Retaining Separatist Territories: Comparing China and Canada

Attitudes/policies towards separatist territories vary widely. Canada is tolerant towards the potential secession of Quebec, but China has vowed to use force to avoid losing Taiwan. Liberal democracies such as Canada are more receptive to self-determination and separatism. However, democracies display ambivalent attitudes and democracy alone cannot explain tolerance towards separatism. Virtual states, however, consistently have lenient policies towards separatism. Decentralised Canada and the benign North American security environment also help explain Canada's attitude, but security concerns directly related to the separatist movements and the size of the parent countries show little correspondence to the different attitudes on separatism.