Political status of Taiwan

The island of Taiwan is the subject of a geopolitical dispute between the Republic of China (ROC), which controls it, and the People's Republic of China (PRC), which claims it as part of its territory.

The Republic of China (ROC) was established in 1912 and governed mainland China until 1949. In the Chinese Civil War, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) defeated the ROC government, taking control of mainland China and establishing the People's Republic of China (PRC) that same year. The ROC government retreated to Taiwan. Prior to this, Japan’s surrender in 1945 ended its colonial rule over Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, which were subsequently placed under the administration of the ROC as agreed by the major Allies of World War II. However, post-war agreements did not clearly define sovereignty over these islands due to the ongoing rivalry between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party. Since 1949, the PRC has governed mainland China, while the effective jurisdiction of the ROC has been limited to Taiwan proper and a collection of smaller islands.

This division led to the emergence of two rival governments on opposite sides of the Taiwan Strait, each claiming to be the sole legitimate authority over all of China. The PRC and ROC both officially adhere to the principle of "one China," but fundamentally disagree on who is entitled to represent it. This has resulted in what is known as the "Two Chinas" scenario, reflecting the unresolved dispute over which government is the legitimate representative of China. The 1991 constitutional amendments and the 1992 Cross-Strait Relations Act marked a pivotal shift, as the ROC ceased actively claiming governance over the mainland, stopped treating the PRC as a rebellious group, and started treating it in practise, as an equal political entity effectively governing mainland China from ROC’s perspective, though the ROC constitution still technically includes the mainland as ROC territory. The PRC asserts that it is the only sovereign state of China, having replaced the ROC, and considers Taiwan an inalienable province, refusing to rule out military force to achieve Chinese unification. Its proposed "one country, two systems" as a model for unification, has been rejected by the Taiwanese government.

Within Taiwan, there is major political contention between eventual Chinese unification with a pan-Chinese identity contrasted with formal independence promoting a Taiwanese identity, though moderates supporting the status quo have gained broad appeal in the 21st century.

Since 1949, multiple countries have faced a choice between the PRC and the ROC with regard to establishing formal diplomatic relations and shaping their respective "One China" policy. Initially excluded from the United Nations in favor of Taipei, Beijing has gained increased recognition as the legitimate government of China. The ROC has formal diplomatic relations with only twelve nations but maintains unofficial bilateral ties and membership in international organizations as a non-state entity.

The Taiwan Strait is a vital maritime trade route, handling trillions of dollars’ worth of trade that pass through the sea between mainland China and Taiwan. The economy of Taiwan is also vital to the stability of the global economy, producing over 90 percent of the most cutting-edge semiconductor chips used in smartphones, data centers, and advanced military equipment. Disruptions to the supply of these technologies could wipe trillions of dollars from global GDP.

The United States considered Taiwan as a vital component in its island-chain strategy to prevent PRC influence from extending into the Indo-Pacific, and potentially threatening Guam, Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States. China, on the other hand, views the strategy as a form of containment that seek to prevent China's rise to a superpower and accuse the U.S. of using Taiwan to overthrow the communist state.