Political status of Taiwan

The political status of Taiwan is a difficult situation that many people disagree about. There are two regions in the world that call themselves China. The People's Republic of China (PRC) is the region most people think of when they hear the name China. The Republic of China (ROC) also calls itself China. It is better known in most of the world as Taiwan.

Prior to 1912, half of Taiwan was occupied by Chin Dynasty during the 18th and 19th centuries and beyond it, Taiwan was self ruled by a number of indigenous kingdoms and tribes for thousands of years. After the First Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan and Penghu was officially transferred to Japan. After World War II, the Japanese gave up any claim to Taiwan.

The official document regarding the return of Formosa (Taiwan) to China, signed on September 2, 1945 that was signed on the USS Missouri, accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, which stipulated that Formosa be restored to China, as stated in the earlier Cairo Declaration. However, which Government Taiwan belonged to was not explicitly stated.

At the time, the Republic of China governed all of China, and represented China in the United Nations. Following its defeat in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the Republic of China government moved its seat to Taiwan, which the People’s Republic of China claimed as part of its territory. This decision was controversial as The Chinese Civil War was fought primarily over control of all of China, not just the mainland. The ROC offered a different view, and said that it was still the rightful government of China, including mainland China, Taiwan, and Mongolia. In 1971, the ROC lost its United Nations seat as China. The seat was given to the PRC instead. This made the PRC the recognized government of China internationally. The large Majority of the UN currently only recognises China and do not recognise Taiwan.

The major issue is whether Taiwan is a part of the PRC or is (as it claims) an independent country.

Today, the ROC (Taiwan) is a fully democratic society, with its own economy, currency, military, and elected officials. The Chinese mainland is ruled by the communist PRC government. Most countries have accepted the PRC as the leaders of China. Several countries, including the United States, have never explicitly mentioned the issue about Taiwan, and do not recognise it. 14 countries have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Those who don't usually have un-official de facto embassies and do business with Taiwan mostly as normal, aside from recognizing it as a country.

The current state of Taiwan and China is called the "status quo", which means neither side is trying to change the way things are. However, the PRC often emphasises that they may use military force to change the situation if Taiwan begins to explicitly fight for independence. Some people in Taiwan want Taiwan to formally become the Republic of Taiwan, an independent country, while others do not. This would change the status quo also, and many Taiwanese prefer not to do this, in order to maintain peace. In opinion polls, a minor percentage of Taiwanese people want to rejoin with the mainland.

Today, most countries of the world see the PRC as China. Most countries however still have a very close economic and cultural relationship with Taiwan.

The relations between the PRC and Taiwan are tense. The PRC claims that Taiwan is a part of the PRC. The government of the PRC has said that if the people of Taiwan vote to become the Republic of Taiwan, that they will invade Taiwan and stop this from happening. In March 2004, they passed a law that will allow China to invade Taiwan if Taiwan tries to leave the PRC and become an independent country. This law has caused problems with the people in Taiwan. It has caused even more people in Taiwan not to want to be a part of PRC China.

Another issue is how a war for Taiwan would grow to include the United States, who has partially said it would help defend Taiwan, and Australia and Japan, who also hint at helping Taiwan in case of war.