Forbidden nation a history of taiwan the history of china is complex and most of us in the west have only a superficial understanding of ancient and modern china we have even less of an understanding of the strategically pivotal island state of taiwan this comprehensive history of taiwan is a remarkable and critical work to assist us in our understanding of the complex and dangerous . At the heart of taiwans story is the curse of geography that placed the island on the strategic cusp between the far east and southeast asia and made it the guardian of some of the worlds most lucrative trade routes it is the story of the dogged determination of a courageous people to overcome every obstacle thrown in their path. Jonathan manthorpe doesnt hide his bias with the title of this book implying that taiwan has been historically forbidden from asserting its independence despite this the book is an excellent political history of the island there are detailed accounts of koxinga who was like taiwans george washington his father and his successors. Forbidden nation a history of taiwan posted on 16 february 2021 by editor from the rusi vi online zoom webinar by jonathan manthorpe recorded on wednesday 10 february 2021 the raw truth is that no chinese government neither communist or kuomintang has a persuasive legal or moral claim to sovereignty over taiwan during the 300 years of qing dynasty presence on the island which ended