Denny Roy's political history of Taiwan traces its origins back to the year 1430 when a Chinese traveler named Cheng Ho was shipwrecked and made an unplanned visit to the island while trying to return to the mainland from Southeast Asia. He later reported to the government in mainland that he met aborigines, discovered useful medicinal herbs, but did not see any Chinese. The imperial Chinese government at that time made no claim over the island and had no interest to colonize it.

Japan under the Tokugawa Shogunate tried to conquer Taiwan in 1598, but the aborigines repelled Japanese forces. In the 17th century, mainland Chinese settled in Taiwan and their number grew exponentially. Then came the Dutch, who tried to civilize the aborigines. The first seriously attempt to implant more Chinese in Taiwan was carried out when in 1661 a half-Chinese, half-Japanese named Cheng Cheng-kung, known to the Europeans as Koxinga, led thousands of troops from the mainland to overthrow the Dutch in Taiwan, establishing the first Cheng dynasty. Under that dynasty, a reported 100,000 mainland Chinese settled in Taiwan. A naval commander named Shih Lang under the Qing government in Beijing then toppled the Cheng dynasty in Taiwan and asked the Dutch whether they wanted to buy back the island. But the Dutch refused.

When the Dutch government refused, it was thought that Beijing considered repatriating all the immigrants because it did not want to take charge of Taiwan. Then in 1684, the Qing government decided to incorporate Taiwan, not as a province, but as a prefecture of the Fujian province. Denny Roy says the Qing's rule over Taiwan was "nominal," lasting about two centuries, from 1683 to 1895. By 1860, however, mainland China was forced to open its doors to Western trade, which impacted also on the island because opium is one of its major imports, causing tens of thousands of Taiwanese to become addicted to it.

The strategic location of Taiwan had also convinced the United States, Britain, France, Japan and the Prussian government at that time to either buy the island or conquer it by force. Those countries considered Taiwan as a "barbarian territory, a haven for pirates and for wreckers who robbed shipwrecked vessels and murdered their crews, often with the cooperation of local authorities," Denny Roy writes. It was true that there were incidents in which shipwrecked vessels were seized and their crews killed by local people. The island was taken over by Japan, which colonized it for several decades. Denny Roy says the historical background should help understand why the Chinese leadership in Beijing in present day has considered Taiwan "the jewel of the Chinese empire and asserted strong claims to ownership of the island." But he says Taiwan has grown distinct from the huge mainland despite the fact that it is geographically situated so close to China.

"The people who became known as Taiwanese came to Taiwan to get away from conditions in China," he says, adding that Taiwan has become economically, socially and politically different from the mainland. The political history of Taiwan is marked by the decades of Japanese colonization and its profound impact on the people. Then came the 50-year-reign of the Nationalist (KMT) government, the martial law, the Cold War period, the emergence of political opposition and the establishment of democratic principles and rule of law in the country. Those are turbulent years, particularly during the Cold War and the internal turmoil in China. China's claims over Taiwan during those years never stopped. Denny Roy examines the presidency of Lee Teng-hui and the current one of Chen Shui-bian. Denny Roy wants to be impartial while studying the political history of Taiwan. But he maintains a constant line that there are economic, social and political differences between China and Taiwan.

Here he steps out of impartiality to say that democratic and freedom-loving Taiwan can offer China "bright prospects" in the areas of the economy, social and culture. He says China should be proud of Taiwan instead of considering it as an enemy.