After the civil war (click here) that followed the death of Qin Shihuang in 210 B.C., China was reunited under the rule of the Han dynasty, which is divided into two major periods: the Western or Former Han (206 B.C.–9 A.D.) and the Eastern or Later Han (25–220 A.D.). The boundaries established by the Qin and maintained by the Han have more or less defined the nation of China up to the present day. The Western Han capital, Chang’an in present-day Shaanxi Province—a monumental urban center laid out on a north-south axis with palaces, residential wards, and two bustling market areas—was one of the two largest cities in the ancient world (Rome was the other)....
...Under Wu, China regained control of territories, first conquered by Qin Shihuang, in southern China and the northern part of Vietnam. New commanderies were established in Korea, and contacts were made with the western regions of Central Asia. The conquest of Ferghana and neighboring regions in 101 B.C., which allowed the Han to seize a large number of the “heavenly” long-legged horses valued for cavalry maneuvers, also gave China control of the trade routes running north and south of the Taklamakan Desert. In return for its silk and gold, China received wine, spices, woolen fabrics, grapes, pomegranates, sesame, broad beans, and alfafa....At no point in time does any expansion of China include Taiwan. It wasn't until WWII that those in power of the settlement with Japan decided China can do what it wanted in Pacific Ocean and the seas surrounding China. It was NOT The West's right to do that. Taiwan was already a part of The West and developed culture from The East, but, also The West.
