"The irony of Xi’s Ahab Quest is that Taiwan has never been a part of China. "

"Yes, no doubt Xi wants to ‘retake’ Taiwan. The irony of Xi’s Ahab Quest is that Taiwan has never been a part of China. ‘China’ today is a recapitulation of the old Qing Empire (which, to add irony to irony, was not Chinese but Manchurian). Tibet, East Turkestan, Mongolia, and Manchuria are in no historical sense remotely ‘Chinese.' Ditto for Taiwan, in which Qing officialdom evinced only desultory interest until 1854, when American Commodore Matthew C. Perry, fresh from his gunboat-treaty journey to Japan, showed interest of his own."

~ Jason Morgan, from his op-ed 'A Chinese invasion of Taiwan is coming' [hat tip Samizdata]