Taiwanese army soldiers during training. January 27, 2026
In 1949, the civil war in China ended: the Communists led Mao ZedongThe internationally recognized Democratic Party government From the Kuomintang Party Two million of his supporters fled to Taiwan, an island that has been part of the Chinese state for centuries. The escape was considered temporary: it was assumed that the communist regime would soon fall and the democrats would return to Beijing. This did not happen.
Both the fleeing Kuomintang members (taking with them the old name of the country – the Republic of China) and the communists (founding the People’s Republic of China) declared themselves the only “true” China, without recognizing each other’s existence. At first, the world continued to view the Kuomintang as the legitimate government, but as time passed, more and more countries began to proclaim the People’s Republic of China as the “real” China – after all, an incomparably large area of territory and population was subject to communist rule. In 1971, the People’s Republic of China obtained the Republic of China’s seat on the United Nations Security Council.
The Taiwanese authorities eventually abandoned the idea of ”liberating” mainland China from the Communists (due to its apparent impracticality) and began to consider their island as a separate state, without formally declaring independence. De jure now a sovereign state Taiwan Almost no one Don’t admit: The United States, the European Union, Russia and others have only informal contacts with the island so as not to spoil relations with the People’s Republic of China. This “unofficial form” does not prevent Taiwan (which still officially calls itself the Republic of China) from establishing deep economic, political and military ties with other countries.
The People’s Republic of China has never abandoned the idea of unifying China under its control. In the early decades, and even during Mao’s lifetime, the military “liberation” of Taiwan was seriously considered, but when… Deng Xiaoping The concept of peaceful reunification prevailed: the People’s Republic of China hoped to return the island to its control not by force, but through economic integration. This policy did not achieve results.
Under current leader Xi Jinping, pressure from Beijing on Taiwan has increased again. China, which has become the world’s second-largest economy, can dictate the political agenda. Beijing now views the restoration of a “unified” China as an important symbolic step to strengthen its “superpower” status.
The mainland and the island have been separated for more than 75 years. Taiwan has been developing its own identity for decades – fewer and fewer people consider themselves Chinese, and more and more people consider themselves Taiwanese. The very idea of “reunification” may very soon become meaningless. As is the case in North and South Korea The differences between the populations of the two countries are very large. Therefore, China wants to close the issue in its favor as soon as possible.
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