A Tale of Two Chinas
The Chinese had been fighting a civil war since the end of World War II. In 1949, the government of the Republic of China moved its capital from Beijing (mainland China) to Taipei (Taiwan), thus solidifying the success of Mao Zedong’s forces. Two competing governments resulted from this civil war: the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). This has been dubbed the “two Chinas” issue. The U.S. follows the policy of seeing the PRC as a legitimate government, but also recognizes Taiwan’s sovereignty.
The Republic of China government rose to power after the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912. The Soviet Union identified China as a possible ally because China was trying to avoid Western imperialism. At the same time Japan grew as a threat because Japan was looking to expand its empire by gaining new resources including land. The Nationalists (ROC) couldn’t do much against the Japanese forces, but the Communists were gaining some ground against them, making the new party popular among people in China. After the war with Japan was over, power between the Nationalists and Communist was still disputed. The United States supported the Nationalists while the Soviets supported the communists. The ROC government moved multiple times throughout the civil war before finally having to move to Taiwan and take up base there.
The beginning of the 20th century marked tragedy for China, with foreign occupation, military defeats, civil unrest, and famines, leading to Mao Zedong’s attempt to gain control of China through a military dictatorship to establish sovereignty for China. In 1949, Mao Zedong presented himself as the head of state of the newly formed People’s Republic of China, a communist government. This marked a huge blow to the U.S. because China is the largest country in Asia and was lost to communism showing that the Soviet threat was real. The United States wouldn’t recognize the existence of the new regime until 1979. Mainland China (People’s Republic of China) sees Taiwan (Republic of China) as a renegade province.
Here is a quick recap with more facts differentiating the two governments. The Republic of China is commonly known as Taiwan, while the People’s Republic of China is commonly known as China. After World War II, Japan surrendered the island of Taiwan to mainland China, who at the time was governed by the Republic of China. This explains the final destination of the ROC government when the PRC took over control of mainland China. Both governments claim to represent all of China and claim each other’s territory. The PRC’s policy on Taiwan is to reclaim the land and unify China. The situation in Taiwan is different, there are two main camps. The Pan-Blue Coalition (majority of the government) believes the ROC is the only legitimate government but supports reunification. The Pan-Green Coalition see Taiwan as a separate state and wants diplomatic recognition and eventually formal declaration of Taiwanese independence.
In 1979 the U.S. switched recognition of the Taipei government (ROC) to the Beijing government (PRC), though the U.S. continues to have a good, robust relationship with Taiwan. The process of recognizing the PRC started in 1972 with Nixon’s famous visit to China (mainland). The U.S. cannot recognize the Republic of China as legitimate as a result of negotiations with the People’s Republic of China as identified in the Shanghai Communique (1972).
This “Two Chinas” dispute regained some spotlight at the beginning of Trump’s presidency, prompting this discussion. He made the mistake of calling the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) which violates “one China” policy (People’s Republic of China is the true China). This is the first time the leaders of both countries have directly contacted each other since 1979. It has the possibility of upending the mind management of the dispute.
