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At the beginning of 2024 the president of the Chinese People's Republic, Xi Jinping, claimed people living on both sides of the Taiwan Straits should reunite "and share in the glory of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation". But is Taiwan really part of China, and could this question lead to war? Misha Glenny and producer Miles Warde have been to the capital Taipei and Tainan City in the south to find out about this relationship with the Chinese mainland.

"I've obviously been following the situation in Ukraine, and it strikes me that before our eyes we're seeing the rapid development of a new Ukrainian consciousness and national identity. What's struck me about coming here to Taiwan is the same process is underway." Misha Glenny

Contributors include Amanda Hsiao senior analyst of the Crisis Group, Linda Jaivin the author of the Shortest History of China, and Chris Buckley, Chief China correspondent for the New York Times now relocated to Taipei. Plus you'll hear from long time resident Chris Taylor, author of the Lonely Planet Guide to Tibet. "All Xi Jinping understands is complete control .... he's given up on what the Taiwanese call the silver bullet, promises of great trade opportunities and get rich, join us. Nobody's buying that. So the only way he's going to get it is by force of some kind."

Taiwan is episode 57 of How to Invent a Country on BBC Sounds, the series that has previously travelled to Germany, Brazil, Turkey and Russia. Misha Glenny is a former Central Europe correspondent for the BBC and the author of McMafia. The producer for BBC Studios Audio in Bristol is Miles Warde.

The Long March, the Civil War, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution

Ep 3 - The Invention of Russia and Catherine the Great, presented by Misha Glenny

Ep 2 - The Invention of Russia and the expansion east to Siberia, west into Ukraine

Ep 1 The Invention of Russia ... told from a time when it was still very small

with Sir John Eliot, plus exciting news

Ep 3 - Poland reborn and invaded again. Misha Glenny presents, Miles Warde holds the mic.

EP 2 - Misha Glenny on Poland's 123 year absence from the map, produced by Miles Warde

Ep 1 - how Europe's largest state was sliced and diced by Russia, Prussia and Austria.

Bangladesh was born in 1971.

Ep3 Norway and fish, followed by oil

The Swedish Baltic Empire ... why it's not all Abba and social democracy with the Swedes

The end of the Qing and the troubled birth of the republic under Dr Sun Yat-sen

Ep 1 "Danes talk about Swedes all the time. Swedes don't talk about Danes so much."

Declan Lawn talks to Micha Glenny about the differences between the north and the south and, in particular, the border.

Dr Joan Redmond talks to Misha Glenny about Ireland, England and the early seeds of war.

Fintan O'Toole talks to Misha Glenny about Catholics, Protestants, and Top of the Pops.

Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales - why all these borders, and what do they mean?

Insecurity - from Dover to Dublin, presented by Misha Glenny and produced by Miles Warde

Anglocentrism .... or why Britons Never Will Be Slaves

What is Britain? Who are the Scots, the Welsh, the Irish, the English?

Are we Italian or not? With Leoluca Orlando, Lucy Riall, Tim Parks, Lucy Hughes-Hallett.

Back to Italy with guerrilla numero uno

Find out how the world's greatest civilisation found itself dragged into two opium wars

Misha Glenny on the early alpine visitors who were either very ill, or very rich.

Natural borders vs mountain borders

How the Alps divide Europe in two

The Invention of France #3

The Invention of France #2

The Invention of France #1

Getulio Vargas, inventor of Brazil?

Independence or death!

I came by boat

A sense of disaster

Misha Glenny and Miles Warde head east to find out what is China and where it came from?

The heroic last stand

What is Catalonia? What's Castille?

Big appetite, bad teeth

The man in the red cape

A less than sturdy boot

The end of the dynasty

King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor - where did it all go wrong?

How did a small family from Switzerland become Europe's greatest dynasty?

There is a faultline in Europe, from the North Sea to the Alps. Belgium sits halfway.

How Amsterdam became one of the world's leading cities in a few short decades

A bonus episode with Hannah Lucinda Smith, Christopher de Bellaigue and Misha Glenny

How did a few boggy provinces become one of the trading heavyweights of the world?

Misha Glenny on the people came to America, and the people who were there first

To invent a country you have to define a country. Misha Glenny on the borders of the USA.

Misha Glenny on the invention of the most powerful country in the world