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You and I may well have a disagreement about the legitimacy of the Kuomintang in 1949. And the fact Chiang Kai Shek survived as Generalissimo has less to do with his legitimacy than the 7th Fleet. I don't recall his rule, or his son's was all that popular with the Taiwanese, either.

Taiwan was a province, or some political subdivision of China long before Chiang washed up on it's shore, so the analogy ain't bad. What would have thought if the Brits and Frogs and taken the U.S position espoused now in 1861?

Does that mean I want to turn Taiwan over to the Chinese? No. But unless it's an independent country (You do remember Nixon's trip to China, and our subsequent recognition of that government?), the issue is the same it was in 1861 (perhaps more so. There was a substantial body of opinion in the antebellum US that held secession was allowed. Don't know if the Chinese have ever held that opinion-before or after Mao)

I suppose that the two examples are analgous in that both are cases of people trying to escape tyranny and be left alone on the land they live on. In both cases, no one probably has more claim to the land than the people living on it. I agree that people are naturally free and that any attempt to escape tyranny is legitimate. You are right that the US is being hypocritical to the extent that it could be said to be contradicting its position toward the southern states attempt to secede. I agree that Lincoln was a tyrant. He also has a few things in his favor. How's that?