that.
What Taiwanese most want is peace. The rest is the USA trying to make war by trying to change public opinion and make people believe that China and Taiwan aren't family.
I've been there on vacation it was absolutely amazing. Food, art, museums, night markets, hot springs mmmm hot springs.
Taiwan was the first place I went internationally and I have very fond memories of the people and culture there. (I was a visiting musician in 1990.) Thank you for discussing this, John.
As a Taiwanese American, thank you for your research into this complex subject and presented it clearly and humorously in the true LWT fashion 😃
Totally respect your team for bravely cover Taiwan that many businesses and politicians cowardly avoided/ignored!
Yes! Thank you!
My 1st grade teacher in Puerto Rico taught us about Taiwan by saying: "Island that is close to China". And that's what we needed to put into the exam. Glad to have learned a bit more about it.
Old mustsrdyrll
@@LouisTsuiful Hello 50 cents robots😎
Puerto Rico is an island that is close to the US. The people lives there are not really americans but they lives on american territory. See the problem here?
That's his opinion, lol
That's his opinion, lol
Taiwanese are some of brilliant, kind and friendly people. Love Taiwan!
Taiwan province, china
Thank you for bringing up this topic. We have been ignored, or maybe separated for ages. I laughed hard at the WHO part but at the same time just felt very sad.
WHO is a Chinese puppet, they don't even acknowledge that COVID start in China.
Keep your head up.