[Freeciv-Dev] Re: A patch for 4 new nations

[Cameron Morland <cjmorlan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 21 Apr 2000, Mike Jing wrote:

> I am sure your effort in contributing to the Freeciv project is appreciated 
> by all.  But still, I have to respectfully disagree on adding the Taiwanese 
> as a new nation.  First of all, I don't see any demand for a Taiwanese 
> nation, so your first argument doesn't apply.  Secondly, you can't compare 
> Taiwanese with Mordor or Dunedain.  It's not a fantasy nation.  In fact, 
> it's not a nation at all.  Its offical name is Republic of China, and its 
> people is still Chinese.  It is not a new nation, not even in the sense as 
> used in Freeciv.  Finally, I just want to remind you again that not that 
> long ago Germany was divided into two countries.  I don't suppose you would 
> make two nations for the Germans as well, would you?

I don't see any reason not to include Taiwan when considered by itself;
the island is clearly sovereign, its government is about as different from
China's as possible. When Germany was separate, it would have made sense
to have two nations; they were sovereign.

But, to try to see things from the other point of view, I would not
consider it correct, being a Canadian, if a Quebec "nation" were created
for the game (without the other provinces & territories created as well).
(You may know that some people in Quebec wishe the province to separate,
and hold a plebiscite on the topic every few years.) But this isn't the
same, as Quebec is not (yet?) sovereign in any sense of the word.

Historically having been connected (Taiwan was part of China until Mao's
revolution, if I understand correctly) cannot be relevant, or else (for
example) the United States should not be separate from England. And that's
just plain silly.

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