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Full disclosure up front. What I am about to say is blunt and without mincing my words. Avert your eyes if you don’t like biting and straightforward answers.————The “mainland China is not democratic” argument is just an excuse, whether the current batch of “anti-reunification because of politics” Taiwanese know it or not.Truth be told, democracy is irrelevant. I’m not saying this because I’m knocking the democratic system of government (although it has its share of flaws but that’s another topic for another time). I’m saying this because whether mainland China is democratic or not is pragmatically irrelevant for those residing in Taiwan.It is a matter of demographics. Assuming that mainland China transitions to democracy, it would still have a population just short of 1.4 billion. Taiwan on the other hand would still have 23.5 million people which is less than the population of a major city in China such as Chongqing or Shanghai.Given that massive disparity in voter base, how exactly will the Taiwanese elect enough representatives who are sympathetic to their views to the legislative body? Without significant representation, how exactly will the Taiwanese influence policy on a national level that will be suitable to their palate and economic interests?To answer those questions, let us look at a few arguments that the Taiwanese politicians (and their supporters) may use to try to sway mainland Chinese voters.An informed voter base is critical to any functional democracy:How likely is it for them to convince the mainland Chinese that they are more worldly? Not very likely considering many people within first and second tier cities of China have partaken in just as much globetrotting in recent years as those in Taiwan, if not more so given their growing spending power in contrast to the stagnant wages of Taiwan. Sorry but just because one has unfettered access to the open internet or cable TV is not an automatic ticket to becoming worldly. If that were the base line requirement then avid Fox News/MSNBC watchers or Daily Mail readers should be some of the most worldly and informed people in the world and yet, most of them certainly are not.Chinese outbound tourists - new 2017 reportTaiwan: outbound tourist travels 2016 | StatisticAnother way for voters to become informed is through education:How likely is it for them to convince the mainland Chinese that they are more educated? Also highly unlikely considering the only Taiwanese university that’s worth a lick is National Taiwan University in Taipei. China on the other hand have Tsinghua, Peking, Shanghai Jiao Tong, Fudan, Zhejiang, Nanjing, Sun Yat-Sen, Harbin Institute of Technology, Science and Technology of China and others that are more prestigious internationally than Taiwan’s number two National Tsing Hua University. More and more Taiwanese students are taking advantage of the ‘Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents’ and going to study in China for a reason. Now if we were to include international students, that disparity would become even greater. Like it or not, democracy (like many other forms of government) is still dominated by elites and China’s educated elites will continue to outnumber Taiwanese elites by a factor of ten or twenty to one under any form of unified government. There is really no arguing this point. When was the last time a US/French President, German Chancellor or British/Japanese/Australian/Canadian PM held a two year associates degree or a bachelor’s degree in a ho-hum field from a no-name university?https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/chinahttps://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/taiwanPositive economic performance is critical to the success of any democratic party:How likely is it for them to convince the mainland Chinese that they are experts of economic development and progress? This one is a firm ‘zero chance’ considering the economy of Taiwan has hit a wall around the turn of the century as Taiwanese corporations struggled to innovate to keep up with outside competitors. Its insistence in relying on the high-tech and electronics export industry as opposed as diversification (risk taking) into other fields has also came back to bite the island in a big way. A risk-averse survivor mentality will only carry an economy so far and most of the Taiwanese who managed to strike it rich during the past two decades was because of China, not in spite of it. Good luck in trying to convince the mainland Chinese that you are an economic savant when your most famous company is just assembling products for other more well-known global brands.In Taiwan, Survivor Mentality Stymies Tech InnovationTaiwan is facing huge problems in the coming yearsIn an interconnected world, foreign policy has also became an integral part of party platform:Can they convince the mainland Chinese that they are savvy in international diplomacy due to their ‘special’ relationships with Japan and the US? Doubtful considering Japan and US have mostly been interested in using Taiwan as a pawn in the regional strategic game that they are playing against China, a reality that is acknowledged on several occasions by the Taiwan leadership, regardless of which party is in charge. That and the US military-industrial complex just loves selling Taiwan refurbished American weapons. Being a pawn is not a badge of honor and once reunification happens and the chess piece is no longer available, Japan and the US will drop Taiwan like a hot potato.List of US arms sales to Taiwan - WikipediaTaiwan frets at being pawn in any Trump re-set of U.S.-China tiesOn the topic of social and cultural issues as part of the party platform:Can they convince the mainland Chinese that the society they have developed is worth emulating? Well, on one hand Taiwan has made some commendable social climate improvements such as gender equality (comparatively against most other Asian nations), social responsibility, general politeness (although for some Taiwanese politeness is only extended to everyone except mainlanders). The Chinese leadership has already signaled that they are attempting to shift the society in this direction so there could be some common ground here. Yet on the other hand another segment of the Taiwanese have been trying their damndest to erase (or revise) visible connections to Chinese culture, all the while begging to be adopted by Japan who ironically only treated them as second class citizens during their half-century rule of the island. Socially or culturally, it is doubtful that this type of bipolar behavior will be understood or accepted by most of the mainland Chinese.Taiwan's Identity CrisisTaiwanese or Chinese? An island state’s shifting identitiesTaiwan finds a lot to like about its former colonizer, JapanIn summary, and I’m sure the following will trigger an abundance of indignant comments, many existing anti-reunification Taiwanese are feeling utterly insecure regarding a possible merger with the mainland for one reason.Democracy or not, post-reunification Taiwan would become just another province and they themselves just another Chinese among the 1.4 billion.In terms of political clout and influence, Taiwan would take a back seat to pretty much every Chinese coastal province as well as some inland ones such as Hubei or Sichuan. Frankly any Taiwan-based party in such a system would be lucky to reach the levels of the Green or Libertarian Parties in the US, whose 2016 Presidential election candidates Jill Stein and Gary Johnson received a whopping popular vote of 1% and 3% respectively.Now to cope with this insecurity (consciously or subconsciously), many of these anti-reunification Taiwanese have came up with excuses of all types to hold on to their ‘special-ness’. Looking down on the mainlanders, decrying the mainland political system, establishing a new distinctive Taiwanese identity, these are all just coping mechanisms designed to convince themselves that the ‘uniqueness of Taiwan’ (and by extension themselves) should be preserved. As a byproduct of that belief, the possibility of any future reunification with the mainland is of course suppressed.Even if mainland China became democratic tomorrow, rest assured that more “no reunification” excuses will pop-up in due time.

People who are pessimistic about unification lack imagination concerning the various possible models that unification could take place under. When Hong Kong unified with China in 1997 a giant border was maintained to keep the mainland Chinese out of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong was allowed autonomy and self-governance for fifty years. The idea would be to make unification as painless as possible by doing it very slowly. A unified Korea would use a similar approach. Despite being a single unified country, Korea would maintain a border to prevent the impoverished northerners from flooding the rich southern cities. An immigration system would be set up so only a limited number of North Koreans per year could immigrate to the south. Perhaps even more North Koreans would be granted temporary travel permits that let them visit the south for a week. This wouldn't be permanent though. At the beginning the two regions would act like separate countries while being nominally unified, but as the north grew more prosperous and caught up with the south over the decades, the border would be weakened and eroded away slowly. Now the people in South Korea would refuse to give government subsidies to the north, but the unified Korean government could set up economic planning to help the north bootstrap itself to prosperity. The south might be even willing to spend money on certain infrastructure and transportation projects that would obviously benefit a unified Korea. The government mantra would be that we're making an investment that will pay off in fifty years. After all, if we're expecting the Korean nation to last for centuries and centuries, fifty years of investment will pass by in the blink of an eye.Now the remaining problem is to get North Korea to agree to this. Realistically speaking this will involve some rather unpleasant compromises, such as letting the Kim dynasty remain in power. The Kims would only agree to unification if they were pardoned for all their terrible crimes against the Koreans. They would also have to stay in power ruling a semi-autonomous North Korean government, similar to how Hong Kong and Texas and California maintain semi-autonomous governments. The unified Korean government would oversee that the Kims weren't continuing too many human rights abuses, but otherwise the Kims would be granted tremendous powers to oversee domestic affairs in their region. They would also be allowed to spread propaganda within North Korea that claimed that the Kims had successfully unified the peninsula into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, even though in truth the national government would be modeled heavily after the democratic principles of South Korea. This could be negotiated to last for say only fifty years, afterwards the Kims would have to relinquish some powers back to the unified government. Perhaps as part of the deal when the Kims relinquish some powers after fifty years they could be granted hereditary positions in the legislative body of the unified government.In summary the unification could be a little bit messy, but if done slowly and methodically it can be made less painful. Afterwards Korea would get to enjoy a unified nation for centuries or perhaps even millennia.

We have here the problem of some US citizens assuming “Europe” is a cohesive entity.It is not. Europe comprises 50 Sovereign States each of which will have their own Laws and Regulations. The UK has far stricter Gun Laws than some other European States for instance.So really all one can say to the person who asked the question is “Which European Country are you wishing to visit?”. If you know that then it should be possible to research the situation for that Country, here is a link to the relevant site in the UKhttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/387990/firearms_control_at_point_of_entry_into_uk__final_12_dec_14.pdfand here is an extract from this document,“Summary of entry restrictions and authorities required All firearms, firearms components or ammunition for firearms have to be controlled at the point of entry into the UK. Some are completely banned (or prohibited) and others may be brought into the UK if the traveller has obtained the relevant licence or permit. A permit authorising a person to carry a firearm in the EU does not provide a right to carry a firearm in the UK. A licence issued by a UK authority must be obtained. Section 1 and Section 2 firearms may be imported with the correct paperwork. Some examples of documents required can be found in Annex A or on the internet. Section 5 firearms are in general terms prohibited to import and authority to possess in the UK is not normally issued to private individuals. It will therefore be very unusual for a traveller to be authorised and have the correct paperwork. Travellers arriving in the UK from an EU country holding the correct documents are not required to declare the firearms to Border Force. However, they must produce the documents when requested by a Border Force or UK Police officer.  Only original copies are acceptable – not photocopies. Wherever possible, firearms should be separated from travellers on ferries and secured away and only returned on arrival.  Border Force request that all importations of firearms are reported on the manifest or to a Border Force Officer. “What the situation is in Bulgaria, or Serbia or Romania to name 3 random Countries - I have no idea.I would suggest that the idea you can bring a handgun with you while swanning around Europe is risible, but if you wish to bring your rifle on a shooting holiday in the Highlands then it is a perfectly reasonable idea, and there will be guides and help from places like this Scottish Game & Country Sports which tells you what you need to do to bring a rifle or shotgun into the UK for sporting purposes.