With respect to the intricacies of history, China was governed by a bunch of dynasties until 1912. The Qing dynasty, its last, fell during a revolution of the Nationalist Party led by Sun Yat-sen. The country then became the Republic of China (also called the ROC). Sun’s vision was for China to have an open government and one day, democracy. This vision was greatly respected by the citizenry and Sun is widely regarded as the father of modern China.
In 1921, China’s Communist Party was formed around the ideologies of Marxism-Leninism. A founding member was Mao Zedong. Sun Yat-sen died in 1925 and Chiang Kai-Shek became the new Nationalist leader. His government didn’t care much for commies and suppressed them whenever they could. But Chiang’s group was also known for widespread corruption and increasing the divide between rich and poor, which only fueled the growth of communism.
This Communist-Nationalist thing was bigger than just two party rivals. People identified strongly with one side or the other, and Nationalist suppression often led to killing or imprisonment. But the two groups fought together for China during WWII.
After the war, Mao’s communists revolted against the Nationalists in a civil war (1949). Communists won and Nationalists retreated to the island-province of Taiwan. There they continued to lay claim to all of China. So there were two groups alleging to be in charge—the old Nationalist ROC and Chairman Mao’s People’s Republic of China.
UN
The United Nations was founded in 1945. At the time, China was the Republic of China (the Nationalist version). After the communist revolution, the UN continued to recognize only the ROC (not the commies) and things stayed this way for more than twenty years.
During this period, there were few contacts, limited trade, and no diplomatic ties between China and countries like the US. Things changed in the early 1970s, when President Nixon made his historic trip to reinitiate relations and brought back two panda bears. Eventually, the UN and the US would officially recognize the People’s Republic of China and severe relations with Taiwan.
Taiwan
If you look at a map, Taiwan is between the coasts of China and Japan. It hosts the world’s 22nd largest economy and is currently not a member of the UN. It too has a convoluted past. Mainly inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before the 17th century, the island was annexed by the Qing dynasty in 1683 and then ceded to Japan in 1895 (after the Sino-Japanese War). Following the Japanese surrender in 1945, China took back control of Taiwan. And in 1949, when the communists overtook the mainland, the old Nationalist government moved there. (Remember?)
In the early 1960s, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth and created a stable industrial economy. In the 1980s and early 1990s, it changed from a one-party dictatorship (the Nationalists) to a multi-party democracy. It’s now ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press, health care, public education, economic freedom, and human development. The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is among the most highly educated countries (states? places?) in the world. So they don’t really want to become communist.
Summary
In brief, here’s what happened:
- China was run by dynasties
- The nationalists took over in 1912
- The communists took over in 1949, and the nationalists buggered off to Taiwan
- For over 20 years, America and the UN ignored the communists, recognizing only the Taiwanese nationalists as the true government of China
- Nixon went over and got some bears, and now everyone recognizes the People’s Republic of China
- Taiwan has since become a rock ‘n roll jurisdiction just like Canada
This is what everyone’s talking about regarding the “China One Nation Policy.” China consistently claims sovereignty over Taiwan and pushes for unification over Taiwanese independence. They’ve offered special statehood, like that given to Hong Kong, but have also threaten to use military force (and since Taiwan isn’t a member of the UN, there isn’t anybody there to defend them).
As China moves towards Sun’s vision of democracy, by first implementing their version of capitalism, it’s believed things will eventually work themselves out. In the meantime, it’s probably best to do nothing.
See Brian Mulroney’s interview with Conrad Black, starting around the 28-minute mark. Specifically, the 35-minute mark.